How to deal with the low spec 3500 lb Winnie Drop axel

[reeman]

I already posted this to an old thread but a very important one for some Winnie Drop owners from 2 years ago.

We put the lippert lift kit on our 2016 (Winnie Drop 1790) because it was impossible to take some places and backing up hills with any incline at all would scrape and hang the stabilizer making it impossible to take on some BC ferries unless it was high tide.

I though that the axle was also suspect, but it turned out that our spindles are still within spec thank my lucky stars and the axle is not bent. We have been super careful not to over load the slide side and keep well within weight load. The trailer is 200+ lbs heavier on the slide side as built dry weight. This is not that much of a concern as all one needs to do is compensate by loading the storage on the bathroom/passenger side. I check the balance yearly to ascertain if things are getting out of whack when we pack and to make certain that we do not have a load of greater than 3200lbs total on the axel except when heading slowly to a sani dump.

Today we changed the drums and bearings, the shoes were fine and not a worry. But the bearings were warn and at the end of their service life causing a very slight free play on the spindle.

I could have taken another turn on the spindle nut, but that is not a wise decision at all with a trailer axle and tires that are almost loaded to maximum capacity. Doing so would have put an even higher constant load strain on the 3500 lb spec axle bearings and would cause them to wear out very fast.

So to sum things up:

If you own a drop design trailer or any trailer with a 3500 lb single axel do not load up to the gross at all and if you are up at gross maximum DO NOT DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAYS AT HIGH SPEED and never drive on back roads heavily loaded with water, sewage and the trailer stuffed up over about 3000 on the axel even at lower speeds.

If the tires that came from the factory are load range c and less than 500 lbs each away from the gross weight of your trailer change over to load range d 14 or 15s and keep them fully inflated. Or better still do not buy travel trailers with tires with less than a 10% safety margin above the gross loaded weight of the axle the trailer came with.

Watch this video if you need to be convinced of the importance of changing to higher rated ST tires if they are low spec from the manufacturer and keeping them inflated to spec not just 35lb like their car tires as some trailer owners do by not reading the documentation of their trailers or the ST tires on it.

Check for wheel bearing play at least every year and change the drums and the bearings before they reach the end of their service life, never wait for them to start to fail. It goes without saying; always replace both drums and bearings and if you need to replace the shoes the same thing applies.

Above all ignore the 80mph nonsense speed rating on ST tires! Stick to being in the slow lane even if it means that you will not be the first to the campsite.

None of the trailers on the market are safe at the new speed ratings of ST tires. And indeed most travel trailers scrimp horribly on safety margins. So the owner must take this into consideration and drive accordingly.

It turns out that we have not bent our lippert axel but we have scuff marks on the fiberglass from driving on rutted back roads like the one to Bamfield BC. Even with load range D 14s and the tires up at over 55 psi the sidewalls flexed greater than factory spec tire sidewall to trailer outside clearance and rubbed on the fiberglass sidewalls.

On rutted back roads expect the sidewalls of even higher rated ST tires to flex enough to rub on the sidewalls. But if it starts happening on the highway at high speed that is a very dangerous fault that must be avoided.

Stop frequently to check for tire temps any signs of the wheel rubbing on the side of the Winnie drop. If there are any signs of overheating of the tires at all then check for wheel bearing heat on the back of the spindle where the brake wires go into the brake backing plate that attaches to the spindle mount.

I will be picking up an infra red gun to do the deed and do check the trailer's running gear at every rest stop or at the first signs of any problems with the trailer tracking while moving down the road.

If a trailer is built to minimum spec with the running gear as most of today's trailers are, then it only makes sense to keep your eye on them constantly for potentially dangerous axel, bearing and brake issues when on the road.