Boler 1700 Axle Assembly

[Rudi and Sherri]

No more saggy bum!


I recently replaced the entire axle assembly on our Boler 1700. I ordered the unit after reading a post from another member (I believe Brian B-P Thanks!), about Standen’s in Calgary. I understand that they produced some of the original axles for Bolers built by Neonex. The service I received was second to none. I dealt with several people and each of them were more helpful than I could ever imagine. Standen’s has a warehouse in Surrey BC and the parts were shipped there, free of charge. I had to arrange shipping to Vancouver Island. The cost of the entire assembly included a 72’ straight axle with hubs, electric brakes, leaf springs and hanger kit for 359.10 plus 12% tax. They custom built the axle to the specs I sent them via the internet and once I received it, it was a simple bolt on with 6 bolts. I also ordered some new white 8 spoke rims (15 x 6) for a paltry 38.99 plus tax. Compare this to a well known Canadian automotive supplier from the prairies. The cost was less than 60%, inclusive of shipping. The 220 pound order (axle assembly 150, rims 70) was 78.00 from Surrey to Campbell River. Now I can back up my driveway to get the Boler into my backyard and start on the interior.


Check out the before and after shots. I gained about 7 inches in height!


Rudi

[Bolero1780]

HI Rudi and Sherri,

Looks great! Thank you for this info, we also have 17' Boler (1980). We bought it just over a month ago and a new axle may be in order. We were thinking of going to Escape Trailers in Chilliwack.

Do you have pictures of the interior? How much does yours weigh?

Gina

[kootenaigirl]

Wow, what a difference! Sounds like you got a great price also.

[Kevin K]

You could scrap up all the road kill with the back bumper in the 1st photo.
WOW that was low.

[Rudi and Sherri]

Originally Posted by Bolero1780

HI Rudi and Sherri,

Looks great! Thank you for this info, we also have 17' Boler (1980). We bought it just over a month ago and a new axle may be in order. We were thinking of going to Escape Trailers in Chilliwack.

Do you have pictures of the interior? How much does yours weigh?

Gina

Hi Gina

Our Boler is a 1978 built by Neonex in Calgary. The tag on the closet door indicates a GTW of 2950. The interior is....gross! to say the least. Lots of water ingress through rusted out screws and rivets. My goal is to eventually gut and redo the interior except for the ensolite, which is in surprisingly good repair. I've read too many horror stories about trying to replace it at this point. For next summer, I just want to get it to being "campable" I've removed the back end couch and upper bunk and will build a triple bunk in the space. We have two boys and my wife and I don't sleep well together on a 42 inch bed. Everyone gets their own.

Rudi

[james kent]

I never thought about wrapping the curtain rod all the way around, and your upper cabinet looks great. You'll love the extra storage.

[Kinslayer]

Sweet. I blew up a spring on a trip recently and im going to swap out the drop axle for a straight axle. Did you do sprung over or sprung under? Not sure how high I need to go.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Kinslayer

... im going to swap out the drop axle for a straight axle. Did you do sprung over or sprung under? Not sure how high I need to go.

The original is a 4" drop beam with the springs under it, resulting in a height to the bottom of the frame of about 12" (or 16" to the top of the frame/coupler/ball). Just swapping that for a straight beam will raise the trailer by 4". Moving the springs to the top will add the thickness of the spring pack, plus twice the height of the spring perches, plus the axle tube diameter (2-3/8", I think)... that's about 4" or a bit more.

Do you want the ball top and the bottom of the door opening over two feet off the ground, clearance under the bumper of 20", and clearance under the tanks of about 15"? That's what you would get with a spring-over straight axle... but I think someone has done it that way. Not me!

Don, since you are buying a new axle tube anyway, you could go up to the next larger tube size, while staying with 3500 lb hub/brake components and springs, to address the strength issue that you mentioned in your topic about axle specs.

[Kinslayer]

Ya i'll probably be doing it sprung under.. my tow rig is lifted quite a bit and I have a pretty significant drop hitch so it would be nice to level it out a bunch but ya. I've inquired about the tube diameter.. will see how it goes.

[Rudi and Sherri]

I did go with an under slung assembly. An over slung would have probably added another 3-4 inches or so of height. As it is, I've got lots of clearance, and I've also gone to 15 inch rims which adds a bit more as well. Like Brian says. No need to go any higher!

[Kinslayer]

Well..'no need to go higher' is a relative statement.. I run a 10 inch drop hitch on my truck and my boler bumper still drags out of gas stations.. I hope to be able to run sprung under with the straight axle but we shall see.

[Kinslayer]

Hurray! my saggy bum is getting fixed this weekend too.. I'm in for dinner but the new axle is painted and rolled under the Boler right now.

FYI, I made an axle install board using two castors and a 2x6 at one end of the axle...

[Kinslayer]

Heres some pics from my install

*Check out the messed up 'double shackle' that the previous owner bestowed on me

Also, in the closeup of the leaf pack - see the broken main leaf right at the pin..