Bent axle

[Ruth]

I talked to an axle guy, when I said Apache he knew what I was talking about, the ones with hard sides. Turns out he had an Apache and knew others that did including the guy just down the street I got mine from.

He told me Apaches are garbage and the axles and brakes cause nothing but trouble.. heavy trailers with hard walls on a small axle, not a 'tent trailer' which is what the axle they have is meant for.... :?

At least he told me how it can be fixed, he also said the axle dosn't need to flex on a trailer that has springs BUT a mounting bracket isn't right.

Hey Parkland, I'm sure you repeated dude's comment because you were so upset about it!! (What a tacky thing for him to say to you.) Anyway, if I were you, I would also kind of hold off and replace the axle later. Keep your eyes open, if you come across a "junker" trailer of any brand, check out the axle for size and condition. Yah never know what you might find, maybe even for free!!

[jtslj]

I just picked up a "junker" trailer for my Dad on Monday.. he is going to rebuild it to haul his 4 wheelers behind his 30' fifth wheel

He paid $50 for the trailer
and $58 for newer tires for the trailer so it would make the trip to his house.

[Parkland]

Yes, Im going to leave the axle how it is. If I find one that will fit for almost nothing i'll take it. The people before me had been using the axle like that for who knows how long because it had a blow out ( i asume caused from the axle being bent) and got a new set of tires and the inside is worn down alot.

[Ruth]

Just be careful with those tires! Check them every time you stop, check the air pressure too. Ok?? Carry a decent spare. Did you see the skid plates farther up? I'm going to keep my eyes open for some for my trailer.

[cobbfmly]

One note on the skid plates.  If you have them, be very careful about using unpaved pullouts.  One that we took had to high an edge and when getting back on the road we hit the edge at an odd angle and jarred on of the brackets off of the skid.  At our lunch stop, my husband had to get under the trailer and put it all back together again.

One thing we did learn, in California, if there is a sign for an upcoming pullout, it WILL be paved.  If you see unpaved pullouts, these are not "official" pullouts.

[Parkland]

Im going to get new tires for it. They should last for how long it's going to be towed. Maybe 5 hours in total this year.

[kdogzx7]

Dusted off this oldie but a goodie, hoping there was some more input out there. In AL on the way to FL, got out to hook up the apache today and noticed the tires especially on the drivers side were off camber and worn badly on the inside edge. Haven't had any issues up till now. Towed her 5000 miles all over the west a month ago and over some pretty rough stuff.
There in lies my question, we didn't do any interstate driving on that trip and we are hauling way less stuff on this trip.
Would a good whack from a pothole bend the axle or could I have bent it by jacking the trailer up to work on it?
Most times I lift on the frame and put jack stands under it but I did jack up under the axle to put the wheels back on.
I don't see any adjustment on the axle can they be adjusted and something is just out of alignment?
Thanks all!!!

[medicmike5969]

kdogzx7,

Yes a good bump in the road can bend an axle. No, there is NO adjustment for them. There are some axle shops that can & will straighten them, BUT it cost as much if not more than just replacing the axle assembly. I was quoted $350 to adjust my camber on both sides & to re-toe them back to the left to straighten them out & for that same amount I was able to put a 2700# axle with new brakes under it. They might straighten out the spindles (where that tires ride on), BUT they don't put that camber bow that Timsh was talking about in the beginning of this post back in it. So what will happen is that the axle WILL DEFINITELY BEND AGAIN. So if your's is bent, REPLACE it! Eastern Marine carries both the 2000 # (which is equal to OEM, except the spindles) & the 2700# axle (which is heavier than OEM).

Good Luck.

Mike

[Desert Satanna]

Axle replacement may certainly be a viable option. Plan this well.

I was always under the impression that the OEM axles were rated at 2500#. So, when I wanted to convert to electric brakes on a '76 Ramada, I looked towards the 2700# axle from Eastern Marine.
 
I also considered Dexter, but according to their catalog, their axle was only rated at 2200#.

MedicMike lays out a feasible way to replace both axle and brakes elsewhere on this site. Be prepared for a bit of modification, though, to make it work.

Neither of the axles above come with brake mounting plates installed, so you'll have to have this done if you're not a welder. I'm not a welder. Also, I found out you need to "grind" down the ratcheting tab a little to make things fit - which means if things don't work out, you can't return the stuff, since you've modified it.

I ran into problems with this approach. However, as I mentioned before, I don't have the experience or necessary skills to make this work for me. 

Frustrated, I spoke again to a sales rep from Eastern Marine, who suggested yet another option. Consult the following part numbers:
5500016 (axle, with brake flanges pre-installed)
5237120 (brake assembly, left)
5237121 (brake, assembly, right)
5237122 (hub) (2 needed)
5266056(?) (leaf springs - not sure if these are the right ones) (2 needed)

This provides a 3500# axle assembly with electric brakes. It also gives you a bigger braking surface (the brakes are 8.5 x 2.25). Yet, according to the site in regards to the hubs, it states "CAN BE USED WITH 20.5 x 8 x 10 WITH 5 LUG WHEEL". So you can still keep the original size wheels.

The bad news? It's going to cost you around $600, before taxes and shipping...

Side note: I will have to reexamine the brake assemblies and hubs I purchased - perhaps that kit will work with a new 3500# axle....

[kdogzx7]

Thanks for the input guys.
I'm in pensacola right now and was directed to Eddie English boat trailers. GREAT GUYS!!!!
My axle was indeed bent so they put me together an axle package that allowed me to use my eom brakes, since I spent so much time getting them working.
They put a 3500 pound tube under it and went up to 1 1/6 easy lube spindles. So essentially I have a 2200ish the original was probably closer to 1800 no matter what the are rated at and that was 35 years ago!!!!
Anyway problem solved and I don't have to worry about any issues for the life of my camper. Oh and one more bonus. Moore packing bearing for me!!!!!! Which is nice course we did 5000 mile last month I don't feel like doing it once a month ;-)

[Redwood]

Where on your axel was it bent?

[kdogzx7]

Hey redwood answered
  you in your thread about the slant.

[Redwood]

Kdog,
Thanks for the information, hopefully I'll find out whats wrong this week end. I hope I don't have to replace the axel as you did. But if I do I still got a good price on my Roamer.