AndrewSmith Andrew, go back to the old skid steers with 4 tires not the newer tracked loaders. You have 2 options, hold one side or counter rotate the wheels. Either the tracks or the wheels must SLIDE across the ground for steering, hence the name SKID steer.
If you are ever around 18 wheelers with what they call a spread axle, watch one turn. One set of tires will be sliding across the pavement. If they gut hard enough, it looks like the tires are going to de rim themselves.
I typically jack up like the left picture Rob posted. I have a set of pyramid jacks also that I have used to support the frame and use the tongue jack to help relieve pressure on the tires.
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AndrewSmith
Hi Andrew,
The tire offset that you saw is caused by pushing or pulling the trailer into a sharp turn. When doing this, one axle is being pushed sideways in the direction that the front of the trailer is going and the other axle is being pushed sideways in the direction that the back of the trailer is going. This is why it is best to avoid sharp turns with a tandem axle trailer . . . if possible. Pulling the trailer straight forward and/or back should sort this out, as it did for you.
There are two ways to jack up a trailer. Either by the axle ends (often not recommended by the axle manufacturer) or by the the frame. Part of the problem in lifting by the frame is that the lift point is about two ft off the ground. (.6M in our case LOL!). Lifting by the axle tube requires a saddle that fits to the axle tube or a wooden block under the U bolts, to prevent damaging the relatively thin wall axle tube. Lifting by the frame requires blocking (sometimes called cribbing) to create a solid platform high enough for both the jack and a safety axle stand to reach the frame. There is a lot more to how and why you would use either type of jacking . . . depending on what you are planning to do.
RobAttached FilesLeave a comment:
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Thanks everyone! I pulled the trailer a couple of meters forward and back several times and that corrected the camber, and got the wheels almost completely aligned. The rear is now only about .5cm to the right of the front. I quickly measured from a part of the wheel (the trailer equivalent of a knucke I guess) to the leaf springs and that also showed .5cm farther to the right on the rear. But that's very little and I'm not convinced that I measured it right, so I'm not worried about it any more.
@Jlawles2: I've been trying to figure this out and to be honest I don't completely get it. In a skid steer if you move one track only: the other stays fixed. But in the trailer don't all 4 wheels rotate independently?
And since you mentioned it, how do you jack this up? I have a good jack that's powerful enough, so I figured I could put one or two 6x6s between it and the frame to reach that high. I saw a pro do this once on a shorter unit but watching that I was worried my trailer would kill him. Is there an equivalet of a jack stand for a trailer or do I use a 6x6 but standing up? Or a 6x6 flat under a regular jack stand?
Also this trailer has that corrugated cardboard or plastic whatever covering all the underside of the frame. I guess it's no big deal if I crush it?Leave a comment:
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AndrewSmith Andrew, My TT and both of my 5ers look just like that if I back in the driveway and do not get the TV and trailer straight, then make one last forward, backward movement to de stress the suspension.
Since the trailers do not have steering axles, in order to accomplish a turn one or both of the tires "slide" kinda like a skid steer. In the process of sliding the tires to make the turn, the rubber in the sidewall of the tires take a lot of stress and flex. If the turn is not too bad, the tires may not slide on the pavement, but instead the sidewall will self correct the issue continuously during the turn.
Hope this makes sense. When rushed to disconnect the TV, I have jacked up each axle end individually to relieve the stress in the tires. Will not relieve the stress in the springs and axles, but will help.Leave a comment:
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You could measure from the spring to the backing plate on the brakes on each axel to see if they are the same, if they are off then it is possible that the spring perch is welded in the wrong position, but I agree with the others that it does look mostly normal.
BrianLeave a comment:
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Hi Andrew,
Your first two pictures look a little “odd” but the last picture looks “normal” if your last maneuver was a backing turn into this parking location. If you pull the trailer straight ahead and then back it straight into its parking location, does this align the axles?
RobLeave a comment:
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I moved it, but I was too busy making sure I won't hit a tree so I didn't pay attention to this. I guess the angle I'm seeing matches the last turn of the trailer.Leave a comment:
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Have you moved the trailer back and forth to see if the wheels straighten up? I have seen my wheels apparently out of line after a turn.Leave a comment:
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Wheels misaligned
Hi Everyone.
After a very long wait I just took possession of our Transcend. We're very happy with it, it's just as we remember when we looked at it. Worth the extra money and the wait.
But there's this one thing that can't possibly be right, so I wanted to ask here.
The entire rear axle seems to be about 3cm to the right of the front axle. Is there any possible reason this could have been assembled like this on purpose? You don't need a micrometer to see the difference:
Also, this is really hard to measure, but it really looks like the camber is off on one of the wheels. The tires are both inflated to the recommended 60psi.
It almost looks like it was whacked really hard sideways on the rear left wheel, but I see no evidence of damage. Not a scratch anywhere. It must have been installed this way.
I'd just go back to the dealer but the trip will cost me almost 100$ in gas, and now we have salt on the roads.
Thanks in advance.
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