It was already bent. The sad thing is I spent more on tires than the replacement axle cost - and they are wasted after the trip. My brother-in-law confessed to hauling over 10tons of logs out of the woods on it recently.

Thanks for all the prodding guys, I'm sure the car hauler would've worked, it does have 10ply tires and the dually is extremely forgiving to tongue weight, etc - but the added safety margin of the bigger trailer was just a better idea.

 

Yeah, i bent an axle on a 1200 mile trip once and ended up paying a trailer shop $250 to pull an axle off one of their trailers and narrow it to fix my trailer. i could've bought a new axle the right width for half that if I could've found a northern tools or tractor supply, but unfortunately I couldn't where i broke down.

On some of the RV forums they recommend throwing an extra axle in the back of your truck if you are the kind that leaves for 3 week trips while living in your TT. Little bit too hardcore for me.

 

Lol, that is hardcore! I do live in my camper more than my house and travel all over the country, but thats just silly IMO. In the last 5yrs or so I have prolly put waaay over 100k miles on (2) campers and the only axle I bent was from hitting a LARGE tire carcass at 50mph. The truck's axles cleared it - but not the trailer... The front axle took a beating along with 2 holding tanks and some other stuff. In the 25yrs I've been dragging ski boats around, I have never bent an axle - but I know people who don't go a couple seasons on the same axle. The CURBS are the enemy. Now trailer TIRES, that is another thing!!!