ROUND or SQUARE Trailer axle
Submitted: Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 20:10
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REDDOG
My recently purchased camper trailer with electric drum brakes has a round axle. A mate while checking out the trailer noticed this and said it should be square , to stop the axle from slipping in the u bolts when brakes lock the wheels. He has seen this happen on a camper and the wires ripped out and the whole underneath got pretty ugly. Has anyone had this problem with a round axle ( it does have plates welded where it sits on the leafs ) and do I need to change axle to square. I havent adjusted the brakes yet , only done bout 400km, but dont want to adjust so they lock if axle will slip. Any advice appreciated.
Regards
Reply By: Member - Ian B - Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 20:22
Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 20:22
If you have decent plates, welded properly to the round stock, this will be stronger than simply relying upon 50 mm. of surface area on a square section.
You'll be fine.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: pjd - Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 21:13
Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 21:13
for sheer strength you should have at least a 45mm square axel minimum but if they have welded the axel saddles to the axel on a 39mm round it wont spin when you tock up the brakes
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129760
Reply By: Bros 1 - Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 23:11
Monday, Sep 12, 2005 at 23:11
Reddog,
I recently completed a 4,000 km plus outback jaunt which involved quite a fair bit of dirt.
The point is that at
Quilpie we found that the drivers side C/T spring had just about fallen to pieces. (all parts still there but skew whiff)
On inspection it was found that the bottom plate that sits on the axle was not welded to the axle nor have the centre bolt protruding. As a consequence the only thing that stopped the axle from turning was the pressure from the U-bolts. (not a braked trailer)
The previous year we had been to
Bathurst Bay over zillions of corrugations without any trouble.
The manufacturer said that the axle/spring configuration was normal for that style of trailer.
The bottom plate is welded on now with a hole for the centre bolt.
For your digestion.
Cheers,
Bros.
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