Putting Tires on?

[shelley w]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

You have to be kidding! As far as I know Dexter only makes suspension components. Your hubby should be able to get an axle at near wholesale pricing. The prices we've been quoting are retail. If your hubby works in a place that buys suspension components, surely there must be someone there that can cut and weld metal. Or at least know of someone that can. Why don't you enlighten us on what the company your hubby works for does?

He works for a local company called P&H Supplies (P & H Supplies, Vanderhoof, BC - Home of FreFlyt Trailers). I would think, in light of this, that we would have fairly easy access to peeps who could assist, but they are primarily involved in commercial transport fabrication - despite that they sell all sorts of automotive parts - and they are extremely busy building logging trucks at the moment. Yes - wholesale pricing will be fabulous. I didn't realize that they could order light duty products as well, and hubby did not clearly intimate this to me during this 'tire/axle' dilemma ... probably because we didn't really know what we would need to order, assuming it was a special order product I suppose. I just love getting all stressed out for no reason

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by shelley w

The axle's suspension arms do move when weight is put on the trailer, but they don't appear to drop down much when the trailer is lifted. The suspension arms are at an angle upwards from the axle toward the front of the trailer. Is this normal? Can these be adjusted to allow for more bump room if the axle proves it is still serviceable?

If the torsion arms point up anything like the 3 shown in the thread that I've previously directed you to combined with your descriptions and pictures, I am confident in providing you a long distance, remote diagnosis of needing a new axle. Not to mention a long run on sentence.

As for adjustability, if you see a spline coming through the torsion arm, YES. If the torsion arm is welded showing the diamond shape like in the 3 I just redirected you to, NO.

I noticed your hubby's company also provides remote welding. Anybody that welds at work usually has something to weld with at home. Surely there must be somebody willing to swap out your axle after hours for a few brewskis and/or dollars. From what I read about the things they do at your husbands work, swapping an axle on your boler would be analogous to a brain surgeon stitching up a minor cut.

If ordering from Dexter and don't want to change too much from you will probably want following Cerka's Torflex order form with diagrams:

• 1 axle
• 2200 lb capacity
• Torflex number 9
• Hub brake type "I" if you don't want electric brakes
• Hub brake type "E" if you do (recommended)
• Start angle of 10 degrees down (Dexter recommended) Trailers these days are made to sit higher. Given your location this makes sense. (If you want the trailer to sit a about an inch lower and match the original go zero)
• Outside of bracket = the width of the outsides of your main frame
• Face of Hub = outside measurement of your existing hubs +/- the difference in offset of your new rims to old
• EZ lube = your choice (how does hubby want to grease the bearings?)
• Brake flange = Yes if you are putting brakes on now or plan to later (recommended), NO if you don't want brakes without welding a new axle on.
• Pre Wire is a tube that protects the brake wire from side to side, you don't need it if the axle is going back into the stock position.
• Bracket Mount = depends on your frame, whether you want the trailer to sit higher for the back roads up your area or lower to fit into a garage an more closely match the original. Plus how you are going to weld it on (#1 lessens the chance of damaging the rubber inside the axle while welding on)
• AP kit (bolt on brackets) your choice (recommended so you don't ever have to cut off and weld an axle on again)

Note for the bracket mount:

• If you don't select anything they will provide # 3 their standard
• The choice of the AP kit gives you the ability to bolt on the axle and makes the portion you weld to the your frame 0.18" higher and wider (the thickness of the bracket).
• #'s 1 and 3 differ by 0.88 inch in height
• #'s 2 and 4 are essentially the same, they differ by allowing for 0.18" of bracket on either side (your outside of bracket measurement)

Space is not an issue so Dexters standard spindle should work, no need to mention that on your order.
You probably don't want the optional cable operated parking brakes, so there is no need to mention them either.

All the specs for the Dexter #9 Torflex axle and brakes can be viewed or downloaded here.

The installation instructions can be viewed or downloaded here.

There is one final suggestion to all of this.
Given your comment on the bumper and frame, you may want to order an extra set of AP brackets if you forsee any chance of redoing the frame. If I was in your situation, with your contacts, I'd seriously be considering a new beefier frame. All you would have to do is unbolt your new axle from the old frame and bolt it onto the new.

[shelley w]

Roy - if I manage to get this thing on the road, I'll owe it all to you Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to give me all that info.

I went and looked through your posts again and have bookmarked them on my desktop now! I think we will definitely take the AP kit suggestion. I would definitely like to have a new beefier frame down some day so that certainly keeps options open, but I think we will put the new axle in the same location as the current axle so as not to complicate matters.

[Roy in TO]

You are welcome Shelly,

The AP kit was somewhere between $20 and $40 retail. It is hard to get a Welder's attention for that. The axle in the same location is a good idea.

The section of the Dexter axle that gets welded to the frame may be a bit longer than your original. I might be getting my trailers mixed up but you may have to do a little fudging on the doorside of the trailer. Then again that might have been on my Trillium 4500 and it was only about a quarter inch. A simple task for the welder.

[David Tilston]

Since it looks like you can get a good deal on a new axle, this may be of no interest to you, but when I saw it I thought of you.
13ft boler axl

$50 is cheep for an axle.

[shelley w]

Thanks David, but we have decided to go ahead and order a new axle, with brakes, and we are having a new frame built!! We`ve gone through and filled out our Dexter order form and have just the O/B and the FH measurements to get. I also need to create or find a schematic drawing of the measurements of the frame so I can get the materials needed to build the new frame. I know I saw somewhere on here where someone built an all new frame with a few tweaks and posted a really nice drawing, but not sure if it was a Boler, or if the dimensions were included (or even if measurement would be the same from model to model). Does anyone know if such a diagram exists ... if not then I`ll just draw one.

Roy - Since the frame on our new Boler will be a slightly thicker version of the original tubing we picked bracket mount no. 2 for our axle (Dexter no. 9), but we opted out of the AP kit since it will be mounted onto a new frame. We are going with a 10 degree down on the arm which will give us a bit more bump room, but I`m wondering ... would it be wise to order the axle an inch less in length (FH measurement) to accommodate for having no half inch offset on the rims (question mark goes here but somehow I`ve manage to turn on the alternate characters on my keyboard and I can`t make question marks!).

[Roy in TO]

Shelley,
There are a number of different frame designs which vary by date and manufacturing location. I'd bring my old frame to the shop and let them duplicate yours. Now is the time to tweak your frame. I'm not on facebook so I have not seen your pictures, so these are just suggestions. Add a spare tire mount to the bumper and maybe include a something on that to hold a BAL leveler (something like Peterh did on his 5th). Do you have or did you have the notched floor plan going to the front? That will give you the option of a front dinette or more room for a port-a-potty or more storage depth. You know where some of the typical crack areas are- so get those beefed up. Same for under the dinette floor and the missing section where the door is. How do you want your tonge configured? 1 tank, 2 tanks, battery? I believe 2 of the Polyrama ERT tanks will fit between the main frames under the dinette, you can use the forward one for fresh and the rear for gray water. Or just frame it for a single fresh water.

As for the FH (Hub Face) measurement, that all depends on the difference between your old rims and tire profiles vs the new. I understand you still have both. If so, put them on and measure to compare the differences and see what works with your body. Consider the diagram I posted in #58 earlier in this thread. The Dexter engineers will plug your all numbers (axle specs, rims and tires) into a piece of software they have and be able to give you a nice PDF of what you are going to get. A 10 degree down axle will settle up to approximately zero degrees under load.

[shelley w]

Yes, we plan to do a few tweaks and we do plan to bring the old frame in for duplication, but we need to purchase the supplies which is why I was hoping to find a general dimension schematic (of course I will check the measurements to mine too). We will have him beef up the angles set in something nice for the battery, etc. We will also have him weld on 2-3 wings for carriage bolts under each bench in the back for a more secure attachment of the shell rather than screwing into the frame. We don't have the notched front for dinette so will leave that as it is, but I did toy with the idea of adding the spare tire rack on! Our model had only 1 water tank under the curbside bench and no gray water tank ... it just ran from a hose to under the trailer it seems. We were just going to keep that configuration.

As an aside, we just have a friend building it, not a shop.

[David Tilston]

Wow, from new tires, to a new frame. You just never know what is around the next bend in the road.

[shelley w]

Well ... the best laid plans We attempted to order a Dexter axle #9 and were told by the supplier at my husband's company that it would take 4-6 weeks minimum. He then said City Spring could build us one in 2-3 days so we proceeded to order through them ... until they came back and said they can't do under 3500 lb axles in house so we would need to order Dexter anyhow. Ya ... well, the quote for a Dexter came back at $700 cost ... now how on earth can that be when people here have said that they can get Dexter #9 retail for $350 without brakes/$450 with? There is something wrong here and now for sure we aren't taking the Boler on our trip because this guy just wasted a week of our time and Dexter can't get us one within our time frame.

Any suggestions? Princess Auto?

[Carol H]

Well if your where closer to the lower mainland I would suggested you take it into Escape Trailers - they have replaced axels on Bolers from our group for a lot less than that.... try ordering from Princes Auto or another auto parts shop around you. What did your husbands company say the price was?

[shelley w]

I have contacted them to see if they will sell me an axle. Hopefully they will get back to me asap and agree!

[mmeyer]

Originally Posted by shelley w

Yes, we plan to do a few tweaks and we do plan to bring the old frame in for duplication, but we need to purchase the supplies which is why I was hoping to find a general dimension schematic (of course I will check the measurements to mine too). We will have him beef up the angles set in something nice for the battery, etc. We will also have him weld on 2-3 wings for carriage bolts under each bench in the back for a more secure attachment of the shell rather than screwing into the frame. We don't have the notched front for dinette so will leave that as it is, but I did toy with the idea of adding the spare tire rack on! Our model had only 1 water tank under the curbside bench and no gray water tank ... it just ran from a hose to under the trailer it seems. We were just going to keep that configuration.

As an aside, we just have a friend building it, not a shop.

You might want to consider elevator bolts instead of carriage bolts. they have a much larger flatter head which will distribute the forces over a much larger area of the floor. available at Elevator bolts - Bolt Depot or Fastenal. SS ones are pricey and if you use with SS nuts use anti sieze on SS or you will never get them to move if you tighten them till they "gall" and sieze.
Michael J.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by shelley w

I have contacted them to see if they will sell me an axle. Hopefully they will get back to me asap and agree!

I would surprised (but you never know) if they sell you just the axle as they are not a parts supplier and probable will need to order in the axle themselves.

[shelley w]

Originally Posted by mmeyer

You might want to consider elevator bolts instead of carriage bolts. they have a much larger flatter head which will distribute the forces over a much larger area of the floor. available at Elevator bolts - Bolt Depot or Fastenal. SS ones are pricey and if you use with SS nuts use anti sieze on SS or you will never get them to move if you tighten them till they "gall" and sieze.
Michael J.

Interesting you should mention that ... I hadn't thought of a different type of bolt, but I did think it would be wise to distribute the pressure more by placing galvanized metal strips under the bolts/screws along the lengths where they attach.

[shelley w]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I would surprised (but you never know) if they sell you just the axle as they are not a parts supplier and probable will need to order in the axle themselves.

Well, I must've made just right plea because they did sell me one and it should arrive here tomorrow by courier The only drawback is that we wanted 10 degree down and he only had zero degree so it will either be original height or we'll block it up to gain a bit of extra height. The frame will be built on Saturday. We are cutting time mighty close and I have no idea if we'll be able to do body work, paint, wire the electrical, rivet everything back together, and sew cushions in time to go on vacation by the 16th ... but we're trying!

[Roy in TO]

If not, as Donna D. says: Consider it a hard tent on wheels.

[shelley w]

Sigh. As usual, some mishap has intervened and now everything sits on hold. I swear the stars have it in for me. Hubby purchased all the supplies and cut it to length. We hired a welder to build the frame tomorrow because the axle was to arrive today. We mapped out exactly what we would do on which day through the rest of the week in order to hopefully meet our timeline of taking the Boler on vacay on the 16th. Well, the axle arrived this morning ... and you guessed it ... it's the wrong one. The guy at Escape had 2 in stock, 1 of which would fit, but whoever picked and shipped sent the wrong one. The guy was great to deal with and was very apologetic, since they know we were in a big hurry to get it, but that's little consolation at this point in the game They've agreed to ship the other one to us, but it won't arrive until Tuesday. We already had such a tight timeline that there is very little hope now that we will have our Boler on the road for our vacation, and I'm ridiculously disappointed over it. The difference a day can make - last night I was so hopeful and started mapping our itinerary, today I've given up. I tried so hard ... :'(