Axle Question

[lawdog]

I am again looking at getting a 40' g'neck race car enclosed trailer. I spoke to a dealer today that can get an Exiss, all aluminum model with tandem 7000 lb axles with he said 12 ply tires. Is this enough axle for a 40' trailer. A friend said go heavy on the axles as most come with triple 5000 lb axles. The dealer said that the Tandem will actually be easier on the trailer becasue it is not skidding the tires all the time like a triple ???





Exiss trailers



Any thought or opinions on this brand of trailer?



Thanks

 

[lawdog]

Here are some specs... .



MACH 10 FA 102-40 TA





Specifications

Interior width: 98"

Stalls: N/A

Interior Height: 81 3/4"

Overall Outside width: 8' 5 5/16"

Overall Box Length: 32'

Stall Width: N/A

GVWR: 14000

Empty weight: N/A

Tongue weight: N/A

back







Standard Features

Construction & Exterior Features

. 040 white or black pre-painted, baked on enamel aluminum exterior finish

1 5/8" x 3" side posts

7'8" gooseneck length

Four - 16" 8 hole steel modular wheels with 14 ply radial tires

Interlocking extruded aluminum planked floor with 2"X4" I-beams on 16" centers

Kingpin with 2 5/16" adjustable coupler, breakaway switch, battery, and slip hook safety chains

Single piece aluminum roof

Two - 7000# rubber torsion axles with electric brakes on all wheels





Motorsports Features

14" x 14" crank up roof vent with A/C prep

44 X 76" motorsports side door

5' internal beaver tail

7-way 12-volt male connector

Aluminum fenders

Bogie wheels

Four - stainless steel, recessed "D" tie downs

Four-12 volt dome lights with wall switch

Full width/height cable asist ramp with padlock latches and 17" aluminum flap ramp extension

Innovative top rail with drip track

Pre-framed for generator door on street side

Stainless front corners and treadplate gravel guard up 24" on front

 

[bulabula]

I've got three axles on my boat trailer and firmly agree with your dealer. Next time I'll go with larger tandems.



You should see the major skid marks where I park it; and you can easily hear the tires skidding when I'm backing it into position. I worry about side shear ripping off the lugs/wheels like its happened to a couple of friends with 3 axle trailers.



How much does a loaded 40' enclosed trailer weigh? Thinking if it had two 7,000 lb axles, and 2000'ish pin weight, GVWR for it would have to be around 16k. And yeah, I'd have tires rated for 3500 lbs each.

 

[lawdog]

Thanks,

I just saw when I posted the specs that it has a GVWR of 14k with 2 7000 axles and 14 ply tires..... Sounds beefy.

I am only going to be hauling Snowmobiles and race gear inside. I will add my own interior and cabinets (can't afford the real nice aluminum jobs... ... . )

 

[JJW_ND]

8K axles????

If you want more weight carring capacity, see if Exis does 8K axles. Wheel bolt pattern is the same, just a much wider brake hub. This causes the trailer manf. to add a inner fender around the bigger brake hubs.



We swithced to 8k on all our gooseneck trailers, have much better brakes. We also went to 17. 5 tires which you can get up to 16 ply (over 4000lb per tire rating). No wheel flex with heavier loads (less trailer bounch). You can get 17. 5 tires that are not as tall as 16" tires if needed.



The 16K rating coupled with 3/4T or 10K rated 1T keeps it under the 26K CDL.



jjw

ND

 

[lawdog]

The GVWR is not a problem with overloading, I just want a trailer that tows good and does not sway like my current tag trailer. The current one I feel has too little axle with tandem 3000lb. I load snowmobiles (2) one forward of the axles, a little kids one on the axles and a generater and heater/40 lb propane bottle behind the axles by the back door. Cooler, tools, chairs, gear bags, everything else in front of sleds in the front of trailer. Last weekend in the wind, tail was wagging the dog. .



I am told that the g'neck will tow totally different than a tag as well, I just want a good trailer as it will be hopefully the last. .

This is current set-up but truck now has a cap as well.

 

[lawdog]

I just went to General Trailer, the bigest RV place around here to check on Sway bars for the current trailer. BAD NEWS. They said There is No where to attach due to trailer construction...

well I may have to look more seriously into a new one

 

[ropinfool2]

Exiss is a decent trailer manufacturer, one of the top 5. I would have them add an onboard battery with charge wire as well. If you don't get this option, you'll only have interior lights when the trailer is hooked up and the truck is running. Some even wire it to the running lights! Have the dealer do a nationwide search, you may just find a trailer built with all the bells and whistles for a show, sitting at the manuf. or another dealer at the price of a plain jane. I've done that for customers before. Of course if he has one on the lot he wants to get rid of he may not be willing to do that. Good luck. John

 

[lawdog]

Ropinfool,

Do you know anything about U. S. Cargo trailers. I know they are steel, but I can get more for the money..... The Exiss just went up 5. 5% so now its over $15,000 OTD and that is bare stripped inside, absolutely noting but wall studs and outer skin.



44 ft US Cargo with triple AXles is still under $11,000



?????

 

[MikeParker]

Exiss is a well built unit and i think aluminum is the only way to go, especially up here in the salty north. Many steel trailers are not even painted underneath.

 

[ropinfool2]

Hello Lawdog, I am not familiar with U. S. Cargo so no help there. As MikeParker said steel trailers in the areas where salt is used, rust. And he is also correct that the undercarriage is normally overlooked at the factory. All I can tell you is a 44' steel trailer is going to be HEAVY!! The aluminum will be lighter, probably not a lot but some. The aluminum will never rust, although there are steel components that will. You don't have to worry about paint, unless it has the painted sides. Have you checked the other aluminum manufacturers?? The final decision will be yours and you will have to make it based on what it is you are looking for and how much you can afford. If you are going to finance it, $4000 difference is not a lot in the payment. Steel is good, will last a long time if taken care of, but it does require more attention. When I was in the business, I had a 4 horse gn (Sooner) as a demo, it was lighter than my personal trailer which was a 2 horse bumper pull (Steel Circle J) and it pulled 1000% better!! Good luck to you. John

 

[CATCRACKER]

law,



get a dually and a gooseneck you will forget its back there and have a fine towing rig with extra safety. sounds like you have kids with you so i would be as safe a possible and get training wheels it sounds like you need them

 

[lawdog]

Training wheels may be in order, but not until 2007. . This truck is a rental (Lease) SO I have it for a while. If I get a big trailer, I know the 315's are gonna go for some stock tires... .

 

[LDPetersen]

I'd try Gold Medal trailers in Merrill, Wi. about 150 miles from you. Lots of horse friend go there for good deals on Featherlites. Call first. Not sure if they sell all kinds of trailers. How about Featherlite of Mn. Elko,Mn. Also Featherlite factory is about 120 miles south of you on the Iowa border. Cresco ,Iowa. on Hiway 63.

 

[Loren]

lawdog,



Here's something to try that might save you a lot of money.



Most trailers sway because the center of gravity is too close to the axles. It needs to be well forward of them. This is measured by tongue weight. The heavier the tongue weight, the more stable the trailer and the less sway you will have. Notice the axle locations on semi-trailers. Their tongue weights can be over 20,000 pounds, but they sure are stable. I've never seen one of them swaying down the road like some of the RV's I've followed.



This is why fifth-wheel and gooseneck trailers tow well. They have very large tongue weights compared to a tag-along trailer. If you get a gooseneck, you'll like the way it tows.



Before you spend that money, however, why don't you try moving everything in your tag-along forward. If you can get most of the weight in that trailer ahead of the axle without overloading your hitch, you'll increase the trailer's stability and decrease the swaying.



If you're looking for a reason to buy a gooseneck, ignore this message (and don't let the wife see it). LOL.



Loren

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by lawdog

Training wheels may be in order, but not until 2007. . This truck is a rental (Lease) SO I have it for a while. If I get a big trailer, I know the 315's are gonna go for some stock tires... .

I run 315s and tow a 36ft 5th wheel - haven't had any problems with the D range tires.



Brian

 

[lawdog]

Being the friendly local Motor Carrier Officer that I am, I brought home my portable scales last weekend and this is what I came up with... ... The trailer has 3 snowmobiles inside with the empty space at the rear, basically 1 in the front, 1 partially on axles but mostly forward and 1 on axles and rearward. Full tank of fuel in truck with cap installed. Axles are counted from front to rear. .

Axle weights:

1: 3950 lbs

2: 4375 lbs

3: 2150 lbs

4: 1900 lbs



total (12375)



Weight on tongue jack (Jacked trailer off truck) 900 lbs



truck no trailer attached

1: 4250 lbs

2: 3200 lbs



total (7450)



with the trailer attched it is increasing rear axle weight 1175 lbs and decreasing fronta axle weight by 300 lbs.



The trailer has tandem 3000 lb axles and the hitch is rated at 6000 lbs max. It does not specify how much tongue weight it can have.