Made some pretty good progress this Presidents day. My main goal was to continue to make the trailer towable to get it to the scales. A secondary goal was to get the meaurements needed to order the axles.
First step was to run one final wire in the belly for the grey tank sensor. I also ran the drain pipe that will meet up with the drain valves some day.
Next was to start securing the belly pan back in place. Easier said then done. I found by crawling on my back and holding the aluminum up with my knees while I drilled and screwed and in some cases riveted it back was the technique that worked the best.
This first picture shows half of the belly pan back in place.
And the final shot after securing the remainder.
I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Of course there is some major belly pan work coming in the future. The whole area below the grey tank needs a sheet. And the last cavity in the rear of the trailer needs to be custom cut to line up with everything. But this can wait.
On to the axle measurements. I pulled the rear two tires up on blocks and that made the front two free for removal. No jacks needed. Worked great.
On measuring axles, the first step is to get a pro to help.
Barring that you can use your dad like I did ;-). Thanks dad!
We measured the two items we needed, outside frame rail to outside frame rail and hub face to hub face. These are critical measurements so we took our time.
With some help from my dad, and the guys on the forums, mostly Uwe, here are the ordering specs I came up with for my new Dexter axles.
- Hub face = 72 – 1/8″
- Outside frame rail = 58 – 3/8″
- Reversed bracket
- Low profile bracket
- TorFlex #11 axle down rated to 3000lb – 3500lb (I don’t know until I weigh it)
- 32 degree down angle
- 6000lb disc brakes
- Camber
- EZ-Lube (still deciding on this one)
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