Sawyer Rob
Super Member
You really need to sell your trailer and buy the one you REALLY want!
SR
SR
Upgrade trailer axle possible?
- Thread starter thunder86
- Start date
crazyal
Super Member
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.
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
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2015
- Messages
- 17,822
- Location
- Crossville, TN
- Tractor
- Kubota M59, Kubota L3800, Grasshopper 428D, Topkick dump truck, 3500 dump truck, 10 ton trailer, more lighter trailers.
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
Elite Member
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.
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.
"Left wheels to curb" is a summonable offense, yet happens often.
blacktruck
Gold Member
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.
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.
