Upgrade trailer axle possible?

[thunder86]

I have a gatormade trailer with 3,500 lb axles. How and where would you go to get a axle upgrade? Afterwards if I was in an accident would I be at fault with an insurance adjuster or would he honor that I upgraded my axles? The trailer stamp would have the same weight unless I took it somewhere and they redid the stamp if that’s legal? Thanks.

 

[sea2summit]

You can easily upgrade the axles, maybe a 30 min job depending on how rusted the existing hardware is...but what about everything else?

Maybe some more info on what you're trying to accomplish would help.

 

[4570Man]

You could upgrade them if you wanted but it’s still a 7,000 pound trailer. You can’t just slap on bigger axels and start hauling 10,000 pounds.

 

[thunder86]

I’m just looking to make what I’m hauling legal if I was ever in an accident.
I’ve got 3,500lb axles so I can haul 5250lbs. I’m looking at hauling roughly 6,200lbs.
I'm confident my Gatormade trailer will haul something 1,000 pounds heavier than the rating but if I’m ever in an accident I’m automatically at fault. I’m only driving 15 minutes.

 

[Jstpssng]

I’m just looking to make what I’m hauling legal if I was ever in an accident.
I’ve got 3,500lb axles so I can haul 5250lbs. I’m looking at hauling roughly 6,200lbs.
I'm confident my Gatormade trailer will haul something 1,000 pounds heavier than the rating but if I’m ever in an accident I’m automatically at fault. I’m only driving 15 minutes.

You can't change the legal weight rating of the trailer. Only the manufacturer can do that. So it comes down to how much risk you want to assume by exceeding that number. You can probably drive all of your life without a problem; but all that it takes is one bozo pulling out in front of you.

I don't know how that works with homemade trailers which have no weight rating.

 

[jones6780]

The trailer was engineered to carry a heaver load but the working load has to be less so the trailer won't fail due to metal fatigue. If you haul more than rated you will be responsible. Only way around that is to get an engineer to certify the trailer to carry the heaver load.


Why change the axels? If you are going to overload the trailer, why not just overload the axels too!

 

[TractorGuy]

I thought about contacting the manufacture of my trailer to see if they would upgrade the axles and trailer rating. The spec tag on the trailer has long since faded out but that info is on the registration that I keep in the truck. My trailer, as do many others, offered a 5200 LB axle upgrade. I am assuming they just put the heavier duty axles, brakes, wheels, tires, and springs on the same frame.

Then I realized my little F150 is only rated to pull 7200 lbs with my engine, trans, and rear axle combo so the point was moot.

 

[sea2summit]

I’m just looking to make what I’m hauling legal if I was ever in an accident.
I’ve got 3,500lb axles so I can haul 5250lbs. I’m looking at hauling roughly 6,200lbs.
I'm confident my Gatormade trailer will haul something 1,000 pounds heavier than the rating but if I’m ever in an accident I’m automatically at fault. I’m only driving 15 minutes.

50% of all accidents happen within 5 minutes of home and 77% happen within 15 minutes of home. The distance doesn't matter for the mom stopped at the stop sign in the minivan that spills her coffee in her lap and takes her foot off the brake as a result just as you are approaching from the side.

You're talking about a trailer gross weight increase of almost 20%, that's significant and it would require more thought into the other parts of the suspension beyond the axles, mounts, your brakes, etc.

To do it I think you'd have to "destroy" the trailer then reregister it as a home built with your new weights.

 

[RandyT]

It may not be as easy as upgrading the axles. The frame, hitch, safety chains all come into play at that time. And even if you are not at fault in the accident can still cause issues with insurance. Like if you are hit broadside by a drunk driver that runs a red light and you die in the accident, Your life insurance can be denied to your family. And yes there is an Indiana supreme court case to back that up.

 

[4570Man]

It may not be as easy as upgrading the axles. The frame, hitch, safety chains all come into play at that time. And even if you are not at fault in the accident can still cause issues with insurance. Like if you are hit broadside by a drunk driver that runs a red light and you die in the accident, Your life insurance can be denied to your family. And yes there is an Indiana supreme court case to back that up.

Agreed. Either accept the fact you’re overloaded and roll on or buy another trailer that’s rated for the job. There’s really no in between. Personally I wouldn’t loose any sleep over a trailer overloaded within reason as long as the tow vehicle is up to the job.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

You really need to sell your trailer and buy the one you REALLY want!

SR

 

[crazyal]

Everyone is going to give you the standard "no" answer. Would I do it, probably not. Do I think the rest of the trailer could handle it, most likely. I've seen lots of homemade trailers and trailers made from mobile home frame/ axles that carry far more than I would put on them. The 3 biggest things are the tires, suspension, and brakes. The biggest problem with swapping them out is going to be the cost vs just selling what you have and getting what you need.

As far as an accident goes, I'm not sure why people keep talking about someone pulling out in front of you, first that's not your fault, secondly that's not going to put a lot of stress on the trailer's frame, the brakes yes, but those would be upgraded. Where you could run into trouble would be if going around a corner and the trailer frame fails causing your load to fall off and onto another vehicle.

As for weight the trailer will hold once you modify it the original tag is meaningless. You can reregister it as homemade where you can set the weight it's rated for. But, again, by the time you buy replacement axles (you'll find your wheel's bolt pattern is now wrong), tires/ wheels, and new springs I doubt you'll save any money.

 

[Jstpssng]

Everyone is going to give you the standard "no" answer. Would I do it, probably not. Do I think the rest of the trailer could handle it, most likely. I've seen lots of homemade trailers and trailers made from mobile home frame/ axles that carry far more than I would put on them. The 3 biggest things are the tires, suspension, and brakes. The biggest problem with swapping them out is going to be the cost vs just selling what you have and getting what you need.

As far as an accident goes, I'm not sure why people keep talking about someone pulling out in front of you, first that's not your fault, secondly that's not going to put a lot of stress on the trailer's frame, the brakes yes, but those would be upgraded. Where you could run into trouble would be if going around a corner and the trailer frame fails causing your load to fall off and onto another vehicle.

As for weight the trailer will hold once you modify it the original tag is meaningless. You can reregister it as homemade where you can set the weight it's rated for. But, again, by the time you buy replacement axles (you'll find your wheel's bolt pattern is now wrong), tires/ wheels, and new springs I doubt you'll save any money.

If you're over the weight rating for the trailer it could very well be considered your fault. I've never been sure about how homemade trailers are treated. In many states he would need to provide a VIN # to license it and would need to have it inspected by somebody from DMV.

 

[4570Man]

Everyone is going to give you the standard "no" answer. Would I do it, probably not. Do I think the rest of the trailer could handle it, most likely. I've seen lots of homemade trailers and trailers made from mobile home frame/ axles that carry far more than I would put on them. The 3 biggest things are the tires, suspension, and brakes. The biggest problem with swapping them out is going to be the cost vs just selling what you have and getting what you need.

As far as an accident goes, I'm not sure why people keep talking about someone pulling out in front of you, first that's not your fault, secondly that's not going to put a lot of stress on the trailer's frame, the brakes yes, but those would be upgraded. Where you could run into trouble would be if going around a corner and the trailer frame fails causing your load to fall off and onto another vehicle.

As for weight the trailer will hold once you modify it the original tag is meaningless. You can reregister it as homemade where you can set the weight it's rated for. But, again, by the time you buy replacement axles (you'll find your wheel's bolt pattern is now wrong), tires/ wheels, and new springs I doubt you'll save any money.

The stamp on the side of the trailer says 7,000 pounds. You could put a set of semi tandoms under it and it’s still a 7,000 pound trailer. I personally don’t think overloading a trailer by 1000 pounds as long as the tow vehicle is rated for it that much liability but upgrading the axels doesn’t change the liability. It could potentially make it worse. You could pled ignorance by putting 6,000 pounds on a 7,000 pound trailer. Especially since to the uninformed person that seems logical. But by upgrading the axels you knew full well what you were doing and should’ve just gotten a heavier trailer. Not to mention for what new axels, brakes and tires will cost you’d be ahead to just buy a 10 or 14k trailer.

 

[RandyT]

The stamp on the side of the trailer says 7,000 pounds. You could put a set of semi tandoms under it and it’s still a 7,000 pound trailer. I personally don’t think overloading a trailer by 1000 pounds as long as the tow vehicle is rated for it that much liability but upgrading the axels doesn’t change the liability. It could potentially make it worse. You could pled ignorance by putting 6,000 pounds on a 7,000 pound trailer. Especially since to the uninformed person that seems logical. But by upgrading the axels you knew full well what you were doing and should’ve just gotten a heavier trailer. Not to mention for what new axels, brakes and tires will cost you’d be ahead to just buy a 10 or 14k trailer.

Totally agree. Just because it may not be your fault in an accident, Intent can cause issues if your are sued. They can even argue that the extra weight of the trailer above its intended weight limit could contribute to extra damage in the accident leading to partial blame.

If a person does some searching you would be surprised what little things caused big issues for people in accidents. Denial of life insurance benefits when T boned by a drunk driver that ran a red light on the premise that the trailer being towed by the T boned vehicle exceeded the rated tow capacity by a few hundred pounds.

Construction company employees driving a Chevy 3500 towing a trailer with a tracked skid steer awarded $6M bankrupting the company and the company was found liable because they didn't use the required weight distributor hitch.

 

[Jstpssng]

Another one, when I was doing tree work. One of the company bucket trucks was parked facing traffic while trimming trees. High school let out, and one of the kids was tearing down through the right hand turn lane while laughing at his buddies who were stuck in the traffic, and hit the truck headon. Because it was parked against traffic the company was deemed at fault and paid all of his hospital bills.
"Left wheels to curb" is a summonable offense, yet happens often.

 

[blacktruck]

I’m just looking to make what I’m hauling legal if I was ever in an accident.
I’ve got 3,500lb axles so I can haul 5250lbs. I’m looking at hauling roughly 6,200lbs.
I'm confident my Gatormade trailer will haul something 1,000 pounds heavier than the rating but if I’m ever in an accident I’m automatically at fault. I’m only driving 15 minutes.

If it worries you about being a bit over the GVWR of your trailer, trade up and get a heavier rated trailer. It seems like you plan on doing this more than once or twice so put your mind at ease and trade up.

You can't change the legal weight rating of the trailer. Only the manufacturer can do that. So it comes down to how much risk you want to assume by exceeding that number. You can probably drive all of your life without a problem; but all that it takes is one bozo pulling out in front of you.

I don't know how that works with homemade trailers which have no weight rating.

Correct. The GVWR of the trailer is set by the manufacturer. The only way to do that in my home state is to make it a home built trailer and go through the inspection process of getting a new title with the appropriate GVWR. It is doable but you have to be able to prove all the components are rated for the rating you are trying to achieve. A home built trailer will get a new VIN from the state and have to have a VIN tag firmly affixed to the frame. For all that was said, just get a bigger trailer. Much easier that way. Figure out the weight of what you want to move, the frequency of those moves, special equipment needed and then just add money and you will get what you need and want. Easy stuff. Let us know what you decide to do. I am sure there is plenty more advice available if needed.

 

[Jstpssng]

I am sure there is plenty more advice available if needed.

I think that we've covered the bases pretty well. Some say "do it", others say "don't do it."