Torsion Axle?

[blueskidoo]

So I brought home my "new" 74 Compact and it was a rough ride whenever there was a bump or uneven road surface. Since it was sitting by a lake for 5 years and not being used, I am guessing the springs have gone all rusty inside.

So I am guessing my choices are - take the springs apart, sand blast, paint, grease and reassemble, or replace the axle.

Has anyone converted their trailer to a torsion axle? I have those on my horse trailer and they seem to give a nice ride.

The current axle has brakes on it and I want to continue to have brakes if that makes a difference.

Thoughts?

[distant75]

I was going to go with a torsion axle with Beluga('60 Airflyte). I decided not to go that route because of one reason, if the torsion ever turns on you you have to replace the whole axle again. If you went with a spring set up you can get parts in a day where as torsion you'd have to wait several weeks to get a replacement axle.

You will be able to replace the springs cheaper then as you described above. Springs run around $26, at least mine did.

Tires make a BIG difference in the way a trailer pulls and bounces. Because you have a light weight trailer it may always seem to be a little bouncey and springy.

Your thought about keeping the electric brakes is a very good idea.

Just some other info, I bought my axle at ABCtrailer.com
I was very pleased with the guy I spoke with and everything turned out right. it cost me around $350 I think to have it custom made and shipped to the house. I went with electric brakes ez lube bearings new springs and shackles.

Hope this helps
Dennis

[clutchburner]

Dennis,great response,i agree ! --mike

[Gone Kayaking]

Minor correction to otherwise very helpful post. I think it's abctrailerparts.com/ abctrailer.com goes to one of those dummy websites.

[blueskidoo]

Replace the springs- DUH. I am so caught up in the "it's vintage therefor nothing it has is made anymore", I never considered that I could just replace the springs.

In that case, I'll see if I can get the brakes working that it has and if I can then I'll get new springs.

Thanks!

[Gone Kayaking]

Dennis,
What are the measurements to provide the Trailer company. Meaning where do you measure from/to to make sure you get it right. I need to replace the axle on my trailer before mid June.

[distant75]

May 4, 2011 20:03:38 GMT -5 Gone Kayaking said:

Dennis,
What are the measurements to provide the Trailer company. Meaning where do you measure from/to to make sure you get it right. I need to replace the axle on my trailer before mid June.

You need to provide your spring center and hub face measurments.

To get your spring center you need to you measure from the center of the frame(steel)to the other side center of the steel frame.
My frame was 51.5"center to center. I measured the width of the "C" channel frame, it was 1.5". I then measured from outside the frame to the other outside of the frame. From side to side it was 53". I subtracted 3/4 of and inch from each side because the width of the overall measurement was 53" and that leaves me with a measurement of 51.5" You get it??? I just reread it and i dont understand, lol.

Ok now to get you hub face measurement.
Remove both tires and drums. Take a tape measure and form where the the drum rest on the hub face and measure all the way over to the other side of the hub face.

Please feel free to PM me and I can explain it better over the phone. I give you my number.

Dennis

[distant75]

May 4, 2011 18:40:13 GMT -5 blueskidoo said:

Replace the springs- DUH. I am so caught up in the "it's vintage therefor nothing it has is made anymore", I never considered that I could just replace the springs.

In that case, I'll see if I can get the brakes working that it has and if I can then I'll get new springs.

Thanks!

I'll take a few pictures of an option you could use to fix your brakes.

Dennis

[Gone Kayaking]

thanks for letting me piggyback my question on this post. Good luck blueskidoo

[blueskidoo]

I think I need it! Any anyone is always welcome in a thread of mine ;-)

[Gone Kayaking]

Since I was piggybacking on this thread anyway....
Whoa is me! Just got the bad news that it's gonna take 10 days to 2 weeks to special order my new axle. Trailer place had told me previously no worries, just takes a couple of days to get one in to the shop so wait til I'm ready. So last week I called with the measurements 4 inch drop, 63 inches from hub face to hub face.
They called around and voila....special order....right at the height of the season.
For those of you following this project of mine, you know this is par for the course, but we were supposed to leave 2 days ago for our long road trip....and I now have a very disappointed almost 13 year old who had expected to be kayaking on the Snake River in wyoming for his birthday June 26. Now we'll be lucky to be camping in our driveway.

[Redwings]

I'm so bummed for you. Here I was picturing you away on your trip.

[Gone Kayaking]

Today did end up better than it started. It looks like we will be able to leave next Wednesday ...only a week and a day later than originally planned. We are going to forego the new axle and brakes for now. My friend who is a very experienced trailer guy who has towed mine believes while brakes would be nice....they are not necessary because our tow vehicle (2011 nissan frontier v6 6500 lbs towing capacity) is more than a match for our little 1400# trailer and that my skill with the transmission will save the brakes. He's also going to flip the axle on the leaf springs so we have a bit better clearance (it was really low). If brakes seem necessary down the road, so be it. For now we will be fine.

[roothawg]

Just a little FYI. There is a local axle manufacturer here in OK called Dexter axles. They make any axle to your specifications.