We're going to get a 5th wheel toy hauler, but some of the ones we're looking at have triple axles. I've 'heard' that this makes it more difficult to manuver; especially when backing.
We also dry camp exclusively in some pretty remote places on some rough roads. SO, is this true? Would you avoid 3 axles given the choice? Thanks.

 

In my opinion if it is big enough to warrant triples, I would prefer dual tandems as the back axle of a triple is a problem to me. I used a triple axle dozer tag trailer for a couple of years and the back axle ate tires and bearings and they just do not manuver well as the tandem duals when backing or turning sharp corners as you have already heard and tandems IMO will be more stable in cross winds and such. Goodluck,,,Rick

 

Here are some of my thoughts and observations. I've got 3 torsion axles on my boat trailer, and during tight manuevers the front and rear axles undergo some major sidescrubbing. You can see skid marks on the pavement. It may not matter too much in the dirt.

My brother and one friend have both lost a wheel from their 3 axle boat trailers while on the road due to the lug nuts fracturing from what I consider excessive sideloads over time. Those trailers only saw fresh water, never salt. Their trailer axles had springs, and they had to chain it up to keep it from dragging on the ground just to get home. Routine maintenance was done.

I picked 3 axles for what I thought was safety/redundancy and looks. I figured if I had a blowout, there were still 5 tires left rather than 3 on a tandem. Keep in mind that both the axles and tires are typically lighter in the 3 axle configuration than the tandems.

Not that it will matter to a 5er, one good thing is that my boat&trailer sits lower than if it was a tandem - that means that I don't have to back as far into the water at low tide to launch the boat. And it tows solid as a rock going down the highway. I keep them inflated properly and don't worry about peeling a tire off the rim.

"I" think that given the height of our 4x4 trucks when hooking up to a big 5er, and given the option - I'd go with the biggest/heaviest set of tandem axles I could find. You would minimize any tight manuevering issues, and also keep the trailer hitch high as possible to minimize any height mismatches.

HTH.

 

I have a triple axle (torsion) car hauler.
I like it. I think part of the issue ith loosing tires due to scrubbing is wrong tire size for the rim and tire pressure. I run load e tires inflated to the max.

I can say that torsion axles rock. easy to replace if need be, ride great, each tire is indepedent of the other etc. I ve never heard of the lug nut, stud problem, but I would suspect either loose lugs, and or the water exposure could have had something to do with it. I would look for 6 lug or 8 lug triple axle only though. Some boat trailers I think use 5 lug hubs.

 

I spent the last year or so doing alot of research on this very subject. From what I learned and based on your statement that "We also dry camp exclusively in some pretty remote places on some rough roads" tandem duals would be what you want. If you were going to spent most of your time on the highway then tripple singles would be better.

Scott

 

i'm not sure what tandem duals are but the triple singles on my Warrior seem to work very well, both on the slab and in the sand, they do scrub the rubber off when turning tight corners and do leave skid marks, but so far i think it was the way to go in my situation. had the axles flipped so it connects to the truck with a straight bar, don't know how you would get tandem duals under a 102" toy hauler though. good luck, and happy motoring.

 

With three torsen axles if you loose a tire you can pull the bad one and the axle will not hit the pavement. I have finished loads that way several times.

 

Whatever way you go on this make sure you do one thing. Crawl under the trailer before you buy it and check the tag that is on the axle. Some dealers will tell you that it (the trailer) has one size axle when it has a smaller size installed. I have had dealers tell me “ oh yes we only sell our trailers with 6ooo pound axles “ but when I start crawling under it they will start to crawfish. I was looking at one the other day and was told it had “HD” axles found that it only had 40000 on the front and 5200 on the rear.
I would also recommend that you choose a trailer that has 16” wheels; this will give you a much better selection of tires.
As far as tandem V triple, the triple will ride a little rougher but seems to spread the weight a little better.

Just my .02

 

With a maxed out load on a triple, I could see the lug studs snapping off. Lug studs are made for downforce (shear force)...not sideforce (tensile force), which is what happens when you make a tight turn. Lug studs are press-fit into the hub and can be pressed back out if you need to replace them. That leads me to believe what I've said.

A dual tandem axle trailer is 2 axles both w/ dual tires...so you have 8 tires.

 

in my experience triples eat tires, I have never noticed a problem backing a triple. Some of the trailers companies are starting to come out with the spread axle trailers. Take 3 trailer company has one. Might check into that option. If you roll turnpikes often a spread could pay for itself in under a year. duals start running into a little more money but would be your best option.

 

I agree with the fact that the duals are better. But I have had no problems with tires on the triples. There are some bad tires out there, no question. The trailer was built with 7 Dayton tires on it. Only one made it to wear out time. Once they were off the trailer, no more problems.

 

We recently crawled through the same decision process for our 12,500 lb boat/trailer combo. We decided on tandem 16.5's over triple 15's for a few reasons...... the biggest one was tire scrub from tight launch ramp jockying. The next was.... 1 less axle to maintain, a big item as we dunk in salt water often. Still....on rough roads I wonder if the triple would have bucked less than the tandem we run. The 12" drum brakes have worked well. When we purchased the trailer disk brakes were not easily obtainable for this weight range in a tandem but most triples came with them.... another thing to consider. Overall, I would still opt for the tandem vs the triple.

 

Get some good shocks on your truck to stop the bucking, especiallly the front axle.

 

What are torsion axles... versus other??? axles?

I know with the axles on my trailer, if 1 axle is out, the other one gets all messed up (doesn't sit right), but I think that has to do with the "slipper" suspension setup (not something I like).