Kevin Madness Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Motorhome people! Please convoke and lend your wisdom and advice: The 1985 Sunland Express that I live in is a tripod. That is, one of the dually wheels got chewed up, leaving me stranded in Phoenix, AZ. I'm cursed with the shitty 5-lug axle that all "conventional wisdom" says to replace. However, I don't have enough money to buy a used one, let alone have it installed. And after two weeks of search I cannot locate a 14" dual wheel with 5 holes. I'm considering getting rid of the dualies and going with a regular 14 wheel (which are readily and cheaply available at local junkyards) and putting a tough tire like an 8-ply or something. The load capacity of something like that is about 1,800 for each side. Which makes me wonder, is my back axle holding more than 3,600 lbs? Yeah, yeah. I read the holy "Toyota Motorhome Rear Axle pdf" and saw where it said, "making the dualies 'singles' does not solve the problem," but I'm in a pinch here. I know it won't be perfect, but will it hold up? Do I have other option I haven't explored? I'm stuck in PHOENIX, here. Do you know what that's like! Accepting all advice, novice or professional. Thanks! ps: How much does a loaded up toyota motorhome usually weigh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bufbooth Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Hello Kevin, I had my 1990 Toyota Odyssey weighed over the summer and my rear axle had 4,050 pounds on it. I am told the Odyssey's are pretty much the most heaviest of the models, but I would guess yours is in the 3,500 to 4,000 pound range. Regarding your idea of going with single tires, I thought I read somewhere on this site that going to a single rear tire was a slight improvement for the 5 bolt axles, something about putting less stress on the the axle bearings, but still does not help with the weight issue. If you do end up going with a single wheel, you probably should have a tire that has at least a 2,000 pound rating and 8 ply rating. You want to have some excess load capacity on the tire, in case they end up not being properly inflated at all times (temperature swings can reduce tire pressure). Also, a rear blow out with single tires increase the danger of spinning out, which you would not face with duellies. This tire may not be cheap due to extra rating, so you probably would not be saving any dollars going with a rear single. Here are some salavage yards that you may want to try for the dually rim: AFFORDABLE RV SURPLUS 546 Hickory Street Chico, CA 95928 (530) 879-9501 DIXIE RV PARTS/SERVICE 4135 N. Dixie Highway Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334 (305) 565-9210 ARIZONA RV SALVAGE 2737 W. Lincoln Street Phoenix, AZ 85009 (602) 272-0301 ECONOMY USED PARTS 1678 W. Superstition Apache Junction., AZ 85220 (800) 224-2601 BONTRAGER'S SURPLUS 18719 E. US 12 White Pigeon, MI 49099 (269) 483-7017 ELKHART SALVAGE 28301 US 33 West Elkhart, IN 46516 (219) 295-8903 BRANDON SALVAGE 3159 Highway 60 East Balrico, FL 33594 (800) 282-7462 GUNDIE'S INC. 1283 Mt. Baker Highway Bellingham, WA 98226 (800) 444-4344 CHEROKEE RV SALVAGE 5050 Humboldt Street Denver, CO 80216 (303) 295-3433 HUCKABY’S RV SALVAGE 1293 NW 50 Highway Holden, MO 64040 (816) 850-4155 COLAW RV SALVAGE 10389 Cimarron Road Carthage, MO 64836 (877) 548-2125 ICKE'S RV SURPLUS 701 W. Huntington Street Montpelier, IN 47359 (317) 728-5668 NATIONAL RECOVERY 3241 Leonard Drive Liberty, NC 27298 (336) 622-7285 RV DOCTOR GEORGE 1142 Dixieanne Avenue Sacramento CA 95815 (916) 927-7837 SINGLETON’S RV SALVAGE 383 Nelson Road Rochester, WA 98579 (360) 273-9566 WALT'S RV SURPLUS 16616 Valley Boulevard Fontana, CA 92335 (909) 823-0563 WINNEBAGO SURPLUS P.O. Box 152 Forest City, IA 50436 (515) 582-6935 WELLER AUTO 2525 Chicago Drive Grand Rapids, MI 49509 (616) 538-5000 COOPER RV SALVAGE 1300 Thornton Street Elkhart, IN 46514 (219) 293-3027 Dennis... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 The poor thing is over weight for the single bearing axle no matter what you put on it for tires. Would you be better off with one wheel? In theory yes in real life it's still over loaded. There is just not enough support or bearing surface with the single bearing and what this does is flex the axle and they don't like that. The constant bending will brake it if you flex a piece of steel with your hands long enough it will brake and unfortunately when they brake you lose not only the wheel but the brake drum also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyonthespot Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I'm stuck in PHOENIX, here. Do you know what that's like!Accepting all advice, novice or professional. Thanks! my novice advice: never drive through phoenix in a yodahome with 5 lugs. phoenix scares me. but seriously, good luck with your predicament, I would look at that rv salvage place dennis listed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandamac Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 toyotasalvage.com John and Kris - (602) 438-888 3230 S. 40th St Phoenix AZ That's where I got Sadie's 6 lug dually. They were wonderful to work with. Hope this helps! shanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Motorhome people! Please convoke and lend your wisdom and advice:The 1985 Sunland Express that I live in is a tripod. That is, one of the dually wheels got chewed up, leaving me stranded in Phoenix, AZ. I'm cursed with the shitty 5-lug axle that all "conventional wisdom" says to replace. However, I don't have enough money to buy a used one, let alone have it installed. And after two weeks of search I cannot locate a 14" dual wheel with 5 holes. I'm considering getting rid of the dualies and going with a regular 14 wheel (which are readily and cheaply available at local junkyards) and putting a tough tire like an 8-ply or something. The load capacity of something like that is about 1,800 for each side. Which makes me wonder, is my back axle holding more than 3,600 lbs? Yeah, yeah. I read the holy "Toyota Motorhome Rear Axle pdf" and saw where it said, "making the dualies 'singles' does not solve the problem," but I'm in a pinch here. I know it won't be perfect, but will it hold up? Do I have other option I haven't explored? I'm stuck in PHOENIX, here. Do you know what that's like! Accepting all advice, novice or professional. Thanks! ps: How much does a loaded up toyota motorhome usually weigh? You did not mention how the rim got chewed up. Considering something serious must have happened that also means a great deal of extra stress has been applied to the axle end. If it was not a ticking time bomb it is now. I feel for your predicament, no $ to do the repair the right way. On another note I thought the original duals were just two standard rims welded together somehow. Maybe some who knows those rims could comment. As someone else stated its the flexing at the end of the axle that is the fault. There could be some other options. One, there are after market axles available that offroader's use which are beefier and less prone to breaking. With that you could fit a single tire rim, a wider rim and tire which would give you more capacity per tire than a stock LT tire. Anyhow just a thought. Look around for a 4x4 after market shop in the area and see what is available. Marlin Crawler has some chrome molly replacement axles, about $350 for both sides. You know they are designed for doing some rock crawling in which a huge amount of stress is applied to the axle ends. http://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/rear-axl...moly-rear-axles That price is just the axles, bearings and seals are an additional cost but far less that finding and placing a full floater on your rig. Good luck and keep us up to date. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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