What lessons have you learned over the years about towing...

[Cathi]

Many want dual axles because, if there is a blowout, you can then travel a few miles to a good place to stop. No need to stop right there. That is a safety feature, in effect.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

This isn't a Chicken or an Egg question. Dual axle trailers have dual axles because they usually weigh to much for just two tires.


We full-timed for a year in the 70's with a very heavy 25' Airstream that had a single axle and when we had to buy a new set of tires we played havoc finding a set rated high enough and we were still at about 90% of their rated capacity at that.

Yet Escape installs dual axles on a 6' smaller trailer, for safety I'd rather have the 4 wheels with excess capacity vs 2 at capacity.

[Borrego Dave]

I've had both and like tandems better. The extra cost of tires or bearings are not on the list.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Cathi

Many want dual axles because, if there is a blowout, you can then travel a few miles to a good place to stop. No need to stop right there. That is a safety feature, in effect.

This is not advised. People who have had a blow-out and not noticed have had the shredded tire beat the living daylights out of the wheel well. Not only do they have to replace the tire, but go to a fiberglass shop and get the trailer repaired.
As for tracking, I have single axle and 17 foot trailer follows me like a puppy ( only it's more focused ).

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Cathi

Many want dual axles because, if there is a blowout, you can then travel a few miles to a good place to stop. No need to stop right there. That is a safety feature, in effect.

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WOW, unless it was an absolute emergency, or there was a clear and present danger, I would never even consider continuing on with a blown tire on a trailer just because it has dual axles. Here's' my take on that idea:

1. You will be putting twice the load on the remaining tire on that side, putting it at risk for failure. Wouldn't two blown tires just make your day?

2. Continuing to drive may result in a flat tire shredding and doing significant damage to the trailer itself (This I have seen)

3. Continuing to drive may well turn a minor nail puncture repair into a destroyed tire.

4. Although tire failures are rare, most can be attributed to under inflation and/or overage tires. With 4 tires to replace, owners may well tend to push them further to save the expense.

All that said, dual axles sems to mean larger and heavier trailers.
If that's your need, you will get two axles, if not, you will get one, it's really not a matter of choice, but what happens when you choose a specific size trailer.

Or as some would say "It" Happens ,,,lololol......

[padlin00]

I have had both, the only differences I've noticed while driving is that the single can be turned on a dime as opposed to the double. I was used to the quick turning single when backing into a site and thought it a con going to the double. Some believe it's the other way around as the double backs into a site in a more controlled manner. To each his own.

Most common sighted reason for a double getting a flat doesn't leave you on the ground.

I'm under the impression manufactures use 2 axles when a single will not handle the weight. My single axle trailer had a dry weight of 3200 lb and an axle/wheel combo rated (GVWR) of 3500. Left me with a whopping 300 lbs cargo capacity, which of course no one tells you when you're buying it. The dual axle has a dry weight of 3700 lbs and a GVWR of 5500 lbs. While the 2 trailers are pretty close in dry weight the dual axle is too heavy for just one axle. I like the margin between dry and GVWR with the dual axle.

[Fallon]

You can get 3000 & 7000 lbs axles as standard capacities. Personally I prefer a double axle. More safety factor & stability. Replacing 2 extra tires is expensive, but bearings are cheap. Half the time doing bearings is setup & cleanup. 2 extra bearings don't take that much extra time.

A fighter pilot escort is bouncing around the B52 he's escorting showing off & talking smack about how he can do anything the B52 can. B52 pilot radioed back "Alright, try that". Fighter pilot radios back asking what the heck he did as he couldn't see any thing different. B52 pilot radios back "I just shut down 2 engines". Fighter pilot goes quiet.

Sent from my A0001 using Fiberglass RV mobile app

[honda03842]

We have a single axle. I would say the primary manufacturer's reason for double axles is to meet the trailer's load capacity, not for dual axle safety.

I am always concerned about safety and we change our tires out early, I suspect earlier than most, usually after 3 years. To insure that we know what's happening on our single axle's tires, we have pressure and temperature sensor's on our tires.

This comes about from an Alaskan experience. We were following a dual axle huge fifth wheel. I saw a rear tire blow. The driver kept driving as though nothing had happened. The fact was she had one severely overloaded tire on one side of the trailer. As well the blown tire was splaying the underside of the trailer. I flashed my lights, tooted my horn for about 10 miles before I managed to get the driver's attention.

Because of that experience I added those temperature and pressure sensors to our trailer hoping to detect a rising temperature or falling pressure before it's an issue. Monitoring that display is Ginny's job though it does have alarms.

We have been a little lucky and have not lost a trailer tire to failure, can't say the same for the tow vehicle.

[MC1]

Our 1973, 23' originally was designed as a single axle trailer and the same trailer had the dual axles as an option. One big advantage of the dual axle version is the doubling of the braking power.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by honda03842

.... To insure that we know what's happening on our single axle's tires, we have pressure and temperature sensor's on our tires....

Now that sounds like a VERY worthwhile addition! When I first got tires with low pressure warning on my car I said I would never go back to un-monitored tires.
Can you provide some details and / or link to the sensors?

[honda03842]

Gordon.
These sensors are better than what we have on our new Honda Odyssey. First they are external to the tire. Second they continuously report so you can see change and third they report temperature and pressure. Our sensors are from Tyre Dog. I suspect they may not be the best technology to buy since what we have is 3 years old. What we bought covers up to four tires, we presently use it only on the trailer's two tires.

I believe I bought them on Amazon or Ebay.