I took a trip to beaver lake Arkansas this past weekend, it's about a 350 mile trip. I noticed something very alarming about 200 miles down the road. My front axle on the trailer seems to be screwed up. The tires are tilted in towards the trailer and completely ate up the tires down to the wire. I basically crossed my fingers and thankfully made it back to Woodward with no blowouts. I'm not familiar with axles whatsoever. I'm curious if anyone knows what the issue could be. Never hit anything with it . I obviously need to replace all the tires but don't want to until the issue is resolved. Is there a chance the boat is to heavy for the axle. It's a z1 btw. When the boat is off the trailer it seems fine. Will upload a couple pictures when I get a chance. Any help is appreciated!
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When is the last time you had your bearings repacked and inspected? Could be play in the hub, could be a bad alignment, pictures will help.2009 RZ2, PCM 343, MLA Surf Ballast, Premium Sound.
2013 Toyota Sequoia 4WD W/Timbren SES -
should have the Vault hubs on the trailer, so unless there was premature wear in the bearings there shouldn't have been a need to replace/repack the bearings. How many miles are on the trailer? Only a few possibilities:
1. Axle is misaligned from factory, or manufacturer defect in the axle/hub.
2. axle is damaged from contact with curbs or other objects over time. Doesn't take much to damage the inner workings of a torsion axle.
3. the boat has been hauled over-weighted (ballast not empty, too much gear, etc).
4. The trailer has been hauled unevenly, either tongue down, or tongue up, resulting in uneven stress on the axles, and premature failure.
On point #3, in my correspondence with boatmate, in my opinion they have a very tight tolerance on weight. Meaning, they don't leave enough (IMO) excess capacity unused in the trailer weight rating to properly account for extra weight above the boat manufacturer's published boat weight. The stock trailer has only a few hundred pounds of excess capacity above the loaded weight of my boat (including gas, tower, stereo, and reasonable amount of gear (and you have to account for the weight of the trailer too). IMO, over time this causes the negative camber issue you are seeing, which at the least causes premature tire wear, and worst case, leads to axle failure....Last edited by mnpracing; 09-08-2015, 04:38 PM.2013 Z3 - Electric blue and blackComment
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I never haul it with ballast full or anything like that. The trailer has lots of miles on it. It's been to lake of the ozarks, tenkiller lake, lake texoma, Wilson lake, beaver lake. All of which are several hundred miles away from where I live. It also takes about 120 mile round trip almost every weekend in the summer. Do I need to order a new axle or can these be repaired. U can't really tell by the pictures but in person it looks much worst. All tires had recommended tire pressure before trip which I believe was 50-55. It seemed to happen somewhere in the 200 miles from Woodward to Tulsa.
Also on a side note it has the vault hybrid lubrication system. It says no maintenance required as far as bearings goLast edited by ChrisBarnes05-12-84; 09-08-2015, 05:06 PM.Comment
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I would guesstimate trailer has probly 13-14 k miles on itComment
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Had a similar issue earlier this summer - took it to an alignment shop that works on trailers - not your general pep boys, firestone, etc. 45 mins later, all was good and haven't seen an issue since then.
Found out that I had all sorts of alignment issues, camber, caster and toe in. The wheels were all pointed in all sorts of different directions.Comment
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What did they do? My understanding is the camber issue cannot be fixed, as it is related to the torsion components within the axle.Originally posted by uttige2002 View Post2013 Z3 - Electric blue and blackComment
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not exactly sure, because I wasn't allowed in the shop for insurance reasons - although my extreme trailer does not have torsion axles. The basically kept my trailer attached to the tow vehicle, backed it over a working pit, then attached the hunter alignment gear up. Then through a bit of work, moved everything correctly. My point is more to the statement that alignment shops can do a fair bit of work without having to replace axles, and it should be looked at as an alternative.Comment
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chris.. I sent you a pm.2011 Tigé RZ4
www.re-viveupholstery.comComment
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After reading your responses and doing a little research it seems I have a negative camber issue. I will contact boatmate tomorrow and see what can be done . Apparently torsion axles can't be repaired. Hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg. My boating season is officially over after yesterday anyways. So I'm not in a huge rush. Thanks everyoneComment
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Yes, that is a camber issue.
Over weight
bent axle, but would then likely show a toe-in tire wear
loose bearings
just setup wrong from the beginning. Some trailer axles can allow for the camber and toe to be adjusted with the use of shims. These are much like what you would use on the rear axle of a front wheel drive car.Mikes Liquid Audio: Knowledge Experience Customer Service you can trust-KICKER WetSounds ACME props FlyHigh Custom Ballast Clarion LiquidLumens LEDs Roswell Wave Deflector And MoreComment
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