Bent the brand spanking new Johnson Bar, shackles didn't reverse. Bounced the trailer a lot, just scratched the paint. Oh yeah almost tipped the tractor over. Still didn't reverse the shackles. Plan C, take the tires off remove the shackles and try to put them back on the right way. Plan D, trailer dealer. Can't say I haven't had fun trying.
Tandem axle Trailer,rear axle stuck off the ground
- Thread starter jjcc246
- Start date
One thing to check before going to a longer cheater bar to "flip" things around is to just make sure that some of your hardware that connects your tandem axles to where it pivots is not overtightened. On my old tandem trailer, the front axle use to always ride a couple of inches off the road unless the trailer had a good load on it. A friend mentioned about this and backing a half turn off on the nut for the pivot bolt allowed it to pivot like it's supposed to. Of course, don't back it off too much.........
Roscoe
New member
Something is not right here, I used to be able to flip the shackles back on my Toyota landcruiser without having to take the weight off it.
I presume each axle has its own set of springs, if so, for the rear to be off the ground then the front axle is the culprit.
Check that the shackles on the front springs are angled away from the axle, eg, if the shackles are at the front end of the springs then the shackle plates must be angled forward.
If a shackle has flipped over, this locks the spring so it cant move plus it forces the spring into an over-arch position, the ends of the spring leaves have normally moved away from the next leaf. This in turn lifts the body of the vehicle higher than its normal ride height and this could be why your rear axle is off the ground.
Worth checking anyway.
cheers
roscoe
I presume each axle has its own set of springs, if so, for the rear to be off the ground then the front axle is the culprit.
Check that the shackles on the front springs are angled away from the axle, eg, if the shackles are at the front end of the springs then the shackle plates must be angled forward.
If a shackle has flipped over, this locks the spring so it cant move plus it forces the spring into an over-arch position, the ends of the spring leaves have normally moved away from the next leaf. This in turn lifts the body of the vehicle higher than its normal ride height and this could be why your rear axle is off the ground.
Worth checking anyway.
cheers
roscoe
bncsauve
Silver Member
I would tend to agree from your description of the orientation of the shackles, it sounds like the front axle needs to have its shackle flipped the other way.
fixed it yesterday. I had to remove the rear spring shackle, pry the spring down and reattach the shackle. Actually a very simple job. I asked at a trailer dealer what could have caused the flip and he told me it's fairly common and it's usally caused by the brakes on one axle tighter than the other. I think what happened was when I let my friend use the trailer, he didn't have a brake controller and I know some harnesses are wired that the backup lights are where the brake controller wire is. I think when we plugged it in and he reversed it applied the brakes causing them to bind. He pulled it after I fixed it and we didn't use the plug and no problems. At any rate I'm up and running at no cost except a little sweat. Thanks for your replies.
