Axle Replacement

[LauraW]

I am getting tire wear on one tire on my boler and am thinking about another major roadtrip so I have decided to replace my axle.

After reading many posts about axle replacement I called Standens in Calgary to find out what kind of $$$ I would be looking at. Unfortunately, they wouldn't give me a price without seeing the trailer and it is buried in snow at the moment.

Has anyone out there had their axle replaced at Standen's, and can you tell me what it cost for the axle itself, and for labor?
Thanks

[Roger H]

Laura, I replaced the axle under a Burro 17' a couple of years ago. I replaced the stock Dexter #9 with a Dexter #10 3,500 lb axle. The axle with 10" brakes cost me about USD $250 delivered to Midwest Wheel in Cedar Rapids, Ia and I had a local welder to the cutoff and install for an additional USD $200 in labor. Mine necessitated new wheels and tires as well as I changed from a 4 lug to 5 lug pattern so I had a little extra cost there.

Axle replacement costs vary greatly, and vary with who orders the axle, what brand they get, and who does the welding. Ordering it yourself and finding a competent welder to do the job is probably the least expensive way to go. Taking it to a dealer is probably the most expensive.

Roger

[Pete Dumbleton]

I paid about $700US for an incompetent job that had to be done over and still resulted in a frame crack -- OTOH, one of the Scampers paid less than $250 for his axle and found a local welding shop to do it for $50!

I am not encouraged by your local place needing to see the trailer to give you an estimate; maybe they are being cautious, or maybe they don't have a clue...

[Bigfoot Mike]

I was quoted $350 US for my new axle from two places. I was able to negotiate it down to $250 US. A friend of mine came over and we replaced it (he did the welding).

The hard part was cutting the old one off. I traded the old axle for the labor.

I hope this helps.

[Brian B-P]

I am not encouraged by your local place needing to see the trailer to give you an estimate; maybe they are being cautious, or maybe they don't have a clue...

While some businesses may give this type of response because they are being evasive (maybe planning to spring a big bill on an unsuspecting customer), as I understand Standen's have not asked for any commitment from the customer without a quote. I suspect that they want to see the trailer to determine the exact dimensions and mounting configuration, so that they can correctly determine whether an in-stock unit will fit, and how much work will be involved. I am more comfortable with a request like this to see and assess the trailer than an offhand quote without regard to the specific job.

In this particular case, Standen's certainly "has a clue". They are the original supplier axles to many Bolers - including mine - and were responsive and informative when I asked them about my axle. They don't just sell parts, they build axle assemblies using Dexter hub and Torflex components, including configurations which are not available from Dexter.

[Pete Dumbleton]

OK, makes sense once one knows who they are and what they do -- Never seen a Standen's and I was burnt on my axle replacement, so I tend to be skeptical about this subject