Posted by mike on Saturday, November 11, 2000 at 00:37:24:
In Reply to: Re: towing/ used mobile home axles posted by RDavis on Friday, November 10, 2000 at 19:04:32:
axles tagged as 6000 lb each. axles well maintained since my purchase. new bearings brakes etc within last year. Pre trip include inspect adjust/ repack bearings as required.
falior attributable to axle modification prior to my knowledge that neither myself, or freind who does most of my welding noticed. appears axle length changed and butt welded at some point, weld not noticed from outside, weld slag inside broken axle apparent. also i am told axle should have an inner "saftey " axle, if so, it was missing in this axle.
Trailer GVW for this trip approx 7500 to 8000 lb, well within documented axle capacity of 12000lb, Tow vehicle '85 suburban 454 , full floating 14 bolt 10.5 inch rear, hvy sway bars front and rear, added springs in rear, 16 inch 80 psi tires. 1200 lb weight distributing hitch, and sway control "friction " bar. set cruse control on 50, and pulls smoooooth.... until axle breaks that is.
would prefer crew cab dually and goose neck trailer for tow ,but if i could afford such a rig, i would likely not be using used axles,,,even so i am not sure the dually/ goose neck would have fared much better in this situation..
as noted on another follow-up mobile home axles are used hard. I have been told (and recent experience supports) they are
often modified. You rarely know the history of a used part.
i had maintained and used the trailer for many years, and thousands of miles w/o incident, but one incident is enough for me. take my experience for what it's worth to you.
mike