April, If it is original, then yes it needs to be replaced. A torsion
axle is good for about 20 years or so.
There are two common failure modes. If the trailer has been used on bumpy roads, then the rubber in the
axle may have disintegrated. The swing arms on the axle will be angled up, a lot.
If the trailer has been sitting for a long time. The rubber becomes rock hard. To confirm this, requires two people. Get your heaviest friend to bounce up and down inside the trailer. Try to get the bouncing at the trailer’s natural harmonic frequency. Then someone should stand outside the trailer and see if the wheel moves, or if all the bounce is only in the
tires.
Replacing the axle should not break the bank. Find a shop that specializes in trailer repairs. I can't give you a price range since I'm Canadian. The prices for service are typically higher here. I would recommend getting a new axle with
brakes, or at least one with the mounting plates for
brakes.
I would pull the coach off the frame before you get this done. It will be easier to do the work. Also, you will see that the bolts that hold the coach to the frame have failed. This is part of a list of five items for restoring Trilliums.
The list:
- Plywood frames that the
windows screw into. Typically, condensation has caused some of these to rot.
- The door. Originally the door was screwed into some thin plywood inside the post at the hinge side of the door. The wood rots out and the door no longer hangs straight, or it falls off.
- The belly band. It is complicated, but the belly band will eventually leak /
fall off.
- The Axle
- The bolts holding the cab to the frame.
Each of these have multiple solutions. I should do a thread on this.