I'm doing a top-down restoration on an '81
Scamp 13ft. The droopy old Torflex
axle is definitely due for replacement, just as it is with all of the other elderly trailers with this type of
axle. I was considering buying a replacement unit with
brakes from
Scamp to eliminate any fit problems, but when I called them to get a price, the parts guy told me that I'd have to have the installer weld 2 inch square tubing blocks onto my frame before welding the new
axle on. This got me doing some research (LOTS of good info on this forum) to figure out what is the best axle to buy. So:
- Does anybody out there know anything about those 2 inch blocks? Is this how the new ones are built? Couldn't I just order a new axle from Dexter and ask to have the brackets flipped (vertical bracket surface to the outside, just like the old unit) and be good to go?
- When I visited the Dexter web site, I saw that they now have self-adjusting electric brakes Nev-R-Adjust but only in 10" and 12" sizes. This means that I would have to buy a #10 axle (2300-3500lbs), which is the size used in the larger Scamps, instead of the original #9, which only fits 7" brakes. I'd really like to install self-adjusting brakes if I can. Have any of you installed a #10 axle on a Scamp 13ft? The mounting brackets on a #10 are 2.5" wide by 4.25" high, on a #9 they're 2" wide by 3.75" high. That should fit easily on the left side (after maybe having Dexter adjust the bracket spacing dimension appropriately), but that funky arrangement on the right side where the bottom of the axle bracket is welded to the outermost drop floor tube might be tough to line up correctly.
- I see lots of people on this forum have installed axle mounting hangers (axle is bolted on to the hangers) instead of directly welding the axle to the frame, or plan to, or wish they had. Even without the complication of using a #10 axle, that right side construction I just described might make that hard to do on this particular trailer. Have any of you done this to a Scamp 13?
- The Scamp owners manual states "Each spindle is set at 1/4 degree toe-in and 1/4 degree camber. Toe-in and camber can eventually go out of adjustment (blah blah blah) Have axle checked at an alignment shop and corrected if necessary." I wasn't even aware that these things could be adjusted. A bit of toe-out instead of toe-in might make the trailer a little less stable. I know some of you have flipped axles built for trailing-arm use to replace the old Scamp leading-arm units. How do these track? Did somebody "align" your axle?
I'm looking at those self-adjusting brakes because my VW Golf tug weighs under 3000lbs dry. The car is rated for 2000lbs tow capacity, and I have read about people towing 1000lb trailers over the continental divide on the TDI Club forum
Show what you tow!. When I towed this trailer 90 miles home, it pulled just fine, but I'd hate to have to make a 65MPH downhill panic stop with a loaded Scamp. That, and I'm just too lazy to adjust 'em...