Trip report & my vote for the humble single axle

[bscott]

When I converted my single to tandems we mounted the axle assembly on a slider so I can move the axles to give me about 300# on the hitch with both gas tanks full and gear in the aft berth. No sway, no bearing heat and no problems with lugs coming loose (so far . ) 65 mph is my towing target with an 04 Jeep GC V8.

bscott

[Hamin' X]

Often times, excessive tongue weight with tandem axles, is related to hitch height. If the hitch is too high, it will take weight from the front axle and transfer some to the back axle and some to the tongue. The converse is true of a hitch that is too low.

~Rich

[Chinook]

Since we planned on doing a lot of long distance trailering with our boat, I opted to have the tandem axle/stainless disc brakes added to the trailer before our first long distance trip. We tow with a Chevy 3/4 ton diesel pickup, and even with that heavy rig the difference in handling is significant. No tail wagging the dog, so to speak. In 25,000 miles of trailering, I've had two flat tires while towing at freeway speeds. In both cases, the remaining 3 wheels took good care of us until I could exit the freeway and safely park. I wouldn't have wanted to lose a tire like that with just a single axle. By the way, I got some pretty strange looks driving up the freeway on the outskirts of Miami, with the failed tire smoking and shredding itself while I eased down to the nearest exit. I just looked back at the wildly gesturing drivers, smiled and nodded knowingly. Right now we're getting ready for another cross country tow, in late August, heading to the Chesapeake for a September cruise. I'll post later on how the trip goes.

[mike uk]

When I had a tire blow out on my single axle trailer (UK type) there was a lot of flailing rubber and steel wire which destroyed the plastic mudguard and even bent the metal mudguard brackets.

So I wonder, in the case of the tandem axle, could the second tyre be damaged by the first one shredding?

Has this happened to anyone?

Mike

ps Want to know what caused the blow out? Well, after pulling over and surveying the damage I noticed that the jockey wheel (UK word - the small wheel at the front of the trailer that cranks up and down when it is unhitched) was very low to the ground. And the solid rubber tyre had disappeared?! The thing had slowly unwound itself whilst driving (because I hadn't tightened it properly in the stowed position) and eventually the rubber touched the ground and broke up. The debris flew into my road tyre causing the mayhem. I now strap it up as well as tighten it properly. Some jockey wheels come supplied with a locking pin to hold it in the stowed position which is a good idea. Mike

[Kelly Hanson East]

I remove the jockey wheel whenever I trailer, btw.

[Chinook]

With the two flats I've had on my tandem axle trailer, no damage was done to the remaining tire, while the failed tire shredded itself. Didn't do any damage to the wheel rim of the failed tire either. Only thing I noticed while slowing down after the most recent flat was that, whenever I hit a bump in the road, the single good tire did rub on the underside of the fender, causing a puff of smoke from friction with the rubber. Clearance between the tire and the underside of the fender wasn't that great, and with the repositioned axle (further back), weight of the boat on the leaf spring allowed tire and fender to touch. I've since replaced the fenders and have more clearance, so when I have my next flat I should be just fine.

[SkiDeep2001]

I remove the jockey wheel whenever I trailer, btw.

I SECOND THAT . Remove that wheel, just make sure you have your post retracted or you may deform the diameter, scraping concrete going in/out of a driveway etc... otherwise you'll need to fix it before you can put your wheel back on. Rob

[csm]

Rich,
your comment about hitch height makes sense. I have 205 height tires all around, but the tires (new ones) on the rear axel "look" taller ; I've been contemplating switching the fronts with the rears to see if that moves some weight off the tongue. Sorry for hijacking your thread Paul.

[bastonjock]

ive had two tyres loose their tread,both times my plastic wheel covers disintigrated,at no point did the trailer loose control.

[J.Teixeira]

I don't know the exact words in English but a double axle is important to be "articulated"...



Mi system is a triangular one (there is another with an horizontal lever).

It is important because it creates a kind of dynamic center of gravity that avoids big lever forces on the tongue when passing irregular ground, breaking hard, blowing a tire, etc...

If one wheel goes down the other will gently go up...

When breaking they all go down...

That gives a lot of stability to a trailer.

Adding a second axle without it... Is not a very good idea...

http://arianeoveleiro.blogspot.com/2009/05/trailer.html

Jose

[Tom Root]

.

[Halcyon]

I started to repair my 2000X trailer. Bought the super great anti-rust paint, then started to dismantle the carpet skids. That's as far as I got. So badly rusted, not much left to paint. The brakes almost the same and the factory hydraulic lines rusted as well. Dont' forget the mudguards. Spoke to a welder and the cost to replace the cross members, new disk brakes and axle, well, I just ordered a new trailer. Tandem wheels, new as the old wheels also rusted. Don't know what the PO did or didn't do, but now paying for a new trailer. So much for the $150 rust repair.

But then again, I am about to retire and travel and do heaps of towing. Money well spent for the peace of mind. Going tandem just for safety aspect, although I've never had a blow-out on this trailer. Did have one on a previous boat though, NOT NICE doing 110kph when the tyre blew, took half the wheel (alloy) with it and never did find it either. Had to drag the trailer off the freeway on what was left of the wheel. That was fun.

Its a tandem for me.

brian

[BK]

I am still injecting that I bought the new M alumium trailer for my 2000 X and Macgregor did the mods. Cost is $2800 or $400 less if you do your own mods. Twice the axel size of old X trailer axel, a cross bar suspension with no springs, 15" tires that hold 2500lbs each, F/G fenders, disc brakes with 5 pin lights for backing up.
I am glad I did not tow to the N/W this year with the high heat. Hope I can get to Desolution Sound next year if gas prices are reasonable.

[pokerrick1]

Some jockey wheels come supplied with a locking pin to hold it in the stowed position which is a good idea.

I've never seen one in the USA that DIDN'T have one - - - can't believe that is not universal worldwide??

Rick less in Las Vegas