Single Axle travel trailers.

[falconbrother]

Wanting your opinions on single axle travel trailers. Background:

Our first TT was a 16 foot Prowler, single axle. That single axle caused more than a few white knuckle moments for me, or at least I believe that it was the single axle. That is, in a gusting cross wind, passing semi-truck, etc.. it would sway, bad. I had always been told that double axle TTs wouldn't sway as bad.

Now I see a lot of 19 or 22 foot long single axle TTs, mostly the Wildwood brand. Other than the single axle they look pretty good (I'm not considering one because I want a slide out). If that 16 footer got wild I can only imagine how a 22 footer would be.

If you have pulled a single axle 19 - 22 foot long TT what was your experience?

I will say that other than towing we loved that little prowler and had some amazing trips in that camper..

[falconbrother]

I have a buddy with a fiver. He jacked his up the day before a trip and one of the hubs had some play in it. His had sealed bearings and he didn't have time to get it fixed so, he hooked up and headed to the beach, about 5 hours. He made it there and home but, he said he was really stressed out the whole trip. So stressed out that he decided hotels were less stress and sold the fiver. Back in the day I never even thought about bearings, I just went. Ignorance is bliss.

[tragusa3]

Roller bearings. I do pack annually now and carry a spare set of bearings! Learned the hard way. 🙂

[TomG2]

One could carry a complete spare hub. Chaining the dead axle up is not as easy as it might sound. Well maintained and monitored wheel bearings last a long time.

The truth is that it is very unlikely that any manufacturer sells the exact same trailer with your choice in the number of axles anyway. Most builders install an adequate suspension for the load involved.

[falconbrother]

tragusa3 wrote:
In my particular case, it hadn't seized, but the entire thing was missing. Even the axle nut had sheered its pin and was hanging on by a thread or two. On a dual axle trailer, I could have removed that tire the rest of the way and done as mentioned above.

By limped, I didn't mean I would drive like there were no issue. Again, in my case, I could have gone a few miles an hour to the campground that I was only a few miles from. Even that much would have saved me from having my family spend hours on a roadside.

We could argue specs for the axle, etc. but that's what I'd chose every time given the other risks.

Are those sealed bearings or tapered roller bearings? Either way I think carrying a set of spare bearings would be a good idea. In theory you could drive off the old bearings/races on the side of the road and drive on the new ones in a pinch. If they are tapered roller bearings, which I much prefer, repacking them once a year is an easy job that would save a lot of heartaches.

[tragusa3]

In my particular case, it hadn't seized, but the entire thing was missing. Even the axle nut had sheered its pin and was hanging on by a thread or two. On a dual axle trailer, I could have removed that tire the rest of the way and done as mentioned above.

By limped, I didn't mean I would drive like there were no issue. Again, in my case, I could have gone a few miles an hour to the campground that I was only a few miles from. Even that much would have saved me from having my family spend hours on a roadside.

We could argue specs for the axle, etc. but that's what I'd chose every time given the other risks.

[jfkmk]

fireman41 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:
I had a bearing failure on our single axle when we had it. In the middle of nowhere. Cost us 3 days of downtime before we could roll again. Not sure if a double axle would have saved us, but I pretty sure it would have. At the very least, it would have allowed us to limp to a campground.

Why would you be able to limp to a campground with a double axle trailer, but not with a single?

Is this a trick question? With one axle, you aren't mobile if a bearing fails. With a second axle, you can still roll.

Not a trick question at all. If a bearing is seized (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to), the wheel won't turn whether on a single or a double axle trailer. Would you drive with a wheel not turning? If the wheel does turn, it will turn whether on a single or a double axle trailer and you can limp along with either.

With a tandem axle trailer, you can pull the tire and wheel off of the bad hub and chain up that axle. That why you can proceed down the road on 3 wheels.

And now you're overloading the second axle and tire by, potentially, a LOT, possibly causing damage way beyond the original bearing failure.

[fireman41]

jfkmk wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:
I had a bearing failure on our single axle when we had it. In the middle of nowhere. Cost us 3 days of downtime before we could roll again. Not sure if a double axle would have saved us, but I pretty sure it would have. At the very least, it would have allowed us to limp to a campground.

Why would you be able to limp to a campground with a double axle trailer, but not with a single?

Is this a trick question? With one axle, you aren't mobile if a bearing fails. With a second axle, you can still roll.

Not a trick question at all. If a bearing is seized (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to), the wheel won't turn whether on a single or a double axle trailer. Would you drive with a wheel not turning? If the wheel does turn, it will turn whether on a single or a double axle trailer and you can limp along with either.

With a tandem axle trailer, you can pull the tire and wheel off of the bad hub and chain up that axle. That why you can proceed down the road on 3 wheels.

[jfkmk]

tragusa3 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:
I had a bearing failure on our single axle when we had it. In the middle of nowhere. Cost us 3 days of downtime before we could roll again. Not sure if a double axle would have saved us, but I pretty sure it would have. At the very least, it would have allowed us to limp to a campground.

Why would you be able to limp to a campground with a double axle trailer, but not with a single?

Is this a trick question? With one axle, you aren't mobile if a bearing fails. With a second axle, you can still roll.

Not a trick question at all. If a bearing is seized (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to), the wheel won't turn whether on a single or a double axle trailer. Would you drive with a wheel not turning? If the wheel does turn, it will turn whether on a single or a double axle trailer and you can limp along with either.

[tragusa3]

jfkmk wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:
I had a bearing failure on our single axle when we had it. In the middle of nowhere. Cost us 3 days of downtime before we could roll again. Not sure if a double axle would have saved us, but I pretty sure it would have. At the very least, it would have allowed us to limp to a campground.

Why would you be able to limp to a campground with a double axle trailer, but not with a single?

Is this a trick question? With one axle, you aren't mobile if a bearing fails. With a second axle, you can still roll.

[Bumpyroad]

profdant139 wrote:
Gee, you think you know someone well, and then bang, you find out something surprising. Bumpy, after all these years of reading your posts, I didn't realize you were a single axle person -- what kind of a trailer do you have? (I checked your profile and it didn't say.)

If you choose not to say, no worries -- this can be a very private personal issue for some of us. 😉

an Ascend A17rd. got rid of the motorhomes.
bumpy

[jfkmk]

tragusa3 wrote:
I had a bearing failure on our single axle when we had it. In the middle of nowhere. Cost us 3 days of downtime before we could roll again. Not sure if a double axle would have saved us, but I pretty sure it would have. At the very least, it would have allowed us to limp to a campground.

Why would you be able to limp to a campground with a double axle trailer, but not with a single?

[falconbrother]

I will admit that our tow setup wasn't all it could be. I was towing with a Toyota FJ60 Landcruizer (wagon). But, no anti sway equipment whatsoever. The trailer weighed 3600 dry. I couldn't tell you what the tongue weight was. We started out with a Ford F150 that did an awesome job of pulling that trailer. I had added an extra leaf spring in the back and it did really well. Then I went to a 1980 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, the big heavy version made by AMC with a 360 V8, Chrysler 727 transmission and Spicer axles. Wasn't an awesome tow vehicle at all. Then we inherited the Landcruizer, which everyone said was the best truck ever made on planet Earth. It was even worse than the Jeep. It wasn't even as good off road (sand) as the Jeep.

Now we have the Suburban, anti sway, weight distribution, gonna add Timbren suspension very soon. The long wheel base should really do a good job. Won't go longer than 28 feet on a TT. Looking for a 25-28 with a slide. Found a new one I really like the looks of and it's under 6000 pounds with a tongue weight under 500.

[colliehauler]

Bumpyroad wrote:
my current TT is a single axle one with no issues. sort of a blessing when I have to replace 2 small/cheap tires instead of 6 big/expensive ones.
bumpy

A plus is they are usually 15" on a single axle and 13" on a double axle small trailer.

[profdant139]

Gee, you think you know someone well, and then bang, you find out something surprising. Bumpy, after all these years of reading your posts, I didn't realize you were a single axle person -- what kind of a trailer do you have? (I checked your profile and it didn't say.)

If you choose not to say, no worries -- this can be a very private personal issue for some of us. 😉