Well I finally got my new axle installed in my '81 Scamp.

I have always liked the lower riding Scamps, which is what mine is / was. As they changed the axle hight in 1990. Now the camper sits higher like the newer models.. Is it suppose to be that way?

I know the newer scamps sit higher than the older ones. But I don't know if this is what they were all like when new and gravity has taken its toll after time on all of them or what? I did specify on the phone when ordering that I needed the older type style.

Anyways, I was just a little curious if anyone had their two cents on the whole deal. But even if I found something out its not like I am going to change it, as it was a task installing the new one.. haha.

Was a spring pack change does as well? Quite often newly installed springs can take a fair time to "settle" to a more reasonable height.

Just the torsion axle from Scamp was installed to if that clears it up ... Thanks for the response!

Hello, I too just installed a new axle on my 1980 13'er today. I sometimes really appreciate what I do for a living ( weld ) because the axle swap only took a little over an hour.
I decided to reinstalll the axle in the same direction, as a leading axle. It sure made quite the difference in height. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Next is the rear plywood floor replacement, then paint, and the sagging door, then the exterior. I figure with one bite at a time, Maybe I'll finish in the next ten years!!!!!! Here are some pics.

Thanks for the pics, mine looks just like yours does.

Don't worry, the whole project won't take as long as you think. I have done everything you are planning to do, as with mine the axle was the last of them. I am now finished just 1 year later. Enjoy it while it lasts, its the most fun you'll ever have working on something.... haha.

To fix the door I had to buy new hinges then re drill new holes in the door to get it to line up right. Thankfully I painted it afterwords, so no problem with the holes. Just a little bondo and your good to go!

Painting is a task, just take your time. The longer you prep, the better it looks, I got a little ancy with mine and now have to do some fiberglass work then repaint the top shell..

Anywho... Just have fun...

Thanks for your two cents... !

Isaac,

Where did you get your axle?
I'm getting ready to replace mine on our 81 13' Scamp and I see Scamp wants about $470 with brakes and you can get a Dexter #9 with brakes out here for around $300. Is there anything you need to know to order one?
I wish I could weld, having a rough time getting anyone to return my calls about installing the axle here in Phoenix.

I bought it at redneck trailer supply in Supher Springs, Tx. I think it only cost about $160something. No brakes, just hubs.
Make sure to have the hub face dimensions and I ordered mine as a 2000lb.with a 22 1/2 degree down angle, and I think it is 63 or 63 1/2 hub face. Also, make sure to
use the high profile brackets. Explain to them that the brackets need to be with the flat plate on the outside. The bracket measurement I think is 49 1/2 O.D.
Please note... These are only rough measurements that i remember. As far as a welder, I only know of one name out there, Scotty Peruccio but i think he is a pipeline guy.

Isaac and mcnick
I was told by Dexter axle NOT in stall the torsion axle in the leading arm position . Because the axle is made to be a trailing arm setup . Did you get them to make a special axle for you? I have to replace mine in the spring also (1983 13' Scamp) I would also suggest a few more welds on that bracket to the frame, if it were mine. Unless you bolted it to the frame also you should be ok.

Well, that's a good question, When I talked to the guy, he said that they sold their axles to casita some time back, so he was familiar with what I needed. Of course, I didn't tell him it was a leading axle though. As far as a special axle needed for leading arm setup, I guess I'll have to call and ask. Maybe it's just hype.. (hopefully). And yes I was able to weld much more than it looks.
Thanks!

This is what I was told. Dexter used to make axles with leading arms and trailing arms. Swapping sides affects the alignment of the wheels and tires. They have recently decided to manufacture only trailing arms and current trailers are built to use trailing arms only.

Finally got the Dexter location that installs here in Phoenix to call me and I am going to bring the Scamp in so they can get an exact estimate to replace with the Dexter #9 Torflex with 7" brakes. When I get that pricing I'll post it for a reference. They said it would be 2-4 weeks to receive the axle from Dexter after they order it.

Greg,
Did you ever get the pricing?
Roy

Roy,

I got the estimate for $395 for the axle with 7" brakes, delivered to the shop and they are estimating $150-200 for cutting off the old one and welding the new one. They are installing the bolt on brackets so the next swap can be done by a non-welding dummy like me... When they examined it and took the measurements, etc. I think he said they order it with a 15 up angle. I asked why it was up and not down and he said the way it is installed is flipped. We'll see when they get it, I guess they know what they're doing. Good thing is, if they aren't right it's their issue.

Thanks Greg.

I'm interested in the actual up angle since Dexter makes a 10 and 22.5 degree up. Is it possible it might be another brand?

hummmm, I'm thinking it should be a down angle. hummmm. Mine is a 45 degree down, because I wanted 15" tires.

They ordered a Dexter #9 Torflex. I'll give him a call on Monday and go over it with him, but I'm pretty sure he said 15 up.

Dexter #9 comes in -22.5, -10, 0 , +10, +22.5, +45 per

http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/6-8K%2...0-05_80_res.pdf

Al-Ko has some different angles, but not a 15*

http://al-kousa.com/prod_rubsus.htm

What is the name of the shop in Phoenix? You never know when you will need them.

K.A.R Trailers 623.465.7318 I-17 N. Just north of the Outlet Mall at Anthem on the Westbound frontage rd.
They are working with Auto Safety House who is the Dexter dealer in Phoenix.

Okie dokie... I went over and spent about 45 minutes with the service manager at the trailer shop that is doing my axle. I took all the posts and the dexter printouts and we discussed all the Scamp 13 axle installation issues.

The leading arm/trailing arm issue. It is a leading arm and Dexter only makes a trailing arm, so we called the Dexter dealer here in Phoenix and they called the Dexter installation guru's at the factory. It is fine to reverse the axle and according to them it won't cause any problems. They understand on the older Scamps it does need to be reversed to fit properly on replacement. However, that is not an officially supported installation and Dexter will use that as a way to void the warranty.

My axle measurements they ordered were:
Hub face 63 1/2
Brackets 49 1/2
Up 10 degrees

When I mentioned everyone here was saying it should be 10 degrees down, he said that is not what was on my trailer when he took the measurements that it was definitely 10 degrees up. There was a 13 Scamp on the lot that had come in that morning so we went and looked under it and he is right, it is an up angle.
Now if you want to really raise the trailer and maybe put some oversize tires on it, then you can go with the down angle, but at least on these two original axle 13 Scamps it definitely is up. I store mine in our garage and need it to be an original replacement so I agreed with him that he got it right. We asked the Dexter dealer what he thought about the angle and he said he agreed on the 10 degree up as well for the old Scamp.

I really have been pleased with the amount of time that Ray at KAR trailers has spent wet nursing me through this process. This is one area, that I don't want or have any background to tackle myself. I feel pretty confident after walking through everything with Ray today that I have some good trailer mechanics solving this and they gave me a very fair price. In four to six weeks the axle will be installed (having them put a 2" Bulldog coupler on too) and then off to find Yogi.

Hope this info helps everyone else that is looking at the axle replacement process.

This is my 13' Scamp with a 22 1/2 degree down angle axle.
'Click to view attachment
Back lower bumper to ground 18 1/2"
Top of wheel Arch to ground 25"
Bottom of door to ground 17"
Hitch height 20"---------New Scamp is listed at 18"
Just a hair to high, will sag after a few years on the road. I would go with the 10 degree down angle if I did it over.
Before new axle.
Click to view attachment

I think it looks good up high. Are there any disadvantages in having it up high other than increased wind drag and a higher center of gravity?

danny m
No disadvantages as far as I can tell. These trailers pull like a dream. I have a 4 cyl S10 pickup with a stick. Also the height lines up with my truck ball hitch now.

Hi Greg,

Between the various FG trailer forums, I've read about 4 or 5 examples of axle swaps that KEPT the leading arm orientation. I haven't found anybody saying it caused problems due to alignment issues (contrary to the Dexter company line). One of the arguments for trailing arms is better compatibility with electric brakes. The small 13' trailers axles are often brakeless to begin with and repaired without adding brakes. That lends itself to keeping the leading arms.

A question for the group: Does anybody have brakes on a leading arms axle? If you do, can you describe their performance?

My '85 Perris Pacer 13' has brakeless leading arms on an old axle. If I could keep leading arms, my job would be three times easier... and if brakes work, too, I could think about relaxing a bit.

thanks!
Billy

Contrary to what appears obvious, raising a trailer may result in LESS total drag. This is because the underside drag may be greater that the aerodynamic topside drag. Those were the results I had doing a spring-over and wheel upsize on a Jayco trailer.

The alignment issue is not from leading or trailing, but from using an axle designed for trailing in a leading mount (I believe castor and toe-in will be affected). That's probably why Dexter said they won't warrant a "reversed" axle. Personally, I would do what it took to mount it as trailing (pulling the wheelbarrow over an brick rather than pulling it over the brick).

Your trailer and the Scamp on the lot may be 10* down right now because the axles are shot -- Would you measure the diameter of a flat tire on the vehicle? I have never run across anything but 22.5* down on Scamps.

If you want to know what the original angle was, get the serial number off the axle tag or stencil to
Dexter and they should be able to look it up (shop can do likewise for the Scamp on the lot).

All of the axle talk on the board here made me re-think changing the one on our 88-16'. When I finally found the original tag under all of the paint I was able to find out it was an AL-KO 2400 lb axle. The AL-KO distributor and plant that I talked to weren't able to help me with anything other than that. They said that there was numbers missing from the tag. The axle dealer that we deal with in the shop looked at a picture of the axle in an unloaded state and informed me that it was a 0 degree start angle that was probably sagged to around -5 degrees loaded. Seriously worn out rubber. As best as I could tell this was the original axle.

You might call Scamp with your VIN and see what they can tell you. They pretty much have a standard order for their axles.

I've allready gone that route a few times. After hearing the story for the 3rd or 4th time (from Scamp) about how the fire destroyed everything and vin numbers from that far back won't do any good for researching construction and equipment options, we decided to go it on our own so to speak. We did pretty much the same thing that everyone else here has had to do. After working with our axle supplier who deals in Dexter, we ordered a dexter 10TF35-545E with the AP bracket A/P 166-00. I don't have the measurements handy but everyone should take their own measurements for their own specific trailer. We chose to go with the +10 degree down start angle. This should result in an aproximate 1-1.5 inches increase in ride height from current.


added: Thanks for the suggestion. I allways appreciate any suggestions from board members.

I typed the wrong word in the above; should be "Personally, I would do what it took to mount it as trailing (pulling the wheelbarrow over an brick rather than pushing it over the brick)."

Also, the reversal from trailing to leading should only affect the toe-in/out.

PS I have electric brakes on my leading arm axle and they work fine. They will have to be swapped from side to side if a trailing axle is mounted as a leading axle because of the magnet orientation.

I spoke with an Engineering Guru at Dexter. I've come up with slightly different specs because I'm putting brakes on and I have an American Boler rather than a Scamp.

Dexter makes a 3" rise bracket for snowmobile trailers that rarely gets shown in their specs. With the AP bracket kit for bolt on mounting that should give me a 3 1/4 inch rise to the frame. I'm crossing my fingers on this one but I should be able to mount this in the trailing arm configuration under the kitchen floor with little or no spacers. All that depends on how much of a bend gets put into the axle for camber.

I've opted to make the hub face 1/2 inch wider than my original, 1" wider than yours. The brake flange was looking a little too close for comfort to the inner fenders. My thought is if the tires stick out too much, I can modify the outside walls of the trailer a lot easier than the inside.
(Dexter specs had a 1-1/2" recommended spacing to the outer wheel well, I thought that should also apply to the inner wheel well for our trailers)

The other thing I've done is to ask for the brackets to be offset by 1/2 " from center towards curbside. This should compensate for the frame / body discrepancy of 1" that was built into the trailer and equalize the position of the tires in the wheel wells.

The dealer gets deliveries from Dexter every Tuesday normally they would expect it in next week. With the Memorial day holiday it might take 2 weeks for delivery. Retail pricing # 9 axle, EZ lube, e brakes with park, AP mounts, high profile brackets and taxes comes to $482.59 CDN. That may differ a bit on pick up because the dealer did not have a price for the 7" brake with park and used the 10' price for the estimate.

I'll let you know how it works out. I've got the name of a local to do the install. Hopefully it works out that I can take pictures during the install. If not I've got befores, I can always take the afters later.

Update #1

The dealer called and said Dexter won't do the offest ... too difficult to set up on the assembly line + too $$$ to re-engineer / set up. Dealer suggested they can do it with Flexride axles using out of spec arm angles. I've contacted Flexride for more info.

Looks like it is back to the drawing board to consider some frame modifications to get this to work. I've got some ideas and will post my plans for discussion when they are ready.

My biggest question to the people here is:

If I shift the axle back so it is under the center of the body while leaving the frame in the 1" offest position will that affect the trailer tracking? If my math is right the relationship of the curbside wheel remains the same while streetside is off 0.27 degrees from center, which is 1/2 the toe in.