Misaligned axle on trailer?

[vetplus40]

I have a 23 foot single axle aluminum trailer with somewhat of an oddity. The axle does not appear to be centered inside the fender well. In fact, there is about three inches difference in the clearance between the front of the tire and the fender skirt and the back. As a matter of fact, you have to actually tilt the tires a bit to get them to clear the fender wells. So far this has not been an issue when trailering, but it is certainly noticeable.
I was thinking about simply loosing the u-bolts that connect the tube axle to the leaf springs and centering the axle, but I have never needed to do anything like this before and was unsure if there were any issues to take into consideration or be made aware of. Thanks as usual for any insight or guidance.

 

[Scott Danforth]

there is a locating bolt thru the leaf spring pack

post pics, we cant see what you see

if your talking fore/aft centering, normally they are not. this allows the axle to swing on the leaf spring as one end pivots, the other end has a shackle. so the wheel would be more forward.

again, post pictures

 

[alldodge]

I was thinking about simply loosing the u-bolts that connect the tube axle to the leaf springs and centering the axle,

If this is the case, then the other side of the axle, the tire should be closer to the inner fender/trailer frame. If this is the case then I would center the axle and while having it loose, inspect to figure out why it was moved. May be someone who didn't know, or something else.

Look at the tires for abnormal wear

 

[Chris1956]

A lot of trailers have a 5 hole plate connecting the axle to the leaf spring, with two U bolts. The fifth hole sits over the locating bolt in the center of the leaf spring. Do you have that arrangement?

 

[Starcraft5834]

pictures essential... your axle.. well most axles have a pre-drilled hole in them to fit over the spring pin and the plate has a center hole and plate.. U bolts through the plate to axle... something hokey with yours.. pics please

 

[GA_Boater]

To your knowledge has any work been done on the trailer? New springs/axle/fender?

The first thing to do is grab a tape measure and measure from the coupler to the axle on both sides before moving anything. A fender is a poor reference.

An axle skewed 3 inches would not be a fun tow. I know it was evil before replacing my bent axle and it wasn't close to 3".

 

[MTboatguy]

The only time I have seen something like you have described is when someone replaced a spring that was not the correct length and they moved the slipper mount to match the spring instead of getting the correct length spring.

Like GA said, before moving anything do some measurements to find out where things are off.

 

[tpenfield]

It does not look too bad from my angle, but without a few pictures, really hard to tell

Perhaps a PO moved the entire spring/axle assembly forward and left the fenders as is. :noidea:

 

[vetplus40]

Thanks for the replies. I will do some measuring and checking regarding the spring pin as soon as I can. Currently, I work 72 hour weeks with little free time. With respect to posting pictures, I only have internet access at work (I currently live in a 5th wheel camper on the lake-road worker). Sadly, cyber security restrictions prevent pics from being uploaded at work, but I will see if I can get access to a neighbors computer and post some. The uncentered wheels always looked a bit funny, but the look became very pronounced when I removed the wheels to repack my wheel bearings.

 

[Silvertip]

Has anyone replaced the fenders? Aftermarket fenders may have a slightly different shape and mounting which results in what you think is axle position error. If both sides are the same I'm betting there is no alignment issue.

 

[vetplus40]

The trailer is stock as far as I know and the trailer does have the pins on the axle that others had mentioned. I get the "bonehead" award for not checking for this myself. One of the u bolts on the axle is a bit ****-eyed, so this is what led me down the "moved axle" theory.
When I can, I am going to post a pic of the boat on the trailer. The stern of the boat actually hangs off of the trailer a few feet. I guess this weight could be causing the trailer to sit unevenly when loaded. I will check the trailer empty as time permits. I have never owned, or actually seen a boat sit so far off of the end of a trailer like mine does. I contacted the original owner and he said that is how he bought it at a boat show a few years ago.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Without pics we are all guessing. vetplus40 , is there any thing preventing you from posting pics so we can help you.

And remember, when you are taking pics....stand back 20 feet more than you first think..... Get the whole boat and trailer....we can zoom in for detail....we cant zoom out

 

[vetplus40]

As I stated in a previous post, I have essentially no internet availability other than work and their cyber security controls are quite substantial. I also work between 72-80 hours per week. That said, I will certainly try and get some pics uploaded via someplace nearby with free wifi when I get some time off.

 

[Scott Danforth]

use your phone. take a pic, email it to yourself to reduce the size to 25%, then use your phone to upload the reduced pic to your thread.