Bowed axle on steel trailer.

[kmclemore]

Ok.. tried the jack under the axle trick today.
Had the whole boat and trailer off the ground with only the jockey wheel touching.
Axel bowed about 3" but didn't bend permanently. Still has a bow in it.
Might try filling the ballast tank and try again.
I am tempted to get in the boat and jump up and down... but .. umm.. that might be a bit silly.

Does ANYONE know what this axle is rated at ?

Cheers.
Phill

Hmm... strange. Mine bent with no ballast at all!

[fireant]

Hi Phill
I had a look at the axle thing and remember in Australia The ADR's specify the ratings for double and single axle trailers And I remember the mac trailer complies because it has the larger axle but i cant remember the details.

I also live in Perth and bought a S/hand with trailer probs but am pretty happy with it now just need to deal with corrosion and keep the paint up to it for now..

Cheers Darren

Hi Darren,

Thanks for the info.

Another driver in Perth ...

Once I learn how to sale ..... or even spell it.
We should have a race to rotto or something ?
I lay down the gauntlet you you my man !

P.S. I too used to fly ... only 100hours in little planes. Hang-glided a bit and did 6 jumps hoping a bit of nylon would open up before I hit the ground.
VERY nearly bought a trike instead of the Mac .. wife number one said I could ... but as it only seats two it was not really the family thing to do.
Next toy on the list after the lotto win.

BTW I live in Parkerville.

Phill

[Bleakco]

as a general rule all 5 hole axles are rated at 3500#, 6 hole are rated at 5k and 8 hole are 7k...that is what the Washington State Patrol look for when they see an obviously overloaded trailer. those are gross wt numbers not what you can load on the trailer... lightly loaded X & Ms are barely legal on 5 hole wheels. mine weighs 4400 no balast going down the road,,I usually only go 25 miles at 60 mph to get to the boat ramp in Olympia avoiding chuck holes as best I can

[Tide Over]

I just bought a Mac 26X in NJ. Heading to my home in the Maritimes in Canada, the trailer axle broke just north of Boston on Rte 495. I had to have it taken to a Marina. I learned that although the surge brakes had be redone and less than a year old, the axle was almost completely rusted (inside of the the axle metal cover/holding, not sure what you call it). The marine mechanic told me that there is a small water drain hole in the axle
holding and it must have been plugged up for a period of time causing internal rust on the axle.

Getting a new axle or a modified one to replace/fix it has been quite an ordeal.

I guess my point to all my fellow Mac Sailors is " check your trailer axle often to ensure that the drain hole is clear and open"

[Catigale]

I torched my wheel stub on my old axle on my 2002 and had Champion in Louisiana send me a new one - I had it all done to be back on the road for another Cape Trip 3 weeks later..I highly recommend them for axle stuff...thread should be in here somewhere..

[Catigale]

Thread here.... http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... eplacement

[fireant]

I guess my point to all my fellow Mac Sailors is " check your trailer axle often to ensure that the drain hole is clear and open"

Thanks for the tip ... will check.

Thanks Bleakco for the load ratings given above.

I had the boat off the trailer the first time yesterday and noticed that the camber was gone !
At least it looked like it. I didn't have a level or tape measure handy.

Where could the camber be coming from ?
Just the weight of the boat ?

[Boblee]

Sorry Phil half replied to your other post and basically addressed this in part but would be very doubtful if you can bend the axle by just jacking in the middle, we used a ten ton jack and placed the axle under a very heavy truck axle and you have to over bend it a fair way to get it to move, sorry can't remember how much it was bent past straight.
In many ways these trailers would benefit by dual axles but that also brings other problems, it's a catch 22 but if you go for duals use axles of equal strength so that if damage is sustained by one the boat can still be towed on the remaining one .
This may not be important if only using in built up areas but it's a long way between facilities in the outback and very expensive if you need transport.
The biggest problem with the trailer is the use of US parts which are not readily accessible here but with more dealers perhaps this MAY change.
Note sometime ago we also changed our springs to Alco 2.5 ton rated leafs which give much better springing and are stronger.
What would be good would be to have the heavier 6 stud axle and tyres but not sure how that would fit with aussi regs.

[fireant]

Yes ... I couldn't get mine to stay bent even with the boat in the air with just the jockey wheel touching.
What arrangement did you have for bending yours ?
BTW ... if I am heading up north I am going dual axle 4 sure.

[Boblee]

G'day Phil
LOL very technical job with very sophisticated tools but neccessity is the mother of invention.
The first picture is of a miner friend (now) drilling a hole in the wall of his dugout to put a 2" peice of round steel near him into with which we tried to bend the axle in the background on but it didn't work as the wall gave way, believe me these axles are super strong.
The second picture shows the boat balanced (precariously) with me under it replacing the axle after using the axle of the truck in the left background behind the boat to bend it and it was at least three times heavier than our boats but it was lifting despite being loaded with the big vacuam barrel way out the back of it.
It took quite a few attempts to get it to satisfaction but it has done at least 6000k's since with absolutely no tyre wear which is better than original.
Lol sophisticated tools were 10 ton jack spirit level as straight edge and tape measure we were carrying brake fluid and enough tools to accomplish the job but needed the solid weight and packing blocks etc to make a makeshift press.
I did call in on the way back past and give the miner a 620 Barra which pleased him immensly.

[fireant]

Wow.

Where did you go sailing in Cooper Pedy ?

I still don't quite understand what you did ... but I get the idea.
When you introduced the "upward bend" how far do you reckon you went ?
ie: how much upwards bow needs to be in the axle to get the camber out with the boat back on the trailer.
Rough guestimate ?

edit: And how much bow did you need to initially make to get it to bow that far ?


BTW ... I have heard that the axles on these trailers are all different. Mine is only about 50mm square.

[Boblee]

LOL we were heading to the Kimberlies and tried to push a barrier post out in a rest stop 100k's out of Port Augusta but it was freezing cold and I wasn't going back so after changing to the spares which we hoped would make Alice headed up the Stuart but it was obvious they wouldn't by Coober Pedy.
As it was Friday arvo and Monday was a public holiday when I saw a bloke with a backhoe, asked him if we pulled the axle out could we use his machine to straighten it but he suggested taking the boat up to his dugout to use his workshop as even on Monday we probably wouldn't find anybody locally to fix it.
You obviously have a different axle ours is 2"x3" by blocking one end and placing where you want to bend under the immovable object you can jack the other end.
As before sorry not sure how much we had to overbend but it certainly sprung back a long way, it was just trial and error as it would be irrespective of the method, I was going to get it replaced in Alice but it is better than new with absolutely no tyre wear over 6000k's.
If the axle was lighter we would not have been able to move the trailer as it would have bent much more but then may have been able to winch it straight, I am still not conviced that duals are better except that then I could leave everything in the boat when travelling.

[fireant]

Fixed my trailer problem.

[kmclemore]

Fixed my trailer problem.

Please don't call me when it's time to rotate the tires!

[RJG 26S]

I agree with Catigale. See http://www.championtrailers.com/spdlubax.html

For just over $200 you can get a new galvanized axle with a really slick spindle that allows you to repack the bearings without removing them. It has a grease fitting on the end and a drilled passage that sends the grease between the inner bearing and the inner seal. When you pump in more grease it flows from the inner bearing to the outer, flushing out the old grease.

Bob