Lift kit for Argosy Minuet?

[MrSalt]

Hi all.

I intend to ordering a new axle soon for my '77 6 meter minuet. (as of yet unnamed...) Has anyone put the 3" Dexter axle lift kit on their minuet?

Long back-story made short:
I bought this camper back in 2003 or so. Used it a ton, as I do art shows for a living. I'd end up rebuilding the drain valves and such every year because of its posterior dragging across something or other. Always parking in odd parking lots and strange places... Didn't do much else to it, didn't have the money or brainspace.

Five years ago, too many life changes were happening and I gave the camper to a friend. He just gave it back. I'm reworking the interior... and I really don't want to beat the trailer to death with its old axle, and I'd like to have decent clearance.

I was thinking of the 22º down axle, with the 3" lift. I know I'd get a bit of lift going to the 35º angle, but I'm not sure that's truly enough for the adventures ahead...

any thoughts?

(and I've searched the forum fairly obsessively, but haven't found anyone talking about the lift on a minuet...)

thanks, y'all
Matthew

[Eric 26 Argo]

When I put my new axles on I got 3" of height right away. You may want to put the axles on first and then revisit a lift. Not saying you will get that much height either but I wouldn't be two quick to do it all at once. Just saying, good luck.

[MrSalt]

Hi Eric - that sounds sensible, and a place to start. I'm worried about having enough height, but no matter what I'll have more than now. My only hesitation is doing things twice, considering I usually barely have the time to do it the first once...

Definitely looking forward to having the camper more functional. Simple things like having a blueboy being able to fit under the camper.

[overlander64]

Greetings Matthew!

Welcome back to the world of Vintage Minuet ownership!

I don't know whether your experience might parallel mine or not, but I had a new axle installed on my Minuet in about 2004, and that was with maximum down angle -- the result was an increase of ride height of about 2" -- not really enough to solve the coach's tendency to drag the rear plumbing when negotiating steep driveways and parking lot obstructions. I wish that they would have had the option of adding additional lift back then as it would certainly make towing the Minute less stressful in urban environments.

The only downside that I know of with adding additional height is that the original portable step may not be high enough if the total lift is more than 3".


Kevin

[MrSalt]

Hi Kevin!

Man, I really missed my Argosy. Glad she's back! Thanks for your thoughts.

The more I look into it, I think I'm most likely going to go for the lift. "Urban environments" is, unfortunately, the majority of our camper stays so I need to build her for that. I'm going to double check a few measurements from info on the 22' Sport lift thread, to get a comparison first, but...
I think I'd rather have a bigger step into the camper than rebuild the sewage system yet one more time.

Side note:
About a year and a half ago, I built a little cargo trailer/camper combo for the sake of size and ease... in the first year my wife and I stayed in it 120 nights. Which is why I jumped on the chance of getting the Argosy back. We sleep great in the "SleepBox" (the little cargo/camper thing) but if we're on the road that much it's time for amenities!

I'll start a thread on the project when I have a bit more time.

[Buickman]

Great that you got your old Argosy back, congrats.

Just curious, does adding a lift create any problems with sway?

[MrSalt]

Originally Posted by Buickman

Great that you got your old Argosy back, congrats.

Just curious, does adding a lift create any problems with sway?

Thanks! I'm ridiculously excited. She'll get a lot of use.

While I can't answer about sway directly since I haven't done it yet, obsessive reading of the forums hasn't shown me anyone who added the lift kit and been disappointed in their results. Usually, the only complaint I see is needing a bigger step to get into the camper...

[Buickman]

Have done some searching here and not finding any reports of swaying due to adding a lift so may consider it in the future. Since we will be towing at times with our '79 Buick estate wagon, I will need to check the height of it's hitch though.

Hope to see you on the Argosy highway.

[overlander64]

Greetings Buickman!

Originally Posted by Buickman

Have done some searching here and not finding any reports of swaying due to adding a lift so may consider it in the future. Since we will be towing at times with our '79 Buick estate wagon, I will need to check the height of it's hitch though.

Hope to see you on the Argosy highway.

Unless you must use the same hitch head with multiple tow vehicles, it is comparatively easy to configure a hitch head with as much as an 8 to 10 inch rise or drop with components available directly through an authorized dealer for the brand hitch head that you are using. For instance, with my Suburban, I need an 8 inch drop with both my Airstream and Argosy -- with the Cadillac a 5 inch rise is needed for correct hitch height on the trailers. The only thing to consider with your station wagon is that with a rise of a certain height, it may become dangerous to drop the tailgate with the hitch head installed as the surface of the tailgate could possible contact the hitch head or ball.

Good luck with your investigation!

Kevin

[MrSalt]

Minor update -
Still waiting for the final invoice, but I've ordered a new axle from Colin Hyde, with the lift kit. I bumped it up to the #11 axle for the bigger breaks, and upped the rating on the axle, from the original 3200# to 3700# as I know it'll be loaded often, and I was worried about overloading it. Pretty excited.

Eric 26 Argo - I realized that I'm betting the height I'm looking for is including the lift kit. In hopes of not doing things twice, I'm just going for it. I don't entirely have the time to do it the first time... I'll update with results, of course.

Note: hoping to rebuild the frame next year. Just can't this year, but I want that question gone, too.

Went out to the camper this week (no room on my property) to check a few things. Looking at my current axle, I'd say the angle is currently at about 15º... upwards!

cheers -
Matthew

[Eric 26 Argo]

Please post a picture once everything is installed. I will be interested in the final ride height. Are you going to by the additional parts to add a second step at your entrance?

[bambibooth]

Hey MrSalt, I don't have a Minuet but I have an Argosy 24 that I did the lift kit on, along with new axles.

Since I installed them as seen in this post on my blog, I have taken the trailer down quite a few roads that another trailer would have bottomed out on.
https://www.tincanplan.com/2018/03/1...e-replacement/

The lift kit really helps out on forest roads and even speed bumps. Throughout the miles I traveled, I didn't notice any difference in sway or gas mileage.

If you have any particular questions, I can likely answer them.

B

[MrSalt]

Originally Posted by bambibooth

Hey MrSalt, I don't have a Minuet but I have an Argosy 24 that I did the lift kit on, along with new axles.

Since I installed them as seen in this post on my blog, I have taken the trailer down quite a few roads that another trailer would have bottomed out on.
https://www.tincanplan.com/2018/03/1...e-replacement/

The lift kit really helps out on forest roads and even speed bumps. Throughout the miles I traveled, I didn't notice any difference in sway or gas mileage.

If you have any particular questions, I can likely answer them.

B

Thanks, bambibooth!

I received my axle from Colin Hyde last Monday. Today I did the install of the lift kit and the new axle (12" electric brakes, #11 axle de-rated to 3700 lbs). It took me just shy of five hours doing it myself, in the storage lot I rent. (AKA gravel and mud + cardboard to lay on for that time.)

All went really well. Only snafu was that I now need lugnuts instead of the lugbolts I had... Going to see what size I need and track that down tomorrow so I can actually put the wheels back on.

Wiring the brakes, and attaching the shocks tommorow... if I get the lugnuts.

Thanks for the help and thoughts, y'all. I may post more on the install - if I do I'll either do it here or leave a link.

[MrSalt]

Originally Posted by bambibooth

Hey MrSalt, I don't have a Minuet but I have an Argosy 24 that I did the lift kit on, along with new axles.

Since I installed them as seen in this post on my blog, I have taken the trailer down quite a few roads that another trailer would have bottomed out on.
https://www.tincanplan.com/2018/03/1...e-replacement/

The lift kit really helps out on forest roads and even speed bumps. Throughout the miles I traveled, I didn't notice any difference in sway or gas mileage.

If you have any particular questions, I can likely answer them.

B

Hey there -
Axle is on, and looks good... but I'm wondering about the wheels. In your blog you mentioned that your wheels didn't fit. Was it the 6 lug vs 5? Mine fit on the lugs, but I'm a bit unsure of the offset. Looks like they could be sitting in a bit more, and the lugnuts don't seem to be grabbing as much of the bolts as seems comfortable. I could have done some measurements, but it was about 34º when I was finished and I was pretty wiped out. (and I only had to do one axle!)

Two photos for before and after...

I'm pretty happy with it, but wondering if new rims are needed...

[bambibooth]

MrSalt,

I had the 6 lug axle/wheels.

The reason my wheels didn't fit on the new axles was the diameter of the center hole was not large enough. I think they call it the center pilot hole...

The wheels would "fit" but they wouldn't slide all the way back on the center hub. It seemed that the OLD axles had a center hub thing that was flat, while the new axles had a center hub thing that got bigger towards the back.

I had a similar problem of the lug nuts not going all the way on. Once I got the new wheels, with a 4.25" diameter hole, they were able to slide all the way back to the brake/drum assembly. Does that make sense?

Originally Posted by MrSalt

Hey there -
Axle is on, and looks good... but I'm wondering about the wheels. In your blog you mentioned that your wheels didn't fit. Was it the 6 lug vs 5? Mine fit on the lugs, but I'm a bit unsure of the offset. Looks like they could be sitting in a bit more, and the lugnuts don't seem to be grabbing as much of the bolts as seems comfortable. I could have done some measurements, but it was about 34º when I was finished and I was pretty wiped out. (and I only had to do one axle!)

Two photos for before and after...

I'm pretty happy with it, but wondering if new rims are needed...

[MrSalt]

Originally Posted by bambibooth

MrSalt,

I had the 6 lug axle/wheels.

The reason my wheels didn't fit on the new axles was the diameter of the center hole was not large enough. I think they call it the center pilot hole...

The wheels would "fit" but they wouldn't slide all the way back on the center hub. It seemed that the OLD axles had a center hub thing that was flat, while the new axles had a center hub thing that got bigger towards the back.

I had a similar problem of the lug nuts not going all the way on. Once I got the new wheels, with a 4.25" diameter hole, they were able to slide all the way back to the brake/drum assembly. Does that make sense?

Bambibooth --

That makes perfect sense, and I suspect that's exactly my issue as well. I'll be back out at the camper in the next day or two, and will double-check. At the time, I was just happy to get the Argosy back on the ground.

As I'd been thinking about it, I had ben wondering if I needed offset rims, but this seems like the simpler answer.

Thank you.

[MrSalt]

New wheels ordered!

...right now those wheels will be the cleanest looking thing on the outside of the Argosy!