I'm looking to lower my trailer to ease the launching of The Slipper at the unimproved ramps. I've read about moving the axle from under the springs to over. Anyone with previous experience in doing this, with any recommendations in the procedure so as to avoid problems?
First look at the axle to see if it has any camber built into it. (Lay a straightedge on top to see if it is humped up in the center). If not, its a simple matter of flipping it over and placing on top of the springs. Bolt it up and your good to go. Amount of drop will be the axle diameter and thickness of the spring pack.
And if it has camber, mark the axle as it exists, this side up and reinstall in the same orientation over the springs. 3 inches drop at the midpoint of the trailer will produce 6 inches drop at the rear. Thanks, Brett
When I rebuilt mine, I moved the axle on top of the springs. It seemed to fit nicely and worked fine.
The only thing you might have a problem with is that there may be a rivit through the middle of the springs that the axle has a reinforced hole that the head of the rivit goes into. If you don't flip the axle there won't be a hole for the top of the rivit to go into.
Good catch, I would have to either drill a hole in the axle, or fabricate a spacer plate with a hole, so the rivet would align the axle to it's location. Good thing I've plenty of clearance from the springs to the frame, and the tires to the fenders. Thanks, Brett
When I had my gheenoe I did a spring flip (with a little help) I got new springs because the standard springs were way too heavy for the light gheenoe. Luckily the replacement springs had a middle bolt instead of a rivet. All we had to do was flip the axle, remove the center bolt from the spring pack (which was clamped together) and then reinstall the bolt the other direction so it fit into the hole in the axle. Another tip: be prepared to address fender clearance issues...i thought i had room and didnt. looks can be deceiving. fyi I got the springs from Ace hardware in Titusville.
Fender clearance is no problem, 12" rims on a trailer designed for 16" rims. Thanks for the heads up and the bolt flip though.
Yep, looked at the fasteners on the axle and springs, spacer plate with alignment hole is the best solution. Local marine parts dealer even has galvanized plates already machined to do the swap. One over the axle, One over the spring. Apparently it's a regular request from his clients. His recommendation is to twist the plates and bolts so the bolt sides are in contact with the axle, not the springs. Avoids rubbing of springs on the bolts due to spring movement. Thanks to all of you for the advice.
For those interested, this is the plate assembly recommended for flipping an axle: View from top: View from the bottom: The plate centers on the rivet or bolt through the springs. 2 u-bolts to attach the axle, stronger, safer. Round axle uses round u-bolts, Square axle uses squared u-bolts. As usual, I was overthinking the problem. Making the solution way more complicated than need be. If you want to drop the rear of the trailer, the simple solution is to raise the front. duh... And that is just way too easy. Flip the hitch in the receiver, so the weld angle is upwards. Then move the ball to the top. The front of the trailer goes up, the rear drops down. The slope angle front to rear changes as much as if I moved the axle from under spring to over spring. Which I didn't. Yes, I know I have a rusty ball, hasn't had much use for a year...
I had just redone the springs and axle on my trailer right before I took my boat apart. It sitting way higher now with the new springs. So I think I'm going to do this to it. The irony is that on my truck, the axle is on top, and I need to flip it under. It's not so easy on the truck though. I have to weld on some spring perches.
most of our "small boats" weigh less than 1K pounds- I have taken a leaf out of both of my spring packs on the last 2 trailers I have had when I did the axle flip. makes the boat ride MUCH MUCH smoother. I can watch my trailer going over overpasses on the interstate running 80mph and the boat hull never moves- before the removing of the leaf the whole boat would JUMP in the air hitting any small bump! L.R.
