Do any of you guys have experience with boat trailer axles? It's a single axle trailer. I ordered a new one from princess Auto for our boat trailer and I have two questions.
The first question is about the spacing between the center bolts on the leaf springs. The new axle is about 58 center to center on the holes and the old axle is about 58 and 3/4 center to center on the holes. Is that too much of a difference? Do I need to offset the shackles on the leaf springs slightly to compensate?
The second question is the mounting as you can see in the picture. Will that flat plate be too flat for the curve in the leaf spring? I'm concerned that if I tighten it up it will try and flatten out the arc in the leaf spring and could break it. I was thinking I could grind off the ends of it so that it wouldn't be such a flat area where that curve in the leaf spring has to sit. I hope that's all making sense. You can see in the picture what I mean. The old axle just has a hole in the tube and the new one has the flat spring hanger. The axle sits on top of the leaf spring in this application.
It looks like you are upgrading to a 3500# axle from a 2000# or lighter axle. 3/4 inch difference in spring centre bolts could prematurely wear out the spring bushings. If it was mine I would elongate the holes in the spring saddles to help with the difference in width. I would try it on the springs first and make sure if you existing mounting hardware will work. I did put a heavier axle in a cheap offshore trailer after the axle bending when driving over a curb. The spring pads on the new axle being longer than the original didnt seem to damage the original springs.
I have extensive experience with trailers of all kinds. If it were mine, I'd drill new holes in the bottom of the tube... if the pads interfere with your hardware, cut 'em off.
