calling all failures....

[Frank's Trailer Works]

There seems to be a culture of fear when it comes to measuring and ordering axles. I want to know if anyone out there has ordered axles and they did not fit. I do not mean a little snug or having to drill a hole. I mean wrong size, won't fit, you are now stuck with axles that cannot be used. I have looked and searched this forum and no one has admitted to it. Anyone?

[Alumin8]

1973 31' Excella I ordered for Andy and got a perfect fit. Four bolts per axle and connect the wires. Accomplished with hand tools and a floor jack with assistance from my ten year old son. They work perfectly.

[funkill]

Originally Posted by Alumin8

1973 31' Excella I ordered for Andy and got a perfect fit. Four bolts per axle and connect the wires. Accomplished with hand tools and a floor jack with assistance from my ten year old son. They work perfectly.

I just ordered mine from Inland last week - and Andy didn't even ask for my measurements. Kind of freaked me out - thinking that they might not fit - but if not, at least it won't be my inaccurate measuring!

I hope my assembly goes as easy as you say - one female, one mature father, floor jack and hand tools are waiting to see .....

[markdoane]

I ordered a new water heater from Palomino, and it slid right in with no prob. . . . .

Uh, what was the question again?

[Silverhobby]

This question always requires the same answer; measure multiple times, order once = Happy Results. Good luck Frank !! I am still towing the OLD axle around.

[HiHoAgRV]

I had a set of axles arrive that were not ordered properly and wouldn't fit.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f437...les-39688.html

Somewhere about post 13 is where the ugly starts. I posted everything that worked well and the things that got screwed up hoping nobody would suffer the same problems.

[Mikethefixit]

I also ordered Henshen axles from Andy at Inland. They were order with the original specs from the serial number. They FIT EXACTLY .We had to tap them into place with a dead blow (soft plastic)hammer. I felt that the frames rails came in a little when we took out the old ones.
That's Why we paid the big bucks, to get that exact fit and We got exactly what we paid for,FIT.
Roger

[vinstream]

The last two Episodes of the Vap #83 and #84 talk about axles in a fare and honest way. We have only used Henshen Axles at Vinstream, but now that there seams to be others out there for better pricing...hmmmm makes you wonder why look at one!
Vin...

[3Ms75Argosy]

Frank, if you can figure out a curved deck... the axles shouldl be a piece of cake.... Dexter had an order form online (and the shock brackets are pt #E1501 - thanks GreatPumpkin!).

Tim of thevap has his order form online on his blog all filled out as well.

Next year, I think I'll call Colin at GSM and figure out if his axles will be about the same as Dexters... for me, it's all in the shipping... Dexter did (last year... have to see about it now) include shipping in the price...

I think it's great that there's another known option out there too.
Marc

[3Ms75Argosy]

oops, here's a pdf of the bracket...

Hope these work ...
Marc

[Frank's Trailer Works]

all the axles come from ohio or indiana, so the shipping is about the same. If the price is $425 and the shipping is $150 what would the difference be if the price was $575 and the shipping is free? The bottom line is always the bottom line. I often see things described as being on sale and price does seem low, but then when the shipping is added in, you are paying more than before the sale. In my not so humble opinion the word "sale" means Suckers All Leave Exploited. I have seen evidence of this over and over again.
Thank you for the order forms I hope it helps someone out.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Scott, The point of this post is to see if indeed people have problems by buying axles other than Henschens. The statement has been made over and over that people miss order. That is apparently not the case or no one is willing to admit that they read the tape measure improperly and ended up with 250 pound paper weights. You buy your axles where ever you want. I just do not want to be persuaded into buying something out of fear of failure. Anything made by man has the potential for error and or failure. We are all infallible beings. I am trying to get to the bottom of the myths.

[JimGolden]

Not to sound like a smarty pants, but these axles are really, really simple. How do you not measure them correctly? I mean, it's not like the guy with the rotating mirrors on the two mountaintops trying to measure the speed of light.

Granted, it can be hard to get under the trailer. But if you can jack the thing up on blocks, or pull it over a mechanic's pit, it's very easy to measure these things.

When I was designing a new frame for my Excella, I crawled under it and measured the old ones and made highly detailed measurements on drawings of the axles. All I needed was a plain old tape measure. I mean, what are the important dimensions?

1. Frame rail to frame rail distance
2. backing plate to backing plate distance
3. hub to hub distance
4. spindle tip to spindle tip distance
5. Swing arm length
6. Swing arm angle from the horizontal
7. Spring rate
8. Mounting plate hole locations

There are a bunch of dimensions you could take, but they can pretty much all be deduced from the ones listed above. It's easy.

My advice to anyone wanting to do this would be to simply draw a picture of the axle from the top and from the side, then just take measurements to cover any dimension you can think of. With that in hand, you could fill out any form any company could have. Whether it's Dexter, Alko, Axis, or Henschen. It's not hard. And if you have some clerk fill out the form, make sure you check it before it gets sent in. If in doubt, fax them your sketch with all the dimensions. I've spoken with some of the tech's at Dexter, for example, and they were totally open to that kind of thing.

I should think anyone that's a good enough mechanic to install an axle would be able to measure the old one. Just take your time and be thorough.

Personally, I would have no issue with measuring and ordering them from Dexter or somebody myself. But if I were unsure in the least, I'd just call Andy and get the Henschens. You might pay a bit more, but they'll fit. What the heck, just drink a little less bier for the next six months

Take care,

[Alumanutz]

I replaced mine with Dexters. Went really smooth with only two measurements. The problem I had was I instructed them to reverse the mounting brackets. They picked them up, rotated them 180 deg and welded them in. What the were suppose to do is pick up the bracket, walk directly to the other side of the axle and set it down and weld it. Then do the same with the other side. You have a notch cut out that goes around the axle on these brackets. The material in front of the notch (between the axle and tounge is short. The part between the notch and the rear of the trailer is long. By rotating them in place, none of the bolt holes even came close to lining up. That 52 year old steel is real tough to drill while lying on your back balancing a beer and 1/2 inch drill motor. I broke out my "Plazma Cutter" and made short work of it. (Remember the tool whore thing?) Easy-peasy and fun to do!!
P.S. I sold the old shot axle to a kid for a hay hauling trailer for 75.00!

[Lumatic]

For my Tradewind I went with Dexters because of the price, and I don't have any regrets. As mentioned above you have to do a little more work to get them in. Overall they went in fine but I had to shim at one point.

There are 3 points that I encountered that are on the subject of this post:

1. You do have to know what you are ordering from Dexter and provide detailed specs. They make a lot of axles for other applications, so don't expect them to know what your Airstream needs.

2. I measured the distance on the tandem axle mounting flanges at the front and rear of the flanges of my trailer. Don't expect all measurements will be the same. On my trailer there was up to a 1/8" difference. I ordered based on the smallest measurement to make sure the axles would fit.

3.The mounting flanges on one Dexter axle was very slightly off square and consequently the mounting flange distance was <1/16" less than the spec I asked for. I asked Dexter about this discrepancy and they said their tolerance standard is the axle mounting flange distance on their axles can be fractionally less than the ordered spec, but cannot be larger.

[jcanavera]

OK folks. We deleted the posts containing remarks not in line with the intent of the thread. I also modified one post. This means some good information was thrown out too. Sorry for that but the moderation staff will not allow yet another axle thread to go down the tubes. Let's keep the personal comments out. Your experience does not have to contain comments that inflame or be considered a finger in the eye of others who post here. I pulled quite a few posts so instead of personal messages to all of you, I'm making everyone aware of the situation.

Jack

[jamesardis]

thanks for the oversight-theres alot of good info here,about a question that we all are concerned with---jim

[JimGolden]

A plasma cutter.....ah now there's one on my list of "Dream Tools."

Those things are amazing. I played with one when I took my welding class. I cut a half inch plate like it was made of butter and I had a hot knife. What a super cool gadget. I have TOOL ENVY!

Took me three years just to buy the big Lincoln TIG machine....be awhile 'til I can get a plasma. I'll have to make do with a drill and a sawzall 'til then.

Best of luck to all you axle swappers out there. Just take your time and you'll be fine.

See ya,