I thought my new axles were bent!!!
 

I had a new Dexter axle installed on Friday, drove it home (about 40 miles) and parked it. This afternoon, Monday, I crawled under the trailer to marvel at my new axle and found that it was bent! I'm ticked! The idiot that installed it evidently used the axle as a jack point.
I won't accept this, but my main question for now is it safe to tow? I have two trips planned in the next 4 weeks - one about 500 miles round trip and one about 200 miles round trip, all on Interstate highways and some well paved state routes. A replacement will take at least 4 weeks, more if I get into a p-ing match with the RV outfit that did the job (I'm not afraid of that) Is it safe? It certainly won't last 20 years safely will it?
Here's a pic.

Umm...they're supposed to be that way...

I am not 100% sure about this , but I recall another thread on this same issue ... You might do a search on "bent axles" ... If I recall, that bend is supposed to be there.

Someone who actually knows, will surely chime in, so you might wait to fire the first volley till you know for certain

If that bend is in the middle, that is how torsion axles are manufactured. The angle of the bend is selected to provide the proper camber.

Ken

Dryfly
The Dexter axle I put on has a factory bend (center) in it.
Tim

Bow not bend he is right it is bent and it looks as though it was done by a jack! The bow is spread over the length of the axle not left of center and I am sure he saw the bow before installation and knew that it did not look like that! Good luck on the service confrontation I usually lose my patients and the laws forcemeat arm get involved!

Read about the bend here Trailer Axle information / how to

The bend is not in the center, but about 1' off to the driver's side. If you look at the photo, you can see where a jack was placed under the axle and it bent the axle, and the steel is deformed.

Without that bend, the wheels would have no camber. It's a design feature.

That is definitely not right. I would think the tire on that side will wear bad.

That doesn't look like a normal bend or what I would term a curve. That looks like a bend and a twist. The picture is dark but it certainly looks not like a curve but more like an abrupt bend.

You can probably get it fixed with an alignment if it is bent. We had our trailer aligned 2 years ago to correct a wear problem with a stock set of Henschen axles I installed when we first got our trailer.

Well, this piqued my interest and I had to look at my own axles. While ours have a slight bend at the center they don't look like yours - that is not right, although I don't pretend to understand the implications, sorry.

If it was in the center and both axles were the same then it is probably the factory bend. If it is off center, even if it was done at the factory, it is "NOT" correct. The bow is designed to allow for the flex in the axle when the weight is put on it. The amount of bow varies for the weight and the distance between the mount and the hub face (also varies by wheel offset). The heavier the axle, the less distance you can have between the mount and the hub face because that is leverage against the axle.

Dexter axles are bent to align them.

That bend can be in the middle or to one side.

The only way you can check for damage, is to check the alignment.

There should be a small tow in and there should also be a slight camber, which means the top of the tire should stick out a little further than the bottom.

The toe in means that the front of the tires should be slightly pointed inward.

Andy

Bent, not bowed.
 

:) Hi, this doesn't look like the factory bow, it looks like it has a nice kink in it. Time for another new axle. Possibly could be fixed, but I wouldn't want it.

Like Andy said, have the alightment checked. One of my OEM axels looks like a pretzel but it tracks true. If the axel came that way, then make the supplier replace it. If the installer did that make them pay.

Perry

Didn't you call the shop right after you noticed it to find out what happened?

It sure looks like there is a dimple right at the bend point, I have not seen an axle bend that was not concentric across the entire length. Our 63 Safari was and so is the Classic....no dimple.

Bob
:blink:

My guess is that it was a jack used to jack the axle up in place for mounting. Those suckers are heavy. I had a hard time putting mine up in place as my drive was a slight slant and I didn't have a floor jack. It was me on my back bench pressing them in place while my son stuck in the bolts. NOT an easy task, and it took a while for my shoulders to feel better, but I have no dents in mine. It was probably a situation where the didn't see it lining up the holes and jacked a little too much to force it into place.

Since these are rubber rods, it probably has very little impact on the long term workability, except for alignment. Definitely safe for your trip, but you may have uneven wear on the tires.

Rob.

Now that I've calmed down and read all you or replies, ill crawl under there when I get back in town with a straight edge and tape and really scope it out. I spoke with the installer who assures me this came from the factory this way. Thank you all for looking at this for me, and thank you all as always for your input and advise. I'll post what I find on Friday - hopefully it's just positive camber from the factory, and I was mis-interpreting the visual data