Axle help needed Eau Claire, Wi.

[on-a-roll]

Attached is a photo of one of my swing arm positions. They are down to 5 or so degrees after a very short time and road use. The other 3 are similar. I purchased two such axles a little more than a year ago for my '74 Argosy 22, dual axle. They were the 32 degree arms. 2800 pound axles is what the vendor specified for my Argosy 22. My trailer fully loaded is 4800 pounds. Max load factory spec on the Id tag is 5800 pounds. The trailer now sits so low and close to the rear tire the wheel well actually made contact with the tire at some point bending the metal of the trailer. The trailer has settled considerably. I have a few thousand miles on the new axles. This can not be normal for the axles to give way after such a short period of time. What can I do? I am traveling, now in Wisconsin. Will a lift kit work as a temporary fix? Do I need new axles? Should new axles be a higher rated pair?

I am traveling for the next year in this trailer. Currently in Eau Claire, Wi. Does anyone have a recommended person or business I can contact for assistance?

Thanks.

Any help appreciated. The closest airstream dealer in Minneapolis does not service older trailers or axles.

[CBWELL]

I would contact the vendor that you purchased from. The wheel is very close to tthe body in the picture, and that is not good. Did you change tire size? There is no reason that I know of that would cause such a drastic change in such a short time. Is everything bolted in the original spot, and who did the axle change? Keep us informed as to the outcome of this please. Chris

[Action]

Based on the data you provided the combined axles are rated for 5600 #s and the GVWR is 5800 #'s. You are a bit light in load capacity. If you only load to 4800 #s that would be a good thing. And a scale weighing may be in order is you have not done so already.

The other thing about rubber torsion axle springs..... It is a use it or lose it type of situation. Unfortunately the design is such that with out some movement, the rubber inside will harden up. In two years???? I suppose anything is possible.

Having a professional inspect the trailer and axle is a good recommendation!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by Action

Based on the data you provided the combined axles are rated for 5600 #s and the GVWR is 5800 #'s. You are a bit light in load capacity. If you only load to 4800 #s that would be a good thing. And a scale weighing may be in order is you have not done so already.

The other thing about rubber torsion axle springs..... It is a use it or lose it type of situation. Unfortunately the design is such that with out some movement, the rubber inside will harden up. In two years???? I suppose anything is possible.

Having a professional inspect the trailer and axle is a good recommendation!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

Professional inspection is a good idea, however, one must subtract the tongue weight from the GVWR to get the max load the axles are carrying. Assuming a 12% tongue weight against a 5800# GVWR, I get 696# on the tongue, leaving 5104 on the axles. That gives nearly 250# of margin on each axle. Seems a reasonable setup. Airstream does that a lot. My Classic 30 is similarly configured.

That said, it would seem that the axles have deflected way more than I would expect.

Al

[AlinCal]

Here is some info..http://www.dexteraxle.com/docs/defau...n.pdf?sfvrsn=6

When I installed my axles the bolt hole centers where slightly off from the original and therefore I had a choice to move the axle forward or aft and to pick the one hole center and then modify the remaining hole. This gave me the choice to create more room on one side of the tire or the other.
Your installation looks like that may have been overlooked and the axle was moved towards the fender well.

My original axles were 3200lbs per the tag and installed 3500lbs per tag as req. by InlandRV.

[Action]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

Professional inspection is a good idea, however, one must subtract the tongue weight from the GVWR to get the max load the axles are carrying. Assuming a 12% tongue weight against a 5800# GVWR, I get 696# on the tongue, leaving 5104 on the axles. That gives nearly 250# of margin on each axle. Seems a reasonable setup. Airstream does that a lot. My Classic 30 is similarly configured.

That said, it would seem that the axles have deflected way more than I would expect.

Al

I understand the math and reasoning behind it. And the user states the actual load is less than all of that.

However I have discovered the RV world to be a little like my body. Over extended periods of time the actual load increases. For that reason, if it were me, I would have ordered axles that exceeded the GVWR by about 10 to 15 percent. In addition RV manufacturers in past history have danced on the edge of how light they can get the running gear and still make the design work. (I have seen this too many times in the area of tire load capacity) Some times the RV manufacture will fall off of the edge. Especially with trailers built in the 1970s and 1980s. And Airstream wasn't the healthiest RV manufacturer in the 1970s.

Again just my opinion about axle replacement. I would agree that based on the pictures and the stated installation of 2 years ago it doesn't look good. Before any conclusion can be made some more investigation is needed.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[TG Twinkie]

The ride height looks good.
Is it my imagination or do you have that axle mounted backwards. It looks to me like the swing arm is facing the steps which I believe are in front of the axles. But maybe it's just me.

[TG Twinkie]

Just realized the 22' is a rear door model. So ignore my axle backwards comment.
What size tires are you running?

[on-a-roll]

Thanks for the reply. I have an inspection with Truckaline in Altoona, Wi. this morning. They were familiar with trailers and the type of axles on the Argosy. They said they will fix what ever is wrong. I had a local welder install my axles about two years and 2000 miles ago. I purchased from Colin Hyde. He has not responded back to my email and need to yet call him. I know from original pictures the top of the tires were essentially even with the edge of the wheel well, being that I used the 32 degree axle. The wheel well is now slightly above the actual steel wheel rim. May be as mentioned the local welder positioned the axle a bit back aft rather than forward. Because even if the axles were to entirely settle, those rear wheels should not be so close to the wheel well. I have new 225 x 75R15 tires. I think I need to inquire about moving the rear axle a bit forward, get a professional opinion regarding the remainder of life in my "new" axles.

[harryk]

I also got my axles from Colin Hyde. I sent pictures months ago & still have not heard back. Good Luck !