Your towing rigs and trailers

Diamondpilot · Mar 4, 2013

All the tri axles I have used had load levelers. As with any trailer you want it level as possible. We turn them super sharp, about 70deg to the trucks on very rough brushed concrete boat ramps each and every time. Yes, the tires fold but no worse then a tandem. The tri axles just pivot around the center tire. The front tire either goes in or out and the rear does the opposite.

I am with you on torsion axles. They were very popular in the late 90's and early 2000's on boat trailers. They are all but phased out now. No means of load sharing between axles I have seen single axles carrying 70% or more of the load on tandem axle units and inturn multiple tire failures

Chris

RedNeckRacin · Mar 4, 2013

Thats exactly the reason I want to get away from the torsion. I see PJ trailers now offers a self contained air ride system on their trailers. I bet that is a pretty sweet set up except if the power fails and the intial cost! Its pretty tough to beat a simple set of springs. I'm not doubting your tri-axle experience, I just dont have that much faith in it. There are so few tri-axles trailers for sale, there has to be something to it.

Diamondpilot · Mar 4, 2013

RedNeckRacin said:
Thats exactly the reason I want to get away from the torsion. I see PJ trailers now offers a self contained air ride system on their trailers. I bet that is a pretty sweet set up except if the power fails and the intial cost! Its pretty tough to beat a simple set of springs. I'm not doubting your tri-axle experience, I just dont have that much faith in it. There are so few tri-axles trailers for sale, there has to be something to it.

It must be a regional thing. On my road alone there is less than 20 homes but 4 tri axle trailers. One is a 5th wheel toy hauler and the rest just regular trailers. They are as common if not more common than tandem duals.

The other big benefit is they run 16" wheels and tires. You can get a tire at Wal-Mart on a Sunday for $150. Have a problem with duals and you'll be waiting the whole weekend and possibly all day Monday to get back on the road with the odd sized tires.

Chris

bindian · Mar 4, 2013

RedNeckRacin said:
Brandi, I hear you about the towing capacity. I was looking at a kauffman 30+4 and it only had 10k axles but was rated for 24900? I believe. SO they were betting on about 6k of tongue weight to get that. I think thats false advertising personally lol. My moritz weighs about 5400 I think so its certainly not a light trailer but its undersized for what my needs are now.Does the heavier trailer handle your load alot more comfortably though? I'm already flirting with disaster with my weights and cdl territory. I have had my cdl permit for about 4 months now and have been "practicing" *ah-hem!* till I can go and take the driving test. There is a local bus company that has a single axle dump with an auto and a short little pintle hitch trailer that they test you in. Shouldn't be to bad except the truck prolly turns like a yacht compared to mine lol. ITs really not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be.

Chris, I hear you about the added maintenance costs but I agree with brandi about the tires scrubbing to much in a tri-axle trailer. The places that I used my trailers at are mostly to tight for my rig anyways so I'm always taking advantage of the ability to turn back around on myself with a gooseneck. I can watch my tires rolling pretty hard then I jack my short trailer around. I dont think I will ever go back to a torsion axle trailer either! Arent tri-axle trailers very sensitive to the trailer being level as to which axle carries the load? Or do they have the common spring hangers that balance everything out? I have never owned one, but I have only recently needed to start thinking about the bigger trailer options.

RedNeckRacin,
Down here in the Grand Republic of Texas, you test for CDL in a rig like your gonna drive. So in my case, my truck and trailer!. I'm not getting the CDL endorsement. Maybe later.
hugs, Brandi

Diamondpilot · Mar 4, 2013

bindian said:
RedNeckRacin,
Down here in the Grand Republic of Texas, you test for CDL in a rig like your gonna drive. So in my case, my truck and trailer!. I'm not getting the CDL endorsement. Maybe later.
hugs, Brandi

Same here. My neighbor did his in a Ford Van pulling a single axle trailer.

Chris

bindian · Mar 4, 2013

Diamondpilot said:
We turn them super sharp, about 70deg to the trucks on very rough brushed concrete boat ramps each and every time. Yes, the tires fold but no worse then a tandem. The tri axles just pivot around the center tire. The front tire either goes in or out and the rear does the opposite.

Chris

Chris,
70 degree turns are not tight with a GN. Go past 90 degrees or even 100 degrees turning around. That is where the GN excels over a bumper pull. I gather your boat ramp area is huge.

What your describe above tells me you are not paying for these tires. Oh yeah........my dual tandem has 16 inch tires.
hugs, Brandi

RedNeckRacin · Mar 4, 2013

Well in pa its a little different with the test. If you want a class a cdl to drive a combination over 26k, you have to test in a vehicle as such. Meaning I can't take my one ton pick up and my skidsteer trailer down. I can however take a single axle truck with air brakes, auto transmission and a pintle hitch trailer then go jump in a full sized semi and be perfectly legal. go figure?! I dont believe pa distinguishes between commercial and non commercial class a licenses. If your gonna roll heavy, you gotta have a cdl.

X2 on the 70 degrees, I have found myself on more than one occassian going well past 90 degrees to get situated where I needed to be. My tires on my gn are 16" as well. Although I wonder if walmart carries 10ply tires? lol It certainly must be regional, around here its tandem singles or tandem duals for the GN's even the oil field guys run tandem duals (yeah i know not their own money but they haul heavy)

It always amazes me how a state or two away and things change pretty dramatically! The license laws are absolutely nuts and the laws keep changing so that never seems to helps things. I wish I qualified for a wanna-be farmer/amateur trucker to avoid all the hassel the OTR guys get. Heck I had to get a stinking medical card just to pull my gn with a pickup since I was over 17klbs.

Fordman1981 · Mar 4, 2013

I posted this in the thread where I was looking to buy my trailer but thought I'd post it here as well. 1000 mile trip the 2500 did really well. Very happy with the power. It would be nice if Ram would give you the same 800lbft torque they offer with the auto though.