Quote:
Originally Posted by denabear
Final response was.. " A 2500 lb axle doesn't exist. Any axle rated over 2200lbs is in fact a 3500 lb axle. The manufactures only give them the lower rating to avoid having to install electric brakes but they are still a 3500 lb axle."
To which he then suggested a different company that may be able to straighten my current axle???
What did he mean by there are no axles over 2200lb??
Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV
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I think he is saying the axle structure (metal tube, bracket and arms) is either one rated to a max of 2200 lbs. OR it is an axle structure that can be built to a max of 3500 lbs.
Dexter #9 axle can be built for between 1000 and 2200 lbs. of trailer
weight. A Dexter #10 axle can be built from 2300 to 4000 lbs. I think he is saying that any 2500 lb. axle is a #10 axle, with the suspension tuned to a reduced
weight.
To get a 2500 lb. axle Dexter uses the structure of a #10 (3500 lb.) axle but by reducing the rubber in the tube adjusts it down to have a suspension appropriate to supporting a 2500 lb. trailer. They can not put enough rubber into a #9 axle to have the right suspension for anything over 2200 lbs.
His explanation is lacking detail but essentially correct. Any Dexter axle over 2200 lbs. is the same axle (as far as the metal goes) as a 3500 lb. axle.
Were you able to watch that Dexter video? I see iPhone in your posts and I'm not sure if iPhone can view it. In that video you can see how going over bumps the arm the tire is on has to twist against the rubber inside the axle and compress it, more rubber takes more
weight and force to compress the rubber. Less rubber takes less weight. Above 2200 lbs. you need a bigger axle tube to have enough rubber, the next size bigger tube can hold enough rubber to go up to 4000 lbs. (but 3500 is a more typical trailer weight which is probably why he calls it a 3500 lb. axle)
Above a certain weight rating the axle would have to have
brakes, so he is saying the only reason that Dexter makes them with a reduce the weight rating (less rubber) in the 3500 lb. axle is so brakes are not required. In the case of our campers we want weight rating reduced to provide a softer ride than a typical utility trailer.
Can I add brakes later is not the same question as does it come with brake mounting plate. In technical stuff like specification the more specific the question the more specific the reply.
BTW - reducing the suspension rubber is often called "de-tuned" or "detuned" I ordered a 3500# axle detuned to 2500#.