Henschen Axles

[Pahaska]

It is always interesting to dig through the internet and see who owns who.

What started me digging is the fact that the "yellow sheet" for my 2003 International indicates that the axle is Henschen and gives a whioe string of Henschen part numbers; however, when I looked under the trailer, I found that the axle had Dexter shipping tags. A further look at the parts manual shows that the axle is truly a Dexter axle.

My first thought was that I would find the same corporate ownership somewhere up the line. After all, the axles are virtually identical in design and manufacture.

A look at the Henschen site shows that it is a "Lakin General" company. Lakin General is a family-owned Chicago company. A look at the Dexter site shows that Dexter is owned by Tomkins of London, England and has never had any commonality with Henschen.

A search for Lakin General shows that Henschen must be something of a stepchild. Their main focus, it seems, is:

Welcome to Tires, Tyres and More TIRES!! Main Menu | Industry Directory: Lakin General, Inc. Lakin General is a company dedicated to the recycling of car and truck tires. Tires with usable tread can be resold.

I did find one or two hits identifying them as other than a tire recycler, such as:

Jan. 23, 2001 Machine parts maker eyes West Side location Daley plan would help company relocate, hire 40 people

and this link which doesn't mention Henschen:
http://w4.cityofchicago.org/Mayor/20...yprograms.html

[Rick T]

Forrest:
I would suggest you take off your hubs and inspect the bearings and seals, at least on the side that had the dented dust cap. Here’s my new axle experience: When Yellow Freight delivered my axle one of the dust caps was gone. I too had to have plates welded to the frame because the axle brackets were taller. Everything went well until I removed the brake drums and backing plates in order to drill holes into the aft axle brackets. At the curb side, (the same side missing the dust cap), I discovered the inside grease seal spring was pinched under the bearing. The bearing was shoved tight against the spindle so hard I had to rent a puller to remove it. I replaced both the seal and the bearing (just in case). Because I had to extend the frame and drill new holes I discovered the problem which could have caused early bearing failure. The only thing I can figure is the axle got dropped in shipment. I agree, Henschen should do more to protect the axles from shipping damage. The duct tape around the lug nuts just doesn’t do it. In my case, now I wonder if any unknown damage was done. If it was dropped hard did it affect alignment, weaken the spindle weld, or? Guess I’ll have to wait until summer, put some miles on the trailer, then inspect the curbside tire for abnormal wear.

[hex]

Rick we have read about shock mount flanges having to be welded to the mounting bracket on the axle itself to attach the lower shock.

Do I understand that you had to add on to the axle mounting plate which is part of the trailer chassis?
Was the additional part furnished with the axle/s ?
Were you made aware of the alteration would be needed when ordering the axles?
Were there concise instructions furnished?
Did your shock absorbers mount without further alteration?

Oh and were the bearings and seals and retainer spring available locally?

Any chance of photos before, during, and/or after?

Thanks in advance.

[smallfry]

What the heck is O.E.M. anyway? I hate it when people assume everyone knows all this stuff - please remember that there are some real novices reading these posts, hoping to get some good info for their old AS's. Thanks folks.

[Silver Bullet]

Smallfry,
If I'm not mistakin' ( and I might be, hey it's almost 12.01AM here ) OEM means "Originally Equipt by Manufacturer" give or take. Don't feel like you're left in the dark on certain topics or wording, just ask. ALL of us here have asked questions, feeling a tad overwhelmed a time or two (or three or four)
Seeing your profile, OEM is "out the door". NOS (New Old Stock) is what you will be getting used to seeing. I'm in the same boat with a '62. Oscar

[Action]

It's the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) that developed the OEM (Original Equpiment Manufacturer) standards. However when OEM parts become old enough and sit on a shelf, the parts become NOS (New Old Stock) Or an AIM (Aftermarket Industry Manufacturer) designs parts to replace the OEM parts cause they has found a niche. Not to be confused with a notch!

And that last thing you want to do is be stuck in a notch.

>>>>>>>>>>>ACTION = Anything Concocted To Impress Off shore Natives

[smallfry]

Ok I get it(OEM) and thanks everyone for the information. I guess with my old AS, it'll be NOS (or was it ONS) at best, huh. Gads, there's lots to learn. I now have Bubbles stripped down to bare plywood with just one wall hung overhead cabinet and a couple of side lights to remove. The little water tank is out, the plumbing is just a couple of plastic pipes sticking up through the floor (that can't be original, right? plastic pipe?), and there's a big hole in the middle of it all where the little floor furnace was. All the cabinets and the bed supports are gone and I think that was the main source of the mildew smell. I spread Arm & Hammer cat litter all over the floor to soak up any residual odors, but now I have to be sure to close the door or my 3 cats with refurbish the odors for me.

I have also engaged the services of a "small spaces" architect to help me work up a design - this should be fun...maybe. He did a neat design for a friend who has a tiny 400 sq ft coffee shop in town so I'll let you all know how that progresses.

Last time i worked with an architect, it was a major house re-model and it was like having teeth pulled - the design process really makes you focus and think about what you really, really want and that's tough.
Sorry if I came off grumpy before but that was because I was grumpy that day, actually. jw

[Rick T]

Hex: I did have to extend the mounting plate on the trailer chassis to attach the new axle. The new one had a bracket extension approximately one inch higher than my old axle, (the width of the brackets was the same). The new axle only partially fit into the existing chassis frame channel. Prior to buying the axle Andy (Inland) told me that Caravels are different, often assembled with left over parts from earlier year/larger trailers so I knew I could be in for a few surprises. When I told him about the new axle not fitting into the chassis channel he explained that when my trailer was made the axles were hand built, also not many trailers like mine were made. He explained that all the new axles come with the taller bracket. He told me the solution was to extend the chassis mounting plate downward with 3/16’ steel. Looking back at the project the chassis frame extension was an unanticipated inconvenience but I now have more clearance. I ordered the axle with a 30 degree tortion bar angle rather than the regular 22.5, so with the extra inch the axle bracket added I have more clearance yet. Also, the weight rating went from 3,000 lbs to 3,500. The steel cost less than $5.00., a friend was nice enough to bring his welder and do the work, so no cost to speak of. Shock mounts: I don’t have them welded on yet. They were shipped loose because apparently the exact mounting location on the tortion arm is unknown. Now that the axle is bolted on securely I will tow to another friend’s shop (who wants the old axle in trade) and have him do that work. Andy suggested positioning the shock half way between full extension and compression to determine the proper mount position. I’m not quite sure yet whether the shock should be positioned exactly vertical or if it matters. I think I’ll ask some questions before welding happens. It looks like Forrrest has some shock mounting suggestions on another thread so I’ll read his posts to see if the question is answered there. The bearings and seals were available at NAPA, just took in the old ones & they matched numbers. Hope this answers your questions. Here are a few photos.

[Rick T]

The before and after.

[Rick T]

The old and the new

[Rick T]

Finished

[Rick T]

Shock mounts, yet to be welded on. Looking for advice as to whether they should be exactly vertical or if any angle is required.

[axleman]

There is another axle manufacturer that should be listed: http://www.axisproducts.com

Originally Posted by BobbyW

http://www.dexteraxle.com
http://www.al-ko.com/vehicle/index.html

I tried chasing down who owned who back in June/02. Thor (Airstream) does not own Henschen any longer.

http://www.airforums.com/forum...highlight=axle

-BobbyWright

[markdoane]

That's pretty interesting. Where else would they be but Elkhart IN. I drove through there a month ago and was amazed at the number of RV and trailer manufacturers.

Did you see they have disc brakes also!

[axleman]

Not only does Axis Products, Inc. carry disc brakes, they carry “Kodiak” disc brakes. These are the same brakes that will be coming standard on some new Airstreams.



Additionally, just about any brake available is available from Axis Products, Inc. including, electric, electric w/park, electric free back with park, hydraulic in many varieties as well as disc in many varieties including stainless steel. Visit them at www.axisproducts.com

[Mike B]

I wonder if Axis could duplicate the mounting flange and shock mount that Henschen uses on the Airsteam axles. That would give us another option for bolt in axles for our trailers. We could then order them with whichever type brake assembly we choose , drum or disk.
Mike B

[axleman]

Axis Products custom makes axles in capacities of 200-7200 pounds in both torsion and spring configurations. I am confident that with some information or a sample of an old axle the shock brackets and mounting plates could easily be created and incorporated onto axles.



Additionally, Axis Products offers a wide range of trailer parts for sale.

[axleman]

OOP's, there is no electric freeback with park, I kind of got ahead of myself there. However, Axis has a huge selection of brakes for sale! Sorry about any confusion!

Originally Posted by axleman

Not only does Axis Products, Inc. carry disc brakes, they carry “Kodiak” disc brakes. These are the same brakes that will be coming standard on some new Airstreams.



Additionally, just about any brake available is available from Axis Products, Inc. including, electric, electric w/park, electric free back with park, hydraulic in many varieties as well as disc in many varieties including stainless steel. Visit them at www.axisproducts.com