During a recent trip, I figured we were about at our heaviest. Four new lithium batteries, new inverter, a full fresh water tank, and full black and grey tanks. Plus, we had extra supplies loaded in the RV for special activities. I decided to hit the weigh scale and found out that we were, uh, VERY overweight on our single 3,500lb axle, wheels, and tires...as in 700 pounds overweight. This was reinforced by the fact that the inside edges of the trailer tires were wearing at an accelerated rate. Oof!
We live in this little RV for extended periods of time, so I don't see us getting any lighter. Time for an axle upgrade.
My lovely wife made all of the arrangements with Dexter. By giving them the serial number off of our existing Dexter axle, they were able to match all of the critical measurements to build a 5,200 lb axle. Fantastic customer service and interaction from Dexter. Pro tip: Take pictures of all of the stickers on your axle and trailer for later use. They'll eventually become unreadable. We sprung for the auto-adjust brakes. Delivered to our door was $1,020.
It's hard to believe that a mere 4 bolts is all that holds the entire axle onto the trailer, but after lots of jacking, blocking, etc., the new axle is in. We attached the trailer tongue to our tow vehicle so that we only had to lift and support the two rear corners. That also meant the trailer at least couldn't move forward or backward. We ran out of 6x6 and 4x4 blocking -- the offroad RV sits high and standard floor jacks just don't have the height -- so we resorted to some redneck firewood rounds. A floor creeper worked well to slide one end of the axle underneath the RV while two people lifted and pushed the axle from the other side. The bare axle and springs weigh about 200 pounds, and that's maybe 30 pounds heavier than the original 3,500-lb axle.
The new axle is a 6-lug pattern and I needed wheels with a higher weight rating, so I purchased two new wheels from eTrailer. They're rated for 2,600 lb each. We thought about going up to a 16" wheel so that we could use taller tires and get more ground clearance, but I wasn't confident that I'd get enough clearance in the wheel well when the springs were compressed, so we stuck with the original 15" wheel size.
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Tir...r/AM20514.html.
Unfortunately, the center pilot hole on this particular wheel is 3.65", which is a non-standard size. I can't find a center hub cover in that diameter. They jump from 3.17" up to the industry standard 4.25". Had I known that, I would have purchased a different wheel with a standard 4.25" pilot hole. Hub covers at that size are abundant. The only available cover is a "half moon" hubcap that's more appropriate for a retro trailer than it is for a lifted offroad trailer. I may end up just leaving the end of the hub exposed if I can't find a more aesthetic solution. (Yes, both grease caps were dented in transit and Dexter is sending us new ones.)
I also needed two new tires capable of handling the extra weight. I purchased Falken A/T4W LT235-75/R15 tires with a load index of 116.
https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tir...wildpeak-a-t4w
These are 10-ply equivalent offroad tires with a weight rating of 2,756 lb per tire.
https://www.treadwright.com/blogs/tr...-vs-load-range
I estimate I gained a couple additional inches of ground clearance with the new springs and tires, so I'll need to readjust the weight distribution hitch.
I expect at our heaviest that we'll run about 4,400 pounds, so this new 5,200-lb axle setup will now give us a safe 800 pound safety cushion.
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