Alignment 1989 34XB info needed

[ericlarson]

Like Stephen Boyd said after the chariot race in Ben Hur, "It goes on".
Last Summer I was told my axles were in and I could pick them up. When I got to Redneck Trailer Supply I found that the mounting brackets on the new axles were mounted 180 degrees wrong. I ended up reordering the three Lippert axles and had to wait another month before the new axles arrived. I found that the front mounting hole on the trailer frame lined up perfectly with the front mounting holes on the axles. The new axles have three holes on each side but only one on each side lines up properly. I have to drill out the other holes (on each side) in the mounting plates in order to align the bolts and securely mount the axles. I have mounted only one axle and it went pretty smoothly.
Then....
About 6 weeks ago I didn't feel quite right and made an appointment with my primary doctor. He made an appointment for me to see the Neurologist in October 16th. They did an MRI and found I had a blood bleed in my brain. They got me into the O.R. within 2 hours and inserted a drain tube. I was released from the hospital on October 21 and am home getting better every day.
As for the trailer I have 2 of the 3 axles to replace but need to get stronger and heal more before I can finish the job. It will be at least 2 moths before I get the Neurologist to give me the OK. I will update y'all when I make more progress on my AVION.

[Salty]

Good luck and God speed.

[Razorback]

Happy healing, Eric!

[KYAvion]

Glad you are ok Eric, and that you didn’t put things off and wait on seeing your primary care doctor. Feel better soon.

[pbsled]

Eric,

Hope you are recovering well. This is an excellent post all around on the axles we have on 89/90 trailers. I think I can concur with all the advice. Like many on the airstream forum the requirement to use the trailer often is the key to long life. I would very much like to see my 90’ make it to 45 years of family use on original axles.

Inland RV has much of the info provided here: http://inlandrv.com/dura-torque-axle-article/

[ericlarson]

Well I am out of the woods as far as health is concerned. Back to axle replacement. Here is update as of 2/7/20. I have removed all three old axle assemblies. Each was held to mount with two 5/8" bolt/nuts. Some issue with these being on for decades and rusted. Needed to use a nut buster on 2 of the 12 nuts. Also needed to cut the wires (2) to each hub that connect the brakes. All in all it was easy to get the old axles lowered as gravity helped. The big problem was I didn't want to disassemble each hub/brake assembly from the old axles. Because of this I needed to raise the trailer a bit higher to get the axles to clear the underbelly as I rolled them on a dolly.
I purchased some metal casters (4) at the local hardware that were rates 300lbs and mounted these on 4"x 4" x 24" scrap wood I had. I took the two wood rollers I made and used long (8") lag bolts to mount the rollers on the two ends of the axles. The clearance was about 1" from the ground by the hub assemblies and the top of the hubs cleared the underbelly of the Avion. I was able to roll the new axles into place taking time and being careful not to hurt myself or the trailer or axles. The area I am working in only has about 8-10" on each side of the trailer. One side is the garage exterior wall and the other is the neighbor's fence. Under the trailer I only have about 16" clearance.
The new axles fit perfectly. Each axle has a mount on each end with 2 holes to mount to the top or 3 holes to mount to the outside. Each hole is 5/8". The new axles came with 12 @ 5/8" bolt/nut washer assemblies as well as 1/2" acorn nuts for all the wheel mounting lugs. I found that the old front mount hole lines up with the new axle front (side) mount hole so I carefully aligned each axle and inserted the bolt into this mount. I then raised the back of the axle mount until it met the frame. I discovered that the alignment of the front hole on the trailer mount to the new axle mount front hole prevented the new axle from touching the frame by 1/16". I have some 1/16" metal as wide as the frame to place between the new axle mounts and frame so there is now no gap. I again inserted the front bolt and raised the back of the axle mount as far as it would go. Now I find that the other two holes on the side of the new axle mounts do not line up with the old mount on the frame. I had to purchase a decent grade 5/8" drill bit and drill out two new holes in the old steel mount on the trailer frame. This was slow going and because I didn't have much room under the trailer to work comfortably I was very sore the next day. (Keep in mind I am an old man.) I still need to drill 6 more holes so I can insert 6 more bolts (2 in each axle) before I feel good that the axles are secure. I then need to attach the brake wires and mount the wheel/tire assemblies. After I am done with all that I will be taking the trailer to the local alignment shop so the professionals can check my work and correct any mistakes. Attached are images of how far I am at present.[im

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[KYAvion]

Thanks for writing this up about your axle installation. I put new torsion axles on my prior trailer so I know how cumbersome handling the axles can be. I did it on my driveway so I had lots of room, so I can’t imagine having only 8” to 10” on either side to work. Great idea with making a dolly to roll the axles into position. Sorry to hear you’ve got several 5/8 holes to drill. That’s definitely no fun in such a tight space. It looks like you’re moving right along though. As far as alignment, where will you take your trailer to get this done?

[ericlarson]

To KYAVION,
Hope to finish drilling last 3 @ 5/8" holes today. The other day drilling hole #3 the drill bit caught and bent. My wrist also bent. OUCH! I had to order new drill bit from Amazon and it arrived the other day.
In response to your question about where I'm taking for professional to check my work. When I started this project I was traveling through Texas and visited a place in Kerrville I would recommend called LeMuler's. Unfortunately at that time they were booked up and I had to be home. After calling, emailing and towing my trailer to many alignment shops in Southern California I was about to give up when low and behold I found a shop about 2 miles from my home. Scott Pruitt in Redlands works on large trucks and many large class A motor homes. When I first approached him he told me that years ago he used t do trailer axles but the quality of the axles on today's trailers is so poor he no longer has anything to do with them. I then told him I had an unusual trailer that had AL-CO torsion axles. When he heard this he said he would do the analysis of my Avion. His testing revealed that two of my 6 spindles were tweaked and I needed to replace two of the axles.
This was in 2018 and I plan to return to him to have him check my install and let me know if it passes muster. I'm hoping this can be done by March 1st.
After drilling out the last 3 holes all I need to do is hook up the brake wires and slap on the wheels/tires and then my Avion can be towed to Pruitt's.

[ericlarson]

Update as of 25 February 2020
As y’all know I have spent almost 2 years working on replacing the axles on my Avion 34XB myself.
Today I expected an all OK from my local alignment shop. Meaning my trailer was all good to hit the road and not tear up tires as before. I trust this guy as well as the awesome high tech equipment he uses.
He called me and told me things were not right. I went over and we had a face to face discussion. The specs that were reported by his equipment were worse than the old axles. I thought it might be because I installed the axles wrong or not straight. He told me that it didn’t matter if the axles were mounted on the trailer or on my living room floor the readings were taken on how the wheel/hub and arm aligned with the axle. He is planning to re-calibrate his equipment tomorrow and Re-test my trailer axles. Bottom line is he thinks that the manufacturer has a jig that was not true when these axles were fabricated. If so I will be having to deal with the company that made these axles and at least try to get a refund. I am hoping that with Scott’s help (the alignment guy) I can get new axles sent to his shop so he can install them. I’m getting too old to be doing this myself again. I will pay him to mount new ones. Because he has all the correct tools and young guys to help he should knock out the job in hours instead of my taking weeks or months.
BTW this is the second batch of new axles I have ordered from this manufacturer (Lippert). The fist batch of 3 had the axle mounts welded on 180 degrees out of alignment. I had to re-order the axles.

[Razorback]

Ugh..... frustrating!

Good luck from here on.....