Parkliner Tire Rub issues?

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Birmingham1

Here is a related question for you all!

What is the best product to safely remove tire rubber from fiberglass?!

Elbow grease?!

Turtle Wax Bug & Tar remover combined with 50/50 mix of Elbow grease.

[Roger C H]

The only site I could find tire sizes on was for Carlisle.

A ST205/75/D14 is 26.3 inches in diameter. Unfortunately, this is the smallest size 14 inch tire. To go smaller, one would have to buy a 13 inch wheel.

Trailer Tire

To me this seems the simplest solution, although it wouldn't be cheap.

Another thing. Don't Torqflex axles have rubber parts inside the tube? Welding to this tube would seem to have the potential of harming these rubber parts.

http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/6149609/f/...0_Lbs_1-12.pdf

[Birmingham1]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

\Another thing. Don't Torqflex axles have rubber parts inside the tube? Welding to this tube would seem to have the potential of harming these rubber parts.

http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/6149609/f/...0_Lbs_1-12.pdf

Funny you mention that...when I was researching on the Dexter site earlier I found this under their FAQ:

TORFLEX - Can I weld to my Torflex axle or move the brackets?
No, the Torflex axles contain rubber cords to provide the suspension system and can be damaged by the heat generated from welding on the bracket or the tube.

Here is the link:
Dexter Axle - Trailer Axles and Running Gear Components - FAQ'S

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by accrete

Agree 100%

...and i've got tire rub...but a fix is on the way per an email this afternoon. (tire swap, w/tires being dropped shipped to a tire center of our choice to do the work paid for by PL)

....hmmmm. Imagine that !

We'll be curious to hear what size and brand you get. Thanks for the update.

geo

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Birmingham1

Here is a related question for you all!

What is the best product to safely remove tire rubber from fiberglass?!

Elbow grease?!

You could use a marine product 3M Cleaner and wax - or if really bad 3M Restore and was a lot less elbow grease. About $15 but one bottle will do your whole trailer.

[ruscal]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

Most of our trailers have just the axle flange welded ( or brackets bolted to the flange welded) and the frame sits above the axle. Here the frame has cut outs that are welded to the center portion of the axle. I'm not sure how that effects the bow we typically see but I suspect the idea is to put the trailer body lower to the ground.

The frame that is cut out is just a floor support. They weld it to the axle tube to add support to the center of the floor. There are no rubber cords at the axle center, so no heat damage. The bow you see in the axle tube is camber added when the axle is made. I doubt the camber changes much in use.
Russ

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

I wonder why they weld the axle? Dexter makes a bracket that bolts to the axle and is then welded to the frame.

I think that's obvious: it saves a few dollars for the side mount brackets, and a few minutes of work. That's not necessarily bad, since design is always an exercise in compromise, and cost is important... although it is not the choice which I would prefer.

[Brian B-P]

This may be irrelevant to the axle placement and tire clearance problem, but before the photo of the floor braces welded to the axle tube, there's one showing the axle brackets welded (which is okay, but not preferred) to the frame. In that one, the frame looks like two narrow box sections side-by-side - is that true, or am I not correctly interpreting what I am seeing?

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I think that's obvious: it saves a few dollars for the side mount brackets, and a few minutes of work. That's not necessarily bad, since design is always an exercise in compromise, and cost is important... although it is not the choice which I would prefer.

Perhaps not so obvious. Back when we were looking, I called Scamp. I asked the salesman if I could get the axle brackets so the axle could be bolted on. He went and checked. They (who ever they was) had never heard of the brackets but if I wanted to buy them and ship them to Scamp, they would see if they could use them. To this day I'm certain my brackets would have ended up on my trailer. Raz

[glennco]

When we were at the scamp factory last month kent stated they used to weld on the dexter axles, but recently moved to a bracket mount

[Raz]

Originally Posted by glennco

When we were at the scamp factory last month kent stated they used to weld on the dexter axles, but recently moved to a bracket mount

If the axle fails under warranty, Dexter will not cover the removal of a welded axle and if the weld caused the failure, the warranty is void. As I recall, the brackets are cheap. It makes sense for all manufacturers to use them. It eliminates arguments.

First, jalousie windows, now axle brackets and a bigger bed? Good for Scamp. Raz

[Loren G. Hedahl]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

If the axle fails under warranty, Dexter will not cover the removal of a welded axle and if the weld caused the failure, the warranty is void. As I recall, the brackets are cheap. It makes sense for all manufacturers to use them. It eliminates arguments.

First, jalousie windows, now axle brackets and a bigger bed? Good for Scamp. Raz

Bolting the axle on using brackets will also make axle replacement much easier when needed 'down-the-road'.

These little fiberglass trailers can easily and more often than not, outlive their axles!

[Loren G. Hedahl]

Originally Posted by Spanke

The angle on a Dexter axle arm is set at the factory and cannot be adjusted. To change it you have to replace it.

Looks to me that there just isn't enough room in the wheel well for the size of the tire installed.

But as the Spanke family motto goes "We may be wrong, but we're never in doubt."

Spanke

This would be true in most cases, but I have a friend who is a welder and I know, once he had your trailer in his home shop and jacked up he'd have that axle off in a few minutes. The guy is an ace with a 4-inch grinder where it would not be good to use a cutting torch.

Then he'd clamp the axle on with an appropriate spacer, measure things up to be sure the alignment was good and weld it all back together on, probably using a wire feed welder.

I'd think any good welding shop could do the same thing.

Unless I'm totally missing something, it surely isn't rocket science!

Going this route could also provide additional clearance to mount a larger tire should you desire. I am one who would prefer a larger wheel/size.

Since my TV takes 15 inch, six lug wheels, I'd press for a hub that would accommodate that size wheel and the 31-1050x15 tire size that I use on my pickup and Blazer. In addition to the more robust wheel/tire I'd also have the option of eliminating a spare tire for the trailer. The spare on the truck could come to the rescue in the event of a flat tire on either the truck or trailer.

[Ken C]

The axle 2011 photos if anyone needs them to compare. Still welded.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post276934

[Francesca Knowles]

What a great shot of the Flexiride- good digging, Ken!

I looked through this thread and didn't see any similar angle shots of the current Dexter on the Parkliner...sure would be interesting if someone could post one, just so we could see any differences.

Francesca

[Spanke]

Originally Posted by Loren G. Hedahl

This would be true in most cases, but I have a friend who is a welder and I know, once he had your trailer in his home shop and jacked up he'd have that axle off in a few minutes. The guy is an ace with a 4-inch grinder where it would not be good to use a cutting torch.

Then he'd clamp the axle on with an appropriate spacer, measure things up to be sure the alignment was good and weld it all back together on, probably using a wire feed welder.

I'd think any good welding shop could do the same thing.

Unless I'm totally missing something, it surely isn't rocket science!

Going this route could also provide additional clearance to mount a larger tire should you desire. I am one who would prefer a larger wheel/size.

Since my TV takes 15 inch, six lug wheels, I'd press for a hub that would accommodate that size wheel and the 31-1050x15 tire size that I use on my pickup and Blazer. In addition to the more robust wheel/tire I'd also have the option of eliminating a spare tire for the trailer. The spare on the truck could come to the rescue in the event of a flat tire on either the truck or trailer.

You can't change the angle on a Dexter axle once it is made.

The picture that was presented didn't look the the tire fit well in the space provided. Had the factory installed spacers, this would not have been a thread.

Spanke

[ruscal]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

I wonder why they weld the axle? Dexter makes a bracket that bolts to the axle and is then welded to the frame. This makes axle replacement much easier. While Dexter warrants the axle they make it clear that if the axle has been welded, it's at the customer’s expense to remove it. Raz

It may be a lack of space to install the frame bracket. If they install the bracket directly under the frame member it would require raising the trailer ride height enough to get the bolts or nuts between the trailer and bracket. They could mount the bracket outboard and retain the ride height, but may run into clearance issues in the wheel well. Offsetting the bracket inboard runs into floor ledger issues. Optionally they could omit the bracket and drill and tap the bottom of the frame member, but then couldn't have access to install a nut on the bolts for safety locking.
Welding really is not a bad solution in real life. The factory welded flange bracket was welded before the rubber dampers were installed. Welding that bracket to the trailer transfers a lot less heat to the dampers due to the few inches of distance away from the dampers, and the large heat sink of the bracket itself. If the welder keeps the welds length to about an inch, and allows cooling time between welds the temperature can be controlled to a safe level. The axle manufacturer can't control the welding method, so simply does not recommend welding.
As to permanency of welding versus bolting, bolting is certainly easier to remove, but as stated in Franck's above post, a 4" whiz wheel cuts them out in a heartbeat. A drawback to bolting would be having to match the bolt layout and spacing when buying a new axle if you wanted a different manufacturer’s product. With welding you have a "clean slate" to work with allowing you to dial in perfect wheel well clearance.
When installing my new Flexiride I did use a bolt on method since I wanted to raise the trailer. I welded a 2x2x1/4" tube about a foot long to the bottom of the trailer frame. Into the tube I drilled bolting holes through the bottom matching the Flexiride bracket. There was room inside the tube to insert the nuts and lock washers for bolting. Flexiride voids warranty for any welding on their axle due to the bonded rubber inside.
The original Scamp Alko axle brackets were welded to the frame similarly to the Parkliner.
Russ

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by ruscal

It may be a lack of space to install the frame bracket. If they install the bracket directly under the frame member it would require raising the trailer ride height enough to get the bolts or nuts between the trailer and bracket.

No, the Dexter brackets are called "side mount hangers" for a reason: they only add the thickness of a plate (less than 1/4") between the frame and the axle's brackets, and the bolts run horizontally through the hangers and the side holes on the axle's brackets.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by ruscal

A drawback to bolting would be having to match the bolt layout and spacing when buying a new axle if you wanted a different manufacturer’s product.

In the worst case, with the original axle bolted to side mount hangers, the hangers could just be ground off of the frame - just like removing a directly welded-on axle - leaving the same situation as if the bolt-on brackets were never used.

Likely benefit and no downside... bolt-on seems like an obviously preferable choice to me.

This all has not much to do with the Parkliner tire clearance problem, because changing the position of the axle assembly would require removing the welded side mount hangers (mounting brackets) even if a bolt-on approach had been used.

[gmw photos]

Have we ever heard what the specific replacement tire is and did it solve the clearance problem ok ?