Just bought it real cheap ($150) It's a 20 footer with 2 axles and in pretty good shape. I'll be hauling my mustang in it.

I have read that the axles are heavy duty but I know the tires suck and need to be changed. It has electric brakes on 1 axle but the backing plates for the brakes are welded onto the axle tube and I am told are not replaceable because of this.

My question is:

should I just get better tires (4 of em) and stick with the mobile home axles
-or-

Try to get new axles and do away with the mobile home axles if I can do it without breaking the bank.

 

Can you still get brake parts if/when you need them? Do the one axle brakes stop good enough for you when loaded? If both answers are yes, I think I'd go with the new tires and run it. Does it have Dayton wheels? They are the pits to mount true. I've had them. Craig

 

Yes, it has the dayton wheels.

I have to redo the whole wiring in it, so I don't know how good they stop yet. I want the wiring to be right, so I will just rewire it.

I do just happen to have 2 extra mobile home axles out back with brakes on em, so yes I can get parts off them.

 

you can get new backing plates and brakes etc from dexter axle for most of those mobile home axles. find out what axles you have, and what bearings, and you can actually upgrade the complete wheel end assemblies to regular hubs / drums / wheels.

you can also buy tandem axle assemblies as a kit, which may be cheaper, depending on which way you want to go. trailers are about the easiest thing in the world to work on, although time consuming.

I did a wheel end swap on mobile home axles last spring, to 6000lb wheel ends. took a couple days in total to do a tridem, but that included doing all the light wiring, and some work on the neck as well.

Good luck with whatever you go with

 

The backing plates on these axles are welded onto the axle tubes...not bolted on. I have read that they aren't replaceable if they are like that. You have to actually cut off the welded on plates and then weld on your own plate with the correct holes for new brakes.

That's just info I found on the net.

 

and that is the truth. that being said, to me, cutting and welding is not a big deal.

On the trailer I did in the spring, I had to switch the axles up to newer brakes, as well as flip the springs from underslung to overslung. That involved all new backing plate brackets, as well as cutting the spring perches off and moving them 180 degrees on the housing to accept the overslung springs.

Although this sounds expensive and time consuming, the purchase price of the trailer was minimal, and compared to buying a new trailer of the same size and weight rating, the cost was next to nothing.

The actual cutting and welding of the backing plate brackets goes quickly and easily, the spring perch job actually took up more time.

 

Cutting and welding doesn't bother me, but I don't want to buy new brake assemblies and then they might not work.

Your the first person I've talked with that has done a conversion.

Did you buy the brake kit/assemblies and it came with the backing plates that you used? Or did you make your own?

How do I figure out which axles I have? I don't think there is a tag on these anywhere.

 

I am no expert, by any means; but, look at the brake-magnets.

If they are oval, then it is Dexter and can be up-graded easily to 5200# six-lug hubs.

If the magnets are round, then it is liable to be of unknown manufacture and conversion will be more involved.

It is also possible that they only resemble mobile-home axles; as, many travel-trailer type axles have weird wheel set-ups that are DOT approved.

I see so many different kinds in our shop that it is mind boggling.

If it is a travel-trailer/camper, you can bet that some weird wheels are gonna be on it.