I called AXIS today to order a set of axles & was told they are NOT going to be selling anymore axles for the Airstream. I was shocked by this after seeing all the good stuff everybody has to say about them. Anybody no what is going on with this?
I called AXIS today to order a set of axles & was told they are NOT going to be selling anymore axles for the Airstream. I was shocked by this after seeing all the good stuff everybody has to say about them. Anybody no what is going on with this?
Jeez, Henry, you really are serious about being out of the axle business, huh, with the screen name change? This whole Axis deal with them not selling anymore for Airstreams has me moving to Dexters now.
Frederic
__________________ SFC Frederic Lynes 1971 Sovereign International 2004 F-350 King Ranch EX-WBCCI # 8371 AIR # 8239
Dexter is a GREAT choice. Much has been posted lately about positive results using the Dexter product. The customer support (over 300 dealers) is second to none. Price and quality are also first rate! Dexter is the largest producer of trailer axles in the U.S.A.
Good luck with your purchase - if I can be of any assistance - drop me a line.
You may recall I sent the axle back to Axis. They paid the freight both ways and stiffened it up. When I picked it up at the freight office, it was completely bare, with just a thick coat of grease on the spindles. I was amazed that the freight company would accept it that way. But it seemed to be fine (it did have castellated nuts installed to protect the threads on the spindles). The new sticker said "5,200 lbs" and I about died--I thought for sure it would be way over-stiff. We're still talking about why that number, but read on.
I put the axle on myself this time with one floor jack and one small hydraulic to rotate it properly. The axle is actually pretty easy to handle when it's bare--no drum or brakes. Axis used the old swing arm but a new tube, so everything fit but I had to drill out the 5/8" holes again, since the tube had new brackets on it. When you drill through two smaller holes that aren't aligned, you get ovals. This concerned me, so I've watched it very carefully. I don't see any movement of the bracket due to the lack of tightly concentric holes in the bracket and axle mounting flange. If I did, I would put thick washers on each and weld them on with the bolt in place. That would provide a tight fit, but I don't think it's necessary.
I reinstalled the brake plates and drums and adjusted them like I would a car, which turned out to be wrong--too tight. But I was sure the brakes were sufficiently loose--wrong again. Even the slightest drag turned out to generate a lot of heat. So slight, in fact, I would have swore that they were overly loose. I put the Centramatics on in the direction pictured--either way fits fine on this axle and wheels.
The longer Monroe 55003 shocks were reinstalled, but first I drew lines to show the amount of compression (anyone need a pair of 55002's--9" compressed and 12-1/2" elongated?). The bottom line on the shock barrel is 6", so when you can't see the numbers you can just count backwards. The 55003 shocks have an active length of 5-3/4".
When the jacks were removed, the shocks compressed to only 2" on the street side and 2-1/4" on the curb side. Ack! Too stiff!! I expected something more like 3" or a little more. However, after driving about 20 miles around the local area, they had compressed to about 3-1/4". Great, this is perfect (I'm thinking). Loaded up and took off for Vegas. The trip is shown here--5,275 miles. You might have caught my whine on another thread when I couldn't get the axle to run cool--it was a combination of castellated nuts too tight (by about three castellations on both sides) and one side had a very slightly dragging brake that I just couldn't feel. Once that was adjusted, the spindles run as cool as the TV.
Mid-way in the trip and fully loaded with water and other provisions, the shocks were typically compressed to 4". That's a little more than I would like, but the Caravel performed fine, even took some potholes that made my teeth rattle in the TV, but nothing moved inside the trailer. The condition that does make items shift is a road that puts the TV and trailer into a porpoising motion, which really makes the shell deflect more than a big bump. Nothing the axle can do about that--more throttle discipline, I think.
The swing arms are very nearly horizontal when fully loaded. This is about 3-5 degrees more "up" than I would like, but as I said, it runs fine and I'm moving on to the next project. Thanks for all your comments.
One note about Axis--I have some confidence that if we can make a standard order form (like, all the early 70s ought to be so similar that that is a real possibility) they will hear us again. They have said they would do another set for me for my Overlander (2 axles), since I have the disc brake parts already. If that goes well and I don't bug them too much, it'll be a start.
The bottom line is that I spent more time in aggravation than it would have cost me to get the axle directly from Inland RV. On the other hand, I now understand the axle and trailer much better and I'm happy about the job I did. On balance, I would do it this way again (and I have the shocks on the way I like them!!).
Seems as if the money saved on some other brand of axle rapidly gets eaten up by time and aggravation, don't forget that the Henschen is an OEM direct bolt-up and but for a brief time in what 2003/2004 was the ONLY axle used by Airstream since 1961. 45 year track record speaks clearly. But why do people who rebuild old Fords use Chevy engines....that'll start a thread!
Quite simply, Zoom Zoom, because there is only one supplier of the "OEM" axle and it is, in many peoples' opinion, grossly over-priced, compared to the other axles.
Frederic
__________________ SFC Frederic Lynes 1971 Sovereign International 2004 F-350 King Ranch EX-WBCCI # 8371 AIR # 8239
Last edited by StingrayL82; 07-13-2006 at 09:16 PM.
Some would and do say, "Airstream is over priced", yet Many people still buy them.
Buying a used Argosy or Airstream, with the intent of repairing it or rebuilding it, usually has two basic lines of reasoning.
The first has an incentive to repair/rebuild, for their comfort and enjoyment for years to come.
The second usually has a financial incentive. Buy it cheap, repair it cheap, and sell it for maximum.
Seldom would they offer to disclose to the buyer, the short cuts and/or the less than equal to the original quality of parts they may have used.
Airstream has always stood for "top" quality. That is the very reason newcomers join Airstreaming, everyday.
Unfortunately, many of the newcomers often get burned, because they did not know how to check the coach out. E-bay is another good example on how to get usually burned, by trusting others to follow the Airstream tradition
of quality.
But the American way, for many years, shouts loud and clear, BUYER BEWARE.
Our courts are full of cases where an unsuspecting buyer got hosed.
Rebuilding something by putting it back to it's original condition or better, never requires any excuses.
Rebuilding something by putting it back to less than original quality, to some, is justified by saving a buck or too, and hopefully, not being challenged by the buyer, since that would require them to offer excuses for the less than original construction results.
An Airstream is an Airstream. It cannot be compared to any other RV, let alone to cars, trucks or boats.
New Airstream owners sometimes gripe about the quality of the new products. Wonder what some of them would think about the quality of some DIY repairs, that take place?
Good thing FAA still has control over Aircraft repair. We certainly would not want to fly in a commercial aircraft, that was repaired by someone chosing to use less than "equal to" the quality of the original parts, especially because "THEY THOUGHT" it was "good enough".
Airstreamforums members, who have installed Axis and Dexters in their rigs, have proven over and over again these axles are just as good, if not better, than Henschens. If Dexter isn't as good as Henschen, then why is Airstream using them now? I can get a set of Dexters installed in our Sovereign for $1000 and get just as many, if not more, years out of them as I have out of the OE Henschens.
I have already written the moderators, with no response, but it would be greatly appreciated if the posts on this thread stuck to the topic at hand.
Frederic
__________________ SFC Frederic Lynes 1971 Sovereign International 2004 F-350 King Ranch EX-WBCCI # 8371 AIR # 8239
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I put the axle on myself this time with one floor jack and one small hydraulic to rotate it properly. The axle is actually pretty easy to handle when it's bare--no drum or brakes. Axis used the old swing arm but a new tube, so everything fit but I had to drill out the 5/8" holes again, since the tube had new brackets on it. When you drill through two smaller holes that aren't aligned, you get ovals. This concerned me, so I've watched it very carefully. I don't see any movement of the bracket due to the lack of tightly concentric holes in the bracket and axle mounting flange. If I did, I would put thick washers on each and weld them on with the bolt in place. That would provide a tight fit, but I don't think it's necessary.
Lou too you! 
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