Anyone seen or used one of these

[Tequila]

http://www.axlecrutch.com/

Looks like it might be a handy item to have in a pinch. I wonder if you could make one yourself, it looks pretty simple.

[Jerry9n]

Would work for a broken spring, but when I broke one the two truck guy just put a wood block over the axle and used ratchets to hold it in place. Wouldn't have thought of it but easier than carrying another piece of hardware. Easiest part was calling the road service and let them take care of it and pay for the towing.

[Huntindog]

This is not fix for a flat tire as some seem to think.
A broken spring, or in my case a spun bearing.
I used a rachet strap. No worries about overloading ST tires as I run LTs.

[Community Alumni]

This is the same idea the Class 8 guys have used for decades. When you're out in the middle of nowhere and blow two tires on the same axle or a brake locks up, you chain up and limp to help. Ratchet straps work just as well for travel trailers.

[Ron3rd]

Nice idea. Would have come in handy when we broke a leaf spring on our old trailer. That will stop you in your tracks quick!!! Had to put the trailer on a flatbed.

[RCMAN46]

bob213 wrote:
Been a boater for 40 years and always carried enough chain to tie up an axle in an emergency. Most older boat trailers didn't have spare tires or it just didn't look "cool". That would have been an easier solution. Todays trailer have such a variety of suspension not all would benefit, but in an emergency situation I would use it.

Were your boat tires loaded to 90% of the sidewall rating.
My boat was not but my 5th wheel original tires were.

In fact the trailer had a GVW of 12,000 lbs with 5,000 lb axles.
So with 2500 on the pin the axles would be at the max.

[Beachums]

The last time I used a scale, I was up to about 90% of my rated load of all 4 tires. So there are several reasons why I would not fill my finite trailer space with one of these tools.
As stated before, 90% of my total tire allotment would mean obviously I would be grossly overloading a tire on one side of the trailer. With so many variables of why you would lose a tire on the road, one pattern always seems to emerge..... whatever condition one tire is on one side of the trailer, the other is usually similar. In other words, chances are the other tire will likely be close to failure as well. As such, I would not want to rely on that one tire to drive 50' let alone the probable miles needed to find a repair facility.

Pound for pound, dollar for dollar I would carry around a second spare before investing in one of those.

All that being said, I don't typically yank my trailer on very long trips. So I am sure my opinion doesn't apply as much as the full timers out there.

[MUDDYNOLL]

That would be a great help in the instance of a broken main spring to help get you off the highway. It's a great idea but IMHO not very practical to carry around with you all of the time as a broken spring is less common than a flat tire.I also carry extra lug nuts lust in case. They dont take up much space.

[majorgator]

Why spend money on that when a few good cheap ratchet straps will work just fine? Easier to carry ratchet straps and/or chains than that big clunky thing. Temporary means just that...ropes, tie-wire, 100 zip ties, or whatever it takes to get you to the repair shop.

[NashTT]

Traveled with a friend back in the late 70's who lost a wheel on I70 in OH. I was behind him and watched the lug nuts come off before the wheel--no amount of horn honking or light flashing got his attention I couldn't pull along side because of traffic and the TT I was towing. We ended up chaining up the rear axel with a tow chain on one side and limping to an exit. This was before radial trailer tires were common and it seems blow outs were less frequent but his tire held up fine for the short haul. We ended up spending the night under an overpass and got repaired the next morning. His trailer was a seventy something Holiday Rambler and I've got to believe that it was heavy. I believe this type of arrangement would work in most cases for a short distance at a reduced speed although it should probably be a backup used only after the spare. In my friend's case he'd lost his lug nuts so the spare was useless.

[bob213]

Been a boater for 40 years and always carried enough chain to tie up an axle in an emergency. Most older boat trailers didn't have spare tires or it just didn't look "cool". That would have been an easier solution. Todays trailer have such a variety of suspension not all would benefit, but in an emergency situation I would use it.

[mooky_stinks]

It does say it's for TEMPORARY support to get to a repair place. I'd much rather be able to use something like this to get to an exit or service area than be stuck on the shoulder of an interstae.

"The AxleCrutch is a temporary support device for multiple axle trailers with leaf spring suspensions. The AxleCrutch is easy to install and permits you to drive to a repair facility on your own.The AxleCrutch provides temporary towing capabilities to a trailer that would otherwise be immobile due to axle, suspension, tire failure including: bearings, hubs, leafspring, u-bolt, lug nuts, spindle, and wheel"

[tvman44]

That would be a awful lot of weight to put on a single tire especially when they are already loaded to just about their max, then to double that. Probably would not get far with a TT or 5er. 😞

[wmoses]

nomad297 wrote:
It would need to be a pretty severe pinch for me to resort to using that. The last thing I want to do is overload an ST tire.

Bruce

X2. Well said.

[Tequila]

I was thinking about being stranded somewhere. You could probably limp to help or get to to a safe place to park it until help arrived.