Trailer axle questions

[JCasper]

You may have seen my thread asking about trailer couplers.



I now have a axle question.



We are thinking about building a 20' or so long deckover trailer. We want to stick with 2 axles, not 3 if possible and were planning on 10,000lb axles. My father-in-law really likes the Torflex axles. What are your thoughts? Their website says they have them up to 10,000lb capacity. I was thinking that and finding some G rated tires to be able to handle the weight. Possibly even going to 17. 5" wheels if need be.



TIA,



Joe

 

[Grizzly]

I don't mean to discourage you Joe and I do applaud your motivation, but why reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of good trailers out there that may be much cheaper then you can build one for.

 

[JCasper]

I don't mean to discourage you Joe and I do applaud your motivation, but why reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of good trailers out there that may be much cheaper then you can build one for.

Trust me, I tried getting him to just buy a PJ trailer. But this trailer is for my Father-in-law and he thinks it needs to be custom built to meet his needs. :-laf I don't always agree with him, but you can't change his mind very easily

 

[DennyDay]

JCasper - - The torque flex axles are easier to install, however on a trailer w/heavy axles an equalizer axle setup makes more sense unless you are going to always be on a flat surface. Even going into a driveway or into gas station the equalizer will provide for near equal loading of the tires and wheels. On the torque flex the individual tires are constantly taking the full weight of one side of the other tire is not taking any weight. I've bought a number of 24 foot Wells Cargo Trailers and insisted, following one error of having torque flex axles supplied, of always buying (extra $$) equalizer axels and an extended hitch

(60" long) I think you will be better served with an equalizer set up.



Denny

 

[Grizzly]

Trust me, I tried getting him to just buy a PJ trailer. But this trailer is for my Father-in-law and he thinks it needs to be custom built to meet his needs. :-laf I don't always agree with him, but you can't change his mind very easily

I understand Joe. Looks like you have your hands tied.

 

[Larry Willard]

My dislike of Torflex axles is if one gets bent it must be relaced, there is no adjusting them for alignment purposes by bending. I have replaced both of the axles on the 5er for this reason. As stated previously I don't think the have the same flexibility (droop)over uneven terrain as other choices, you can have a wheel off the ground on a driveway entrance.



Larry

 

[JCasper]

Thanks for the info guys. That was kinda my thinking. The equalizer setups distribute the weight between the tires better. I will try and convince him, but who knows

 

[JCasper]

I understand Joe. Looks like you have your hands tied.

You have no idea. Sometimes even common sense won't get through.



Oh, and lucky me. I'm going to work for him starting in 2 weeks. :-laf

 

[jelag]

Joe...

After all these years we've changed all our small axles to the torque flex (6K each) as all we were doing was fixing the lighter spring type axles... they just were not meant to stand up to every day use... .

Our dual tandem rated at 12K each are heavy commercial with hyd disc brakes... . we had to move to disc brakes because with 22K in trailer weight we just couldn't stop it with electric brakes in any kind of safe distance...

We've got several hundred thousand miles on the group. . and never have had a problem... with the 12K axles you get oil bath hubs... . a real plus... .

Our only problem was the cross over wires for the brakes... we finally took them off and changed all that to keep them from getting damaged... .

Hope this helps...

 

[AClayton]

JCasper,



I agree with jelag... . Tor-flex axles are among the very best axles for on-road use available. The key for a long and healthy life is like anything else... . do not overload and as mentioned in an earlier post... . keep trailer level front to rear. You simply cannot beat the on-road performance and ride characteristics,however,I do agree that when traversing rough and uneven terrain..... slow-moving Construction site driving at max-load... . you will certainly cause an axle to fail pre-maturely. As a dealer through Redneck-Trailer;I have never heard problems with the higher GVW axles before... . all positive. The commonly abused Tor-flex is the 3. 5K and 6K... . due to over-loading and improper coupler height. I see this alll the time on the roads... . the trailer is tonque high and the rear axle assumes the vast majority of the weight.



My own trailer is equiped with Tor-flex axles and I have never had problems in the 7 years I've been using it. With a leaf-sprung suspension,I'm confident that at least once the spring bushings and shackles and bolts would have needed replacing. I'm aware of the cost of minor parts on leaf-type suspensions vs. a whole axle replacement when using a Tor-flex , but I'll take the chance over and over again , when you consider the much better ride and trailering manners.



If you do wisely choose the Tor-flex axles,also consult the installation manual..... Mounting these axles to the frame require different brackets for the type of frame you decide to use. Box-tubing uses a different mounting bracket than C-channel. I'm assuming C-channel would be your frame of choice with the GVW you described.





Alan

 

[RRB]

I have a 22k lb 25' gooseneck Gatormade. Bought it 2yrs old... . looks new for $6k. Oil bath axles are leaps and bounds above anything I've ever had. I think they'll out last me. The best part of the trailer is the dual wheel dual axle set-up. The dual wheel not only gives you the payload but on narrow country roads, it eliminates the problem of meeting traffic and the outside tire being inches from the ditch and you have a full load on the trailer. Inches away from loosing the whole rig... . just too much stress for me. I'll never have a single tire set-up again on an equipment trailer.

 

[RBROOKS]

casper, sounds like your getting some good advice, when you decide(or before) call auto wheel in portland and get one of their catalogs, it will give you most of your options and as you have a business you can probably get a business discount, they deliver every day in our area and the price is pretty good. sounds like your fil knows what he wants and probably is not going to change, if you have trouble finding someone to build it for you i can point you at someone there that will do a good job if you can get him to do it(he is old and lazy like me) you probably have my number and it will give you my cell #, call or email anytime---rich

 

[HBarlow]

My dislike of Torflex axles is if one gets bent it must be relaced, there is no adjusting them for alignment purposes by bending. I have replaced both of the axles on the 5er for this reason. As stated previously I don't think the have the same flexibility (droop)over uneven terrain as other choices, you can have a wheel off the ground on a driveway entrance.

Larry

That's not entirely correct. They can be "aligned" by bending by a good truck alignment shop. Major damage to stub axles would probably require replacement though.

Several years ago I had a triple axle 34' Airstream travel trailer that wore its OEM GY Marathon tires unevenly. I took it to a truck alignment shop and backed it onto a long steel alignment platform over a pit that was plumb and level. The alignment tech got under the trailer and bent several of the six stub axles using hydraulic jacks and chains depending on the direction he determined the axles needed to be bent.

The alignment cured the uneven tire wear.

 

[AClayton]

That's not entirely correct. They can be "aligned" by bending by a good truck alignment shop. Major damage to stub axles would probably require replacement though.



Several years ago I had a triple axle 34' Airstream travel trailer that wore its OEM GY Marathon tires unevenly. I took it to a truck alignment shop and backed it onto a long steel alignment platform over a pit that was plumb and level. The alignment tech got under the trailer and bent several of the six stub axles using hydraulic jacks and chains depending on the direction he determined the axles needed to be bent.



The alignment cured the uneven tire wear.

I have never heard of this fix for Tor-flex axles. I can logically see how it could be done but have never read or heard of this before. Do they somehow stabilize the leverage bar that the stub is welded to... . and then cold press the actual stub axle into place?



Alan

 

[Grizzly]

Joe, Is this the Torflex axle your considering:



http://www.nuera-air.com/medias/PDF/EN/p055.pdf



Harvey, these are pre-cambered axle and pre-cambered axles can not be adjusted by bending as you described.



In 1995 I towed my then, 29' 5th wheel to Alaska. Because of the rough Alcan Hwy, at the time, and because of the fact that my pre-cambered axles weren't strong enough for my 1988 HR Alumilite 5er, the axles had bent and caused uneven tire wear by the time we got to Fairbanks. I took it to truck alignment shop with an alignment platform over a pit. The alignment mechanic tied the axles (one at a time) to the platform with chains and used a bottle jack to put some bend on the axle in the right places as you described. Well everything looked good and we set off to Anchorage about 250/300 miles away. While in Anchorage I noticed that the axles had bent again. On the way home one of the axles broke and I had to have it replaced. The truck shop ordered a new axle, which was the same as the broken one. He told me that a pre-cambered axle can not be re aligned by bending it. After that I had to get 4 new tires for the 5er. As soon as we got home I had the other axle replaced at an RV shop that I have great confidence in. They told me the same thing, that you can not re align a pre-cambered axle.



Maybe I missed something here and I'm talking two different things.

 

[DF5152]

Dont want to hijack the thread but am considering a new trailer purchase and the torsion axles are a 1000. 00 option is this the same as a torque flex is it worth the money on a 24-28 foot enclosed car trailer? axles will be in the 3500-5200# range...

 

[AClayton]

Dont want to hijack the thread but am considering a new trailer purchase and the torsion axles are a 1000. 00 option is this the same as a torque flex is it worth the money on a 24-28 foot enclosed car trailer? axles will be in the 3500-5200# range...

On an enclosed trailer of that size and the potential weight of a car added,I would consider nothing less than 5200K axles..... torsion or leaf-sprung. I would take the plunge and opt for the torsion axles for the better road manners and ride quality. Adjust hitch height to keep trailer level after load is placed on trailer..... very important!!



Alan

 

[steved]

I was told to shy away from the torflex axles by a guy selling trailers with them. Stated they have a finite life span before they start to sag and definitely do not like to be overloaded.