Axle shifted

[Freeman62]

I have a 2006 karavan trailer pulling 2006 trophy 1952.
The axle shifted and destroyed my tires. There are only two small u bolts on either side holding the axle in place.
Is this normal? I reset the axle by measuring from the back of the trailer. Is this adequate?? If not where would I take it for an alignment ??

Would it be reasonable to drill and bolt it solid??

Thanks Steve

 

[alldodge]

Measure from the center point on the ball hitch to each side of the axle.

 

[hemi rt]

The U Bolt mounting is normal, there should be a bolt or in some cases a pin going through the spring that mounts into a spring saddle that is welded to the axle. The u bolts and this pin/bolt are what keeps the axle in the proper position. If the axle has moved there is a good chance this pin/bolt no longer is there, it's an easy fix, just put a bolt through the spring that has a head size that will fit into the hole in the spring saddle, you want the head of the bolt to go into the hole in the spring saddle. If you don't have spring saddles welded onto the axle I'd say there is a good chance your trailer maybe home made or someone put an axle in that didn't know what they were doing. I wouldn't weld the axle to the spring in any cases as you will take the spring tension out of the spring.

 

[Silvertip]

Bad advice to weld the axle to the spring! Springs are spring steel and the heat of welding will destroy it.

 

[ahicks]

Me thinks something is getting lost in translation here.

U bolts hold the axle to the spring for sure, but it would be pretty unusual for that arrangement to shift. U-bolts are also often used to locate an adjustable "bracket" we'll call it, that support the springs at the top. You can loosen the u-bolts to adjust/locate the axle under the trailer frame for proper tongue weight purposes. I'm not sure, but it sounds like this might be the arrangement our OP is wondering about. If so, straightening the axle out and adding a locating bolt on each side to keep it from moving again might be a good plan.

 

[Freeman62]

So the axle with springs are mounted to an L channel which the trailer frame sits inside. U bolts hold the L channel to the boat frame.
There are no pins that's hold the L channel from shifting. Once I removed the U bolts I could side the L channel up and down the frame of the boat trailer.
When the axle shifted it destroyed both tires real quick. I realigned the axle replaced the tires. Just need to pin it so it does not happen again.

 

[ahicks]

"Pinning it" sounds like a pretty easy project - after getting it all squared up again. Just drill a hole located so it goes through the "L" channel and frame. Insert bolt (wouldn't need to be very big), tighten it up and you're done - likely as it should have been done at the start!

 

[reelfishin]

It sounds like your trailer has an adjustable axle carriage, if the frame is galvanized they often use U bolts to secure the two slides. Once its in position where it needs to be, you can drill a hole on each side and just put a bolt through both the L channel and the frame. It won't need to be a very large bolt, just something to locate the axle. if the U bolts are tight, the assembly shouldn't be able to move.