Do these axles look OK?

[66Overlander]

I have been looking at an '85 Excella and am wondering if the axles are OK. I am not an expert on "80's Airstreams, but looking at the axle arms under the trailer, they definitely have a slight "upward" slope (i.e. the wheel centerline is above the axle centerline). That is backwards of what I have been told to look for and backwards of what I see on our '66. I measuered and there is about 5" of tire sidewall visible between the top of the wheel rims and the bottom of the wheel well trim (it looks like less in this photo due to the angle). The way this trailer sets looks about right to me. If the axles had a "downward slope" I think the trailer would obviously look like it was sitting too high. I have also searched for every '80's photo I can find on the web and have found none that seem to expose more sidewall than this trailer (some actually have less - i.e.tired axles on them), even though the shape of the wheel well openings look about the same.

Is it possible that the axles are OK on this trailer and this is just they way they were made in the '80's?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

[53flyingcloud]

Originally Posted by 66Overlander

Is it possible that the axles are OK on this trailer and this is just they way they were made in the '80's?
Thanks in advance,
Joe

Joe, from what I can see..The wheel look about right..
Here's a link to the photo of my 84 A/S..
New wheels
ciao
53FC

[wahoonc]

Joe,
Looks about like my 75 so I would think that you are good to go. I looked at a 67 the other day where the axles were completely shot, the top of the wheel well was about even with the rim

Aaron

[Ken J]

If the arms are angled up, then perhaps the trailers has sat a long time from non-use - a good thing for the trailer, a bad thing for the axles. With use, they may come back to life, but if the travel is limited, it may be time for new axles. I would put on wheel on a block and see how much travel the arm has.

Ken

[garry]

Here is a picture of BAD axles, I need to replace.

Garry

[garry]

Hmmm don't know what happend to the picture will try again.

Guess the axles are so bad they refuse to be shown

Garry

[Foiled Again]

I was out in a local campground looking for a place to safe place to store and/or live in the Airstream I hope to acquire soon. While there I spotted ONE Airstream trailer in the whole lot - and it had a for sale sign. I'm looking for a "dinky twinkie" not a 31 footer (and I just paced this one off without counting the tongue so sorry if it's longer). It's a Sovereign International. I called the current owners, Jan & George Strobel at (703) 437-7665 and they told me it had not been moved from the campground in 10 years, but that they had put new tires on it about 2 years ago. They do use it frequently for weekends and vacations. The clearcoat is going to gone, there is one patch on the back end (about the size of a bowling ball, done with pop rivets), very moderate stone damage on the front panels and overall probably pretty good skin for it's age. Inside they said everything works, but they did have a freeze-up a few years ago and had to replace some plumbing. The want $3500 for it so it seems like a good deal for someone looking to do a restoration. One of the first things I considered after deciding it was too big, was that the axles might need to be replaced based on it's age and length of time being moved only from the storage area to a campsite. Well I'm a newbie so I couldn't tell you for sure but it did seem to be showing a lot more wheel than the BAD ones pictured here.

[bryanl]

"the wheel centerline is above the axle centerline" sure sounds like a potential problem.

inlandrv.com Andy appears to use visible tire as an indicator. I haven't found the wheel well clearance to be of much use because of variations in that area from year to year and between models.

For a quick check, the position of the center of the wheel relative to the underside of the trailer should give a good idea as the axle is mounted just below the underside.

I also think comparing hitch ball height when level on a level surface to what is specified in the owner's manual should also give a good idea about axle torsion bar settling.

[AirConditioner]

Originally Posted by 53FlyingCloud

Joe, from what I can see..The wheel look about right..
Here's a link to the photo of my 84 A/S..
New wheels
ciao
53FC

I'm thinking of replacing my wheels with cast Al ones. Are your wheels stock, or aftermarket?? Any thoughts on suppliers??

[53flyingcloud]

Originally Posted by AirConditioner

I'm thinking of replacing my wheels with cast Al ones. Are your wheels stock, or aftermarket?? Any thoughts on suppliers??

AirConditioner,
The wheels are stocked by Airstream.
My original wheels were steel (painted black).
There is an aftermarket product that, for all practical purpose, looks exactly the same as the ones sold by A/S. I just don't recall the name at the moment.
ciao
53FC

[overlander64]

Greetings 53FC

Originally Posted by 53FlyingCloud

AirConditioner,
The wheels are stocked by Airstream.
My original wheels were steel (painted black).
There is an aftermarket product that, for all practical purpose, looks exactly the same as the ones sold by A/S. I just don't recall the name at the moment.
ciao
53FC

American Racing Wheels produces two wheels that are quite similar to the OEM Airstream units. When I was looking for replacement wheels for my '75 Eldorado, my dealer indicated that these were available with ratings up to 3,600 pounds as well as approval for use on trailers. The two wheels that I remember, are:

American Outlaw Series I

and

American Outlaw Series II

I don't know whether availability for trailer applications has changed as it has been more than a year since I purchased the aftermarket wheels for my '75 Eldorado.

Kevin

[53flyingcloud]

Kevin,
You got it~!
Actually, the Series 2 looks to be a perfect match..considerably less money to I might add over the factory installed wheels..
Thanks~
ciao
53FC