rda59
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Post by rda59 on Mar 4, 2017 18:16:00 GMT -8
I bought a car trailer today. The reason for joining this forum is to find information about the suspension and brakes. I searched images , posts , ect and anything that looks like this thing takes me here.
The axle has this giant spring on it. I am guessing its a torsion axle. It looks good. The trailer was sitting in a very wet , muddy field for 2 years. The brakes are froze solid. I beat the drum with a sledge hammer and its still froze. I ended up putting tires on the rear axles and wimped my way to a friends house to work on it another day. Before I left I thought I would try to get the dust ( grease) cover off to get at the wheel bearings, thinking that with those loose, it may break free with more beatings. The dust caps were hexagon shaped at the end , metal and extended on to the drum about 3''. The dust shield did not pry off , a few hits with a hammer and it did not move.Seeing the end of it was hexagon I am thinking it screws on.
I searched extensively for this dust cover on google and did not see anything. I do not want to destroy this hard to find part.
So I'm just wondering if anyone is familiar with this set up. I'm going back tomorrow to see what I can get done on this.
BTW I work in a suspension shop.I'm familiar with the workings of electric brakes,and suspensions of all sorts, but this antique set up has me learning even more.
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gspgilly
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Post by gspgilly on Mar 4, 2017 19:13:33 GMT -8
Sounds like you may have threaded grease caps,I have 2 campers with hexagon shaped caps and both are threaded.Try searching threaded grease cap and you will find pictures and info on them.I do not remember for sure but one side may be left hand thread.
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Post by vikx on Mar 4, 2017 22:15:31 GMT -8
I agree, threaded grease caps. Mine have all been righty tighty/lefty loosey. If they won't come off by twisting, heat them up a bit. (outside, grease can catch afire)
How old is this trailer??? Our 52 Hanson has this type of caps. LOL.
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rda59
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Post by rda59 on Mar 5, 2017 6:31:03 GMT -8
It's a home made car trailer. The registration says 2013 , but I know that is just because someone registered it recently as home made. There is no manufacture name on it , but as a mechanic and welder / fabricator this thing was professionally built. I'll take a few pictures of it today.
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Mar 5, 2017 7:09:49 GMT -8
Sounds to Me like a pretty nice trailer.
Does it set real low like some of the car trailers ?
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Post by bigbill on Mar 5, 2017 11:57:39 GMT -8
If it has a coil torsion spring around the axle soak with penetrating oil spray several times so that the spring can move over it's entire length or it will break. Next if the brakes are that rusty try to spray penetrate in side through any and all openings loosen the adjusters if possible. I have even seen people drill holes in the backing plate to allow more access for spraying. Patience is a virtue give it time to work. The extra effort may save you a ton of money in the long run. Good luck.
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rda59
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Post by rda59 on Mar 5, 2017 14:36:46 GMT -8
A good heat and beat got it with the wheel bearing loose. It was full of mud which was frozen.
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rda59
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Post by rda59 on Mar 5, 2017 14:38:35 GMT -8
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Mar 5, 2017 17:42:41 GMT -8
A little rapping and tapping on the springs might knock some of te mud out of them.
If You are going to make that into a camper, it looks to be a good trailer for that. Good for hauling vehicles, campers, tractors and such too.
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Post by bigbill on Mar 6, 2017 7:20:33 GMT -8
The springs you have are the type I mentioned above. Clean the mud off them, then as I said spray them with a good penetrate to dissolve the rust so the total load can be spread over the entire spring or you will have a spring failure that you don't want. When properly working right that is a very good axle setup.
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Mar 6, 2017 7:55:25 GMT -8
The springs you have are the type I mentioned above. Clean the mud off them, then as I said spray them with a good penetrate to dissolve the rust so the total load can be spread over the entire spring or you will have a spring failure that you don't want. When properly working right that is a very good axle setup. I wondered what would cause those springs to fail. My overhead garage door has a spring similar to this. It may be wound so the coils are tighter together than these. It is recommended to use an aerosol graphite to keep them lubed with, it keeps the coils from binding against each other. You would want them good and clean first though. The binding of the coils busted two of my springs above the garage door. I gave them a good soaking of the black graphite and have not had a spring failure since. I can not see the pic of the spring in reply mode so I will just leave this here just in case they are tightly positioned coils. |
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Post by bigbill on Mar 6, 2017 14:58:40 GMT -8
When a torsion wound spring is not free to move independently of itself it, it creates an excessive load in one area causing a failure instead of spreading the load over the entire spring. A garage door spring is a classic example that many people have experienced.
I am assuming this is a tandem axle trailer, since it doesn't have a walking suspension design when you go over a sharp hump like some driveways all or most of your load will go on one tire/axle. So you want to have good tires with a high load rating.
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