Seized torsion suspension

[coolbane]

Checking the clamshell trailer yesterday and find there is absolutely no movement in the swing arm of the torsion suspension. The arm seems to be seized solid in the axle. It is a Easton of about 2011 vintage.

 

Anyone come across this before and have a solution. A new axle assembly is about $800 so I'd rather not go there!!

 

I thought these torsion suspensions were supposed to be bulletproof and maintenance free😟

[Strong Farmer]

10 hours ago, coolbane said:

Checking the clamshell trailer yesterday and find there is absolutely no movement in the swing arm of the torsion suspension. The arm seems to be seized solid in the axle. It is a Easton of about 2011 vintage.

 

Anyone come across this before and have a solution. A new axle assembly is about $800 so I'd rather not go there!!

 

I thought these torsion suspensions were supposed to be bulletproof and maintenance free😟

Probabily got road grit in there and rusted and siezed. Many break. Winter brime is hard on trailers. Not un common to have to rebuild suspension and axle assembly after 10 years. Do it right or it will break leaving you stranded. 
I make a habitat of spraying engine storage spray on axle assembly and springs after winter. Seems to extend life abit. 

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

11 hours ago, coolbane said:

Checking the clamshell trailer yesterday and find there is absolutely no movement in the swing arm of the torsion suspension. The arm seems to be seized solid in the axle. It is a Easton of about 2011 vintage.

 

Anyone come across this before and have a solution. A new axle assembly is about $800 so I'd rather not go there!!

 

I thought these torsion suspensions were supposed to be bulletproof and maintenance free😟

Torsion axles are maintenance free. I guess that is also why they are basically non repairable. That said, like most other metal items, they don't like salt over long terms.

I don't understand why they seize up as the piece that goes inside the axle shaft is mounted in rubber when new.  Maybe somehow road sand or some other material has filled the voids in the axle tube or the rubber has broken down??

Lots of info if you do a Google search. Here's a pick of the inside of a torsion axle tube:

 

[Gadgetman]

I have a circa 2004 Triton clamshell, with original Torsion axle, still working. 

By chance, are you parking on grass? When I phoned a dealer discussing axle replacement, his position was that my axle should be fine, as long as I didn't store the trailer on grass, as that has moisture in close proximity to the axle all season, which he has seen appears to shorten the life of the axle.

[04nightfire]

I can't help with this other than I take my trailer for a drive every once and a while during the off season just to keep things moving.  Does it help? who knows, but in my mind it does.

[Spiderman]

30 minutes ago, 04nightfire said:

I can't help with this other than I take my trailer for a drive every once and a while during the off season just to keep things moving.  Does it help? who knows, but in my mind it does.

Moving parts need to move - for sure helps

[Sksman]

14 hours ago, coolbane said:

Checking the clamshell trailer yesterday and find there is absolutely no movement in the swing arm of the torsion suspension. The arm seems to be seized solid in the axle. It is a Easton of about 2011 vintage.

 

Anyone come across this before and have a solution. A new axle assembly is about $800 so I'd rather not go there!!

 

I thought these torsion suspensions were supposed to be bulletproof and maintenance free😟

$800 sounds cheap for an axle and if you have tools to do yourself right now.

 

 

 

[Sksman]

Where are you located?

 

Cerka in Milton sells trailer parts   

[Xfirecat]

I think I would take it for a drive on a bumpy road and see if it loosens up. When a torsion axle wears out the tires start to wear! The pic with the rubber is what’s inside so maybe it can be broken loose. You have nothing to lose by trying it! I replaced mine at the manufacturer but Princess auto should have something reasonable too. If you take it off for replacement, get a new piece of thin sheet insulating material if it’s dissimilar metal. Good luck. 

[Strong Farmer]

2 hours ago, 04nightfire said:

I can't help with this other than I take my trailer for a drive every once and a while during the off season just to keep things moving.  Does it help? who knows, but in my mind it does.

It helps for sure. I use my trailer for other things in off season. So it defiantly moves every month at a minimum. I can see if you store allot of weight over a long period of time and they don’t move maybe they seize up 🤷🏽‍♂️. 

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

I have always made it a practice to power wash the axle and bottom of trailer off as soon as possible after using it in the winter. I also do a good wash up in the spring and spray the axle and attachments with rust protection. There might be something to using the trailer all year being good for the suspension. I take off 6 bolts on my clamshell and using 4 small winch straps, I lift the enclosure up a few inches where I park the trailer in my shed. I can then use the trailer as a utility trailer all summer. The axle is a 1997 and has yet to give any issues.

[528rick]

try deep creep lubricant from crappy tire unless your replacing with a new unit .I have had good luck with it

[signfan]

7 hours ago, Xfirecat said:

I think I would take it for a drive on a bumpy road and see if it loosens up. When a torsion axle wears out the tires start to wear! The pic with the rubber is what’s inside so maybe it can be broken loose. You have nothing to lose by trying it! I replaced mine at the manufacturer but Princess auto should have something reasonable too. If you take it off for replacement, get a new piece of thin sheet insulating material if it’s dissimilar metal. Good luck. 

How do they wear with a bad axle?  Mine seems to still ride fine, but I'm noticing the inside treads on both tires are wearing much faster than the outer tread.

[catinental couch]

The torsion arm is integral with the “square” tube that twists inside the four rubber “springs”. If any one or two of the rubber “springs” crack, break or sag out, the torsion arm and tube usually go to the negative camber and toe out direction. Hence tire west on the inside tread. There is no repair for these situations except axle assembly replacement. 

[catinental couch]

Are you sure the torsion arm is not moving? Measure the end of the arm to the chassis and write down the measurement. Then give the trailer a bit of an overload and measure again. If the measurements are different then the axle is likely working as intended. 

[signfan]

33 minutes ago, catinental couch said:

The torsion arm is integral with the “square” tube that twists inside the four rubber “springs”. If any one or two of the rubber “springs” crack, break or sag out, the torsion arm and tube usually go to the negative camber and toe out direction. Hence tire west on the inside tread. There is no repair for these situations except axle assembly replacement. 

Sounds like that might be what's going on.  Will have to have a closer look at mine.

[coolbane]

Thanks guys, 

I took the wheels off the trailer today, sprayed penetrating oil at the crack where the torsion arm enters the square axle tube and started levering the torsion arm downwards with a 4ft crowbar. Initially there was no movement but after a period of levering I see there is very slight rotation between the torsion arm and the axle. That said, it still seems very stiff and has very little motion. 

On a 2200 LB axle, I would have thought I should be able to rotate the torsion arm pretty easily with the crowbar? Any thoughts? 

 

Does anyone know how much these sled trailers are designed to lower (due to suspension compression) when they are fully loaded?

[Strong Farmer]

2 hours ago, coolbane said:

Thanks guys, 

I took the wheels off the trailer today, sprayed penetrating oil at the crack where the torsion arm enters the square axle tube and started levering the torsion arm downwards with a 4ft crowbar. Initially there was no movement but after a period of levering I see there is very slight rotation between the torsion arm and the axle. That said, it still seems very stiff and has very little motion. 

On a 2200 LB axle, I would have thought I should be able to rotate the torsion arm pretty easily with the crowbar? Any thoughts? 

 

Does anyone know how much these sled trailers are designed to lower (due to suspension compression) when they are fully loaded?

If it isn’t moving  enough the tires will wear more rapidly on one side of tire. That would be easily visible. If tires look ok I would leave it alone and keep an eye on wear. 

[catinental couch]

I don’t understand why a suspension arm that is not moving enough would cause tires to wear on one side. If the toe is correct, it wouldn’t wear unevenly at all providing load a tire pressures are in range. 

[Ox]

12 hours ago, catinental couch said:

The torsion arm is integral with the “square” tube that twists inside the four rubber “springs”. If any one or two of the rubber “springs” crack, break or sag out, the torsion arm and tube usually go to the negative camber and toe out direction. Hence tire west on the inside tread. There is no repair for these situations except axle assembly replacement. 

 

Have you had Dexter's doo this?

Or other brands?

 

.

[VicFish]

6 hours ago, catinental couch said:

I don’t understand why a suspension arm that is not moving enough would cause tires to wear on one side. If the toe is correct, it wouldn’t wear unevenly at all providing load a tire pressures are in range. 

It's not the not moving enough part that is causing the tire wear on the inside of the tire. Not moving enough is merely one of the symptoms of the same problem along with the tire wear.

 

If one section of the torsion rubber is damaged either by dry rot, worn out or unevenly worn it may cause both tire wear and a lack of motion. The tire wear comes from the end of the torsion axle is no longer sitting squarely to the axle tube because of the worn out or damaged rubber.

 

 

[stoney]

When I replaced my trailer tires recently on my trailer I noticed the one tire had uneven wear, cannot recall if it was the inside or outside, but by coincidence it was the same side of the trailer that I usually haul a single sled on.

So I now make a greater effort to alternate sides I tend to use that my sled goes on.

[catinental couch]

10 hours ago, Ox said:

 

Have you had Dexter's doo this?

Or other brands?

 

.

All brands. Depends on trailer, number of axles, load and type of driving as well as age and mileage. 

[catinental couch]

4 hours ago, VicFish said:

It's not the not moving enough part that is causing the tire wear on the inside of the tire. Not moving enough is merely one of the symptoms of the same problem along with the tire wear.

 

If one section of the torsion rubber is damaged either by dry rot, worn out or unevenly worn it may cause both tire wear and a lack of motion. The tire wear comes from the end of the torsion axle is no longer sitting squarely to the axle tube because of the worn out or damaged rubber.

 

 

Rubber damage by dry rot, wear, or uneven wear rarely causes lack of lever movement unless it is so bad it is jammed into the outer axle tube. 
 

Your explanation of tire wear is right on the money. Best explanation I have seen yet!! 🙂

[Dave K]

If its a Triton trailer, you wll need a Triton axle.  Triton has there own specs, that will be a little different than others.  I replaced an axle on my trailer a few years ago, due to seized surge brakes, and went with electric, and the local trailer supply shop couldnt get me an axle the same.  I have a tandem, and was only replacing one axle with brakes, not both.