Axle bent or something else

[briantin]

I have a Ram-Lin dual axle trailer under my 2006 220. The tires on the front axle lean in at the top. I assume the previous owner towed the boat too low with too much pressure on the front axle. They are torsion axles. Would the axle itself be bent? Problems with the spindles? Is there a fix I can do or is replacing the axle the only option. From some internet searching it looks like the original axles were made by Dexter. Anyone have some advise on this? I have attached some pictures of the wheels and axles.

[SilentSeven]

I seem to recall (vaguely) a problem with the bushing in the torsion axles causing this sort of problem. Try some board searches...pretty sure there was an extensive thread on it.

If it's not that, the axle is bent. RV shops can do trailer alignments where they effectively bend the axle to get the trailer to track right. I'd start there before just purchasing a new axle.

[Scooter G]

Ditto SilentSeven. Do a little hound dogging to find a shop in the area that aligns trailer axles. We only have one here that I am aware of. They can check alignment, camber, and castor.
I am curious, those look like fairly new tires, how are the wearing? My last 2 Boatmate trailers would do the same thing when pulling out of my shop and turning a corner, but level out when running down the road. Do yours maybe do the same thing? I have replaced axles and torsion spindles before, but not smart enough to give the science behind why they do that.

Current G

[briantin]

I'll have to pay closer attention running down the road to see if I can tell what they are doing. I've emailed Ramlin a couple times abut no response. I'll have to call them. Research online makes me think I could also have bent spindles.

[bturner]

Torsion axles are known for this sort of failure as it's sort of a nature of the beast design. The rubber eventually will deteriorate with results like this. While it may drive you crazy looking at it, I would be more concerned about wear, handling and safety.

How long have you had those tires and how are they wearing would be my be my first questions. If they're 3 YO, showing little wear and not getting hot while towing..... It may be worth letting it go until there is a real problem. Then again, stuff like this can drive me nuts and that OCD in me might just have me ordering a new axle. It's not rocket science swapping an axle and most people these days that do any wrench turning have electric impact tools so the reasons not to do this yourself are harder to come up with.

If all you're doing is pulling a couple miles to the ramp, I don't see this as a big concern. If you're planning or regularly do some distance towing, that changes the conversation. Tire wear would not be my concern at that point, having a blown out from the heat caused by improper alignment would. One blown tire incident on a busy freeway was all it took for me to be a believer in trailer maintenance.