New Axle Installation; '66 Trade Wind

[FreshAir]

Three Thursdays ago we brought home from a Sacramento freight drop-off our new axles. I had been putting off the inevetible but the return trip from the Casini Ranch Rally tossed the interior of the coach. So I called Andy at Inland RV on a Friday and our new axles, shocks, backing plates and (why not) new Centramatics. The shippment arrived the next Tuesday but it wasn't until Thursday that we picked them up except the shocks...they were back ordered. That's ok there was plenty to do to prepare the coach.
I hooked the trailer to our Jeep to manuever the coach and to give safety stablization. A WD-40 soaking of the almost 44 year old bolts and removal of the propane line which fastened under the axles was next. I thought to prevent bugs from taking up residence in the gas lines by taping the ends.

TO BE CONTINUED.

[FreshAir]

The old torsion arms were almost immovable. So much so that it was impossible to slide some bolts out through the frame because there was no clearance. First I removed the backing plates to cut the heads off the bolts but the found it easier to cut the bolts shorter from behind then they would push out.

With that done I raised the new axle and with jack stands for safety and bottle jacks holding the ends of the axle securely in place while I drilled 2 - 5/8" holes per axle ends. Some install their axles with 3 - 1/2" bolts per axle end but the 5/8" were what were included and I had a 1/2" drill and 5/8" drill bit.

more to come..

[FreshAir]

Next are the new backing plates and drums (new bearings freshly packed with the grease that was included) When re connecting the brake wiring I decided why not install new wires too....why not!

One image shows the difference of the wheel heights with new and old axles. The wheel on the new axle is resting on the ground! Granted much of the weight is on the old axle but the second OLD axle would have it's wheel spinning quite easily.

a little more yet..

[FreshAir]

I took my time with this. I imagine anyone with tools AND another set of hands or more could do this installation in a couple of days. I had to wait a few days for my neighbor to weld the new shock brackets on. Now I'm not bragging but my 71 year old body suffers from arthritis, 2 hip replacements and permanent nerve loss to my left arm which has weakened it. So if it needs to be done to your coach you can do it....oh, and I wear 2 hearing aids too.

Neil

[FreshAir]

Andy at Inland was most helpfull and Greg in the shipping dept followed up with me with the shipment arrival times and was gracious with answers to my questions.
Neil.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, Neil. Good job on the axle replacements and pictures of the job. Now I suspect you need to raise the hitch ball on your tow vehicle to match the new height of your trailer. Did you measure the difference?

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, Neil. Good job on the axle replacements and pictures of the job. Now I suspect you need to raise the hitch ball on your tow vehicle to match the new height of your trailer. Did you measure the difference?

Thanks, Bob. Most likely I will need to adjust he ball height (the new doorstep height is certainly problematic for my wife). However, as some of my photos may show we have no long flat or level ground on our property. My neighbor's driveway is paved, almost level and just long enough to make the height adjustment on. However, again, I would need to tow the trailer up our steep 100'+ gravel driveway with my 4x4 truck as the convertible cannot get enough traction. I cannot use the Jeep in the pictures as it does not have a trailer brake controller and the trailer WILL drag the Jeep in the gravel. Once the trailer is parked on my neighbors driveway I have to bring the car over to make the potential adjustments then reverse that proceedure to return the trailer with the added manuver of a 3 pt. turn around to repark the trailer at our home. Whew, I am tired just writing this senario. So are you lucky of your parking 'problem'? My solution is when we take our next trip is to be certain that I have the necessary tools to make the adjustment in a nearby parking lot. That may happen in a few days when we take our grandson camping for a few days. I also will be re-torquing the lug nuts.
Neil

[FreshAir]

A little over a week ago after the new axles were installed, Lynn and I took our grandson on a 4 day camping trip. We travel only 45 minutes to a Sierra campground, Silver Fork, East on US 50. Its a winding climbing highway and the 8 miles off 50 to Silver Fork is narrow and quite steep. I travel this part of 50 frequently with the trailer and this time I certainly noticed much better handling. The new axles added about 3" - 4" to the height of the trailer from the ground. This is very noticable to Lynn as she asked me to elevate the stool we use in front of the trailer step. Before the new axle installation I had considered lowering the hitch adjustment. With the new axle height this may not be necessary. The trip home 20 miles via another route, all downhill with gentle curves in the road, was a different story. The foto shows our rig beside this road. To experiment I loosened the spring bars (1000#) one chain link. Obviously the handling was less favorable but the car and trailer 'sit' the same as before. Any suggestions?
Neil.

[Action]

From your pic it appears the back of your ride squats some. However it looks like the trailer is riding level. And it may be the angle of the pic.

If your TV is indeed low in the rear, the handling will be improved if you have get the front end level to the rear end of the TV. Then adjust your hitch to the correct height to keep the trailer level.

Action

[Action]

BTW nice shots of the process and beautiful TV! Thanks so much fo rtaking the time and effort to share. You have about 20 years on me, so this is encouraging to see what you have done.

Action

[Airslide]

Neil,

Great job. I love the fact that you will just jump in and do what needs to be done without fear or hesitation. Replacing those axles, brakes and repacking bearings is not for everyone all the while crawling around in the dirt (i did see the cardboard - good idea).

71 and going strong buddy!