moble home axle swap?

userbmx1315

userbmx1315

builds more then wheels
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Location
Bessemer City, NC
looking at buying a trailer to haul my xj on, (full width)
most trailers in my price range have moble home axles, how hard is it to swap these axles out?
 
Not quite sure what your refering to, as "seeing mobile home axles". Perhaps confused with heavy duty trailer axles. Many look the same, with those spoke hubs. DOT, outlawed mobile home axles & tires several years ago. Guess it was something about strenght. Mobile home tires are marked as such, & are not DOT approved. My research , has been, " you can buy a factory built trailer, cheaper than you can build one".
 
rodney eppes said:
Not quite sure what your refering to, as "seeing mobile home axles". Perhaps confused with heavy duty trailer axles. Many look the same, with those spoke hubs. DOT, outlawed mobile home axles & tires several years ago. Guess it was something about strenght. Mobile home tires are marked as such, & are not DOT approved. My research , has been, " you can buy a factory built trailer, cheaper than you can build one".
Click to expand...

What you are referring to is demountable hubs. It's a hub and brake in one and the rim bolts to outside of the hub. Not a standard mounting. I will say you have to make sure when you put new tires on that they track well without wobbling. It takes a little more time than just bolting a rim on but if you don't you'll waste a tire. Ask me how I know.

Don't know about outlawing mh axle and tires though. I get my tires from the local Clayton Homes. I spend about $35 each. I search through them for decent ones. There are ones that say for mobile home use only and others that don't. I pic the ones that don't.

There is nothing wrong with mh axles. Most have been rewelded with a sleeve and then won't have the shape to them. Also with many mh axles if they use the springs that came with them it is just a single leaf, which I don't think is a good idea.

I'll post up my trailer build to show you.

Just added

http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?p=870672#post870672

Also to actually answer your question axles are easy to swap out but why? You can get new brakes with backing plates rated at 6000#'s. The bearing are available over the counter at most bearing houses.

FWIW I have $1200 into my trailer.
 
The axles are NOT illegal, just the tires. My trailer with MH axles just passed DOT inspection last week. The tires are low boy tires so they are OK too.
 
How reliable are m.h. axles? I found pretty much a moble home frame for cheap.
I am debatin on making a 28 foor gooseneck out of it. Would it be stong enough for 2 xj's?
 
All axles are is steel, spindles, bearings, brakes and hubs.

There is a ton of missinformation about these axles out there. The biggest problem is if they truelly are mh axles then the backing plates for the brakes are welded on. Makes brake work more difficult.

The spindles and bearings are normal. Most bearing houses should have them. Just take off the ones you have and match them up. Some people will tell you they are one time use and they are not.

Make sure the axles have a little bow in them like a frown. This is the way all trailer axles are supposed to be.

All parts are available through dexter.

28' is not long enough for 2 xj's. Figure each one is about 14' long and you'll need space between them for tying down. As far as strength without know what the frame is made out of it's impossible to say.
 
well went and looked at the trailer, its a h#ll no. it was only 1/8 thick material. the axles were something crazy with a "drop spindle".
got to keep looking
 
hadfield4wd said:
All axles are is steel, spindles, bearings, brakes and hubs.

There is a ton of missinformation about these axles out there. The biggest problem is if they truelly are mh axles then the backing plates for the brakes are welded on. Makes brake work more difficult.

The spindles and bearings are normal. Most bearing houses should have them. Just take off the ones you have and match them up. Some people will tell you they are one time use and they are not.

Make sure the axles have a little bow in them like a frown. This is the way all trailer axles are supposed to be.

All parts are available through dexter.

28' is not long enough for 2 xj's. Figure each one is about 14' long and you'll need space between them for tying down. As far as strength without know what the frame is made out of it's impossible to say.
Click to expand...


At least someone has some legit information to add. All of the mobile home axles I've seen use the same parts as regular 7k trailer axles except for the brakes. Plenty of regular california wheel axles are legit equipment trailer axles too. Anyway, good call staying away from a converted travel trailer frame. Bad news.
 
userbmx1315 said:
well went and looked at the trailer, its a h#ll no. it was only 1/8 thick material. the axles were something crazy with a "drop spindle".
got to keep looking
Click to expand...
braxton357 said:
At least someone has some legit information to add. All of the mobile home axles I've seen use the same parts as regular 7k trailer axles except for the brakes. Plenty of regular california wheel axles are legit equipment trailer axles too. Anyway, good call staying away from a converted travel trailer frame. Bad news.
Click to expand...

Mine is a converted travel trailer. I did reinforce it when I added to it. Also a lot of trailers have drop spindles in order to get the deck's lower.
 
userbmx1315 said:
looking at buying a trailer to haul my xj on, (full width)
most trailers in my price range have moble home axles, how hard is it to swap these axles out?
Click to expand...

I have a trailer with these type axles for sale on here. I used it for 4 or 5 years going to Tellico and Harlan and other places around the SE. the axles themselves are actually rated at 6K lbs. I did some research and its the MH tires that are illegal in SC. The problem I came across is that my brake axles was gutted at some point and finding the hardware for it has been difficult. I was told that it could be gotten from somewhere in NC but I have yet to find the place.
 
ghost said:
I have a trailer with these type axles for sale on here. I used it for 4 or 5 years going to Tellico and Harlan and other places around the SE. the axles themselves are actually rated at 6K lbs. I did some research and its the MH tires that are illegal in SC. The problem I came across is that my brake axles was gutted at some point and finding the hardware for it has been difficult. I was told that it could be gotten from somewhere in NC but I have yet to find the place.
Click to expand...


Should be available through any dexter dealer.
Here are the dexter backing plates they are a 12x2 brake.

http://dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/1525

http://dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/1524

Here is the drum kit with part numbers.

http://dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/6796
 
ghost said:
Yea see I know mine are from a MH the backing plates are welded on. :shaking: Any idea if I could just swap that stuff over to my plates?
Click to expand...

Yes it should. As far as I know all demountable and MH hubs are 12x2. You should be able to call Dexter with the casting number on the hub and they'll be able to tell you.
 
Back
Top