Swapping out dayton style trailer axles for new axles DOT Q's
 

Need some info on what is legal. I'm going to be swapping to newer style axles rated at #5200 each. (Are #5200 axles too much overkill?)

1. It is a 20ft enclosed trailer and will haul my mustang.

2. Do I need a breakaway box?

3. Do both axles have to have brakes or is it legal to just run with one of the axles with brakes (i'm getting electric brakes)?

4. Will I need to run new springs with the new axles? It currently has double eye springs but only a single leaf.

5. My new hubs will be 6 lug. Any suggestions on what vehicle to get some good wheels off of?

Thanks.

Why are changing out the axles. If I were changing out my axles I would be looking at a torsion set. But that is me. Legal or not I would also want both axles to have brakes, easier to do it first then wish you woulda done it after the fact.

torsion axles are out of my price range. The regular axles will do just fine for what I want to do. BTW, what is better about the torsion axles (even though I'm not buying them)

I'm changing the axles to get rid of the crappy dayton style mobile home axles. I dont trust them.

Well the torsions are nice because there is no shackels movement in the springs. I am sure there are other reasons, anyway on the other topic, what I did on my axles was take them out and cut off the spindles. we used a cutoff saw and actually made them a bit narrower then normal but that was our choice. then welded a 1/2 plate on with 4 holes to attach new spindles and brakes. In my case I was really scrounging at the time of building my trailer I purchases front drums and spindles off a 72 ford truck, well 2 trucks and use a surge hyd. brake system. its a 16' car trailer and I just love the surge brakes, they work so smooth and no adjusting gain for when your empty or loaded. Also those mobile home axles are really heavy duty at least the ones I used. You might be able to save some cash by just buying the spindles and drums even if you pick electric ones.

I'm pretty sure you legally need a breakaway switch and battery. I'm not sure if you legally need brakes on both axles, but you'll definitely WANT them.

If there's some way to put new spindles and brakes on the actual mobile home axles I'm sure that'd be fine, but I have no idea. Electric trailer brakes are actually amazingly cheap. I wouldn't mess around with rims and tires that aren't trailer-specific. For trailers, they're beefed up in special ways because they don't get subjected to the same kind of forces as they would on regular vehicles.

I did some checking on pricing out individual parts such as: Spindles, drums, and brakes so I could weld new spindles on the end of the existing axles.

To my surprise, it was only about $100 to $150 cheaper to go that route as to just buy new axle assemblies (unless I do as you did and get them from a truck and run surge brakes)

I am only going to buy the 6 lug steel WHEELS from the junkyard.

I am going to buy NEW trailer specific tires to put on them

Do you have any pictures of your work? I have mobile home axles and would like to have "regular" wheels on it.

I will see what type of pictures I can take. I dont have any of the work being done because when we did it the idea of digital pics was only on the jetsons. I will see if I can lay under it tomorrow and get a few shots. The only real tricky part of the job was cutting the axles square. The ones I have are arched so when in we cut them with the miter saw it was a bit of go by eye. We did really well as the trailer pulls and tracks real good.

In Most cases you can get new brake backing plates and new drums and bearings then just assemble on to your axles/spindles. Most manufactures copyied Dexter spindles and most all are the same industry wide

Your milage may vary, Some assembly required, Void where prohibited

I checked my spindle dimensions with manufactured hubs for a conversion and I have an oddball size. I didn't see any that would fit.

How much is it going to cost to change the axle and brake assembly? Just curious.

$320 for one axle with electric brakes and springs (5200# axle)

Shipping is $75.00 for two axles truck freight at www.etrailerpart.com Best shipping price I found by far.

I bought the trailer for $150.00.

The torflex axle is $555.00 per axle.

well whatever you do, you should be well ahead of the game. That sounds like a pretty good deal with springs and all. I have not looked at any axles prices for years. Well I got a couple of pics of under my trailer. this one probably says it all.

That is a nice setup and you can get brakes at the local auto supply store too.

How do surge brakes work? Do you need some kind of sensor in the tongue? Hydraulic disc brake upgrade is only $20 more than electric drums per axle

well you need a surge brake head on your hitch. I think they were about 200 bucks when I got it. I would think being in the states and internet you could get one pretty cheap still. I just absolutly love the hydraulic brakes over electric.

I believe if you were to remove your Dayton hub and go to a good trailer parts supplier they should be able to provide you with new hubs that will fit right onto your existing spindle (so I've been told, I have a trailer with Mobile home Tandem axles but continue to use the Dayton rims) You would have to check the dimensions of your clearance to see what tire and rim combo would work best.

I'm told that this swap is feasible though.

The friend who helped me do this conversion had done it a few times. That is why he new to cut the axle pipes a bit shorter. Only problem was we cut about 1/2" to much and that is why I welded the extra spacers on there last winter. The tires were a bit to close to the frame and made it hard to access the bleaders. I would also have to think that there is conversion out there that will fit your set. Even if it ment just welding new plates with holes drilled for the backing plate. Its been a long time but I am sure they bolted on with 4 bolts just like these spindles, just a bit different bolt pattern.

A couple short answers to your questions;

Yes.

In most states and by federal reg's, any trailer with a gross weight over 3000 pounds needs brakes on all axles.

I would replace them. Why go thru all that work just to leave old springs in service.

Yes, buy new. Unless you can get them for 5 or 10 bucks a piece, you'll b e way ahead. Try Lucky B for wheels, rims, axles, etc. http://www.luckyb.com/

Yes, when they work correctly, they are nice. Unfortunately, they are illegal in more states than they are legal in. Electric over hydraulic is about the best system you can get now in my opinion, but the cost of that system would exceed what he's spending on the 2 new axle assemblies!

SOME trailer axles are designed for one time use only and are there-fore hard to impossible to get parts for. A lot of them use cartridge bearings, (one sealed unitized bearing), instead of the conventional wheel bearings everyone is used to, and that makes the spindles shorter. The actual axle tubes usually have a much thinner wall thickness too; it's all about how cheap they can produce them for. Dexter makes the majority of these BTW.

chaikwa.