axles

[katsix]

Again the manual states the you have to be real careful when traveling as the axles come out of alinement. Has anyone really had this problem. I will be traveling from NY (long island) to Fla. The roads out of NY are not the best so it will be almost impossible not to hit some bumps. I can not image that I will have to aline the axles after every trip. I hope it is just the writers of the manual covering all there bases. Rob

[InsideOut]

There is lots of information here about axles...so much so, we have an entire sub-forum dedicated to the subject (I've moved this thread there). You may want to get up to speed on some of what has already been posted. Axle threads often get tumultuous...but the bottomline is, yes, your wheels and axles can get out of alignment. However, it's not by just traveling down the road over everyday bumps & cracks in the road. It is however advisable to have you alignment checked periodically (not after every trip!). Axles and wheels that become unaligned can cause significant damage.

You don't mention what trailer model/year you have...not that it matters, except if it is vintage you may have leaf springs instead of a torsion axle.

Shari

[HowieE]

It is highly unlikely you will disturb the axle alinement traveling to Fl. Once you clear NY city the roads are fine.

If your axles are out of alinement you will see abnormal wear on one or more of the tires. I say or more because a missalined axle will cause wear on itself and often on another tire on the other side. If you have good rubber on the trailer now measure the tread depth across each tire before you head south and check it in Fl. and again when you get home. If the measurement change other than equealy across any of the tires you may hae and alinement issue

If you do infact see abnormal wear do not consider Jackson or a dealer as a means to correct the problem. Gommer's in Chambersburg Pa. is who the factory recomended after they failed to aline mine.

[Smokin Camel]

When I installed my replacement axels, I aligned them by measuring from the front of the A frame to the same point on each axel. I was told that anything less than 1/8th of an inch was good (25 ft. trailer). I'll check it again this next summer after each of the first couple 0f trips.

Alignment is something you may be able to do yourself.

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by Smokin Camel

Alignment is something you may be able to do yourself.

Airstream does not use a beam axle but rather a torsion type. Yes you may be able to get a beam axle close by just measureing from a common point. The torsion axle has 2 additional parts that figure into it. The arm and the spindle are the point most likely to be out of alinement and thus just setting the beam may not complete the job.

I toured the axle factory when I picked up my new axles. Even after reasonable consideration while installing them I still took them out to Gommer's for alinement.

[Mikethefixit]

If you are seeing unuasual wear . CHECK THOSE TIRE PRESSURES FIRST!

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by Mikethefixit

If you are seeing unuasual wear . CHECK THOSE TIRE PRESSURES FIRST!

By unusual wear I ment uneven side to side of a tire. Low tire pressure will give even wear side to side.

Missalinement will most often cause a tire to show wear on one side because it is either toed in or out or because the camber angle is off. Since we are dealing with a trailer there in no caster angle consideration.

[uwe]

Often unusual wear can also be caused by imbalance of the hubs/wheels/tires.

[katsix]

I was just seeking information. I do not pick up my new 23' safari till Dec. It is being built now. I had the dealer send me a owners manual and after reading it ...... I have more questions then before. I had a single axle Casita and never had a problem. The double axle seems to have some possible problems. I quess that I will just make sure I have it serviced by an airstream dealer. Thanks for all the information. Rob

[uwe]

Originally Posted by katsix

I was just seeking information. I do not pick up my new 23' safari till Dec. It is being built now. I had the dealer send me a owners manual and after reading it ...... I have more questions then before. I had a single axle Casita and never had a problem. The double axle seems to have some possible problems. I quess that I will just make sure I have it serviced by an airstream dealer. Thanks for all the information. Rob

If you use your trailer in the way that it was intended to be used, you will very likely not have any problems with your axles or their alignment for 20 or so years, maybe longer. This is not considering hubs, bearings and brakes. Thoise need servicing ona regular basis.
You can relax, and revel in the anticipation of a new trailer in just a few more weeks! Axles Shmaxels....

[Jim Foster]

The original torsion axle on our '65 Caravel broke so I had to replace it. I asked the Authorized Airstream repair guy if he had aligned the new axle, he said that he had. I drove from California to Pennsylvania and needed new tires. By the time I got back to California I needed another new set of tires. My local tire shop sent me to Stockton, California to an aleignment shop that does it the old fashion way. That was over 50,000 miles ago. I have replaced tires, but not due to alignment. They wear evenly.
A torsion axle should be aligned when installed new. It is done by bending the main square tube which runs from side to side, using a port-o-power and chain. First on one side, then the other. The tongue should be at tow hight. If the axle tube is perfectly straight and does not have the paint scratched on it from the chains, it most likely has never been properly aligned.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

The original torsion axle on our '65 Caravel broke so I had to replace it. I asked the Authorized Airstream repair guy if he had aligned the new axle, he said that he had. I drove from California to Pennsylvania and needed new tires. By the time I got back to California I needed another new set of tires. My local tire shop sent me to Stockton, California to an aleignment shop that does it the old fashion way. That was over 50,000 miles ago. I have replaced tires, but not due to alignment. They wear evenly.
A torsion axle should be aligned when installed new. It is done by bending the main square tube which runs from side to side, using a port-o-power and chain. First on one side, then the other. The tongue should be at tow hight. If the axle tube is perfectly straight and does not have the paint scratched on it from the chains, it most likely has never been properly aligned.

Can't speak for other torsion axle manufacturers, except Henschen.

All Henschen torsion axles are aligned to specs, as part of the manufacturing process. That has been their procedure since the early 1960's.

Andy

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

The original torsion axle on our '65 Caravel broke so I had to replace it. I asked the Authorized Airstream repair guy if he had aligned the new axle, he said that he had. I drove from California to Pennsylvania and needed new tires. By the time I got back to California I needed another new set of tires. My local tire shop sent me to Stockton, California to an aleignment shop that does it the old fashion way. That was over 50,000 miles ago. I have replaced tires, but not due to alignment. They wear evenly.
A torsion axle should be aligned when installed new. It is done by bending the main square tube which runs from side to side, using a port-o-power and chain. First on one side, then the other. The tongue should be at tow hight. If the axle tube is perfectly straight and does not have the paint scratched on it from the chains, it most likely has never been properly aligned.

What brand axle was installed?

It would also be helpful to others to know what dealer did the axle changeout.

Andy

[Harry W]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Can't speak for other torsion axle manufacturers, except Henschen.

All Henschen torsion axles are aligned to specs, as part of the manufacturing process. That has been their procedure since the early 1960's.

Andy

I installed Henschen axles on my '78 Sovreign and have recently noticed uneven side to side tire wear. The spacing between the axles at the wheel rim is 7/16" wider on the left side than it is on the right. The axles may have been aligned when manufactured, but apparently the holes in the trailer frame were not. There was no significant bolt hole clearance in the frame, so the axles are where they always were.

Oasis in Tucson said "That sometimes happens". So alignment is required , and soon!

Harry W

[uwe]

We found a severe misalignment of a friend's axle mounting plates on a 68 Safari. The trailer always seemed to trail somewhat awkward behind the tow vehicle, visibly so. So, one day we checked the frame and measured the trailer's axle alignment. We found one side almost 1/2 inch off. The only way to repair this was to grind away at the axle mounting plate, build up on the other side to bring the alignment into a perfect triangle between reference points at the coupler and both sides of the axle mount.
The picture below shows a white shaded area, which is the amount of metal that had to be removed in order to align this single axle within the frame.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Harry W

I installed Henschen axles on my '78 Sovreign and have recently noticed uneven side to side tire wear. The spacing between the axles at the wheel rim is 7/16" wider on the left side than it is on the right. The axles may have been aligned when manufactured, but apparently the holes in the trailer frame were not. There was no significant bolt hole clearance in the frame, so the axles are where they always were.

Oasis in Tucson said "That sometimes happens". So alignment is required , and soon!

Harry W

There are two possibilities to install aligned axles on some earlier Airstream trailers, and yet have them misaligned.

The first would be the position of the axle mounting plate from one side to the other.

That can easily be checked by measuring from the center of the jack post to the most forward axle mounting bolt hole, or to the forward shock stud. That measurement should be exactly the same. A 1/8 inch axle mounting plate difference on a 31 foot Airstream, will make it tow dog leg about 2 1/2 to 3 inches.

The second cause of misalignment can be the location side to side of the frame with respect to the shell. The distance between the tires or frame from one side to the other should be exactly the same. If not, then realignment of a perfectly aligned axle is necessary.

What caused that problem was the manner in which the floor was attached to the frame. The chassis was in it's normal position on the concrete floor. The floor was put on top of the chassis and fastened in place, at the front and rear "ONLY." The chassis with the floor partially attached was then lifted so that the curb side (usually) was almost touching the concrete and the road side was high in the air. Then the remainder of the floor to frame hold down screws were added. When completed, the chassis was again placed, with the tires, back on the concrete.

What happened was the chassis because of it's weight, would sag in the middle when it was in the vertical position, and when the floor bolts were installed, it locked the chassis into a bend horizontally, from side to side.

That in turn caused the frame to be closer the exterior shell on one side than the other. Of course, that also meant that the tire or tires were also closer on one side than the other.

There is no easy fix for that problem, unless you do a shell off floor replacement.

Many people who do the shell off floor replacement are aware that the chassis must be level so that the shell will go back on properly.

But rarely, are those same people aware that the chassis can be out of alignment, side ways.

Therefore part of the reconstruction is to make absolutely certain the the chassis is level from front to back, and, also to make super sure that the frame is in an absolute straight line, front to back.

Failure to set the frame up correctly, will cause the shell to frame reattachment to be incorrect.

Andy

[markdoane]

Andy,

That's definitely a fabrication error. Excellent explanation!

Are you saying someone at the factory did it this way?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by markdoane

Andy,

That's definitely a fabrication error. Excellent explanation!

Are you saying someone at the factory did it this way?

Shhhh,

The Ohio factory did it for years.

Most of the time it's not bad. But, I have seen some where there is about 1/2 between the tire and wheel well on one side, and 2 plus inches on the other side.

Andy

[jump]

so, Andy....are you saying that if I buy 2 new Henschen axles for my 82 31' excella, that if the axles are in alignment now, then the new ones will be in alignment, too?

jp

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by jump

so, Andy....are you saying that if I buy 2 new Henschen axles for my 82 31' excella, that if the axles are in alignment now, then the new ones will be in alignment, too?

jp

All Henschen axles are aligned to specs, prior to shipment.

The following tour will give you a idea from beginning to end, the Henschen manufacturing process.

Making Henschen Axles Tour

If your axle mounting plates were installed correctly at the time of manufacture of the frame, and the frame was locked into the floor correctly, then new Henschen axles will fit perfectly and be in perfect alignment.

Andy