Tandem axle vs single
What is the towing difference with the axle, tandem/single. Any advantages? Disadvantages? The only thing I can think of is if a tire blows out on a tandem at least you still can pull and your not on the side of the road.
Forum Discussion
nickthehunter wrote:
If my dual axle trailer has a blowout I will proceeding cautiously, at minimal speed, up the next exit and to the nearest safe spot. I won’t be changing it on the side of the road while cars and trucks fly past at 70 mph. Which is the same thing that would happen if I had a single axle trailer, my truck, or any other vehicle.
X2!
I have on more than one occasion ended up with a blown tire on my vehicles due to road debris like nails screws and one was a bolt.. Fortunately, have never had a blow out on any of my trailers.
When it happens, slow down to a crawl until you can find a suitable spot (exit, driveway, parking lot) to pull off the road safely that does not have a steep drop off on the shoulder. As long as there is SOME rubber left on the rim it will generally be enough to protect the rim from severe damage IF you take your time.
Doesn't matter if you have single or dual axle, in both cases, the rim will hit the ground. Dual axles do not have any "edge" on this action as what happens is the good tire and axle will have to handle the full load, will be overloaded and the way dual axle spring suspensions work the axle with full weight will top out the spring travel limits and you will no longer have spring action.
Even if you did damage the rim in the process, it is replaceable, new rim is cheaper than replacing damaged axles and springs or repairing spring mounts.- If my dual axle trailer has a blowout I will proceeding cautiously, at minimal speed, up the next exit and to the nearest safe spot. I won’t be changing it on the side of the road while cars and trucks fly past at 70 mph. Which is the same thing that would happen if I had a single axle trailer, my truck, or any other vehicle.
- Single axle usually has bigger size tires.
Also if you need to replace tires, single axle is cheaper than tandem. BarneyS wrote:
My last of several blowouts was in 2006.I then made the jump to LT tires and never looked back.Lwiddis wrote:
Snip... Blowing a tire, which will happen…and to you, is another. Snip...
Not necessarily! I have been driving for 70 years, 50 of them towing a trailer of some kind, and have never had a blowout in all of those years. Only had one flat tire and had that changed in about 30 minutes.
BarneyBarneyS wrote:
Lwiddis wrote:
Snip... Blowing a tire, which will happen…and to you, is another. Snip...
Not necessarily! I have been driving for 70 years, 50 of them towing a trailer of some kind, and have never had a blowout in all of those years. Only had one flat tire and had that changed in about 30 minutes.
Barney
I had 2 blowouts last June. One on my way to site and another on the way home. 1st one did $4500 worth of damage. Took it to RV shop 7/5/2021. All the parts needed just arrived about 2 weeks ago.- I've never pulled a single axle rv trailer but several single axle company cargo trailer used as on site tool trailers.
We finally convinced the company to do away with the all single axle trailers and go with tandem axles on anything over 14' long.
The benefits of a tandem axle trailer far out weighs a single axle trailer...JMO after pulling them for a living. - Merry Xmas Barney!
Thx for the delete…. - I greatly prefer single axle trailers. My rear tandem tires would pick up so many nails and screws, it was ridiculous. Plus double the cost for tire replacement.
I have had blowouts with both types. No big deal either way. No, the trailers were never in danger of tipping. Bobbo wrote:
BarneyS wrote:
Lwiddis wrote:
Snip... Blowing a tire, which will happen…and to you, is another. Snip...
Not necessarily! I have been driving for 70 years, 50 of them towing a trailer of some kind, and have never had a blowout in all of those years. Only had one flat tire and had that changed in about 30 minutes.
Barney
What Lwiddis said. I haven't had a blowout, but I was at a campground waiting for a friend to arrive. I got a call, he was about 10 miles out and had lost the tread off of a trailer tire, shredding the tire. He had called AAA. I drove over there and put his spare on for him. If it was a single axle trailer, it would have been on the rim, or on its side.
Sure, single axle would end up with the rim hitting the ground.
BUT, the exact same thing WILL happen with dual axles.
Flatten a tire on a dual axle by taking the valve core out and you will see that rim drop the entire distance of the sidewall. Put a load on the trailer like the average RV'r does and that rim WILL be touching the ground. Dual axle suspension will attempt to equalize and will push the blown/missing tire of that axle down until the good tire hits the top of the suspension limit.
Remove the flat tire on dual axle and the drum will start hitting the pavement. It is for that reason one must "strap" and restrain the axle backup to "normal position" if one were to attempt to drive on with a missing tire.
As far as "tipping over" goes, you have bigger problems if your single axle trailer tips over with a 5" drop. Tire sidewall at most is 6" tall with air, no air that shrinks to about 5" (tread portion of tire thickness is nearly 1" including the rubber under the tread).
A single axle trailer with a flat is not going to tip over unless you do something dumb to help it over the center of gravity.- Tandem axle has less bounce, less sway.
