New axles and subframe

[AMink]

What a PIA! After losing several tires and having odd wear on one that is still on there, I finally got my trailer alignment checked. It was off and determined that the right side of both axles are bent. They are Al-Ko torsion axles and cannot be fixed.



I get the new Dexter replacement axles ordered, also torsion, but with more drop to give me more room for my long planned (and short funded:-laf) upgrade to 16" E tires. They go to put the axles on and...



The sub frame that is welded to the main frame is cracked in several places. This is a rectangular box steel section and everywhere there is a weld is a crack that is at least 1" long. The plan is to remove the section on both sides, along with the bracket tabs for the axle attachment and the pieces that go from side to side and replace with heavier material. I was surprised to see how thin the walls were.



I suppose the existing material would have been fine on smooth pavement going in a straight line, but we use the trailer to camp in. Much of where we go is dirt road accessible and, let's face it, many of the paved roads are in worse condition than the dirt roads!



It bums me out that all this new "bling" is going where no one can see it, but the option of having a weld fail or a bracket break is not something I want to deal with.



Having structural pieces that wouldn't fail were things I took for granted when making our purchase. I know way more now than I did when we purchased the trailer in 2005 but must live with it for now.



Check those welds, brackets, sub-frames, hangers, etc. They do wear out and break. My buddy's hangers on his triple axle all ovaled out to the point of wearing through. One of his springs came loose. We caught it but it could have been a mess.

 

[HBarlow]

AMink,

I won't add to your concerns with further comments about Keystone trailers and Lippert frames. Everyone knows my opinion.

However, are you sure the Alko torsion arms can't be straightened? Alko products are not bad and torsion axles can definitely be bent to align or realign them - IF - the frame they are attached to has adequate strength to support the bending efforts required.

I had a triple axle 34' Airstream back in the '90s with a similar problem. It was wearing tires and I called Airstream. On their advice I took the trailer to a truck alignment and repair shop. The shop had me back the trailer out onto a long steel alignment platform over a recessed floor. The alignment tech worked from under the trailer and bent each stub axle using come alongs and hydraulic rams as needed to align each properly. The three axle/six axle stub alignment cost me $200 and solved my problem.

If the subframe of your trailer is so flimsy, flexible, and already cracked an attempt to align the stubs may simply bend the frame and accomplish very little. I can't comment on that challenge.

 

[AMink]

AMink,



I won't add to your concerns with further comments about Keystone trailers and Lippert frames. Everyone knows my opinion.



However, are you sure the Alko torsion arms can't be straightened? Alko products are not bad and torsion axles can definitely be bent to align or realign them - IF - the frame they are attached to has adequate strength to support the bending efforts required.



I had a triple axle 34' Airstream back in the '90s with a similar problem. It was wearing tires and I called Airstream. On their advice I took the trailer to a truck alignment and repair shop. The shop had me back the trailer out onto a long steel alignment platform over a recessed floor. The alignment tech worked from under the trailer and bent each stub axle using come alongs and hydraulic rams as needed to align each properly. The three axle/six axle stub alignment cost me $200 and solved my problem.



If the subframe of your trailer is so flimsy, flexible, and already cracked an attempt to align the stubs may simply bend the frame and accomplish very little. I can't comment on that challenge.

The trailer is a Forest River product; not sure who made the frame.



I was hoping they could bend the axles back but they said no. The shop is trailers only, well respected, the kind of place you feel comfortable in. Even if the axles could be straightened, I like the fact that the Dexters will be a little higher rating (500#/axle), they will give me a bit more clearance, and the subframe will be strengthened.



This trailer has to last so hopefully in the end it will be worth it. The next trailer purchase will include the knowledge I have gained here.

 

[jelag]

In the past when I've encountered a broken weld we've put an angle head grinder down the crack, and weld it back up... than grind it smooth and than go back over the weld with a piece of material, about 2/3 the same thickness as the base metal... we cover the weld at least 2" in all directions, and drill some 3/8" holes every 1" or so in a grid... we wire feed across the drilled holes to the existing metal to bind our patch to the existing metal and later weld the perimeter of the patch.

We've gone back 50K miles later and have found in all cases our patch held. .

My BIL just finished with a rebuild on his Moride (sp) axles at the factory... they full rebuilt his axles and later aligned the axles using shims instead of bending as suggested by Harvey. . I'd use either method myself, shims or bending to bring the alignment back where it belongs...

 

[AMink]

The other thing they are doing is baking the sub frame pieces longer so they will distribute weight over a longer surface. I'm sure there are several good ways to skin this cat. I'm just relieved that it will be better than it was.