[Rhodes22-list] Trailer Axles

[Mark Whipple]

I spoke to the trailer shop I use about this, and we concluded that it did
not make economic sense. In other words, the cost for the conversion
would represent a substantial portion of the cost of a new trailer.  The
quote I got from Triad for a new trailer was around $5K and it would cost
several thousand dollars to add a second axle to my trailer - which
is already at least 20 years old. You'd be selling your old trailer to help
defray the cost of a new one but I can't say what you can get for it.

Your trailer may differ from mine. I have a Trailmaster that is likely from
the same era as my boat (2000). It has heavy-duty fenders over the wheels
that would have to be removed & rebuilt. A previous owner installed surge
brakes and those would need to be disconnected and reinstalled, since you'd
probably want to move the existing axle forward when adding a second behind
it. If you're going to do it right you'd probably want electric brakes
anyway. You'd need to buy a new axle, wheels, tires, springs, fenders plus
anything that needs replacing on your existing axle set. Then there's the
cost of the labor to move the old one forward and install the new one.

Another thing they told me to consider: a dual axle trailer is much more
sensitive to hitch height than a single axle. If you don't get the dual
axle trailer to be level when on the hitch then one of the axles will be
carrying less than half the weight.

I wonder if there is any real-world data out there regarding the relative
safety of single vs. dual axle on trailers like ours. It would be good to
know what the true advantage is (if any) when looking at the costs.

Hope that helps. Let us know if you decide to move forward.

Mark

Boston, MA
2000 R22 *Luna Mia*


On Sat, Mar 5, 2022 at 12:00 PM Luis Guzman <luis.guzman.ve at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Consult fro the Rhodes 22 Wisdom  group.
>
> I have a single axle trailer that, if possible, I would like to convert to
> double axle.  I’m playing on doing long trips, and I would feel more
> comfortable having the additional axle, but I do not have the money to buy
> a double axle trailer.
>
> Has anybody done this?
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Luis Guzmán
>
> S/V Aquetxali
>
> Sent from my iPhone