tandem axle vs single axle trailer

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by BCDave

I have personally never noticed any major difference in single vs double vs triple axles in terms of towing straight ahead at highway speeds, but the more axles the easier it is to back up & park.

Someone on here said that you don't need a jack if you get a flat tire with a tandem, which left me sitting there like the little cartoon character with a humongous question mark floating over my head.

I'd love to get a tutorial on how to change a tire on any one of my multi-axle trailers sans a jack, as I have never found a way to do it. (Of course, I am well-known for being dummy at times! )

here you go
Amazon.com: Camco Trailer Aid 21 Tandem Tire Changing Ramp (Yellow): Automotive

[BCDave]

Aww Geez... That's SUCH a good idea and I am such a dummy for using huge jack and etc both times that a tire grenaded on my Bigfoot!

Wonder if it's strong enough for me to use on either of my "heavy" trailers...

I ordered one already for the Bigfoot!

If needs be I can make one outta steel (or wood) for the heavy trailers

Thank you!

[RogerDat]

One always want trailer hitch to align trailer level for towing but tandems make level trailer when towing a bit more important to the tires.

Nose down and the front tires get extra weight as trailer "bears down" on them.
Nose up and it's the back tires that get the extra work dumped on them. Think turning scrub wear of tires would be worse in that situation too.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by BCDave

Aww Geez... That's SUCH a good idea and I am such a dummy for using huge jack and etc both times that a tire grenaded on my Bigfoot!

Wonder if it's strong enough for me to use on either of my "heavy" trailers...

I ordered one already for the Bigfoot!

If needs be I can make one outta steel (or wood) for the heavy trailers

Thank you!

The video says 15000 lbs?

[Roger C H]

Wouldn't it be important that the axles are parallel to each other? Otherwise they would be trying to turn constantly, causing tire scuffing. A single axle would just 'dog track' if the axle is not perpendicular to the centerline of the trailer.

With dual axles, because the pivot point is between the two inside tires, turning too tight, backing or forward could, as I understand it, cause the inside tires to pop off their rims - one tire is sliding in toward the trailer and the other is sliding out away from the trailer, whereas in a single axle, the pivot point is centered under the inside tire.

Also, driving out of driveways with hard crowns throws all the weight onto one or the other axle.

As far as backing, I had a boat trailer that had a long wheelbase and it was easy to back. Homelet is short and turns when backing much more abruptly. However, it just takes less turning of the steering wheel to get movement from the trailer. It can jackknife quicker, but that is a function of the distance from the axle to the hitch, IMHO.

As far as towing stability, Homelet tracks behind our TV like it was on rails. I have had NO issues vis a vis stability or wind affecting the tow.

[rgrugg]

FWIW, back in the "olden days" almost all trailers had single axles, even fairly large ones. Our Egg Camper is 17 ft with a single axle. And I find our 17 ft Egg Camper way easier to back up than our 31 ft Kodiak. Maybe that's because I know sooner what it's going to do. I know the conventional wisdom is that longer is easier. The only trailer flats that we've had (2) were on tandem axle trailers unless you count the three blowouts years ago on an Apache popup that we bought used. Very old tires that blew due to age when we were over 1000 miles from home.

[Orcus79]

A tandem tows better as the weight is distributed more evenly over the road surface. Other advantage is that a tandem will roll over a bump rather hop and skip over bumps. Now with the independant hubs on most of these trailers, that is a moot point.

tandems do back up better as they don't tend to pivot on a tire. AS for tire wear, unless you were constantly making sharp corners, wear would be nominal. Also tounge weights tend to be less as well as that weight is transferred to the axles and tires rather then the tow vehicle.