Coolerman
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Re: Bent Axle, or spindle welded on crooked?
BurbMan wrote: The brake backing plate only holds the brakes....the wheel is supported by the bearings that go on the spindle. On some axles the spindle ends bolt on and are replaceable, other types the spindles and axle are all one piece. If you crawl under the trailer, there should be a sticker on the axle tube with the manufacturer, model #, and serial #. Reach out to the axle mfr with the info you posted here and see what they recommend for a fix. You may not be able to replace just the spindle, you may have to replace the whole axle. You are correct about the spindle being one with the axle. Mine do not unbolt unfortunately. Lippert Components is the maker of the axle in question. I have sent them this same info, but not heard back yet. Funny, on Lipperts web site, they show 2000 lb axles and 3500 lb axles but no 2800 lb axles which is what the sticker on the axle says it is. Maybe they are actually 3500 lb axles but derated to 2800lb? They appear to have been custom made for KZ (parent company of Venture) See attached pics... Pic 1 Pic 21.6KViews0likes0CommentsBent Axle, or spindle welded on crooked?
Cross posting this to get more answers... Tire_Wear_Pic I just returned from a 2600 mile trip out west towing our Venture Sonic 170VBH. The camper has about 5000 miles on the OEM*Trailer King ST205/75/R14 tires on it. I installed a TPMS right before leaving so I would be able to monitor the tire pressures. One day, while we were in camp, I noticed*that the tread on the right rear tire was getting close to the wear bars. I took a pic of it. That night looking closer at the pic, I realized that the tread was actually worn the worse on the outside edge of the tire. It tapered from worn out on the outside edge, to actually good on the inside edge. Grabbed a flashlight, went outside and sure enough, the tire was worn across the tread from outside edge, where it was worn to the bars, to inside edge, where it was pretty good. I was thinking I had an axle that had shifted out of square so went to the opposite side to see if that tire was worn like that also. No! The right rear was the ONLY tire with wear like that! The other three tires were evenly worn, and were no where near the wear bars. They had plenty of tread left. If you look at the pic, I circled the area where the wear bars are. You can clearly see that the wear is worse on the outside edge and gets better across to the inside edge. I inspected the rear axle tube to see if there were any signs of being struck by road debris and bent, but there were no signs of damage. I can only come up with one explanation that makes any sense: The spindle was welded on to the end of the axle out of square from the factory. The only way to get the wear pattern I see is if the tire is tilted out at the top and in at the bottom. The opposite of what you would expect if the axle tube had been bent UP or BACK due to a large impact with an object on the road. I swapped my new spare on in camp and towed it 1300 miles back home. Checking the wear I was just able to detect the same wear pattern starting on the new tire so whatever is wrong has been wrong from the beginning. Any other ideas? It looks like I will be facing an axle swap soon...4.9KViews0likes9CommentsRe: FORD F-150 AXLE RATIO CHOICE
For further comparisons, I have a 2018 F-150 Lariat Super Crew, 4x4, 3.5 Eco engine, 3.55 locking rear with the 10 speed tranny. I bought it used at a good price. I came with Max Tow (20" wheels), but no tow mirrors. Cost me over $600.00 to add them and they are aftermarket not OEM! The GVWR is only 7000 lb. The Max Payload on this truck is only 1600 lb! So the lbs add up when you start adding options. I do get 20-22 mpg on the highway and I will let you know what MPG is gets towing our small Sonic out west this weekend.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: TPMS
Just bought and installed the TST-507 system on our Sonic for our trip out to Colorado. A test trip showed it would read three tires no problem without the repeater, but to get that right rear passenger side tire, I had to install the repeater. The monitor is rechargeable through USB, small, and bright. Really easy to read. Oh, it's also LOUD! As a test I let about 10 PSI out of a tire and started driving around the parking lot where I was doing brake testing/setup. I turned on the monitor and as soon as it synched up, it started flashing the low tire and beeping loudly. Stopped, aired the tire backup with my Co2 tank, and it read the new pressure and all was fine. This is going to take some of the stress off me while towing these long runs.785Views0likes0CommentsRe: Bad Water Smell
Just did my Sonic Venture water system in preparation for out fall camping trip. I used Clorox bleach. Added the 2 cups of bleach to the fresh water tank, then filled it completely. This also fills the hot water tank as I drain that tank every winter. Ran water through all the lines until I smelled the bleach. Let it sit in the lines and tanks overnight. Next I opened all line drains, and pulled the anode from the hot water heater to drain it. Flushed the fresh water tank twice, closed all line drains then hooked to city water and flushed all the lines for 5 minutes. The last thing I did was to mix up 2 gallons of water with a couple of ounces of bleach added and using a funnel, poured that into my 50' fresh water hose, tied the ends together and agitated that around for a couple of minutes, then let that sit for a couple of hours before attaching it to a hose bib and flushing for 5 minutes. NOW I am ready to go camping!972Views0likes0CommentsRe: Self-driving home anyone?
I work in the technology field of computers and PLC's. I write software for PLC's and my partner programs for the PC. So I know a thing or two about how software is written, and debugged. We have software that was written 10 years ago, that STILL sometimes turns up a bug that nobody thought to program for. (NOTHING is more dangerous to a piece of software than an end user with time on their hands!) When you look at all the variables involved in a self driving car, it boggles the mind that they have gotten it to work as well as it does. It will never be 100% perfect, but I think it drives better NOW than most of the distracted drivers on the road today.;) I think I will live long enough to see a car that can be bought off a showroom floor that has the ability to self drive. I would also bet that, statistically speaking, self driving cars will have fewer accidents than cars with human drivers between the ages of 16 and 25.119Views0likes0CommentsRe: Weight distribution bars
If your bars lock into the receiver end like the ones in this pic,WDR Head then they need to be greased. Mine has a grease fitting as seen in the pic, but I just wipe a small amount on the end of each bar each time I hook up. When I remove them I wipe off any grease so they don't attract dirt while stored.344Views0likes0Comments
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