Axle Flip - Any Regrets?
My small TT is pretty close to the ground and I have round bar WDH. I'm hitting parts of the WDH too frequently. When hitch up and the bottom of the spring bars is 5 1/2 inches from the ground. Se...
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I bent both the axles on my 22' TT while traveling a very rough forest service road that required 4 wheel drive at several points to make it through. Tore the jack pad up and one of the stabilizers as well.
I replaced the stock axles and leaf springs with the next size up and mounted the axles under the leaf springs to give me more ground clearance. I also added the lube/bushing kit at the time (has zerk fittings to lube some of the suspension points).
It helped with the off-road travel for sure but was not without some irritations.
- had to use blocks under the powered tongue jack because on certain campsites the jack had to be extended to the full length or more to get the rig level front-to-back. Repeated full length (right up against the stop) extension puts more wear and tear on the jack as it goes into 'clicking' mode. I don't recall the real term for it but the jack essentially slips a gear when it gets to full extension to prevent permanently damaging the gearbox.
- the lower of the two steps was no longer low enough for safe/comfortable entry. I messed around with various home made wood blocks for a new first step but all of them succumbed to the weather and I finally gave up and purchased the expensive aluminum step from CW.
- of course had to change the ball height on the hitch head an make some other adjustments with the change in ride height of the trailer.
- I seem to recall having to do something with the brake wiring to get it to the new lower location of the axles. I don't think I had to extend the wiring but had to reroute it a bit or something.
- My nice shocks that were on the stock axles no longer had enough travel to use them on the flipped axles. I probably could have made some brackets I suppose.
- I replaced the small exterior entry handle with a larger (longer) one which allowed for one to grab the handle before stepping up on the first step when entering.
- Needed to purchase a taller ladder to get on the roof when needed and to use when putting on the winter cover.
- Had to purchase or make more blocks for use under the stabilizers.
All in all the added ground clearance has allowed us to get the trailer into some remote camp spots that would otherwise be difficult or impossible with the stock ride height.
I replaced the stock axles and leaf springs with the next size up and mounted the axles under the leaf springs to give me more ground clearance. I also added the lube/bushing kit at the time (has zerk fittings to lube some of the suspension points).
It helped with the off-road travel for sure but was not without some irritations.
- had to use blocks under the powered tongue jack because on certain campsites the jack had to be extended to the full length or more to get the rig level front-to-back. Repeated full length (right up against the stop) extension puts more wear and tear on the jack as it goes into 'clicking' mode. I don't recall the real term for it but the jack essentially slips a gear when it gets to full extension to prevent permanently damaging the gearbox.
- the lower of the two steps was no longer low enough for safe/comfortable entry. I messed around with various home made wood blocks for a new first step but all of them succumbed to the weather and I finally gave up and purchased the expensive aluminum step from CW.
- of course had to change the ball height on the hitch head an make some other adjustments with the change in ride height of the trailer.
- I seem to recall having to do something with the brake wiring to get it to the new lower location of the axles. I don't think I had to extend the wiring but had to reroute it a bit or something.
- My nice shocks that were on the stock axles no longer had enough travel to use them on the flipped axles. I probably could have made some brackets I suppose.
- I replaced the small exterior entry handle with a larger (longer) one which allowed for one to grab the handle before stepping up on the first step when entering.
- Needed to purchase a taller ladder to get on the roof when needed and to use when putting on the winter cover.
- Had to purchase or make more blocks for use under the stabilizers.
All in all the added ground clearance has allowed us to get the trailer into some remote camp spots that would otherwise be difficult or impossible with the stock ride height.
