testtest

All about trailers and axles

jumpinjoe

jumpinjoe

Hellcat
I know there are a few 'shade tree' fabricators on here, and likely one or some of you much like me, have some experience with home built trailers over the years. You know, those that some buddy brings to you to fix the axles, hubs, brakes, etc, because the trailer was originally built with used mobile home axles ............. well, that's what my question is about tonight.

I know pretty much all there is to know about swapping out mobile home style axles and hubs, why it's sometime prudent to do it/sometimes not, and all the 'wive's tales' regarding all that, so that's not what I'm looking for. Very simply way back in the early 1980's a company called "Northern Hydraulics"...... today they're called "Northern Tools", carried an axle brand that competed with Dexter, Acme and others, but it had an usual outer bearing size. IIRC, the bearing size was 1 3/16" ID. It was a standout in HD axles back then due to that bastard sized bearing. Now I'm not certain on that bearing size, and that's not even the important part of my question.

My question is simply this ...... What was the brand name of that particular axle manufacturer? I can see a mental picture on the cover of 'Northern's' catalog way back then, probably around 1980-1985 that showed an engineering drawing of that brand of axle with the name of it splashed all across the top of the page. But for the life of me I cannot remember the name of that axle. I still had a copy of that old catalog from back then up till about 3 yrs ago. When the wife and I decided to move to the 'institution' I didn't figure I'd need that old catalog anymore ....... so yeh, I trashed it after all those years. What a dumb azz! :confused::mad::(

Can anybody help? Please!
 
I can’t help you there but I did build one trailer using old mobile home axles. Not only was that trailer ridiculously heavy, it never pulled very well with the split rims.

I quit building trailers a decade or so ago. I do sometimes buy them, refurb them and fab them up for specific purposes like siding and construction trailers, dump trailers, tire trailers, car haulers, etc.

Anyway, good luck.
 
Northen Tool has these numbers on its website:

Customer Care​

1-800-222-5381
Mon - Fri, 6am - 8pm CT
Sat, 7am - 5pm CT
Sun, 8am - 3pm CT

Product Information + Sales​

1-800-838-0516
24 hours, 7 days
Fax: 952-882-6927

Replacement Parts​

1-800-657-0516
Mon - Fri, 6am - 8pm CT
Sat, 7am - 5pm CT
Sun, 8am - 3pm CT

World Headquarters
Northern Tool + Equipment
2800 Southcross Drive West
Burnsville, Minnesota 55306
Driving Directions
Phone: 952-894-9510
Fax: 952-894-1020

​




​

 
Don't know that I'd have any better luck than the last time I tried CS, but a couple years ago I asked a couple local store mgrs if they might know........... well, no. So, at their suggestion I called CS and was told it was too long ago and that since the company had changed names (Northern and the axle maker), they no longer had that info. Uh, uh, OK says I.

I suspect since it was so long ago, there probably isn't much info on the old axle manufacturer and even if there was those good folks at "Northern Tool" are concernd it may be a scam for an old law suit or something. I know the manufacturer no longer exists, at least by the name I'm trying to remember. I may try them (CS) again, but don't know. Was just hoping one/some of you old dogs might remember with/for me. Oh well, keep trying!
 
Bassbob said:
I can’t help you there but I did build one trailer using old mobile home axles. Not only was that trailer ridiculously heavy, it never pulled very well with the split rims.

I quit building trailers a decade or so ago. I do sometimes buy them, refurb them and fab them up for specific purposes like siding and construction trailers, dump trailers, tire trailers, car haulers, etc.

Anyway, good luck.
Click to expand...
Were they split rims or spoke? I've seen gellions of spoke wheels on trailer houses. Spoke wheels were all about torquing them as equal as possible.

As @jumpinjoe stated I know there were a few other brands that have slipped my mind also. I don't remember Rockwell on them. Caraway possibly?
 
jumpinjoe said:
I know there are a few 'shade tree' fabricators on here, and likely one or some of you much like me, have some experience with home built trailers over the years. You know, those that some buddy brings to you to fix the axles, hubs, brakes, etc, because the trailer was originally built with used mobile home axles ............. well, that's what my question is about tonight.

I know pretty much all there is to know about swapping out mobile home style axles and hubs, why it's sometime prudent to do it/sometimes not, and all the 'wive's tales' regarding all that, so that's not what I'm looking for. Very simply way back in the early 1980's a company called "Northern Hydraulics"...... today they're called "Northern Tools", carried an axle brand that competed with Dexter, Acme and others, but it had an usual outer bearing size. IIRC, the bearing size was 1 3/16" ID. It was a standout in HD axles back then due to that bastard sized bearing. Now I'm not certain on that bearing size, and that's not even the important part of my question.

My question is simply this ...... What was the brand name of that particular axle manufacturer? I can see a mental picture on the cover of 'Northern's' catalog way back then, probably around 1980-1985 that showed an engineering drawing of that brand of axle with the name of it splashed all across the top of the page. But for the life of me I cannot remember the name of that axle. I still had a copy of that old catalog from back then up till about 3 yrs ago. When the wife and I decided to move to the 'institution' I didn't figure I'd need that old catalog anymore ....... so yeh, I trashed it after all those years. What a dumb azz! :confused::mad::(

Can anybody help? Please!
Click to expand...
Is it Dana Axles ?
 
One last thought before the wife calls me away ............. but I'm thinking the name of the mfgr I'm trying to remember starts with either an 'M' or a 'W', but not sure. A fairly simple word, maybe two syllables, 6-7 letters. Pretty sure I'll know it when I hear/see it. It's like one of those stupid songs you get into your head and can't stop humming it ................. well that's kinda what this is like except I do have a legitimate need to remember it.

I've got to run, will check back later. Ooops, just saw KF1977's post ............ and sorry, no cigar. Dana it ain't, but thanks for trying.
 
TEXASforLIFE said:
Were they split rims or spoke? I've seen gellions of spoke wheels on trailer houses. Spoke wheels were all about torquing them as equal as possible.

As @jumpinjoe stated I know there were a few other brands that have slipped my mind also. I don't remember Rockwell on them. Caraway possibly?
Click to expand...
Not sure what they are called, but the rim is just a rim with no center and the hub is a star that bolts to the rim in maybe five places. It is all about getting them torqued evenly, but with a trailer that heavy and one that's being used frequently they get out of balance quickly.
 
Bassbob said:
Not sure what they are called, but the rim is just a rim with no center and the hub is a star that bolts to the rim in maybe five places. It is all about getting them torqued evenly, but with a trailer that heavy and one that's being used frequently they get out of balance quickly.
Click to expand...
Spoke wheels and they suck. My grandpa and father had trucks and trailers that had spoke wheels. Lots of lowboys or backhoe trailers made that way and some still are.
 
Are you trying to locate a desired axle for a project? Are you trying to find a particular bearing or?
I worked for an engineer who sourced bearings for his jobs at a very large bearing company.
If you're looking for axle alternatives, some folks use the rear axles of FWD cars.
 
youngolddude said:
Are you trying to locate a desired axle for a project? Are you trying to find a particular bearing or?
I worked for an engineer who sourced bearings for his jobs at a very large bearing company.
If you're looking for axle alternatives, some folks use the rear axles of FWD cars.
Click to expand...
Not trying to locate either, just trying to remember the name for a conversation that took place. I had one other thought last night about a unique feature of this particular mfgr other than the bastard sized bearing ...... the hubs, both coaster and brake hubs were stamped steel rather than cast. They were great pieces, just that bastard bearing made them a little less universal fit and/or replacements.

The 'Dayton' style wheel rims, typically called 'donut' wheels in the industry are really not a problem when understood correctly. The failures often associated with them are usually due to lack of understanding on how to properly mount them. The two most common problems are that most folks don't know the rim clamps are directional. Looking at one of them closely will show the two ends of the clamps are different and cast at a different angle. One angle matches the inside of the rim, while the other end of the clamp matches the hub. The difference is slight, and unless one knows this difference will often install them backwards never even suspecting ...... and no amount of torquing will overcome the misalignment. Given enough time and miles they will loosen and allow the rim to turn/spin on the hub which will invariably lead to misalignment of the tire/axle combination, which leads to further loosening, which leads to excessive tire wear, which leads to blowouts, which leads to loss of tire carcass, etc, etc, etc.

The second most often unrecognized mounting error is that on every 'donut' rim, whether on a coaster or brake hub, there is one raised spot designed to be snugged up tight against a rim clamp before it is torqued down. On a left side axle, the raised spot on the rim must be snugged up to a rim clamp from behind. In other words as you stand looking at a left side mount, the assembly will turn CCW as it travels down the hiway. Due to the constant road to tire friction, the rim will try to slip forward (more CCW) as it turns. The raised spot on the rim should be so that as the rim tries to slip/turn forward, it just snugs tighter and tighter to the rim clamp. As brakes are applied, the road to tire friction level increases even more but for a shorter duration of time. All of this is aggravated by the clamps being installed backwards allowing the rim to loosen with time and miles.

If the mount is a right side mount, all the above is in reverse. The tire will turn predominately CW with road friction trying to slip the rim forward on the hub (more CW) causing the raised spot on the rim to snug tighter and tighter to the rim clamp.

Unfortunately these axles, hubs, rims combinations get a bad wrap due to the misuse and lack of understanding. And once a rim loosens to any given amount, the next guy will have even more trouble getting a secure and fail safe mount, especially if the tech doesn't fully understand these peculiarities. They are/were for a long time functionally the exact same axles as typically used on any other application such as UTL's and transports. The bad wrap came on when so many of them were being used after sitting under MH's for years and years without proper refurb before putting them on the road under a home built trailer. Especially using the old, old tires. More and more accidents were happening until the state and federal hiway rule makers decided to side with the manufactures and call them 'unsafe'.

Another was that few 'shade tree' fabers had any idea of the true load ratings on some of these axles or how to properly alighn the axle to the trailer coupler. The spindles were often rated far over the axle tube ratings but the lesser knowledgeable assumed if it would carry a 12'x70' MH, it sure surely carry anything he might put on it. There were other issues too, but few if any had any real relation to them being "no good". Keep in mind the spindles, bearings, seals, and most suspension and brake components were exactly the same as was used on and sold by Dexter, Dayton, Allied, and many other manufactures of the day.

But as more and more MH axles were being repurposed, major manufacturers themselves started putting a bad wrap on them for the liability factor in many cases, some even were truly safety consciousness and some realized they were losing sales of new axles. One of the unique ways in which the manufacturers tried discouraging the use/reuse of old MH axles was to weld on the backing plates rather than using a bolt on which made it far less likely that the average 'shade tree' fabricator would be able to use one due to not being able to rebuild/replace brakes. Another was in using a thinner wall tubing for a given axle carrying capacity, but being acceptable due to it's intended purpose as a 'one time' use axle. But any amount of time spent comparing all other features and specs will show they were truly acceptable if refurbed and installed by knowledgeable fabricators and installers.

This is why I mentioned specifically I really didn't want to get into a discussion of their usefulness or acceptability for a specific application. It often can/will get out of hand by some who know more/less than they think they do. It's all well intentioned, just mistaken and/or misunderstood. I only added all this info in case someone is out there reading this and wanting to understand the real issues some better. All I really wanted to know was the name of the manufacturer. Still hoping someone can come up with it. Thanks again and here's hoping.
 
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