trailer rides to passenger side

[hammer]

My single axle trailer pulls four inches to the right behind my truck. It does not sway at any speed but is for inches to one side than the other. whats up?

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

your axle isnt centered under your trailer. it has sliped on one side or the other. park on a flat spot and drop a plumb bob from the center of the hitch and make a spot on the ground. mesure from mark to same place on both sides of your axle. you will need to move axle on one side forward of back till you have the same mesurement on both sides.
this could be caused by loose u bolts on springs or broken center bolt on springs

 

[180shabah]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

Yup, axle is not squared to the hitch.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

I would about bet its the right side that has moved too.....look for loose bolts

 

[reelfishin]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

If your axle isn't aligned equally with your hitch, in effect it's steering you trailer to one side. It also can make for a really interesting trailer to back up, especially in close quarters. Measure the distance to each wheel from your hitch, then determine whether one side needs to come forward or back.
Chances are either a bolt or U bolt has failed or someone hit a curb and knocked the axle out of position.
I've yet to buy a trailer that's been properly aligned, even new. It seems no one out there knows how to align a trailer axle these days.
I just picked one up last weekend that had it's axle bolted in more than an inch further back on the left side. It was a pretty new trailer too with no signs of the axle ever having moved. Chances are it left the dealer that way when new.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

easy to correct. just block up the trailer. measure from the front center of the coupling, to the same place on each side of the axle. then move one side so they are equal. lower the trailer tongue to ground, block up back end, not raise the tongue. should relief weight off axle.

 

[Pascal]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

My first thought was that the axle has moved as well. Upon further reflection, there are a couple of other posibilities......

Is you trailer hitch centered between the wheels of your tow vehicle??

Check the coupler to rear frame corner distances as well. That will tell you if the frame/tongue is bent/straight. This problem would also translate as different distances when you measure your axle as well.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

Fixing this is matter of how the trailer is built. If the suspension is mounted on a sub-frame that can be moved forward and backward on the trailer frame, then you simply need to nudge the subframe forward and retighten the bolts. If the spring hangers are actually welded to the frame, then the only thing that can cause misalignment is as was mentioned, the center bolt on the spring has broken which can allow the axle to move. Normally, the bolt that holds the spring leafs together sits in a hole in the spring saddle on the axle. If that orientation is lost, the axle can move.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: trailer rides to passenger side

A bent coupler or tongue doesn't have that much effect on a trailer unless it's pretty severe and that would be obvious.
A broken spring boat would be pretty easy to spot as well, just jack up the trailer and try moving the axle around. If it moves front to back you have broken parts. If it's mounted solid, look close at how the axle assembly is mounted. Most boat trailers are adjustable but there are a few that are welded fixed but on them, there's nothing to move or come loose other than something breaking.
A bent axle can also contribute to the same effect but that too would be pretty noticeable if the trailer is tracking that far off center.