axle choice

[BOB MAC]

Hi, I'm Bob and a newbie to this forum. We just purchased a 1976 Trillium 1300 and I've got lots of questions, but I'll start with the important one. I have gutted and removed the "egg" from the frame as I heard there are rust issues. The frame seems solid all the way thru with no rusted sections. At this point does anyone have any suggestion as to whether I should weld in any reinforcements and if so where? I have also read that the torsion axles only last 20-25 years and I did hear quite a squeak on the 10km pull home. The big question...do I replace it with another torsion axle [rated @ 2000 lbs?] or do I take this opportunity to change over to a leaf spring set up ? More questions will follow !!!!!

[John in Michigan]

Bob, welcome to the forum! Your Trillium is a great camper.

Regarding the frame, the common weakness is where the frame rails bend toward each other and up, where the rails emerge from under the front of the camper. Apparently at one point the manufacturer actually issued a recall to fix this problem by welding "fish plates" on both the inside and outside of each rail.

Regarding the axle replacement, it seems that for the Trillium, folks just replace with another torsion axle. I had mine replaced a couple of years ago, and added bolt on adapters.

[Jon in AZ]

Agree on a torsion axle. In my opinion, a leaf spring axle on a small, lightweight trailer is a step down in terms of ride quality.

You have some torsion axle choices to consider, ranging from least cost to highest.
(1) A Dexter #9 axle or equivalent, max. rating 2200#. It can be ordered with 7" brakes. That would be closest to OEM.
(2) A Dexter #10 axle or equivalent, max. rating 3500#. It's a sturdier axle and can be ordered with 10" brakes for more stopping power. It can be de-tuned at the factory as low as 2500#, which would probably give an acceptable ride with a Trillium.
(3) A Flexi-ride axle, which has the ability to change the axle arm start angle to increase or decrease the ride height depending on conditions.

Best wishes!