Dexter Torflex Axles and changing a tire

lbrjet wrote:

IDoMyOwnStunts wrote:

lbrjet wrote:
Never seemed like a good idea to me to put half of the trailer weight on one tire but I know a lot of people do it. My bottle jack goes between the tires and raises both at the same time.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not 1/2 the trailer weight on one tire. That tire is going from supporting 1/4 of the trailer to 1/3. You should have plenty of margin, especially if you aren't moving.

Bottle jack works just as well and is easier if you want to put jack stands under it. I wouldn't get under a trailer otherwise. Bottle jack would be better if you have one of those newer trailers where the axles are a little more spread apart.

Don't know how you figure 1/3rd. If half the trailer weight is sitting on two tires and you remove one then the same half the weight is sitting on one tire.

4 tires support the trailer weight. Remove one and jack up the other on the same side, center of gravity shifts toward a line between the side with 2 good tires and the tongue, and the remaining tire isn't supporting half the weight of the trailer.

Edited to add: I thought about this some more today and ran some numbers. You are correct in that going from 1/4 to 1/3 is too optimistic. The actual difference is really not enough to be noticed, so I'll admit I was wrong. I was thinking along the lines of the stability triangle, but the tire isn't raised nearly enough in this scenario to take that much weight off.

That said, I still really don't have a problem with one tire or one spindle holding that much weight because it's a static weight. If it were dynamic, yes, that would be a huge problem. I'll continue to use mine. A bottle jack as mentioned is a safer option. Putting it on jackstands would be the safest, but who wants to do that on the side of the road?

My last TT was 7300lbs with 4400lb axles.
I had a TW of around 900lbs
So 6400lbs sitting on the axles.
Each axle carried 3200lbs
If I ran one tire up on blocks then that one spindle was carrying 3200lbs.
1/2 of 4400 is 2200. That's the max weight per each axle side.
So I would be over that spindle by 1000lbs.

I'll use a bottle jack on one tire at a time. That way the weight is spread between both axles.

IDoMyOwnStunts wrote:

lbrjet wrote:
Never seemed like a good idea to me to put half of the trailer weight on one tire but I know a lot of people do it. My bottle jack goes between the tires and raises both at the same time.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not 1/2 the trailer weight on one tire. That tire is going from supporting 1/4 of the trailer to 1/3. You should have plenty of margin, especially if you aren't moving.

Bottle jack works just as well and is easier if you want to put jack stands under it. I wouldn't get under a trailer otherwise. Bottle jack would be better if you have one of those newer trailers where the axles are a little more spread apart.

Don't know how you figure 1/3rd. If half the trailer weight is sitting on two tires and you remove one then the same half the weight is sitting on one tire.

lbrjet wrote:
Never seemed like a good idea to me to put half of the trailer weight on one tire but I know a lot of people do it. My bottle jack goes between the tires and raises both at the same time.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not 1/2 the trailer weight on one tire. That tire is going from supporting 1/4 of the trailer to 1/3. You should have plenty of margin, especially if you aren't moving.

Bottle jack works just as well and is easier if you want to put jack stands under it. I wouldn't get under a trailer otherwise. Bottle jack would be better if you have one of those newer trailers where the axles are a little more spread apart.

Ron3rd wrote:

westend wrote:
Possibly, but using as jack near the axle/frame mounting bracket is less work for me.

Yes, I could do that too, but I find pulling the trailer up on blocks and letting one tire hang down to be quicker and easier, but that's just me. Just curious if the Torflex would allow this method.

I usually want to work on my trailer when it isn't connected to truck so to do it with one wheel lifted means hooking up truck, situating blocks and then pulling it up on the blocks. By the time all that is done, I can have the job done with a jack.

lbrjet wrote:
Never seemed like a good idea to me to put half of the trailer weight on one tire but I know a lot of people do it. My bottle jack goes between the tires and raises both at the same time.

This is what I do. I don't like all that weight on one tire either and the bottle jack works just fine.

Never seemed like a good idea to me to put half of the trailer weight on one tire but I know a lot of people do it. My bottle jack goes between the tires and raises both at the same time.

You know, I read on here where people talk about this all the time. I've never tried this on my leaf spring axles, (This is the style with the triangle shaped equalizer part between them.) But, it seems to me I would have to get the first wheel awfully high from the ground before the second was hanging free in space. That is the whole idea of the equalizer after all.

You may need to stack your Lynx levelers up higher by one or two blocks, but it can be done. The difference for me, going from leaf springs to Torflex was that I had to go from a Trailer Aid to a Trailer Aid Plus, which is about an inch to 1-1/2" taller.

Bruce

Ron3rd wrote:
Our new trailer has Dexter Torflex axles. On our old trailer with leaf springs, I would pull the good tire up on Lynx Levelers and let the bad tire hang down so you could very easily change it.

A question popped into my head; can you do the same thing with the Torflex axles?

Yep. Just follow the same procedure. That's how I did it on my Sunline TT which had Dexter Torflex axles. Sure wish my new Artic Fox TT had the same instead of leaf springs. It's like taking a step backwards.