Tire wear on a T139

[APD]

We had some uneven tire wear. The tires were wearing on the inside.
I found that the axle was bolted to two metal plates welded to the sides of the frame but not bolted to the channel. I added the vertical 1/2" grade eight bolts/nuts/washers in the picture below. I assume this will be stronger.


Has anyone else done this?

We also had an alignment shop bend the axle to correct the camber. Some shops told us no, that the torsion couldn't be bent. This tech said it can be bent as long as it's bent in the middle, that it was made with a bow in the middle. That over time and miles the axle can lose camber.
Has anyone else had this done on the torsion axle?

[Travels with Yoly]

I don't know of anyone having one rebent, but I do know that axles are meant to be bowed (similar to a flatbed truck trailer) in order to run straight and true when fully loaded. I've also heard of another brand of trailer that had received a bad batch of axles from their supplier that weren't bowed correctly in the first place and several owners had them replaced when their tires wore out prematurally on the inside edges. These utility axles aren't very expensive and personally I would have replaced it before trying to rebend it.

[profdant139]

What year T-139 is this, and how old were the tires? There were some bad axles on some X-139s -- Lippert replaced them. But I have not heard anything about the old T-139s.

Also, bear in mind that there was a bad batch of Chinese tires a few years ago -- they were installed as original equipment on some Cruiser trailers. I can't remember the brand name, but it was some off brand. They also showed uneven wear patterns.

And finally, I agree that you could upgrade to a beefier axle. I paid extra for a heavier axle, since we often travel on very rough roads (albeit at very low speeds).

[Travels with Yoly]

Originally Posted by profdant139

And finally, I agree that you could upgrade to a beefier axle. I paid extra for a heavier axle, since we often travel on very rough roads (albeit at very low speeds).

An axle with a higher load rating than required is the least expensive peace of mind that you can have. A bigger axle will be stressed less and have larger bearing assemblies which will have longer service life and fewer issues. You can buy a new 3,500 lb axle with new springs and U-bolts for $200 and it's money well spent

Dan .... did you get my PM ?

[Eagle]

Most 'quality' truck repair & alignment shops can straighten a bent axle. I've had axles straightened on other trailers, but never on campers.

[APD]

Thanks for the replies.
The order date on the axle tag is in 2005.
It is a Dexter Torq-Flex Axle. A replacement is about $300 to $350 (best I've found locally). They are a torsion bar type not a spring type.

My thought was to try having it re-bent and if it didn't work then pursue replacement. I was told it was a #3500 axle. (I need to investigate that further). The axle shop was Butler Tires semi truck shop in Marietta, Ga.
The tires are about two years old and have maybe 6500 to 7500 miles under 'em. I'll try to upload some pictures. (I'm still learning how)
OH, the T139FK is a 2005 year model.

[Travels with Yoly]

Sorry, my original quote was for a plain axle with no brakes either.

[APD]

I had to turn the picture over. Here's the axle tag/label. It doesn't give any info about the rating but I should be able to look that up.
I tried to contact Dexter but all they could give my was information on a local jobber/supplier.



The axle appears to be the OEM.
The local supplier, Country Boy Trailers, will not order an axle under any circumstances unless they measure it themselves. (They do not trust the OEM part numbers!)
I thinking I'll replace the tires in the spring and carefully monitor the tire wear to see if the re-bend worked.
This is our first camper.
Is axle alignment/tire wear a big problem with camping trailers. I've owned many enclosed cargo trailers but they didn't see the constant load or even the miles.

[Travels with Yoly]

It appears that the Torflex axles are made with a wide range of load ratings and custom made to the customer's specification (see photo from Dexter web-site). Cruiser RV may have ordered these to a specific load capacity but hard to determine what it is by the sticker. The three trailers with Dexter axles that we had all had a load rating stamped on them in addition to the attached sticker.

[APD]

Well......I'm not too happy!
The axle is a 09H which is the #9 load rating w/high mount.
That's a max capacity of 2200 lbs according to Dexter literature!!
The information from Cruiser RV for the T139FK is a GVWR of 3000Lbs? My math says that doesn't match up.

Even without our extra gear, the little rig is about 1950 to 1975 lbs.
In other words, the axle is pretty much maxed out.......

[Travels with Yoly]

Originally Posted by APD

Well......I'm not too happy!
The axle is a 09H which is the #9 load rating w/high mount.
That's a max capacity of 2200 lbs according to Dexter literature!!
The information from Cruiser RV for the T139FK is a GVWR of 3000Lbs? My math says that doesn't match up.

Even without our extra gear, the little rig is about 1950 to 1975 lbs.
In other words, the axle is pretty much maxed out.......

That's the way all RVs are built it seems ... right on the bare limit to maximise profits for the manufacturer. Our first unit was a T@B .... dry weight of 1760 lbs (and more than likely much heavier than that) on a 2,000 lb axle. Second unit, a Cobblestone had a GVWR of 3,500 lbs came on a 3,500 lb axle and our Funfinder 214WSD with a GVWR of 6,200 lbs came on two 3,500 lb axles, which had the larger safety margin of any of the three. If you look at the load ratings of the tires also, they are right at the maximum ratings as well.

Our current camping solution is a camper that weighs 1,000 lbs and rides on a stock 3,500 lb Dexter axle

[APD]

It is what it is.....
Going heavier may be expensive.....
I have a sinking feeling the next size up will require larger brakes, drums/hubs and bearings. I will go back to Dexter and start browsing thru their parts index. Maybe compare the bearing part #s between the #9 axle and the #10 axle.
I did discover that the weight rating correlates with the axle tube size. For example the #9 is a 2.17" square tube and the #10 is 2.62". At least that works for the ratings on the smaller axles. I didn't look at the really really large capacity charts.

[APD]

It would appear that there is some mixing and matching by Cruiser RV.
The best I can find so far:
It is a #09 axle for sure but it has 10" brakes (standard for the #09 would be 7"). The 10" x 1.5" brakes are 3500# rated which explains the PO assuming it was a #3500 axle.
It also has 205/14" wheel/tire (standard for the Dexter #09 axle would be 175/13 or smaller).
It appears to be a #09 Torflex with #10 recommended brakes and hubs......
A 2200# axle with 3500# brakes/tires.........

[Travels with Yoly]

Good research

[profdant139]

Neil, I did not get your PM?? My email (which I will spell out in order to thwart the spam bots) is the first four letters of professor, followed by my first name (three letters), followed by schechter, followed by the at sign, followed by gmail dot com. All lower case.

And just to stay on the topic, I forgot to add that in addition to a heavier axle, we put on heavy leaf springs and beefy shock absorbers. We go off road a lot, although at very slow speeds (around 5 mph).

[Travels with Yoly]

Thank you Dan for the info on the email I'll be in touch.

It definitely sounds like you did the maximum upgrade on your FF suspension. Doesn't get any better than that.