New Axles?

[B and R]

Hello, Have a 1987 32' Argosy(Square Stream) Travel trailer. Do these axles go bad after a certain age? Also, I am replacing the shocks and need to know which will work on my trailer. The shocks are not vertical. They are between vertical and horizontal. I do not know what degree they are.
I have been told a vertical shock will not work properly because of the way they are designed.

New wheel bearings.

Thanks all.
B and R

I do not see many of these trailers at all? What happened to them?

[n2916s]

The axles are pretty much at the end of their expected life. There is an article about them on Inland RV's website that may be helpful. I used the OEM shocks from Airstream. Some claim you don't need to but I didn't want to experiment.

[Lumatic]

From my experience the 70s Duratorque axles tended to stiffen after 15 to 20 years. I have not heard of the same degree of problem with axles from the 80s. Axles on my 93 are still OK, The wheel wells should be even with or above the top of the wheel rim. Attach a photo. If you jack the side of the trailer up you should be able to jack the body of the trailer a couple of inches before the wheels come off the ground. Make sure to jack it up from a jacking point or under the axle mounting plate.

[dbj216]

The axles on my 75 Overlander were shot. Here is a photo showing how the swing arms are nearly horizontal. They come from the factory with a downward 22.5 degree "starting angle".

So you might want to jack up one side of your trailer, take the wheels off, and look at your swing arms. A downward angle is good.

It is obvious that my wheels were buried deeper in the wheel wells. Many experienced vintage Airstreamers can look at a trailer and see it is a "low rider" and needing new axles. Bad axles loose their suspension capability and become stiff as a board. This puts extra stress on the trailer when towing over bumps.

David

[Wolfe]

they last 20 year's at best, yours are 10 years past prime.
i got mine from inland rv (andy)