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?