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ToddLat View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Torsion axel issue?
    Posted: 11 Jul 2014 at 11:52pm
Lug nuts were not loose. Retorqued to ensure and all was fine. As I stated previously,  the brake controller was bumped and was maxed. Also, I only jacked the hitch high enough to get my bars of the WDH mounted and no higher and the camper rode as normal. 

Todd
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CharlieM View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2014 at 1:40pm
No clue how much loose nuts will affect the height. Depends on how loose, how long, how much driving, etc. But, no matter how loose, it won't be a problem for long. The studs will sheer off and you'll be picking up the pieces of wheel and trailer behind you Tongue
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2014 at 1:33pm
Originally posted by CharlieM

The power jack and the height you raised it to hook up should have no effect if your WDH settings are unchanged. It's true any WDH will transfer some additional weight to the trailer axle, but it's independent of jack type or initial height. Loose lug nuts will have an effect. compare the clearance between the tire and the fender on both sides. They should be approximately equal +/- an inch or so. from your description it sounds like something in the axle or its attachment is loose or defective. 


Curious on how loose lug nuts will effect ride height with a torsion axle.  Could you clear up my curiosity?

Thanks,
Jim
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2014 at 7:14pm
Whether or not you need a WDH is dependent on your TV.  Trucks that are designed to tow heavier loads, like the F150, Expedition, Suburban, Silverado, don't.  Lighter vehicles like minivans, do, because of their soft suspension.

No matter what the vehicle, it will improve your ride quality even if you don't need it.  After moving from a minivan to our 'burban I tested with and w/o, and decided to keep using it because it rides much better (plus it is my sway control).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2014 at 9:37pm
Very good!    As I said I have noticed much more tire "squash" over bumps with the rpod tires than any trailer I've ever owned, and that has been a bunch!
I even notice walking around in the trailer it bounces quite a bit more than other trailers..
I happen to have two Goodyear Marathon 15" trailer radials on rims that I think may fit the rpod, they are used as spares on other trailers I own.   When it cools off this fall I may just mount them up and go for a drive to see if the same sidewall flex is evident.

Glad to hear your axle wasn't bad, but I'd still measure the distance front to back and make sure the axle is mounted square to the trailer frame, assuming the frame is square.Wink
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2014 at 9:29pm
Ok. Here is what we found:

Jumped around inside of the pod and saw that both sides of the axel were in fact flexing (there was someone else in the storage area at that time and we could only imagine what they must have been thinking!). Great sign!!!  Verified tire pressures again just to make sure. Just retorqued yesterday so that is good. Hitched again with standard hitch ( non WDH). Pulled out of the storage area and when I got to the gate the brakes locked up. Never did that before but then again we were on a dirt surface. While I was stopped I checked the gain on the brake controller and saw that it was almost double of what I normally run. I typically don't check it when I pull back and forth from storage as it is really close to home. Well after I corrected the brake controller we went for a pull with the wife in the chase car watching from behind and I watching the mirrors closely. While the tires did flex they never left the road as before. The wife determined the the axels were flexing over bumps. Both sides. Great news

What I can determine is that the brake controller being out of whack may have caused me to think that the axel was not functioning properly as the area were I saw the issue was a downhill road and my foot on the brake to control speed. I feel now that the tire must have been locking up and bouncing over bumps rather than rolling over them. I never saw smoke from locked up tires but that is the only explanation that I have as the pod seems to be pulling ok now. Again when this issue occurred I had the WDH attached and the gain of the brake control was erroneously high. 

I will be pulling again in about a week to the house without WDH and will verify the operation again. 

My lesson here may be two fold. First off ALWAYS verify the gain of the brake control regardless of the distance pulling. Second is if the WDH is really needed with the POD?  I will have to rehitch with the WDH to verify if the tire bounces again or not regardless of the brake controller gain setting. 

Thanks to all of the suggestions of things to look at. I was paranoid about a potentially messed up axel as that is a scary situation. I do now have an appt scheduled and think that I may still keep it just to have everything looked at. Just want to make sure all really is ok. 

Todd



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2014 at 9:06pm
   Thank you for the replies, it sounds like our axle will out live my wife and I. Approve
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2014 at 5:16pm
Originally posted by David and Danette

     I am going to change this thread a little but the same subject. I read that a torsion axle has a shorter life span than a leaf spring axle. Does anyone know how short and what part fails?


The axles under our airstream are 35 years old. Still fine.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2014 at 1:30pm
David,

I have torsion bar axles on two other trailers and never had any problems. I have over loaded my big enclosed trailer several times and cracked a drum at the hub. Axles are still fine and over 20 years old. I think the rubber rods may finally wear out, but the torsion bar steel should last a long time.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2014 at 1:15pm
Todd,

I thought the same thing was happening to my new 177. One side looked lower than the other. Take a measurement on level ground from the bottom of the trailer near the axle side to side. Disregard the fenders. The fenders are mounted at different heights on each side. The passenger side fender is mounted higher that the driver side fender because of the lower Rdoom channel.

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4852&title=fenders-uneven

I think the factory does not use templates to mount the fenders. They just do it by what looks correct. Mine looks the same as yours, left side not centered on the tire.

I was concerned for a couple of hundred miles of my 6K trip to Nashville. Once I measured the trailer height and found it to be level side to side I was OK.

Good luck...
Cary
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