Axle placement

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Axle placement

Postby lacofdfireman » Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:35 am

I don’t remember the correct placement of the axle for my trailer. It seems like the correct placement is 60% behind the leading edge of the trailer. I don’t remember if there is any tongue length involved in the equation or not. Right now my trailer frame is 83” in length and 60” wide. From the tip of the tongue to the rear of the trailer it is 143”. So for me based of my trailer frame measurement I’d say that I should place the axle center at basically 50”. Does that sound correct?

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Re: Axle placement

Postby lacofdfireman » Mon Aug 20, 2018 1:01 pm

Ok so I got my axle set and welded on and was told from my local dexter axle dealer that my axle hanger centers should be placed at 23 3/4” since my spring bolt centers are at 23 1/4”. Well I welded them up and to their specs and it doesn’t look right to me. I’m going to be pissed if I have to cut these off because they were welded on to stay. It may mess up my frame to cut them off. What are my options?

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Re: Axle placement

Postby friz » Mon Aug 20, 2018 1:55 pm

I am curious to know how your axle dealer was familiar with your weight distribution? You want to place your axle so your tongue weight is about 15 percent of your gross weight. A 60/40 percent split of your trailer length is usually a good place to start but not written in stone. My axle is further back but I keep most of my heavy stuff in the rear of my camper so it works.

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Re: Axle placement

Postby working on it » Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:15 pm

***** The only thing I see wrong in your pictures is that you've placed your axle in a "negative camber" position . Both Sprung axles and Torsion axles typically are built with a slight positive camber , so that heavy loads will tend to straighten-out the pre-bent axle, so that the wheels become straight up-and-down.
Trailer-Axle-Camber.jpg
Trailer-Axle-Camber.jpg (75.04 KiB) Viewed 2041 times

***** About placing your axle at 60% front/rear 40%, that is the normal setting. That also assumes that loading will be balanced in that proportion as well. My squareback TTT, has the axle at the original 60/40 it was manufactured with, but I goofed when adding 12" forward and 24" rearward to the originally 60/40 ratio'ed, 50" x 60" small trailer I converted; I should've added a proportionate length to maintain the favored "magic ratio", but I had created a 54.6/45.4 ratio instead. And, I compounded the error by putting all my really heavy items at the time (generator, battery, cooler, Aquatainer, Coleman gear + fuel) back there, while the only heavy items forward was the spare tire (bolted to the front wall), and a small overhead shelf behind the front slope of the roof. I think my first actual weighing of the tongue weight was zero lbs.
***** I had left room on the tongue for a tongue box, but couldn't find one at the right price, and the right shape I wanted, so in the interim, I compensated by using a Husky diamond-plate (black) toolbox, bolted to the tongue. I moved the battery into it, plus as many tools, spare parts% hardware that I could fit into it (shielding the battery terminals, of course). That made my tongue weight 40 lbs. Again, I compensated for that by carrying heavy camping gear inside the cabin, and making a Weight Distributing arrangement, using only one spring-bar, instead of two,and the hitch head as I used it, for pulling my big trailers.
***** I finally bought a nice tongue box, mounted it to a sliding platform (for blocking-in the spare, and to gain added tongue weight), stuffed the battery & spares from the earlier box, then added lots more electrical supplies and tools, until it was full. I finally reached 10% tongue weight, and the added 3 feet of tongue box forward of the cabin, made the EFFECTIVE balance ratio become 67/33, as well.
***** Recently, prior to my last trip, I added a single shelf on a rack over my front slope/tongue box, followed by a second shelf, and a sideways scissor jack mounted to the tongue, which doesn't change the ratio in terms of length, but it certainly added more tongue weight, now at 303 lbs (trailer total weight is 2065), when loaded up. Now, I don't have to carry heavy gear inside the cabin (now they're on the racks, or in the truck bed), and I might not have to use the WD hitch system anymore (it's almost impossible to back up while using it on a short trailer), also due to recently adding a drop-shank, to lower the ball height.
***** So, by starting out with the magic 60/40 ratio, you'll probably need less, or no, adjustments to get your weight balance correct, for a safer towing experience, without having to make major alterations that I had to, to achieve the desired results.
2013 HHRv "squareback/squaredrop", rugged, 4x8 TTT, 2225 lbs
  • *3500 lb Dexter EZ-Lube braked axle, 3000 lb.springs, active-progressive bumpstop suspension
  • *27 x 8.5-14LT AT tires (x 3) *Weight Distribution system for single-beam tongue
  • *100% LED's & GFCI outlets, 3x fans, AM/FM/CD/Aux. *A/C & heat, Optima AGM, inverter & charger(s)
  • *extended-run, on-board, 2500w generator *Coleman dual-fuel stove & lantern, Ikea grill, vintage skillet
  • *zinc/stainless front & side racks *98"L x 6" diameter rod & reel carrier tube on roof
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Re: Axle placement

Postby Ottsville » Mon Aug 20, 2018 3:50 pm

friz wrote:I am curious to know how your axle dealer was familiar with your weight distribution? You want to place your axle so your tongue weight is about 15 percent of your gross weight. A 60/40 percent split of your trailer length is usually a good place to start but not written in stone. My axle is further back but I keep most of my heavy stuff in the rear of my camper so it works.

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He's saying the dealer was talking about the spread on the hangers, not where they are placed on the trailer.

And good catch by working on it. The axle is on upside down. Don't know if you were just mocking it up or what.
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Re: Axle placement

Postby lacofdfireman » Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:38 pm

Ottsville wrote:
friz wrote:I am curious to know how your axle dealer was familiar with your weight distribution? You want to place your axle so your tongue weight is about 15 percent of your gross weight. A 60/40 percent split of your trailer length is usually a good place to start but not written in stone. My axle is further back but I keep most of my heavy stuff in the rear of my camper so it works.

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He's saying the dealer was talking about the spread on the hangers, not where they are placed on the trailer.

And good catch by working on it. The axle is on upside down. Don't know if you were just mocking it up or what.


Yes I am aware the axle is upside down. Was shipped to me this way so we had just set it on there like that. It has since been fixed.

I needed up cutting off the hangers and mounted them correctly. What a mess. Was a PITA to cut those off but was able to get the, Off with a cutoff wheel and the. Was able to get the rest with a sanding wheel on my angle grinder. We are good to go now. I think I Orders my axle about 3”to long though. I have a 3” gap between the trailer side rail and the tire sidewall bulge. I would have rather only had about a 1.5” gap. But I’ll live with it. Will just need to make wider fenders. Also that puts my width from outside tire to outside of tire at 87” which is a little wider than I’d hoped for. But I really wanted to build this for a queen bed so I’ll have to live with it.

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