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Old 06-08-2010, 12:08 AM   #1
Wavery
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Default Axle lift-kit installation

Today, I went out and bought 2, 13" pieces of 2.5" steel tube, 3/16" wall thickness.

My intention (of course) is to lift the frame 2.5" above the axle. My goal is to be able to install 15" tires on my '98 2720. Plus gain some ground clearance. My problem is, there is less than 1/4" between the back of the right side tire and the frame with my current 14" tires.

My plan is to use 4, 1.5" long mounting bolts per side (instead of 2, 3" long bolts going straight through the tube). I plan to use the original 5/8" mounting bolts to bolt the top of the tubing to the frame mounting bracket, then using 2, new (grade 8) bolts to bolt the lower part of the tubing to the axle. Only, my plan is to mount the axle 1" forward of it's current location by off-setting the lower bolts 1" forward.

I realize that this will shift the fulcrum point of the trailer and lower my tongue weight slightly......in my case....that's a bonus .

Can anyone see any other issues that I may encounter, before I start drilling holes?

BTW....I come up with the bolt holes being 8" apart (on center). Can anyone verify that?
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Old 06-08-2010, 06:11 AM   #2
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Good Luck! Be sure and mark where everything was so you can put it back if you have to.
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Old 06-08-2010, 07:17 AM   #3
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Ah, I see what you are doing, and it makes sense if you want to shift your axle.

I did the lift on my Trailmanor with the factory lift kit, so it is doable by a shade tree mechanic like me.

Like Joseph said, mark the current location of the axle......maybe a white marker with a tri-square ??

If you are just planning on moving the axle on the right side, I think I would do a measurement from the tongue coupler to a point on each axle (hub??) to see if the current axle is square with the tongue before starting the project. It is possible that the axle is not square with the frame now, and just the right side needs to be moved, or the body is slightly off kilter, giving the impression it is the axle.

An impact wrench will probably be needed to remove the old bolts, and a torque wrench for the new bolts. Can't remember what I torqued mine to.

I might be a little hard getting a wench into the tubing for tightening purposes.

Good Luck on the project.
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Old 06-08-2010, 10:01 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mtnguy View Post
Ah, I see what you are doing, and it makes sense if you want to shift your axle.

I did the lift on my Trailmanor with the factory lift kit, so it is doable by a shade tree mechanic like me.

Like Joseph said, mark the current location of the axle......maybe a white marker with a tri-square ??

If you are just planning on moving the axle on the right side, I think I would do a measurement from the tongue coupler to a point on each axle (hub??) to see if the current axle is square with the tongue before starting the project. It is possible that the axle is not square with the frame now, and just the right side needs to be moved, or the body is slightly off kilter, giving the impression it is the axle.

An impact wrench will probably be needed to remove the old bolts, and a torque wrench for the new bolts. Can't remember what I torqued mine to.

I might be a little hard getting a wench into the tubing for tightening purposes.

Good Luck on the project.
My axle is square now and I have no tracking issues. I plan on moving both sides forward exactly the same distance.

The '98 is a little different than the later models. The axle is mounted on an "L" bracket, which is welded to the outside of the frame. I do have access to the top of the "L" bracket for tightening the nuts. I will only have to put a 15/16" wrench inside the tube to keep the bolt head from turning.
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Old 06-08-2010, 11:18 PM   #5
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Well!!!! I'm done installing the lift kit on my '98 TM. I went with the straight through bolt, placing the axle in the same place only the frame is now 2.5" higher. This gives me almost 3/4" inch from the back of the tire to the frame. I hope that's enough for the 15" tires. I sure don't want to do that job again. I'm getting too old for this stuff......

I should have done this 2 weeks ago when I replaced the bearings and installed the new brake assemblies .

The reason that I decided not to move the axle forward is the the axle moves up and forward when I hit a bump in the road. I calculated that the axle can move up about 3" and forward about 2.5". That's about all the room that I have on the left side of the trailer. I'm afraid that the 15" tires might hit the front of the wheel well when I hit a bump .

The installation is really simple. For those that may be interested, I will spell out what I did.

1. (with the trailer tongue just above level) Put a jack stand under the tongue of the trailer (I actually use a stack of 2' long 4x8s) and block the tires.
2. Loosen the lug nuts (2 turns) on both wheels.
3. Place a Jack under the frame (I used a 10-ton bottle jack with a piece of hardwood between the jack and the frame), just rear of the axle and jack up the trailer until the tire is 3" off the ground (to make allowance for remounting the tires after the 2.5" lift kit is installed). This means that your jack must have ~6" of lift or you may have to step up, with 2 jacks or you can lift the trailer the addition height, after installing the lift-spacers while removing the jack stands.
4. Place jack-stand under the frame (just rear of the jack) and lower the jack so the frame is resting securely on the jack-stand. (carefully repeat steps 3 & 4 on other side while keeping an eye on the 1st side). Lower the trailer stabilizers as back-up
5. Remove both wheels and set aside.
6. Loosen 2 axle mounting bolts on each side of axle about 3 or 4 turns (use plenty of WD40 or equivalent before and after initial loosening).
7. Extend a smaller jack to 3" above it's retracted height and place it under the center of one side of the axle, about 1 foot in from the brake backing plate. (with necessary spacers or adjustment). Just snug it up against the axle. A scissors jack works well for this.
8. Remove mounting bolts & nuts from that side of axle and lower axle with the jack. (discard old bolts, save the nuts).
9. Lower axle ~3" and place new lift spacer on top of axle mounting plate.
10. Drop new grade 8 bolts through the holes in the upper bracket and the holes in the new lift spacer.
11. Slowly jack axle back up into position while working bolts through the mounting holes in the axle.
12. Install new grade 8 lock washers & nuts, just finger tight.
13. Repeat steps 7-12 on the other side.
14. Tighten all 4 nuts to 150 ft # of torque. I recommend using the old nuts as lock nuts, tightening them against the new nuts to 1150#. (To accomplish this, use 4" to 4 1/2" long bolts for a 2.5" lift-spacer.)
15. Remove jack from under the axle and install the wheels.
16. Jack trailer enough to remove jack-stands and lower trailer to the ground. Torque the wheel nuts to 90#.
17. If you are over 60 go soak in a hot tub for about an hour. This was a lot easier when I was 30.
----------------------edited 10/27/2010-------------------------------------
There is a difference in the later model trailers. I just installed a kit on our 2004.

The axle mounting bolts are not exposed (like the earlier years). The bolts come through the bottom of the box frame and are hard to get at. They are reached through a (fairly large) opening in the back side of the frame. It is important to have a second socket wrench with a 15/16 socket (for a 5/8" bolt) to hold the bolts for tightening and loosening the nuts.

The axle is also welded on both ends of each side of the axle. The welds are best cut with a 4" angle grinder and a steel cutting blade. After cutting through the weld (try not to cut into the frame), it's important to switch to a grinding wheel and grind away all of the excess weld to achieve a flat, smooth surface.

It's also important to scribe a locating mark on the axle and frame so that the axle can be properly aligned. My 2004 frame had elongated bolt holes in the frame. Alignment is essential.

It may be a good idea to have the spacer welded to the frame after proper alignment is confirmed to keep the bolts from moving in the slots in the frame.

---------------------------end of 10/27 edit-------------------------------------------

For any one that is interested in making your own lift-spacers, the bolt holes are 8" on center and you need a minimum of 12" of either 2" or 2.5" square tube. The tube should be minimum 3/16" wall thickness. The place that I bought the tubing from (new $9 Incl cutting) also had 3"x 4" tubing which would work also (I was tempted). If anyone might contemplate this, there is no restriction on the width of the spacer. However, any higher than 2.5", I would recommend using 3/4" bolts. I used 5/8-18 grade 8 bolts (4" long 4 1/2" might be better), nuts & lock washers. I double nutted them for safety and torqued them to 150ft #.

One tip..... if you use 2.5" (or larger) tubing. Do not drill your holes in the center of the tube. If you do, the tube will hit the axle. Drill your holes 1" (on center) from one edge. There is 1/4" clearance from the outside of the spacer to the swing axle arm. There is NO room for error on the outside measurement of the hole location. I used a 5/8" drill bit and a drill press. I would not use a 3/4" drill bit unless using a 3/4" bolt, it's that close.....

It probably isn't necessary but I used 3/4" crush sleeves on the inside of the tubes. Oddly enough, I tapped the crush sleeves in (tightly) with a hammer before I installed the bolts. After tightening the nuts to 150#, the crush sleeves were loose...........go figure.
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Old 06-09-2010, 09:04 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harveyrv View Post
The '98 is a little different than the later models. The axle is mounted on an "L" bracket, which is welded to the outside of the frame.
My 2003 had the same setup:

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Quote:
Originally Posted by harveyrv View Post
The reason that I decided not to move the axle forward is the axle moves up and forward when I hit a bump in the road. I calculated that the axle can move up about 3" and forward about 2.5". That's about all the room that I have on the left side of the trailer. I'm afraid that the 15" tires might hit the front of the wheel well when I hit a bump .
Wayne, if seems if the wheel assembly is lower than the axle mount, then any upward motion should move the wheel back, and if the wheel assembly is higher than the axle mount, then that would give you a forward motion. If I remember correctly, my wheel assembly was level with the axle mount with a load, so any movement would have been slightly forward on my unit, also. Good catch.


Quote:
Originally Posted by harveyrv View Post
One tip..... if you use 2.5" tubing. Do not drill your holes in the center of the tube. If you do, the tube will hit the axle. Drill your holes 1" from one edge.
Another good catch……I had forgotten about that. In using the factory lift kit, the holes are already bored, but I could have moved the tubular steel slightly away from the trailing arm to allow for a little more clearance…..mine was really close on 1 side. By the time I had that figured out, I had already torque the bolts, and didn’t want to redo them.

Congratulations on your axle lift, and I betcha you won't regret it.
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Old 06-09-2010, 09:26 AM   #7
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Wayne -

I have forgotten - does your '98 TM have leaf springs or a torsion suspension?

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Old 06-09-2010, 11:14 AM   #8
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This is "Pre-op":


This is the axle dropped and ready to install lift spacer. (I loosened the bolts on the other side 1st):


This is spacer installed (I applied 1 coat of Rustoleum primer and 3-coats of Rustoleum gloss black to prevent rust):


I haven't taken "Post-Op" yet

You will notice that my 2.5" spacer is longer than need be (13"). This is because of my original plan to move the axle forward, which I could still do at a later time, If it is necessary.

As a side note, the use of WD40 on the old bolts made a HUGE difference.

BTW.......With weight on the axle. The center of the wheel is just above center of the axle, so any wheel movement (that matters) is up and forward.

At least I won't have to "Drag" the rear of the trailer across he sidewalk anymore..... If nothing else, Ive gained that...
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