Great post, this needs to be in your sticky folder at the top.
__________________
Courage is being scared to death---and saddling up anyway.
-John Wayne-
06 F350 CC SB 6.0 4x4, Suburban Ford (Thanks Ernie )
04 F350 CC SB 6.0 4x4, Van Bortel Ford (Thanks Jeff ) [Traded 05/2006]
Normally, when a person "flips" their axles, they move the axle from above the spring to under the spring. The axle itself is not flipped upside down. If the axle is flipped upside down, you have bigger problems than the brakes. The axle has your camber built into the axle (usually seen as a slight bow inthe axle). If the axle is flipped upside down, you now have major negative camber and the trailer will not tow right or carry the load the axle was designed for.
Normally, when a person "flips" their axles, they move the axle from above the spring to under the spring. The axle itself is not flipped upside down. If the axle is flipped upside down, you have bigger problems than the brakes. The axle has your camber built into the axle (usually seen as a slight bow inthe axle). If the axle is flipped upside down, you now have major negative camber and the trailer will not tow right or carry the load the axle was designed for.
Great advice CF!! You hit the nail on the head with this one. Good to have yet another on here with some mechanical engineering background - or at least it seems that you do!
Greywolf - Also good advice on the brakes. I have to smile on this one. Although I would hope that anyone attemting to perform suspension work would have a understanding of what they were doing... but you know how that goes!
Just another add on, don't forget the front brake calipers, if they are switched side to side, the bleeders are at the bottom! I have run into this a few times when helping people
Again, good job all! David
__________________
78 F250 460 C6 - sold 79 Courier 2.3L 5sp - sold
83 F250 SCab 6.9 4sp - sold
86 F150 5.0 SCab EFI AOD - sold recently
86 Bronco 5.0 EFI AOD - sold recently
75 Courier 1.8L 4sp
99 F250 SD 7.3L for work
This is a problem that I have been looking into on my 5th wheel. I want to flip the axles, but the camber issue is a major concern. This means rewelding brackes on the top of the axles. I have frends who just flipped the axles and brakes but I do not know how their tire wear is. The scarry part is with some of the cheap trailers out there, I wonder if there is any camber in the axles in the first place?
Yeah, if they did that you'll see tire wear on the inside edges only.
EXACTLY!!!
Instead of being pre-bowed so it can evenly flex and distribute wear across the tire tread, you now have increased predilection to wear on the inner edge only...
This is a problem that I have been looking into on my 5th wheel. I want to flip the axles, but the camber issue is a major concern. This means rewelding brackes on the top of the axles. I have frends who just flipped the axles and brakes but I do not know how their tire wear is. The scarry part is with some of the cheap trailers out there, I wonder if there is any camber in the axles in the first place?
With most axles, you can actually see the bow. The apex of the bow is at the top of the axle of course.
An easy way is to use rectangular tubing of the appropriate size and wall thickness and cut one of the narrow sides off, notch the walls for the axle tube, and cut the walls (that now form the bottom supports) to angle up to just below the perch surface to make it look tidy. You can also "cap" the ends so the perches don't fold, if you're worried about it.
I have "flipped" axles on about 8 different trailers. Most RV suppliers carry spring saddles (axle perches)in stock. The last set of 4 I bought were about $14. You remove the axle from the trailer and set it on/secure to a pair of jackstands. With the original spring saddles under the axle, place the new saddles on the axle directly above the originals, clamp and adjust parallel to the original saddles. securely weld in place.
Reinstall the axle. (watch which way your spring shackles going on multiaxle springs when installing or you may end up with more lift than you were expecting.) Your trailer has just gained 2.5"-5" depending on thickness of spring pack and diameter of the axle. With the original spring perches/saddles still in place, you can lower the trailer back down if desired.
My reason for doing this is to level the trailer when it is hooked up to my truck. Additionally, I would like to raise the hitch an inch to give me a little more clearance between the bed rails of the truck and the bottom the the trailer. My truck is a 97 f-250 4x4 (stock height), and the trailer is riding with the nose up.
Flipping the axles is done to raise the trailer for better clearance off road and to clear the bed rails, especially on lifted trucks. As for CG, flipping the axles raises the CG and makes the trailer more unstable.
Hope this helps
__________________
Courage is being scared to death---and saddling up anyway.
-John Wayne-
06 F350 CC SB 6.0 4x4, Suburban Ford (Thanks Ernie )
04 F350 CC SB 6.0 4x4, Van Bortel Ford (Thanks Jeff ) [Traded 05/2006]
a buddy and i each have a small (4x8) utility trailer that have both had the axles flipped to lower the CG and make loading easier. His was eating up tires (wearing on the inside) and I noticed that his axle dipped DOWN as it crosses from wheel to wheel, while mine bent up. So it seems that whoever flipped 'em got mine right (rotating the axle on the spring after flipping spring), but got lazy on his (or didn't know any better), resulting in unloaded camber which becomes way too much camber when loaded...
__________________
we look for things - things to make us go...
This forum is owned and operated by Internet Brands, Inc., a Delaware corporation. It is not authorized or endorsed by the Ford Motor Company and is not affiliated with the Ford Motor Company or its related companies in any way. FordŽ is a registered trademark of the Ford Motor Company.
