Snoozy axles - Page 2 - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 09-14-2013, 02:09 PM   #21
Senior Member
 
Brian B-P's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
For sure I could see a rise to the axle's centerpoint and an indent on the underside at that point... but for all I know, that could have been put in by the Tie Down mfr.
Yes, that's normal for both independent and beam axles: the tube is bent up slightly in the middle to provide some positive static camber. Under load, the tube bends a bit and reduces the camber.
__________________
1979 Boler B1700RGH, pulled by 2004 Toyota Sienna LE 2WD
Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
STATUS: No longer active in forum.
Brian B-P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 02:16 PM   #22
Senior Member
 
Bob Miller's Avatar
 
Trailer: Class A Motorhome
Posts: 7,912
Hmmmmm....
Then a regular Little Snoozy would be much heavier if and when it encountered said road hazard.

Did someone say "Axle Recall"



Bob Miller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 05:54 PM   #23
Senior Member
 
carlkeigley's Avatar
 
Name: Carl
Trailer: 2013 Lil Snoozy #161 (SOLD)/2010 Tacoma
NE Oklahoma
Posts: 2,358
I don't know if this will help or not.
These are all the passenger side:

Click image for larger version

Name:	DSCN1040.jpg
Views:	45
Size:	209.0 KB
ID:	64546

Looks like maybe 11 1/2 inches from frame.
Click image for larger version

Name:	DSCN1041.jpg
Views:	40
Size:	239.8 KB
ID:	64547

Looks like it might possibly be bolted on.
Click image for larger version

Name:	DSCN1042.jpg
Views:	36
Size:	185.5 KB
ID:	64548

Edit: This one is the driver side.
Click image for larger version

Name:	DSCN1043.jpg
Views:	47
Size:	400.1 KB
ID:	64549

Pretty close to fiberglass.
Click image for larger version

Name:	DSCN1044.jpg
Views:	63
Size:	333.3 KB
ID:	64551
carlkeigley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 06:34 PM   #24
Senior Member
 
carlkeigley's Avatar
 
Name: Carl
Trailer: 2013 Lil Snoozy #161 (SOLD)/2010 Tacoma
NE Oklahoma
Posts: 2,358
I don't know if this will help or not.
These are all the passenger side:

Attachment 64546

Attachment 64547

Attachment 64548

Attachment 64549

Attachment 64551
carlkeigley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 07:24 PM   #25
Senior Member
 
rabbit's Avatar
 
Name: Jack
Trailer: '98 BURRO 17WB
Delaware
Posts: 2,548
I see bolts thru the frame tube both fore and aft the axle and I see one of the welded tabs on the axle tube. It is bolted and why wouldn't it be. Remember Jerod's lecture about welding galvanized steel?

I don"t care much for hatchet job in the floor around what I take to be a dinette table leg socket. Particularly exposed to water and road salt. Hello aluminum oxide!

jack
rabbit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 08:02 PM   #26
Senior Member
 
Brian B-P's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
Posts: 5,002
It looks like the fender is as close to the body as possible, and the wheel is pretty close. The body tapers toward the bottom (as expected of any moulded body with a mid-level seam), it curves at the bottom corner, and the frame is even further inboard than required to reach a flat area... thus the big axle overhang. Perhaps the idea was to reduce the distance the floor needs to span or just to keep the frame from being too visible - the frame is probably still more widely spaced than a typical egg (which of course has wheel wells to accommodate the wheels without them stuck way out there).

Cargo trailers with outboard wheels typically don't have this issue because the side walls are vertical and the frame is right at the edge of the body... there is no challenge for the axle.
__________________
1979 Boler B1700RGH, pulled by 2004 Toyota Sienna LE 2WD
Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
STATUS: No longer active in forum.
Brian B-P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 09:30 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
Mike Magee's Avatar
 
Name: Mike
Trailer: 2012 Escape 19
Oklahoma
Posts: 6,020
Carl, yours is much closer than mine! My fender and wheel stick out way more than that. I'm pretty sure I could stick my hand sideways (with knuckles horizontal) between the body and the fender edge. The tire is farther out than that.
Mike Magee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 09:36 PM   #28
Senior Member
 
carlkeigley's Avatar
 
Name: Carl
Trailer: 2013 Lil Snoozy #161 (SOLD)/2010 Tacoma
NE Oklahoma
Posts: 2,358
That is a big difference Mike.
So looks like we definitely have to measure our own
when faced with these situations.

I'll have to do something about that cup underneath.
I hadn't paid any attention to it before. Maybe glue a
milk bottle over it...........LOL
carlkeigley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 10:50 PM   #29
Senior Member
 
Brian B-P's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
Carl, yours is much closer than mine! My fender and wheel stick out way more than that. I'm pretty sure I could stick my hand sideways (with knuckles horizontal) between the body and the fender edge. The tire is farther out than that.
Then I guess that's the 3 or 4 inches you mentioned earlier, Mike. Wow, that's 19" or more per side of overhang (to the hub face / wheel centre plane)! Maybe the Tie Down axles are designed for this (to suit wide boats on narrow frames), but it's still a lot and any extra is not good.

I would ask the trailer manufacturer why the axle is so wide, and unless there was a good reason from the manufacturer I would plan a narrower replacement... as Mike had already determined at the beginning of this discussion.
__________________
1979 Boler B1700RGH, pulled by 2004 Toyota Sienna LE 2WD
Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
STATUS: No longer active in forum.
Brian B-P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2013, 07:12 PM   #30
Senior Member
 
Mike Magee's Avatar
 
Name: Mike
Trailer: 2012 Escape 19
Oklahoma
Posts: 6,020
Jeremy Hudson at Wesco sent me a schematic of the #50064 axle supplied with my Hauley.

Ok, I believe the body is 6.5' wide, right? 78"?

Well, the axle has a 82.48" tube. And the distance from hub face to hub face is 94".

So I guess the reason the wheels stick out so far is because of the spindle/hub assemblies are long. Clearance between the arm and the trailer body appears to be 2" at most, assuming a 78" wide trailer body.

I guess there's no getting any narrower with that axle design. Clearance is only about 2" on each side. Yet, assuming a tire width of roughly 7.5", half on either side of the hub, 90" minus 78" equals a sizable gap from the tire's sidewall to the trailer wall.
Mike Magee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2013, 08:32 PM   #31
Senior Member
 
Mike Magee's Avatar
 
Name: Mike
Trailer: 2012 Escape 19
Oklahoma
Posts: 6,020
I guess I can't really say I had no warning about the axle width, since Snoozy's website says in the specs that the total trailer width is 7'11". Now I realize what it's like to tow an 8' trailer. On narrow country roads it's a pain. On the expressway, not so bad.

It gives me new appreciation for those 6'8" wide Scamps and Casitas.
Mike Magee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 01:35 PM   #32
Senior Member
 
Brian B-P's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
So I guess the reason the wheels stick out so far is because of the spindle/hub assemblies are long. Clearance between the arm and the trailer body appears to be 2" at most, assuming a 78" wide trailer body.

I guess there's no getting any narrower with that axle design. Clearance is only about 2" on each side.
Here's another way to look at those numbers...

The axle tube is 82.48" wide, which is wider than even the widest part of the body. The frame is substantially narrower than the narrowest part of the body, so the axle cantilevers out substantially past the frame - the issue we were discussing earlier.

If the body is 78" wide at the widest point, it is likely to be at least a couple inches narrower than that near the bottom, even before it turns the rounded corner to become the floor. The arms are roughly level and pivot on the middle of the tube which is under the frame, and the frame is under the body, so the arms are more under the body than beside it. My guess is that there's lots of clearance from the arms to the body.

The vertical-sided fenders are forced apart by the body width high on the side, which in the worst case would place them 78" apart. With a hub face spacing of 94", that places each hub face 8" outboard of the inner side of the fender... but the fender doesn't need to be much more than 8" wide in total to cover the tires used, so either the fender is much wider than it needs to be, or it is far from snug to the body, or some combination of those. It looks like the fenders, and hub faces, could be 3" further inboard on each side. (Hmm... where have we heard that before?)

Taking all that in combination, it sounds like the same design with six inch narrower axle (all the difference in the tube, so about 76.5" tube and 88" hub face spacing), and the fender supports shorter to match, would allow everything to clear and make the trailer both more robust and more usable.

Perhaps the axle was sized for a 78" wide trailer with straight vertical walls, and 2" clearance from arms to body? It could even be a standard stock axle for 7' wide trailers. The narrower axle on Carl's trailer seems to confirm that the #50064 axle was too wide.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
I guess I can't really say I had no warning about the axle width, since Snoozy's website says in the specs that the total trailer width is 7'11".
That's a good point: the specs say 7'11" (the 6'5" body plus outboard wheels and fenders), but with 94" across the hub face and 8" of tire, Mike's trailer must right up to the legal limit of 102" (8'6"). It is wider than it is supposed to be... again by 3" per side.
__________________
1979 Boler B1700RGH, pulled by 2004 Toyota Sienna LE 2WD
Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
STATUS: No longer active in forum.
Brian B-P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 03:33 PM   #33
Senior Member
 
Name: jim
Trailer: Escape 21 Nov.2016
Florida
Posts: 282
Registry
trailer width

I believe all federal highways are 102 in (8 1/2 FT) wide trailer size . NC is known to measure boat trailers and give out tickets for more then 102 in. I looked at a snoozy the other day it didn't seem over 8ft ?
jennykatz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 06:04 PM   #34
Senior Member
 
Mike Magee's Avatar
 
Name: Mike
Trailer: 2012 Escape 19
Oklahoma
Posts: 6,020
My figuring must have been off. I take back what I said yesterday.

I went to the trailer place and took photos of the wheel area.

Click image for larger version

Name:	Axle 3.JPG
Views:	22
Size:	348.8 KB
ID:	64676

Click image for larger version

Name:	Axle 2.JPG
Views:	15
Size:	356.5 KB
ID:	64677

Click image for larger version

Name:	Axle 1.JPG
Views:	15
Size:	356.8 KB
ID:	64678

The above photos show a new tire. The worn one that called my attention to the problem last Friday can be seen below.

Click image for larger version

Name:	Axle 4.jpg
Views:	15
Size:	173.5 KB
ID:	64679

It appears to me that the crown nut at the back of the hub is 3.5" away from the trailer sidewall. If they had made it 1", they could have narrowed the overall width by 5" (2.5" per side). Also, the arm has an upward angle; if they had used a down angle, they could have gained even more.

The trailer shop was having little success finding a narrower drop axle (for springs), but they had a narrower straight axle on hand. So I told them to put that on. It will raise the trailer about 4", they say. No big deal to me. I guess I won't scrape the bumper any more.
Mike Magee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 06:04 PM   #35
Senior Member
 
Brian B-P's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennykatz View Post
I looked at a snoozy the other day it didn't seem over 8ft ?
Right, a Snoozy is not supposed to be over 8 feet wide, but Mike's seems to be about 6" wider than it should be, and thus up to that legal limit.
__________________
1979 Boler B1700RGH, pulled by 2004 Toyota Sienna LE 2WD
Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
STATUS: No longer active in forum.
Brian B-P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 06:26 PM   #36
Senior Member
 
Brian B-P's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler (B1700RGH) 1979
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
It appears to me that the crown nut at the back of the hub is 3.5" away from the trailer sidewall. If they had made it 1", they could have narrowed the overall width by 5" (2.5" per side).
Right, by having 2.5" per side less of that square axle tube that is clearly visible in the photos.

This would result in 89" track/hubface distance, and 96.5" width across the tire sidewalls... still not counting fender lips and yet still 1.5" wider than spec, but much closer.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
The trailer shop was having little success finding a narrower drop axle (for springs), but they had a narrower straight axle on hand. So I told them to put that on.
So, with the narrower axle the wheels and tires will be where they should be. Is the shop going to remove the fenders, cut the fender supports shorter to match, and replace the fenders to line up with the new tire position? I assume this is about a 88" hubface width.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Magee View Post
It will raise the trailer about 4", they say.
Not surprising, but will the fenders be relocated down to match, or are they just going to be way above the tires? I would at least extend the fenders with mudflaps to protect the body from thrown gravel.


Just to complicate things...
One reason the Snoozy has external wheels was to allow the axle position to be adjusted in the design. Any axle replacement is an opportunity to tweak the tongue weight by shifting the axle slightly forward or aft, although the fenders would need to move with it for anything but very small changes.
__________________
1979 Boler B1700RGH, pulled by 2004 Toyota Sienna LE 2WD
Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
STATUS: No longer active in forum.
Brian B-P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 06:47 PM   #37
Senior Member
 
Name: jim
Trailer: Escape 21 Nov.2016
Florida
Posts: 282
Registry
trailer axcels

Maybe because you have a lil hauly instead of a lil snoozy your axcel is for more weight ? I would have asked Allan to confirm . The snoozy I saw the wheels were very close to the fiberglass body not like your pictures? Good Luck with your project .Jim
jennykatz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 07:02 PM   #38
Member
 
Name: Keith
Trailer: Not yet
Florida
Posts: 84
Id love to see those same pictures with the fist on a regular LiL Snoozy as a comparison.
Flharleycop is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 07:27 PM   #39
Senior Member
 
Mike Magee's Avatar
 
Name: Mike
Trailer: 2012 Escape 19
Oklahoma
Posts: 6,020
The shop is locating the new axle so the wheels stay in the same position as now, under the fenders. I believe he said it would be about 6" behind where the axle currently attaches, and most likely they will be able to leave the current attachment plates intact (so a reversal would be easy should the occasion ever arise).

This will contribute a small amount of additional tongue weight. I weighed the tongue fully loaded in the latter part of August, and it was 330 lbs. So that may go up to 350 or 360, perhaps? When empty, the trailer produces an annoying little front-to-back jiggle at 40-50 mph, so this might kill the jiggle.

I will worry about the fenders later; I just want my trailer back!
Mike Magee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2013, 07:29 PM   #40
Senior Member
 
carlkeigley's Avatar
 
Name: Carl
Trailer: 2013 Lil Snoozy #161 (SOLD)/2010 Tacoma
NE Oklahoma
Posts: 2,358
No gap on the Snoozy Keith

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/a...chmentid=64551
carlkeigley is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
axle


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Why two axles???? Francesca Knowles Towing, Hitching, Axles and Running Gear 107 02-23-2013 10:39 AM
al-ko axles Dan B Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 2 06-02-2008 10:44 PM
Tandem Axles? Pete Dumbleton Modifications, Alterations and Updates 13 12-22-2006 06:30 PM
Flexiride Axles Benita Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 3 09-17-2006 03:12 PM
Double Axles Legacy Posts Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 26 06-15-2003 01:37 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:07 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.