I ordered the same toilet from one of their competitors and it did NOT come with the flange, so I'd guess they don't send one along either (just a guess), probably because there are 3 choices (threaded, male and female).
MarkR
Lightning RV in Lawrenceville has all sizes, lengths and shapes for RV toilet flanges. They have male and female. That is where I got mine. I would wait until you get the toilet. Just set it down and measure to see what kind of clearance. You will not have much clearance. The other thing you need to be aware of is when you screw the flange in it might not be perfectly level. I had to put a small piece of board with a couple of shims to level it. It was a smart move because it raised it a bit for a better seat. Nothing like having your knees touching your chin.
Thanks Guys. Think I'll wait for now. No really big rush.
Brian, I'm going to borrow another floor jack from a neighbor. Thanks for the offer. Wanna help put axles on early Saturday? (Just kidding, but come have a beer if ya want).
Jim
__________________
Can somebody remind Susan that I really do want bagpipes for Christmas?
I wish I could but I am picking my Airstream up from Applachee RV Saturday morning. I had them go through all the gas lines. They found two leaks. One was by the hot water heater and one was in the stove. I am so happy everything is tight and not leaking
I am also helping a buddy take out windows from his house. He is giving me the windows and they are new. He lives in Decatur and did not realize the historical society has to approve all renovations. His windows did not meet the historical criterea. They were special made and an Odd size. There is nothing he can do with them so he is giving them for me. I will put them in the pole building I am going to build. They are rated the best by Georgia power. I can't pass up that offer. If he does not do it I will come by. He is a Georgia football fan so he may elect to watch the game.
Hey Y’all, watch this, or My Version of the Great Axle Storey
So the axles are bought, delivered and installed. I promised a blow by blow account, so here goes.
Pricing--got three estimates from three different manufacturers, here they are.
OEM axles
$750 per axle 22.5--degree or 35 degree down angle
$201 Shipping (for both, IIRC, and this is the cheapest method , they would have to be shipped to a local business, other options were as much as $310)
???? Tax—I wasn’t clear if taxes applied to this transaction.
$1701 total for least cost method.
Axis Axles
$430 per axle
???? Shipping
$860 plus shipping total
Dexters
Delivered price was $860 and breaks down something like this.
$788 for two axles
$26 for EZ lub hubs
$46 tax
No shipping
Here’s a few more details. The Dexters and Axis’ axles are about the same price. I chose to go with the Dexters because a forum member here, that lives near us, used to own a utility trailer company. He knew all of the ins and outs, was able to explain how to measure, what to measure and even placed the order for me. Great guy. Also, there were no shipping charges for these axles because they were shipped to a Dexter facility in a town nearby.
We got #10 axles, rated at 3000lbs, with 32 degree down angle. We decided to go with the extra down angle to give us a little more ground clearance. The only disadvantage to the #10’s is that they come with 10” brakes instead of 12” like the OEM’s. Maybe a little less stopping power. Oh yea, we didn’t get shock mounts. The factory was temporarily out of stock on those for some reason. I’m going to cut the brackets off the old axles and Pizzachop and I will add them in a month or so. Ordering new is still an option if that looks like it’s not going to work.
I’m going to have more to say about this is little while, but I would like to ask everybody reading this not to start another axle war here in this thread. This is my trailer and this is the way I did it. You may have a completely different way of sticking new axles under your trailer. That’s cool. I can live with that. More in a bit.
Jim
__________________
Can somebody remind Susan that I really do want bagpipes for Christmas?
I’ll bet I’ve read ¾ of the axles threads on this forum and have never been able to figure out what and how to measure for new axles. Maybe this post will help explain how to do it.
The two most important measurements are the “Hub Face To Hub Face” and the “Mounting Bracket” measurement. After these two measurements are made, then you have to decide on a couple of options for your axle and you’re done.
To make the “hub to Hub” measurement, simply get a about a two foot carpenters level, place it horizontally across the face of the old axle where the lug bolts would normally be and level it up. Do the same thing on the other hub on the other side of the trailer. Take a tape measure and measure the distance between the bottom of the two levels and you’re done. (All of this assumes you have either removed the wheels from the axle or have removed the axle and wheels from the camper) Mine measured 80 3/8th inches. See picture one.
The Mounting Brackets are just what they sound like. The brackets that hold the axle to the frame of the camper. Again, another easy measurement. With the axle off the trailer (the best way to make this measurement) Simply measure from the outside of the bracket across to the outside of the other bracket at the other end of the axle. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good picture of this, so I’ll have to take one tomorrow in the daylight and post it. Mine measured 61 3/8th inches.
More in a few minutes.
Jim
__________________
Can somebody remind Susan that I really do want bagpipes for Christmas?
If you are going to order Dexter axles, then you need make a couple of specific requests.
1)Tell them you want “High Profile” and “reverse Orientation” mounting brackets. Apparently, this is because they don’t normally build them this way (but, I’m not an expert, so talk to your dealer about it first).
2)My trailer had 6 lug brake drums originally, so that’s what I ordered. I understand that “most” campers and utility trailers use 6 bolts these days, so that’s not really all that unusual (as opposed to 5 bolts like cars, light trucks and older campers)
Now decide what weight classification axle you want. Our ’73 had 2800 lbs axles originally. I stepped up to 3000 lbs axles because I may add a little extra weight with all of the real wood I’m putting in the cabinets, etc.
Down angle was originally 22.5 degrees, as stated earlier, I went with 32 degree to get another inch or so of height off the ground.
Dexter offers three types of hubs 1-standard, 2-EZ Lube, 3-Never lube. A standard hub is like the one on your car, you have to pull it off to get to the bearings. EZ lube allows you to just remove a little rubber boot to lube them. Never Lubes in theory never need to lubed again. We went with the EZ lubes. Every few years I can still remove the hubs and inspect the bearings with tearing stuff up. I’m not sure I really buy the idea that the Never Lubes really never need maintenance.
#10 vs #11 axles. We went with #10’s. The only real advantage I could see to getting #11’s was the larger brakes. The #11’s have a larger axle tube and may require that you enlarge the opening on your frame to get them to fit.
Remember, this is general information for our ’73. When you get ready to order yours, talk to a professional at you dealer.
Jim
__________________
Can somebody remind Susan that I really do want bagpipes for Christmas?
Installing these rascals can literally be a pain. If you buy OEMS, then you just slide them in and bolt them on. That’s it, you’re done. If you order non-OEM, then you will have to make a few modifications here and there. Here’s how we did it.
Present were Dad, my brother, son-in-law and me. (I’m gonna owe a lot of boon dockin’ fishin’ trips come spring) We took two floor jacks, set the axles on the jacks and lifted them into place. Make sure to set them on the jacks on the bottom of the mounting bracket. DON”T lift by the axle tube because it is possible to bend it and throw the axles out of alignment. Once in place, you will probably have to drill one or more holes to finish the job. On some of the ‘70’s era trailers, the front (or sometimes rear) mounting hole in the new axle match up with the original mounting hole on the frame of the camper. None of mine did, so we had to drill each hole new for both axles. The axles mount to the frame of the trailer with the axle tube set in a cutout in the frame of the trailer. Once you have them up in the cutout and square in the cutout, it will be obvious where you need to drill.
I used something called a “step bit”, several smaller and larger bits and a de-burr tool to clean up the new holes. It’s muscle work, for sure, so take you time and switch off with one of the other guys. Once the holes are in, bolt it up. We torqued them to 125 lbs. Not sure if that’s correct because I can’t find the spec in the shop manual.
Put the tires back on, then hook up the brakes. Don’t forget that you may have to adjust the brakes if they are drum type.
I may try to post a few pictures tomorrow, maybe not. That’s been done to death and besides, everything is put back together now. Let me know if you have questions.
Jim
__________________
Can somebody remind Susan that I really do want bagpipes for Christmas?
Well you got them done. How did the step up bits work? I took my trailer to a shop where they build trailers and asked them to check my brakes to make sure the drums were set correctly. They reset mine and you could tell they worked better.
I got mine back yesterday and there are no more gas leaks. I am ready to rock an roll next weekend.
Here's a couple of pic's of how I measured the axle mounting bracket (mentioned back in post 734). The axle has been removed from the trailer and placed upside-down to get a good measurement. If anybody has any further questions, let me know.
Jim
__________________
Can somebody remind Susan that I really do want bagpipes for Christmas?
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