Lets cut a trailer axle to widen it

[Rbertalotto]

What could possibly go wrong!



Had to add a couple spring pads



Widened the axle 2.5". Going from a 12" wheel and tire to a 15" wheel and tire. There was only 1/4" between the sidewall and the trailer with the larger 15" tires.
The axle now sits half on the old spring pad and half on the new. Need to pick upo a piece of 1.75" thick wall pipe and weld it all up.

Stay tuned for av full write up when the trailer is finished.......

 

[CampStewart]

I think I would have spent 15 minutes to cut the old perches with a torch and/or angle grinder off rather than sistering them together. I hope you scribed a line on the axle before you cut it so you could align it when you weld the sleeve on. Very little stress in the middle of an axle, a pretty safe mod. Some may argue that camber is going to be an issue if axle is cambered, I would not be one of them.

 

[Rbertalotto]

Alignment is dictated by the perches. When I do an axledectomy I mount the axle to the trailer and use a piece of angle iron to hold the two sections together. I then use a jig I made that attaches to one of the lug nuts to reference from the ball to be sure everything is lined up. Them tack weld the piece of pipes that is being inserted, remove the axle and weld everything up. In this way I'm positive the alignment is correct.

Removing the existing perches is a PITA. Especially if you only need to move the mounts over 1". Leave them there and sister a new mount to it is easier and maybe a bit stronger. Because the axle is above the springs, all the weight is on the U bolts anyways. The perches are there to just stop the axle from rotating.

This is a LOWES trailer and nothing is square. Amazing how poorly it is made. I had to reweld a number of areas as they had zero penetration. A couple places they missed welding all together! I'm sure when I'm done it will be much better than when I started. If I didn't get this trailer for free when I bought my RTT, I would have built one from scratch.

I've built dozens of trailers. From multi axle equipment trailers to really neat drop deck trailers to quite a few Boy Scout trailers. I just like building trailers!

 

[Rbertalotto]

BTW, this axle had quite a bit of camber! Way more than I've ever seen in a small trailer. With only a 1750# weight limit, I doubt it was needed.

 

[Rbertalotto]

Welded up the axle today. Found a piece of pipe that fit inside and then a piece slid over that and welded eveything up. Checked allignment and just needed a little tweak to set it straight.




Also got the inside lined with exterior grade underlayment.....5MM on the sides and 1/2" on the floor. Then all edges were taped with fiberglass and epoxy. Tomorrow I'll build the lid and weld up the cross supports for the RTT.......