[creelclmsn]

Ok so I have the original trailer that came with my 1978 Venture 21. The axle broke. It was a 2500 lb. square tube axle.

I ordered a round 3500 lb. axle and new springs. When installing the new axle I realized that the old axle was mounted below springs and the new was set up for above the springs.

The space did not allow above spring mounting because of the keel hitting the axle. So I flipped the axle and mounted it below the springs. Now my cambered axle bend is facing downward. I spoke to the trailer axle manufacturer (******* trailers) and they seem to think because I increased the weight capacity of the axle over the amount of the boat that I should be fine.

My question is exactly that, do you think having the camber flipped even though I am no where near 3500lb. will cause an issue???

 

[blt2ski]

GO to your nearest trailer axel supply place, they have a kit that will allow you to do as you are doing, by adding new perch's for the springs on the top of the axel, keeping your trailers camber as it is supposed to be. Parts are cheap in the scheme of thing. less than $50 or so. I did this with an rv trailer, very common in that industry to gain ground clearance or leveling the trailer if you can not get the hitch low enough.

Marty

 

[creelclmsn]

Right I know about "Flipping" the perches. My question though is that necessary? The manufacturer says it will be fine with the camber flipped because of the added weight class. I will never come close to having 3500 lb. on the trailer. The boat only weighs like 2000 lb. So is changing the perches necessary?

 

[Azzarac]

It may be strong enough but it certainly isn't designed to operate that way. Since there is no way to really know what the axle rating would be when flipped and considering the extreme forces applied to the axle during transport you may have a recipe for disaster brewing. Personally I would flip it so everything operates as it was designed. If it comes apart at highway speeds you may not only destroy your boat but could well kill someone who's only out for a Sunday drive...

 

[blt2ski]

The real issue I see, is the axel alignment in a true flipped form! I would get the perches myself. As noted, yes one can probably get away with a true flipped axel.....but why take a chance.

Marty

 

[denverd0n]

If you do not flip the axle back over, and get different perches to mount the springs on the top (which would be the "right" way to do it) then you MUST keep a close eye on your trailer tire wear and should rotate them regularly. What is going to happen is that the inside edges of your tires are going to wear faster than the outside edges. You need to watch, and compensate, for this.

The real question is, why did the original axle break? If it broke because you are carrying too much weight for a 2500 lbs axle, then moving up to 3500 is a good idea. If it broke, not because it was overloaded, but because of some defect, then you really should not have moved up to a larger axle. In the latter case, even if you flip the 3500 lbs axle the right way up, you will still need to keep an eye on tire wear, as you will most likely see excess wear on the outside edges of your tires (though not to the same degree as the inside edge wear if you do not flip it).

 

[creelclmsn]

The original axle broke because the PO re welded the tubes together. The original axle was a 2" square tube strait axle. The trailer rating was originally 2500 lbs. I have changed everything over to 3500 lbs. because the boat is said to weigh close to 2000 lbs. With gear loaded I would say I was pushing that 2500 lbs limit. So the original square axle was mounted below the springs. I bought all new springs, hardware and axle. The new axle was intended to sit on the top of the spring. Due to the keel the axle will not fit on top of the springs. So I called ******* trailers, they seem to think since I over built the trailer anyway the camber would never go flat, just like you said Denver0n, cause wear on the inside of the tire since the loaded weight would never equal zero on the cambered axle. They said since I flipped it(bow down) and my load is not distributed from center but rather from sides it will be the same as if I was putting it on in the correct direction (bow up) because the load will never be heavy enough to squat the axle. plus it raised the trailer height to a very nice ride height. Before it was extremely low to the ground before and now it sits beautifully behind my truck now. Also my first road test around the neighborhood and over all the speed humps and bumps proved that it causes no issues. From an engineering stand point the load is being distributed to the same points on the axle and should not cause issues. I see what everyone is saying though and thank you al for your input. I think I may take it to a local trailer builder and see what he thinks seeing it in person.