Possible Axle Upgrade

[Ol_coot]

Noticed the other day my right front tire was wearing on outside edge on my 5th wheel. Pretty good wear. None of the others show any wear like this. Stopped by the local RV repair shop I've been dealing with for all my repairs and trust. Explained to him what I saw and he indicates it is probably a bent spindle and it would require replacing axle. I hit a pretty bad rut in Yellowstone this past summer is when I feel I may have bent it.
After all that, my question to all, since these axles are going on 6 years with around 45K+ on them and needing to change out one. I was considering just upgrading both and going to heavier weight carrying axle.
Any thoughts on benefits of upgrading or just stay with same ones I've been using and had no issues with other than bad roads and my driving.

[Drifter1959]

Swampman597 wrote:
One or both of our axles were bent too so we went to a place in Oregon that just straightened and aligned them. Haven't had tread wear issues since. Just a thought.

X2

[SabreCanuck]

I know back in the day of transport trucking, we used to have a simple laser system that would bolt onto the wheel studs and basically point FORWARD.. There was a bar connected to the semi trailer king pin that the laser would point to. If the two readings were the same on both sides of the bar, then your axles were straight. If not, you had to align them.

Does such a thing exist for an RV??

I've seen various systems for 'adjusting' the axles but how does one recognize that the axles are out of alignment except wait for tire wear or take to a shop?

[bpounds]

Get it checked out before jumping to conclusions. It could just as easily be as simple as a bad tire with loose belts.

[alexleblanc]

alboy wrote:
Check your spring hangers for wear,do you have a wet bolt upgrade?I had a similar issue ,the hanger bolts had worn oblong.

This was the first thing that came to mind, my father just went through this last year.

[RAS43]

Normally I would agree with increasing axle capacity but I am not sure in this case. If you do have 8000lb axles now they are pretty stout. And if your trailer does weigh 15000lbs, then with 20% pin weight the axles are carrying 12000lbs or 6000lbs each. That leaves a lot of extra capacity. I agree with others that suggest having the axles aligned and straightened by a commercial truck/trailer shop. I had the same issue that you have and had this done 3 years ago and it has been fine since.

[alboy]

Check your spring hangers for wear,do you have a wet bolt upgrade?I had a similar issue ,the hanger bolts had worn oblong.

[corvettekent]

I took my 5th wheel to a truck frame shop and had an alignment.

[Kountryguy]

I also have had a spindle straightened with success. The shop must have alignment equipment for trailers to check their work.

[Swampman597]

One or both of our axles were bent too so we went to a place in Oregon that just straightened and aligned them. Haven't had tread wear issues since. Just a thought.

[Ol_coot]

Agree with both about going up in grade but not to much. Currently have Dexter Axles 8K. 5er weight right at 15K loaded going down the road.

[fla-gypsy]

Go big!

[Kountryguy]

You would need to know what your axle weight actually is. You do not want axles that are overkill. Too heavy duty akles will cause a harsh ride, possibly causing other problems. All that being said, I personally, would err on the heavy side.

[Round_Topper]

When it comes to axles, bigger is better. I don't think it costs much more to go up a step or two. My two cents.
RTer