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.