Axle life

[Uncle Jack]

Hi all,

Just bought a 1979 Argosy Minuet. Towed her down to SF Bay area from Oregon with my fingers crossed. Now I'm trying to make her safe, after safe we'll work on pretty. The old girl is 28 now. My question is what is the service life of a Dura torque axle. What are the signs it's time for a new axle. If it's time for a new axle what axle is most favored?

PS This trailer is going to see alot of time on dirt and gravel roads in Idaho and Montana.

Uncle Jack

[85MH325]

Jack,

The design life of a rubber torsion axle is about 20 years. That said, many make it to 30, but few make it past that. The axle arm should be horizontal with the trailer frame or even have a slight down angle if it's still good. If it's pointing up toward the floor, the odds are it's bad.

A quick check is that you ought to be able to see most of the tire sidewall in your wheel well. The less you can see, the less competent your axle is.

Good luck!

Roger

[Janets Husband]

Originally Posted by Uncle Jack

Hi all,

Just bought a 1979 Argosy Minuet. Towed her down to SF Bay area from Oregon with my fingers crossed. Now I'm trying to make her safe, after safe we'll work on pretty. The old girl is 28 now. My question is what is the service life of a Dura torque axle. What are the signs it's time for a new axle. If it's time for a new axle what axle is most favored?

PS This trailer is going to see alot of time on dirt and gravel roads in Idaho and Montana.

Uncle Jack

The Axle was one of the first things replaced on our 1977 Minuet. Nothing lasts forever. We replaced our axle with a 33 deg. down angle and it gave us a lot of ground clearance for those dirt roads. Take a look at Airstream Innovations at Inland RV Center, Inc. (951) 734-8130 axle tutorial. It will give you a graphic example of what you're looking for.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by 85MH325

Jack,

The design life of a rubber torsion axle is about 20 years. That said, many make it to 30, but few make it past that. The axle arm should be horizontal with the trailer frame or even have a slight down angle if it's still good. If it's pointing up toward the floor, the odds are it's bad.

A quick check is that you ought to be able to see most of the tire sidewall in your wheel well. The less you can see, the less competent your axle is.

Good luck!

Roger

Many 40 year old Airstreams, still have good axles, in spite of the fact that there are many failures because of the composition of the rubber from 1974 and older.

From 1975 and newer, the rules are the same. Use the axles. Non use will guarantee bad axles in as little as 3 years.

Storing the trailer long term is OK, but, removing most of the weight from the axles, is the key.

Rubbers memory can be destroyed. Rubber must also be exercised, to keep it alive.

Andy