bowtech-ken
New member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2008
- Posts
- 1
I am looking at purchasing a toy hauler 5er with 3 axles. How do the number of axles affect towing & turning in tight spaces?
Ken
Ken
# of axles & towing difficulty
- Thread starter bowtech-ken
- Start date
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glfredrick
Well-known member
I've pulled a number of rigs, from ball-hitch trailers to full-on semi flat beds for heavy equipment that have had 3 axles. They always effect your turning ability, and to the extent that you are willing to scrub a set of tires, you can or cannot turn very sharply with those type of rigs.
I have blown tires off of one axle (front or rear, typically front, which seems to carry more weight than the rear) by turning too sharply and pulling a tire right off a rim, so caution is used when turning sharply with 3 axles.
That being said, they do handle a load well, especially a toy hauler which is typically rear-heavy. You may have to adjust your driving technique to do a jog-turn, small bits at a time, back and forth, until you get the trailer pointed in the proper direction. If you do need to do a sharp turn, watch to make sure you do not roll your tires off the rims. Also watch curbs and entrances to lots, etc., where the extra set of wheels can catch you unprepared to make the turn.
I have blown tires off of one axle (front or rear, typically front, which seems to carry more weight than the rear) by turning too sharply and pulling a tire right off a rim, so caution is used when turning sharply with 3 axles.
That being said, they do handle a load well, especially a toy hauler which is typically rear-heavy. You may have to adjust your driving technique to do a jog-turn, small bits at a time, back and forth, until you get the trailer pointed in the proper direction. If you do need to do a sharp turn, watch to make sure you do not roll your tires off the rims. Also watch curbs and entrances to lots, etc., where the extra set of wheels can catch you unprepared to make the turn.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
You will scrub those front tires as they get dragged sideways in even a moderate turn. Plan on rotating them to share the wear. Have never heard of an RV with a triple axle pulling a tire off, though. Loads probably aren't high enough to do that - the tires slides sideways before the bead-to-rim seal breaks loose. I'm sure it is possible, but must be pretty rare on an RV.
glfredrick
Well-known member
Indeed. I've done it while pulling heavy loads on relatively short trailers with gooseneck and ball hitch rigs (25K+ on 18') and while pulling a 45 foot tri-axle lowboy while driving over the road semi.
RVs may be light enough to scrub before loosing a bead. Note that loosing a bead wasn't an everyday occurance, but it would happen once or twice a season.
RVs may be light enough to scrub before loosing a bead. Note that loosing a bead wasn't an everyday occurance, but it would happen once or twice a season.
Popin' the bead loose isn't a common issue anymore with 16" tires on trailers.
I pull a tripple axle GN stock trailer (7k axles) twice weekly on one of my runs. Most folks are suprised at the better braking/lighter GN or pin weight loads compared to same sixe tandam axle rigs/much better handling from the tripple.
Not all tripple axle rigs are created equal. The same can be said for tandam axle rigs also.
I pull a tripple axle GN stock trailer (7k axles) twice weekly on one of my runs. Most folks are suprised at the better braking/lighter GN or pin weight loads compared to same sixe tandam axle rigs/much better handling from the tripple.
Not all tripple axle rigs are created equal. The same can be said for tandam axle rigs also.
glfredrick
Well-known member
Amen to the load capacity and lighter pin weight. With 3 axles you can tote more load than most tow rigs can pull.
On my big-rig trailer, I once had 185,00# on the trailer! Front tire came off the ground on take-off, and I broke a crossmember under the 5th wheel on the Freightliner cabover I was using to pull that load. Fortunately, I only had to pull it 3 blocks and it paid $3000 to the truck. I figured it was worth it. The load was a huge crane that the contractor didn't want to have to break down into pieces to move to the next site.
With the ball hitch and gooseneck trailers, we were hauling firewood and equipment. Often 3 full cords of wet oak (7500# per cord) on a 3-axle ball hitch, pulled with a 1980 Chevy 1 ton set up for off-road use w/44" mud tires, built engine, modified everything at over 500HP. That's what it took to drag that trailer in and out of the woods loaded. With the gooseneck, we were hauling 5 cords and the trailers themselves were relatively heavy as they were steel-side dump models. We pulled them w/Ford F450 460 gas. That was before diesels were common.
On my big-rig trailer, I once had 185,00# on the trailer! Front tire came off the ground on take-off, and I broke a crossmember under the 5th wheel on the Freightliner cabover I was using to pull that load. Fortunately, I only had to pull it 3 blocks and it paid $3000 to the truck. I figured it was worth it. The load was a huge crane that the contractor didn't want to have to break down into pieces to move to the next site.
With the ball hitch and gooseneck trailers, we were hauling firewood and equipment. Often 3 full cords of wet oak (7500# per cord) on a 3-axle ball hitch, pulled with a 1980 Chevy 1 ton set up for off-road use w/44" mud tires, built engine, modified everything at over 500HP. That's what it took to drag that trailer in and out of the woods loaded. With the gooseneck, we were hauling 5 cords and the trailers themselves were relatively heavy as they were steel-side dump models. We pulled them w/Ford F450 460 gas. That was before diesels were common.
tinner12002
Active member
The number of axles also depends on the length of the 5th wheel. On the toy boxes I've been looking at, lengths under 36' are tandom axles and most everything above that in length are the triples so it just depends on what size trailer your needing or can get by with. I seen one the other day, it wasn't a toy box but it had 2 dually axles, kind of unusual for a 5th wheel.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
It's weight, rather than length, that dictates the need for more axles. A 36 footer, of course, is very heavy.
