I have noticed the inside of my tires are wearing more than the rest of the tire. I guess it could be from bent axels or bent spindles. Anyone have this problem before?
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Same problem
Magic Tilt who made my trailer says take it to a big alignment shop, one that does trucks, and have the axles bent back to straight. the one here in Greenville,Sc wants $85.00 to do the job. It should have been done by the mfg before I got the trailer.
Magic Tilt who made my trailer says take it to a big alignment shop, one that does trucks, and have the axles bent back to straight. the one here in Greenville,Sc wants $85.00 to do the job. It should have been done by the mfg before I got the trailer.
I'm with Rick
I have read numerous posts in the archives regarding the axle. Another Sailor Alan Long (where have you been Alan?) had his snap after 4 years of launching in Salt water due to a pin hole in the axle that allowed water to get inside the axle and rust from the inside out. In addition the trailer axle may have been overstressed over time due to possibly travelling at a high rate of speed and going through dips in the road. I have never attempted to calculate the force coming down on the axle when going through a dip but basic physics would tell us that the force coming down in a dip is more than the normal downward force presented by the weight of the trailer and the boat just sitting in a parking lot. Now that I am through with my physics lesson for today boys and girls the bottom line is that the axle has been over stressed and could possibly be rusting. Straightening it out may help for a while but the problem may be deeper. Nils Anderson designed and built his own trailer for a 260 and would probably be able to elaborate on the forces on the axle. For $125 per axle you can get galvanized and not worry any more. Heck, its only money. If we didn't want to spend it we wouldn't have bought boats in the first place!
I have read numerous posts in the archives regarding the axle. Another Sailor Alan Long (where have you been Alan?) had his snap after 4 years of launching in Salt water due to a pin hole in the axle that allowed water to get inside the axle and rust from the inside out. In addition the trailer axle may have been overstressed over time due to possibly travelling at a high rate of speed and going through dips in the road. I have never attempted to calculate the force coming down on the axle when going through a dip but basic physics would tell us that the force coming down in a dip is more than the normal downward force presented by the weight of the trailer and the boat just sitting in a parking lot. Now that I am through with my physics lesson for today boys and girls the bottom line is that the axle has been over stressed and could possibly be rusting. Straightening it out may help for a while but the problem may be deeper. Nils Anderson designed and built his own trailer for a 260 and would probably be able to elaborate on the forces on the axle. For $125 per axle you can get galvanized and not worry any more. Heck, its only money. If we didn't want to spend it we wouldn't have bought boats in the first place!
Nil's trailer
Was it Nil who built a single axle trailer? He or whoever it was pointed out that with dual 3500 pound axles, the front axle hits the dip or bump first, and you get a _huge_ load on each axle, one at a time. He felt a single 7000 lb axle was stronger and safer. Made sense to me. Pilots have a saying about small twin engine airplanes. If one engine fails, the other engine has enough power to carry you to the scene of the accident. ...RickM...
Was it Nil who built a single axle trailer? He or whoever it was pointed out that with dual 3500 pound axles, the front axle hits the dip or bump first, and you get a _huge_ load on each axle, one at a time. He felt a single 7000 lb axle was stronger and safer. Made sense to me. Pilots have a saying about small twin engine airplanes. If one engine fails, the other engine has enough power to carry you to the scene of the accident. ...RickM...
Mine did the same thing
Right before it collapsed. The trailer tires were wearing in a scalloped pattern along the inside edges of the tire. I can see how you might have a bent axle if it were solid, but it is tubular. Mine started rusting from the inside...the axle looked fine on the outside. I'm still here Jonathan...thanks for asking and I still have my 23.5. Unfortunately reality has been cutting into my sailing time. I hope to return to my parallel universe soon. Alan
Right before it collapsed. The trailer tires were wearing in a scalloped pattern along the inside edges of the tire. I can see how you might have a bent axle if it were solid, but it is tubular. Mine started rusting from the inside...the axle looked fine on the outside. I'm still here Jonathan...thanks for asking and I still have my 23.5. Unfortunately reality has been cutting into my sailing time. I hope to return to my parallel universe soon. Alan
Rick M. is right about single axle
We just put another 10,000 miles on our single axle H260 trailer this summer (after 9,000 a year ago) without a problem. Tire wear is even. We drove from Arizona to Michigan, Long Island NY, Arizona, Lake Ozark MO, Phoenix, Lake Ozark again, back to Phoenix, San Carlos, Mexico and back to Phoenix. As Rick pointed out, a single 7000 pound axle runs true. We got 13 mpg at 65 mph and 11 mpg at 80 mph. Our boat rides about a foot lower than the factory trailer. We drove to Mexico with a dual axle Catalina 250 which got 3 mpg less than we got. We have about 25,000 miles on this rig over the past three years without a problem. Our friends with the dual axle C250 have had many tire problems including a blow out with much less mileage. He said he was happy to have a dual axle when he has a blow out; I said I have a single axle (like my truck) because I don't want to have a blow out. While on Long Island, Bob Fligel (thanks to this forum) came out and saw our trailer before joining us for a sail. Nils Anderson "Godspeed"
We just put another 10,000 miles on our single axle H260 trailer this summer (after 9,000 a year ago) without a problem. Tire wear is even. We drove from Arizona to Michigan, Long Island NY, Arizona, Lake Ozark MO, Phoenix, Lake Ozark again, back to Phoenix, San Carlos, Mexico and back to Phoenix. As Rick pointed out, a single 7000 pound axle runs true. We got 13 mpg at 65 mph and 11 mpg at 80 mph. Our boat rides about a foot lower than the factory trailer. We drove to Mexico with a dual axle Catalina 250 which got 3 mpg less than we got. We have about 25,000 miles on this rig over the past three years without a problem. Our friends with the dual axle C250 have had many tire problems including a blow out with much less mileage. He said he was happy to have a dual axle when he has a blow out; I said I have a single axle (like my truck) because I don't want to have a blow out. While on Long Island, Bob Fligel (thanks to this forum) came out and saw our trailer before joining us for a sail. Nils Anderson "Godspeed"
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