Torflex Axles

Any one have experience with this type of axle setup. I have sold our TT and we are looking at small TT for weekend get-a-ways. Im thinking of building my own TT for this and i'm not real fond of what I have had from the RV industry as far as quality. Im not looking at the biggest and the most elaborate of trailers just something in the 27ft MAX range. Just the basic's shower/bathroom/bed/kitchen. Welding and the frame will be done in house (my shop) Would like it to set low like the Airstream set up and these axles seem to be the setup for that. Thanks for any info



BIG

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Big,
I had a 1998 bumper pull 26' light weight camper trailer from 2003 to 2007. It had the torsion axles which had settled to where there was no suspension left. It beat the tar out of everything in the trailer not having any suspension. Just my 2 cents.
I do realize after reading your posts you could probably build a mule powered spaceship that could reach the moon but wouldn't it be cheaper to find an older bumper pull Arctic Fox TT to get the job done?

 

Maybe so Im not even sure about getting another trailer the wife brought it up that sometimes it would be nice to go camping for a weekend in the woods AND NOT SMELL LIKE A HORSE. Our TT we had, had not been out sense we moved to MT. I gave my Son a GEE DAD YOUR GREAT deal on it because he's starting a family and they want to go camping and have a little NASTY on the way. It was to big for most campgrounds at 29ft but I use to tell them it was a LARGE 27ft (I can back a trailer) and never had a site that I could not get into. Just was kicking around the idea of building one it seems that everything that is built these days is done the cheapest way possible. Airstream would be nice but the price for only half a year of use time is just to much. We looked at them the wife thought the Bambi was cute until she looked at the price tag. Thanks for the reply I didn't know anything about the axles and was just kicking around ideas.
BIG

 

We had a HiLo with the Torflex axles. Never had a problem with them.

Newt

 

I am on my 5th trailer with torflex axles, Never had a problem with sag or settling. Although my trailers had heavier axles than the load required. I found that the 7000# axles rode smoother than the 5000#ers with a similar load. I know that this sounds impossible. . Just how it was for me...

 

Thanks thats the Pro and Con info I wanted. Gonzo I tend to OVERBUILD everything so going more than needed was not an option for me. I saw a trailer leaving one of our State campgrounds up the road from us on the way to town it looked like a car hauling rig converted to a TT or built as one,Nice paint on aluminium sides nice wheels/ window awnings/ door awning looked pretty sharp. It sat low like a car haul rig thats what gave me the idea of the Torflex axles.

BIG

 

My first dump trailer had Torflex axles. I never had a problem. If they were available on the new dump I bought I would have gotten them.

 

I have a 32 ft enclosed gooseneck tandem, 18 ft enclosed bumper pull tandem and had 20 ft enclosed bumper pull tandem all with torsion axles. They all have Dexter axles. The best riding is the 32 ft with 7k axles. I want to see how well it rode so I left a canister air freshner on the table before I went camping a couple weeks ago. The 32ft is part camper with a rear area for a car. It was a 25 mile ride on WI roads, which aren't the smoothest. It was right where I left it. I drove at or below the speed limit. The trailer really rides nice behind the truck. The bumper pull trailers have 3. 5k axles, They bounce more, but they are alot lighter trailer. I still like them better than spring suspension trailers.

 

Getting Closer to reality

Ive been looking around the web and have found that it WOULDN'T be that big a deal to build a trailer. The outer skin was my big concern and that has been taken away because you can buy the FILON FIBERGLASS skin from a source online 102" by how ever long you want. Even called BIG TEX trailers about a Goose-neck with a 20 to 27 foot deck with the Torflex axles they said no problem didn't have one in stock now but it can and has been built before. Could use the area above the Goose-neck for enclosed storage. In front of the deck for battery and propane all food for thought. Thanks for the many answers to my question about the Torflex axles even BIG TEX trailer said they are the ticket. But gave me another idea of AIR RIDE AXLES from Dexter Axle NAAAAAAAA THAT WOULD BE TO MUCH!!!!! WOULDN'T IT????:-laf



BIG

 

I built 3 work trailers and each one had (2) 6000 lb axles... they worked great... so much better than sprung axles... I still own one but ran all 3 lots and lots of miles. .

 

The Torflex axle equipped trailers pull smooth. This is mostly due to the fact that they are independant of each other. If you mount a spring axle the same way, (no equalizer) they are smooth also. The "con" is you need to keep them level, you should over rate them for the load because in off highway conditions they frequently carry the complete load.



Nick

 

If you build one, I agree with Nick, over rate them so they don't slip around a notch for being over weighted. I have towed allot of TT's with the Tor-Flex and they are so much smoother than springs it's not funny. When I built my meat trailer in Anchorage I had this little jewel (see photos)built for the underside by Dexter. I believe I did a either 18deg. or 22 degree downturn with a 1200 lb rating. And what a difference it was from going from the straight axle to towing the meat trailer loaded thru the "Rock Garden" on top of Moore's Mtn. Rather than the trailer just boucing up and down, rocking from side to side, with that tor-flex axle the trailer load stayed paralell to the ground and those spindles side to side gliding up and down sucking up the rocks. . . unbelievable difference. Was able to comfortably make way better time without worring about the trailer rolling over on it's side. You can order them in either upturn or downturn depending on where you want the trailer in relationship to the ground. This meat trailer measured at 18"

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I installed a Kelderman air ride on my 04 and love it. If you are building your own trailer why dont you fab up a air ride yourself. Shouldnt be that difficult, just a bushed hinge pin on the front with two interconnected bars, a air bag to the rear of the axle. I am considering making a air ride add on for my torflex axles so the suspension is doubled.

 

Crazy

What the heck was the MEAT TRAILER for? it looks like something from the Texas Chain Saw Massacre movie.

 

Gonzo

Was talking to a guy today at breakfast in town about my MAYBE PROJECT. He works at the hardware shop in town he was saying that the price of steel is so high that it would be cheaper in the long run to just buy a Big Tex or PJ trailer and have it built by them. Then do the trailer construction on that. All something to think about on the way to town I went thru the campgrounds and found the one I seen earlier and looks like he had it built its not a car trailer that was converted had to be a 102in wide no slides looked good.

 

I have put axles on 2 separate Airstream trailers. Airstream originally used a 22 1/2 degree down angle axle made by Henshen. They were bought out Al-Ko. Axis Axle also make the torsion axles.
When I replaced axles I used the Dexter 32 1/2" degree down angle because this gives about 1. 5" of lift over stock which is good for ground clearance and modern TOO TALL tow vehicles. Torsion axles have been used on Airstreams since the mid 1960's. In general they can last up to 30 years but that is by folks use them frequently. If a torsion axle sits idle then they go bad. I take the weight off the axles during the off camping season.

When Airstream calculated the axle weights, both axles together would equal 90% of the GVW.
If you look at a slightly older Airstream they can be found for a decent price if you look hard enough. Like all RV's there are pros and cons to each manufacturer. I own a 1994 Airstream 30' and absolutely love it!

 

I have put axles on 2 separate Airstream trailers. Airstream originally used a 22 1/2 degree down angle axle made by Henshen. They were bought out Al-Ko. Axis Axle also make the torsion axles.

When I replaced axles I used the Dexter 32 1/2" degree down angle because this gives about 1. 5" of lift over stock which is good for ground clearance and modern TOO TALL tow vehicles. Torsion axles have been used on Airstreams since the mid 1960's. In general they can last up to 30 years but that is by folks use them frequently. If a torsion axle sits idle then they go bad. I take the weight off the axles during the off camping season.



When Airstream calculated the axle weights, both axles together would equal 90% of the GVW.

If you look at a slightly older Airstream they can be found for a decent price if you look hard enough. Like all RV's there are pros and cons to each manufacturer. I own a 1994 Airstream 30' and absolutely love it!

 

I used the heck out of that thing, for packing the camp provisions in for a couple of weeks. Or cutting brush to get the meat back to camp from the kill zone. That trailer would take a good sized Caribou whole or 1/2 of a good sized moose comfortably. I had a whole moose in it once and it really was a load, real hard pulling and all too funny to look at seeing all four 4' legs sticking up in the air and hanging over the sides. This one photo had that night's liver dinner in it. The place we hunted was 6 hours plus of hard off road travel/brush cutting on a four wheeler to get into our camp/hunt area. So unless we got allot of meat to pack out you only wanted to make the trip in and out only once.

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meat trailers are for those of us who are not lucky enough to own a string of MULES !! it does the same job without all the lovely ATMOSPHERE that comes with mules !! LOL !! but I do miss the atmosphere of live pack animals. Butch :-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

BigNasty, As far as torflex axles go they are the bomb. I have one horse trailer that has them that has over 300k miles and another with over 100k. Both have never had a problem. I do however have one complaint on them in the horse trailer when it is empty and on a rough stretch of highway expansion joints it bounces which can be felt in the truck. However with animals or added weight in the trailers all is well.

As for Bix-tex trailers I have had numerous experiences with them and they are a top notch company. Any of their trailers that are custom jobs go down a seperate line in the plant and quality control over those is second to none. That being said they are a little pricey, and I have seen several others that I think are every bit as good. One I would also recomend is Rice Trailers.