My Axel Is Bent - Hmmm! Maybe That's OK.

[Waynem]

Today, I was "organizing" the basement for our upcoming trip this Sunday. I hate the fact that the service side doors do not prop open and the wind keeps banging them. I fixed that by using a bungee cord on the left door down to the landing gear. Just snug enough to keep it open but not hurt it. However, in the course of messing with the bungees I snapped two of them under the trailer. Well, of course Murphy's law was applied and they flew to "under" the middle of the trailer.

I got down on the ground and crawled under and then I NOTICED that the axles were bent. Now you have to remember that I just had four tires replaced and when I walked out to "supervise" I saw that they were jacking on the axles. I quickly stopped them and ahd them put the jacks close to the shackles.

Well, damage done now! So I called my favorite dealer technician, got his phone mail, and stated that I really needed to talk to him.

Wife calls on the phone - I inform her of the bent axles. Expletive not publishable.

Now I have met, broke bread with, and talk on the phone with JimF, so why not call and cry on his shoulder.

Me,"Hi Jim, my axles are bent." (I'm leaving out the finer words)
Jim, "They are supposed to be bent. They will be bent up in the middle ."
Me, "Huh!"

Well, for all the owners that have not crawled under and looked at the axles, I urge you to do so and you will see that the are bent up in the middle by about 1/2 inch or so (I measured from end to end, bottom of axle to ground - I now know the axles are supposed to be bent!) Thanks for calming me down Jim.

The dealer Technician was eavesdropping because as soon as I hung up with Jim, the phone rang. I told him that I had it under control and he asked what the problem was. So I told him that my axles were bent.

Technician,"They are supposed to be bent!"

Expletivessssss deleted.

[bigmurf]

It's called camber.

[LonnieB]

Yessir Wayne, they are supposed to have a crown in the middle. If it weren't there then you would have a problem, as the tread would wear rapidly on the inside edges. As bigmurph said, it's for camber on the wheels.

[Charlie]

Next time you see a big rig going down the highway with an unloaded flat bed trailer, take notice. The trailer will have a hump in the center.....same principle.

[skypilot]

Had the original 6K axles changed out to 7K last fall at TrailAire in Goshen -- they were replaced with Lippert axles and they are actually straight as best I can tell. I asked about the 'camber bend' as my original axles had and was told that Lippert does a straight axle and camber, etc., is adjusted at the end, I believe using shims. (Memory failing me on this part, guess I need to crawl under and take a look again). Regardless, no wear problems and now have 7K axles with disc brakes running TrailAire Center Point (air) suspension. However, back on topic, as Wayne and JimF noted - AlKo and Dexter have bends to their axles (at least the ones I've seen so far).

Safe travels to all - looks like this weekend is going to be a good one for getting out and enjoying our units!!!

[Waynem]

Skypilot,
That is what I was used to was shims to provide camber. Never dawned on me that they would bend an axle to do that.
Jim pointed out that some toy haulers turn their axles around to give them more height. Oh well!

[skypilot]

Wayne: I'm guessing Jim meant that they turn (move) their axles over on the springs (actually move them so that they hang below the spring instead of above them); this gives extra 2 to 5 inches of heigth to the trailer so it can hook up more level with higher 4X4 tow vehicles. If they truly turned the axles over, it would really mess up the camber (at least as I visualize it in my minds' eye). I helped a neighbor move his axles to under the springs several years ago -- was a royal pain but made his trailer ride much more level (before it was nose high which put a lot more weight on the rear tires of the trailer)....