Fixing a bent axle?

[gstrom99]

I have a pretty new tandem axle 7500lb car trailer that I either overloaded it (probably) or hit something, that ended up making a skewed LR tire/wheel. No pic handy, but it has pretty good negative camber and some toe out. It wore out the inner tread of the tire, not quite to the cords, yet.

Lippert axles, with brakes on both.

Apparently, it's not an unusual issue to have... Rather than buy a new axle, I've seen that these can be "bent back" into alignment. Anyone have experience doing this?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I have a pretty new tandem axle 7500lb car trailer that I either overloaded it (probably) or hit something, that ended up making a skewed LR tire/wheel. No pic handy, but it has pretty good negative camber and some toe out. It wore out the inner tread of the tire, not quite to the cords, yet.

Lippert axles, with brakes on both.

Apparently, it's not an unusual issue to have... Rather than buy a new axle, I've seen that these can be "bent back" into alignment. Anyone have experience doing this?

Yep, but you have to have something to bend it with. Or you could just replace the axle tube. Or look around for some used heavier axles and replace them. You can sell your original axles too. I plan on using this red axle.

 

[5030]

Ouch....Not a fan of torsion axles on equipment trailers anyway. They belong on an RV. I much prefer leaf springs.

 

[nyone]

A 3500lb axle is prety cheap. Have your spent some time and priced one out?

 

[gstrom99]

It has leaf springs. I have several bottle jacks, decent chains and a 12 ton port-a-power to use. There's a ton of numbers on the Lippert sticker, which don't pop up on any web surfing. I'd need to use the 80" spring perch and 93" hub lengths, to match it up. Found one for $180 (maybe...). I may need to make some calls. I just need the axle tube. I can transfer all the brakes, which would be less dangerous.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

not questioning your bent axle conclusion but I had similar scuffed out tire on a 7k trailer I own.

My investigation was the castle nut holding axle bearings was not tight enough from factory. Wheel wobble due to not enough torque. My fix was a set of new bearings and correct torque on a castle nut and no problems over last 5 years. I simply jacked up my trailer and shook each wheel and I quickly new something was wrong.

hope your fix is as easy as mine.

 

[ovrszd]

To me, most important questio, how will I know when I've got it straight?

I can envision some redneck ways but there'd be no way to ensure it's straight without risking another tire.

 

[gstrom99]

Wheel/hub is tight. Turns out, Dexter Axle (ex Redneck Trailer Supplies) has a warehouse/distribution center only 20 miles from me in rural Hampton, IA (!). I just drove over there with my Lippert #'s and they had a Dexter axle in stock (and only $165) and tossed in the spring perches. He said that all the Lippert brgs/hubs will transfer fine. No re-bending. Problem solved, once I R&R, weld, and rewire. I had a new spare tire, which will now be swapped...

 

[ovrszd]

Best solution for sure.

 

[5030]

Dexter is much better quality than Lippert is anyway. If you follow any RV forums (like I do), you'll soon discover that Lippert stuff is basically junk, kind of like the 'China Bomb' tires that RV builders use.

 

[gstrom99]

Dexter is much better quality than Lippert is anyway.

I hope so.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I am kind of late on this thread but I will add a little something about straightening out bent axles, I have a 20' equipment trailer with 2-7k axles, I was hauling my skid steer and brush cutter to a job when I hit a huge pothole in a curve and bent one of the axles on my trailer which caused the right rear tire to be towed out all out of whack. I took a chain and a 12 ton bottle jack and straightened it until the tire was back perfectly straight, I had my doubts as to how long it would last but it has been almost a year and it is still perfect, there are many videos on You tube about how to do it with a chain and bottle jack.

 

[gstrom99]

Everything swapped over just fine. I was ready to re-bend the original one, but for $165, I'm glad I replaced it.

I didn't weigh them, but the Dexter axle seems heavier, and has more camber curve built in. The axle nut is held in place by a cage thingy, rather than a cotter pin. No lube zerk (which is fine with me). The Lippert people sure skimped on the amount of grease it had. I'll need to remember to repack the bearings on the other one soon.

 

[repete]

I have always thought that in order to bend a piece of metal you must stretch the metal as compressing metal is really tough. If I am correct in that logic, then the only way to straighten the axle would be to apply an equal amount of stretch to the other side of the axle.
My recommendation is to get a new, unstretched, axle. Not an axle that has been stretched equally.

 

[nyone]

not questioning your bent axle conclusion but I had similar scuffed out tire on a 7k trailer I own

I had a scuffed tire after I replaced radial tires to bias ply tires on a trailer I had owned for about 9yrs. It turns out the manufacturer welded the spring hangers 1.5in out of square. I cut 4 of the 6 off and re welded. Then replaced the tires again with radials. That was an expensive lesson but found it on my pre/post trip inspection.

I too was for sure thinking I bent an axle.