MacGregorSailors.com

My Tandem Trailer has a rear axle that's about 4 inches longer than the front one This seems an odd thing for a trailer builder (modifier) to do
So I was wondering if anyone knows about the effects of this?... and if it could have any positive effects?

Not sure if it's legal or not???

All the best.
Neo

Don't know about Australia, but I know of no rules against it. It's common, in fact, on trucks with pneumatic tag axles (non-driven, can be raised off the road to save on wear and tolls), and on 3-axle motor coaches (buses), where the tag axle has a single wheel, and the drive axle has dual wheels. The singles are frequently narrower, especially on trucks.

I'd guess the guy that did the work just bought a standard axle, where the original may have been custom. Though it's easy to order an axle to any length you want. Just takes a little more effort. Or he ordered it incorrectly. Or it was made incorrectly.

Aside from the looks, I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks ... Now I can get on and order my new mudguards

Might be able to shed some light on this subject..............

I wanted to replace my OEM axle with a 4500 pound rated axle, with 15" wheels and electric brakes. The trailer shop I went to took the measurements I had and did some checking.

I forget the exact numbers, but the distance from the hub face to the spring hanger brackets could not be more than like 19 inches. Not a rule or law, but the axle manufacturer would not build one if that dimension was > 19 inches.

But now that I go back and re-read the original post, a longer axle makes no sense............

Ron

captronr wrote:.... a longer axle makes no sense.

Yes it does and on my trailer it's also the better (stronger) axle of the two (the other, front axle, is the Macgregor original one.

My problem now is fitting the 9" tandem steel mudguards to cover two offset wheels/tyres. With the suspension compressed neither should rub on the sides of the tyre. And the top of the mudguard must not rub on the hull either....There's not a lot of clearance to play with and I need the boat on the trailer to compress the suspension too.... unless someone knows of a better way to do this?

All the best.
Neo