Square tube drop axle flip

[tpothen]

My project boat, a 1994 Wellcraft Eclipse 182s, came with a Magnum brand trailer. When on the trailer the outdrive skeg sits about 3 inches off the ground when tilted all the way up. Pulling the boat home I didn't have any issues but backing it into my driveway was a different story. My driveway has a short but fairly steep up hill and when backing in with the maximum angle to the driveway I can get I ended up having to use 3 inches worth of boards on the low side of the trailer, needless to say it took about 45 minutes of moving the blocks after every 2 feet of backing before the boat was sitting where I needed it.

My question is.. can my axle be flipped or moved to the outside of the springs. It's a 3" square tube with a drop welded on the ends.

This is what the trailer looks like. Going with bigger tires isn't an option because of the fenders.


This is what the axle looks like.


I'm not sure if the axle has a bend in it like a round axle but it's about a 3" square. Would flipping it be ok to do or would I be better off moving the axle from above the leaf springs to below?

 

[ahicks]

That engine does not appear to be fully "tilted". I'm not totally familiar with it, but many have trim AND tilt. The engine in the pic appears to be trimmed out fully - but it should be capable of something much closer to horizontal fully tilted for trailering.

As far as the axle, no way can the axle be flipped.

 

[tpothen]

The photo of the boat is for reference of what my trailer looks like, I have an I/O. So if the axle can't be flipped would moving it to the outside of the leaf springs be ok?

 

[redneck joe]

Pics of the actual boat would be best, with the sterndrive in the position you attempted at.

 

[redneck joe]

But you should be able to flip axles also, i dropped mine to under when i rehabbed mine

 

[Maclin]

If you mean the axle is mounted bottom of the springs now, and by "flipping" it you mean change it to top of the springs, then maybe. But if you mean just turning the axle 180 degrees to turn the "drop" into a "raise", then probably not. Usually a drop axle is intended to lower the center of gravity with the drop being oriented as your diagram shows, and has some camber built into the axle, set for that orientation. If you are deadset on changing the trailer then I would just change out the current axle with a straight one.

 

[GA_Boater]

Is the trailer fairly level on the ball? Too high will cause the situation you're explaining and a 3" lift isn't very much.

A photo of your trailer hooked up would help.

 

[tpothen]

Thanks all. I'll try to get a picture tonight. By "flipping" I mean to rotate the axle 180, this sounds like it would be a bad idea. My other idea was to move the axle to the bottom of the springs (currently it sits between the springs and frame.

The trailer sits close to perfectly level. The boat came from my in-laws who purchased it new, they say the skeg was always about 3" off the ground but didn't worry about it as they didn't trailer it all that much and they're driveway is flat.

 

[Silvertip]

Flipping a drop axle adds a great deal of torsional stress on the entire suspension since it is not acting as a longer "lever". Moving the springs above the axle is one approach but will only gain you the 3-inch thickness of the tube. That does not translate to 3-inches at the motor.

 

[bruceb58]

You normally can't flip an axle because many axles have a camber put into them when they are made. Moving them from one side of the leaf spring to the other can be done but you typically have to re-weld some spring perches onto the axle.

 

[89retta]

Instead of flipping the axle 180. Just install a redneck lift kit on it. Slip a few hockey pucks between the axle and leaf springs.

 

[tpothen]

Here's a crappy phone picture, kind of hard to see the outdrive though. The trailer is sitting level, the angle you see is the drive way. The trouble area is just in front of the boat, the drive way drops down at quite the angle.



I won't be doing a 180 flip of the axle. If I move the axle from the top of the leaf springs (between springs and frame) to below the leaf springs (between leaf springs and the ground) I should be able to get a good 3 and a half inches, the thickness of the axle plus the thickness of the leaf springs. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Going with a new axle isn't going to happen as the trailer was custom made for the boat, so I doubt it's a standard off the shelf size.

 

[Alumarine]

You can order custom axles for not much more than a standard axle if it turns out you need one.

 

[89retta]

Yes you should be fine with the way you are going to do it. Couple questions for you though . Is your outdrive all the way up and have you winterized your boat ?

 

[tpothen]

Thanks 89retta. The outdrive is all the way up, there's currently no motor in the boat to winterize, i have a thread under the Volvo Penta section on this site for doing a rebuild.

 

[ahicks]

Don't worry about getting custom sizes. They're all custom pretty much, when you're doing a replacement. Get in touch with Dexter axle. They'll take care of you and the cost is not prohibitive.

Do worry regarding your plan to move the axle under the spring. The issue is there's generally something on the axle to locate it on the spring and keep it from twisting. That's going to be missing on the top of the axle - the part that will be in contact with the springs when you do what you are thinking of.

 

[tpothen]

The entire axle is a square tube and looking at the picture there's nothing to hold the axle in place unless there's some type of pin that I wouldn't be able to see without taking it apart.

 

[Alumarine]

There's a pin on the spring and a hole in the axle that keeps it located.

 

[tpothen]

Ok, that takes care of that. I'll be looking into a new axle. Thanks all.

 

[redneck joe]

Might as well do new spring.


be careful driving out the bolt on the bracket if it is rusted in there. I broke a fin off mine that cost a bunch of extra work.