Strengthening trailer axles

[Crabo]

I have a pan trailer that I carry a 4300# skidsteer on. It has a pair of 5500# axles from Big Tex on it. The trailer weighs 2100# empty. 6400# on 2 5500# axles. I keep bending the axles and having to get them straightened because of tire wear.

The axle repair guy says it is from all of the bad field crossings and entry ways that we go through.

I was thinking about welding a piece of C channel to the top of the axles and basically going from backing plate to backing plate.


i also thought about adding the Dexter E-Z Flex suspension equalizers to the trailer. https://www.etrailer.com/p-K71-652-00.html

Anyone done anything like this? Good idea or bad? I can't keep spending money getting my axles straightened and buying new tires on a regular basis.

Thank you

[M J D]

In all honesty all you would be doing is exposing another later to be found weak link. Making a guess, your spindles would be next to fail.

[Kevin_Essiambre]

Would changing the axles to something heavier duty be an option? And by that, I mean will the rims fit or would you be buying new rims if you went that route? The old axles could he sold or used on a different trailer.

Sent from my new phone. Autocorrect may have changed stuff.

[ronsii]

Most times we bend axles is from not enough suspension so the axles bottom out on the frame with a load(overloaded) and too high rate of speed on the bumps... solution: put more clearance/suspension on it or slowdown!!!

And the times they have bent they took a heck of a lot of abuse before it was noticed that the axle tubes were 50 percent separated from the spindles very noticeable camber showing!!!

[12V71]

Most times we bend axles is from not enough suspension so the axles bottom out on the frame with a load(overloaded) and too high rate of speed on the bumps... solution: put more clearance/suspension on it or slowdown!!!

And the times they have bent they took a heck of a lot of abuse before it was noticed that the axle tubes were 50 percent separated from the spindles very noticeable camber showing!!!

Yup, dynamic loads can be far in excess of the actual loads.

[walker]

I agree with Ronsil. I bent mine going down a washboard road. If you really want stouter axles cut the tube off and weld in a heavier tube.

[Hobbytime]

you can try to build a truss on the axle like they do on 4 x 4 truck axles for rock climbing and rough terrain to prevent bending of the tubes...

[12V71]

you can try to build a truss on the axle like they do on 4 x 4 truck axles for rock climbing and rough terrain to prevent bending of the tubes...

I've cheated before and skip welded a piece of 1/2" x2" flatbar on edge on the bottom of the tube. You only need to go from the inner u-bolt on each side, that did solve the tube issue.

[OPUS FERRO]

Crabo

I keep bending the axles and having to get them straightened . . .
The axle repair guy says it is from all of the bad field crossings . . .
I was thinking about welding a piece of C channel to the . . .

Anyone done anything like this? Good idea or bad? I can't keep
spending money getting my axles straightened and buying new
tires on a regular basis.

You are 'chasing your tail' by repairing/beefing your current axles.
F=ma - will always prevail over inadequate material structure.

Fix what's wrong - get heavier axles . . .

hth


Opus



ps - thanx for the Dexter E-Z Flex suspension link . . .

[diesel625]

I’ve never had bigtex 5500lb axles, but I have dealt with their 7k and 8k axles. Usually, I’ve seen a 1/8” wall on them, and I have seen 1/4” walls on dexter axles. Big difference in my situations. I would upgrade to 6k, 8 lug axles, or buy another trailer. If upgrading the axles, you could then upgrade the springs as well. Unfortunately, you’d need new wheels. The pan trailers I’ve worked on have all had torsion axles, or drop axles. What type axles do you have?

[farmersammm]

Bent mine on a bad road this Winter. Was doing about 65, topped the hill, and it was total deep trench asphalt rolling washboard. Couldn't straddle the ruts in time, tires got sucked into the ruts, and truck and trailer went airborne (if not, it sure doggone felt like it). Took the positive camber out of the axles. Need to buy some new bare axles to replace them. And no...............I wouldn't even comtemplate fixing those axles I bent. Metal is stretched, and waiting to fail sometime in the future. Pair of 3500# axles is only about coupla hundred bucks.

[Welder Dave]

Aren't most solid axles built with a bend in them so everything is alignment when loaded? I went with 6000lb. Torflex axles and have never had any problems. No maintenance other than greasing the bearings and I hauled a 12,000lb crawler loader on it a couple times behind a 5 ton truck.

[Crabo]

I’ve never had bigtex 5500lb axles, but I have dealt with their 7k and 8k axles. Usually, I’ve seen a 1/8” wall on them, and I have seen 1/4” walls on dexter axles. Big difference in my situations. I would upgrade to 6k, 8 lug axles, or buy another trailer. If upgrading the axles, you could then upgrade the springs as well. Unfortunately, you’d need new wheels. The pan trailers I’ve worked on have all had torsion axles, or drop axles. What type axles do you have?

I have tube axles

[Denis G]

Is the center of gravity between the axles?

[farmersammm]

Aren't most solid axles built with a bend in them so everything is alignment when loaded? I went with 6000lb. Torflex axles and have never had any problems. No maintenance other than greasing the bearings and I hauled a 12,000lb crawler loader on it a couple times behind a 5 ton truck.

I don't know if you were referring to my prior post on "bent" axles, or just had a general question. (I damaged my axles when the trailer came down with enough force to take the positive camber bend out of the axle, resulting in neutral camber........some of the bend was reduced in the middle of the axle, but the majority of the damage was bending at the spring pad area)

Most, but not all, trailer axles come with Positive Camber. Positive camber is where the top of the wheel leans outwards away from the vehicle. It's an angle that's built into the axle. The idea............as the vehicle is loaded, and the weight presses down, the positive camber becomes a neutral camber (wheel vertical, and tread flat) to keep tire wear even. Also, positive camber is thought to keep the vehicle more stable when tracking (I dunno how that works, but it's what the articles say).

Back when they actually manually checked alignment, and the old timers ruled, I was told that tweaking camber for the crown in the road helped the truck to steer straighter without pulling to one side of the other. They maintained that caster was for forcing the wheels to run straight. More caster, the more force keeping the truck on center......but making it harder to steer when cornering. When they actually still had manual steering, you could go around a corner, and literally let the steering wheel go, and the truck would straighten the wheels. Was just a matter of letting it slide through your hands as it came back to center.

If you've ever pulled anything with a towbar, it's caster that keeps the wheels straight as the towed vehicle moves down the road. Caster is the measured angle that the wheel "tilts" back in relation to the pivot on the steering axle.

[Welder Dave]

Yes, I think it's positive castor I was referring to. Most tube axles have a bend in the middle and sometimes the bend can be tweaked by an alignment shop.

[M J D]

Yes, I think it's positive castor I was referring to. Most tube axles have a bend in the middle and sometimes the bend can be tweaked by an alignment shop.

It's camber that is affected by the slight bend in the center. Caster is a non issue on a trailer axle , as it's the vertical angle between an upper and lower king pin or ball joint setup. Some single axle setups incorporate some amount of toe in, in an attempt to help the trailer to track better. Toe in, would be where the center of the tire tread would be narrower than the rear tread. As for tweaking the camber, on most leaf spring axles there is no adjustment other than bending the axle. The Ford " twin I beam" axle is a good example of this.

[Welder Dave]

I meant to say camber but my fingers had a different idea.