keitholivier Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I was at an RV surplus store today and trailer axles (complete with disk brakes) are a dime a dozen.. well almost. It seems that adding a second axle behind the existing drive axle will alleviate one of the biggest problems (overloading the rear axle). I take for granted that the chassis would have to be properly extended (seems many of the OE extensions were very weak). Going with a tag axle would allow lower spring rate springs on both axles, thus improving the ride. From my experience with trailers, I would expect an improvement in stability with the tandem axle. So does anyone have any feedback regarding their experiences ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Good question. A few problems I could see would be tire ware and complexity. Some of the bigger RV use them but I guess from day one they were designed for it. Unsprung weight of the drive axle as opposed to the tag? How would it affect the handling with the spacing between the two axles? The greater the spacing the greater the drag on the inside tires on a turn. Perplexing problem I wonder why they stopped using them? Technology has changed a lot since they first tried them. I can just vision fully independent arms and air ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keitholivier Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Maineah, I think when they were first used, it was due to legitimate concerns regarding the rear axle weight rating. Once Toyota stepped in with the beefier axle, the tag axle was dropped to save costs and increase interior room. From that point, I guess the manufacturers kept piling more and more crap into the vehicles until even the rating of the dually axle was exceeded. Along with exceeding the rear axle weight rating, today typically the front is overloaded too. There does not seem to be a history of the proper full floating axles failing, no matter how overloaded the MH is, but with 14" wheels, one is at the end of the road tire wise. Even now, getting 14" class D tires is becoming more and more difficult. Tire Rack seems to have stopped carrying them. Last time I bought they were the last in stock at the warehouse in Indiana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Yes I agree it was a stop gap measure but that was the best they had at least some one was thinking about weight how ever if it could be cheaper retrofit then a proper rear maybe. I doubt that the one under mine will ever give me any problem it has 9 leaves and a full floater! I ended up with Hercules tires, the tire dealer did not have them in stock but by that afternoon he did. So I don't know how long we will be able to get them. 285/60/20 LT's maybe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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