Axle weight ratings

[Gina D.]

1. I have no clue what my axel is rated at.. does anyone with a stock 90s Burro know?

2. Is my assumtion correct that if you have a 2k lb axel, it is rated to have 2k of weight on it?

3. Is there a rule about that? (Like the 80% rule for towing ratings?)

I have to tow to Colorado in the summer to deliver some left over boxes from my Moms recent move. No, I am not too cheap to rent a utility trailer, but I plan to do Bandon Via Colorado.

Which means cramming whats there into my car and putting the left overs in the trailer. (Unloading at nite to sleep will be a real joy...) I plan on taking the Jeep, which has a higher tow rating, but less cargo room than the Element.

I am at 1450 now, and I can offload some camping gear, but not much.

Stewpid idea?

[Brian B-P]

As I recall the Dexter manual statement on this, the load capacity is what the axle can carry, in addition to the weight of the axle, wheels, and tires.

I see no reason to allow some margin to the axle capacity. When they say it can carry 2000 lb, that means that under normal conditions (e.g. highway, not off-roading and airborne over the bumps!) it can have 2000 lb of loaded trailer stacked on it. Maybe a reasonable way to provide some margin if one wants to be conservative is to limit the whole trailer to the axle rating - the part which is axle/wheel/tire weight, and the part which is carried on the hitch, would both not actually count against the axle rating, so there would be at least a 10% margin left.

I would expect the axle rating to be shown on the trailer in at least one place, and probably stamped or labeled on the axle itself (although that may be gone by now). The label on my 1979 Boler's axle was still partially readable last year, and Standen's (the maker) looked up the details for me; it is also shown on an original sticker on the body supplied to meet some government regulation.

[Roger H]

Gina, do you really have a 2k axle? My '87 17' had a 2k axle under it. I wonder if yours doesn't have a 1200 lb axle as would have been common in those days...

Roger

[Gina D.]

Roger.. I have no idea what it is. I just through that # out there..

There is nothing left on the trailer that would tell me so.

[Victor Benz]

Gina;

Many of the trailers I have had or looked at had stickers on the axle showing manufacturer and model number. Some even included weight rating. They were usually in the middle of the axle. If you can find such a sticker, or even part of it, a bit of detective work will get you your answer.

Victor

[Roger H]

Roger.. I have no idea what it is. I just through that # out there..

There is nothing left on the trailer that would tell me so.

I suspect that you either have a 1k or 1.2k axle based on the 2k axle that was under mine. I also wouldn't worry about it for an instant. Unless you're hauling bags of concrete or something similar, you probably won't be able to add enough weight inside the trailer to make it unsafe or to cause something to fail on a single trip such as you have planned.

Just make sure you load-balance it properly, don't get in a rush, and don't worry about it.

Roger