I dropped my camper off today for measurements to get all new suspension ordered, which will be installed in mid July. I am having a shop here in town replace the axles, complete with new brakes and drums, new leaf springs, and new wheels and tires. I am stepping up from the 3500 lb leaf springs and axle to the next level... but truth be told, in the hurry that we have been in, I didn't even ask if that was to a 4k set up, or maybe a 5200 lb set up... I just asked about the "next step up"... lol. I am going to get back in touch with him tomorrow with some more questions... so I will clarify that then. (He isn't placing the order til the end of the week when he does all his ordering for the week, so I have time.)

Anyway, I did ask him about flipping the axle. Back in 2021 I upgraded the shackle straps and wet bolts and wanted to add the Morryde CRE3000 equalizer, however, due to clearance issues with the gray tank drain pipe, I had no room for the extra 1" or so of additional travel the CRE3000 would have provided. I thought about doing an axle flip back then, which would have given me the clearance I would need, but went back and forth on it, and ended up never doing it. I didn't have the extra parts, and having never done an axle flip, or having a welder, I just let it be and to this day I still use the stock equalizer.

But, even in the midst of the hurry today, I did ask him about flipping the axle. He said it would be no problem and would cost the same either way, but he did mention that it will raise the height of the trailer (maybe with a little caution...) I do understand that and, my guesstimate is that it would raise the trailer approximately 4". In my mind, 4" isn't that much... the overall height of the trailer is not quite 11' currently... it was 10'6" as stock, but the new Furrion Chill Cube AC we installed is about 2" taller than the one it replaced... so really 10"8", but I am just calling it 11' to be on the safe side. If the axle flip did raise it 4", it would then be an even 11'. Regardless, I am not too concerned as this is still much shorter than many other campers (but I do watch the bridges!) but I would watch for signs at 11.5 foot for sure, and even 12'...

I guess my concern is not necessarily the overall height, but how much difference would it make for towing? The height would all be ground clearance, so that does simply put all the weight higher, which I understand would be more prone to tipping, but is 4" going to be a dramatic difference? The nice thing is that a flip would get the axle quite a bit away from the drain pipe, and later, after I recover from the cost of doing this replacement, adding in the CRE3000 would be easy and I would have the clearance to do so.

Another thing, if he is talking about 5200 lb axles, the outer diameter of the axle would be 5/8" larger than the 3500 lb axles...so that would be about .3" taller, and when I say the gray drain pipe is close, it is close... here is a photo:



I took this photo several, years ago when doing the shackle straps and wet bolt. I took these photos when speaking with a Morryde rep about wanting to install the CRE3000... IIRC, this is with the camper level. I wish I had a photo of full flex... But, there definitely isn't room for much... maybe not even the extra 0.3" of axle height...

I guess the other option would be to cut and move the gray tank drain point behind the wheels... I don't guess that would be too hard... and that would give me the clearance I would need for the larger axles for sure, and possibly the CRE3000 too...

Scratch that... my gray tank is immediately over the front axle and the drain comes off between the 2 axles, so it's gotta go over or under one of them, and I wouldn't think that trying to come out between the wheels would be a very good option either...

I guess another concern I would have is that my stabilizers would be about 4" shorter then too... of course I can use the sacking blocks that I carry anyway to make this up if needed... I would also need to raise my hitch, but that wouldn't be a problem either.

It seems to me that I may only have 2 options... flip the axles or stick with the OE set up...

Anyway... what would everyone say to an axle flip? Yay, or nay?

 

Back in the early 2000's, I had the axles flipped on a new 5th wheel so it could be level with proper bed clearance for our F350. Worked well, never had any issues for the few years we owned the trailer.

 

So, I may have done my math wrong... flipping them with the same size axles would net me about 4", however, by also going with larger axles and leaf springs, it could actually net 5", or more likely even 6"... All I really want is about 1.5 - 2" more between the axle and that stinking gray tank drain pipe. And I am just trying to figure out how to get that now since I am about to have all the work done...

I am going to crawl underneath it tomorrow and see what kind of flex I have in that gray tank drain pipe... maybe I can cinch the straps that hold the pipe a little to get a little extra room, but no way it would be more than about a half inch... at best. But that could be what I would need...