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Torsion axle


macdaddy

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Anybody ever brake a torsion axle before.  Just broke my front left wheel.  Wondering how costly to fix??  Thankfully I was close to home.  Rubbed the inside of the fender a good bit.

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Yep on my Boatmate. Easy and relatively easy fix providing you have a flat surface to work on. A little over $300.00 to replace my front axle a couple years ago. I reused the old torsion arm and associated fasteners from the original axle. I drove directly to BM and picked it up so no shipping cost. As awkward and as heavy as that thing is I bet the shipping would of been more than the axle.

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Mine literally just did the same thing. any gotchas on  removing it and putting the new one on? I like to do as much work as I can on my own. 

 

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#1 index the unsprung torsion arm location on the old axle before you take it off to maintain the OEM ride height on the new axle. I had to drive a cold chisel into the torsion arm gap to open it up enough to slide it off, no big deal. For reassembly, insert the torsion arm bolt top down so if the nut falls off for what ever reason the torsion arm and assembly won’t become a YouTube video. The new axle won’t have brake line locating tabs (my front didn’t anyway). I cut some old rubber fuel line to slide onto the old metal brake line for stand off and to keep it quiet and then secured it to the back side of the axle with some monster zip ties across 3 points on the axle to finish the job. It probably wasn’t necessary, but I hate squeaky anything so I used copious amounts of waterproof grease on the the mating surfaces between the trailer and the axle and the torsion arm and axle shaft. I used a second hydraulic jack to lift the new axle in place while I secured it. Bleed the entire system from the rear most acces point to get any air out. I have a cheapy Harbor Frieght vacuum canister that worked like a champ. Let me know if you have any more questions. Bill

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On 7/8/2018 at 8:50 PM, macdaddy said:

Anybody ever brake a torsion axle before.  Just broke my front left wheel.  Wondering how costly to fix??  Thankfully I was close to home.  Rubbed the inside of the fender a good bit.

Our 2009 Extreme trailer just had the front torsion axle fail. I called UFP Dexter and they are sending me two new ones free of charge. I just need to pay to have them painted and installed. I am lucky and our boat storage is only about 150' from our launch at the lake we go to so I just removed the fender and limp the old girl to and from the launch for now until the new axles get in. Definitely call the axle manufacturer and see if you can get a new ones as well.  If you are going to change one you may as well do the other and be done with it.

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This seems to be very common this year.

I lost one a couple weeks ago. They are replacing the "bad one" under warranty. I feel fortunate as the trailer was built in 2007. I will also replace the other one. Unfortunately, they take 4 weeks plus to get a replacement.  So I purchased a set of spring and shackles welded them to a piece of 2" angle and bolted them to the existing bolt holes on the trailer. It is getting me by and it will take much less time to put the torsion bar axles back on. I was able to use the same hubs. I just had to change out the seals.

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1 hour ago, Sparky450 said:

This seems to be very common this year.

I lost one a couple weeks ago. They are replacing the "bad one" under warranty. I feel fortunate as the trailer was built in 2007. I will also replace the other one. Unfortunately, they take 4 weeks plus to get a replacement.  So I purchased a set of spring and shackles welded them to a piece of 2" angle and bolted them to the existing bolt holes on the trailer. It is getting me by and it will take much less time to put the torsion bar axles back on. I was able to use the same hubs. I just had to change out the seals.

I made it seem like the other was going to fail soon and they are sending me two thank god. Let's hope bad karma doesnt bit me in the a** and the other one does fail before the replacements get here!

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Torsion Bar. I thought about welding solid but I trailer 40 miles each way at highway speeds on some pretty rough areas. Every weekend.  Twice for the 4th and actually another 120 mile run after the 4th. :)

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17 hours ago, Sparky450 said:

This seems to be very common this year.

I lost one a couple weeks ago. They are replacing the "bad one" under warranty. I feel fortunate as the trailer was built in 2007. I will also replace the other one. Unfortunately, they take 4 weeks plus to get a replacement.  So I purchased a set of spring and shackles welded them to a piece of 2" angle and bolted them to the existing bolt holes on the trailer. It is getting me by and it will take much less time to put the torsion bar axles back on. I was able to use the same hubs. I just had to change out the seals.

I just got notified my warrantied axles will arrive tomorrow. Will be exactly 3 weeks from the day I submitted my claim. Was amazed by their service to get the claim processed and new axles sent out and delivered up to Canada so quick.

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  • 11 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/20/2019 at 2:16 PM, Powellrider said:

Heard, could you also send me your contact at dexter if you still have it? 2007 axle also just went out. Thanks

Sorry I didnt see this. Quote a person next time then it will notify them. I just called the warranty department and eventually was transferred to someone who sent me the info sheet that needed to be filled out.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It is so interesting that so many of you are having trouble with your axils. the truth be told on a torsion axel whenever you go out of a driveway at an angle or go offa curb or speed bump. There is no sharing of the load between the two axels. One wheel carys the whole weight surpassing the rated limits. For that reason if I ever had to replace the axils I would change it over to a spring axil. 

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37 minutes ago, Gsleight said:

It is so interesting that so many of you are having trouble with your axils. the truth be told on a torsion axel whenever you go out of a driveway at an angle or go offa curb or speed bump. There is no sharing of the load between the two axels. One wheel carys the whole weight surpassing the rated limits. For that reason if I ever had to replace the axils I would change it over to a spring axil. 

Sounds good in theory until you start adding up the cost of the job. When I replaced my front axle (a curb jumped into my way) for my 2010, TA Boat Mate in 2015 the front axle assembly with the internal torsion bar, no brakes or paint was a measly $180.00 for the whole thing from BM. I picked it up myself to save the crazy shipping cost and reused everything from old axle. With the limited miles that I tow it would of made no sense for me to replace it all. Now if I was towing a lot or was going to keep the boat for a lifetime it might make sense.

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On 7/30/2019 at 8:47 AM, Gsleight said:

It is so interesting that so many of you are having trouble with your axils. the truth be told on a torsion axel whenever you go out of a driveway at an angle or go offa curb or speed bump. There is no sharing of the load between the two axels. One wheel carys the whole weight surpassing the rated limits. For that reason if I ever had to replace the axils I would change it over to a spring axil. 

I did this while waiting for my replacements. I wasn’t going to go 2-3 weeks in summer without my boat. And I am 8 months a year. I welded my shackles to an angle iron and bolted them up. They were loud and did not ride as smooth as the torsion axles. I was so glad to get my torsion axles back.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ha! just did this tonight.  Boatmate was cool but I did not realize they would still warranty after 5 years, I might send them an email and see.  Shipping was $40 UPS for 5 Day delivery.  I opted to get expedited shipping to ensure I could trailer this weekend, which ran me $110.

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  • 10 months later...

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