I have a golden eagle single axle leaf spring pop top , I am considering flipping the axle to gain height ,does anyone have any experience with such an operation?
I have contacted a Geelong company who say they can perform the operation with no problems and that it is a quite common modification.
Also from reading other caravan forums it seem others have done the modification with no problems.
Any input from wiser members would be appreciated.
If I flipped the axles on our van ( no need raised by another alternative) I would notify my insurance company of the change, and seriously look at getting an organisation to do the job, not that I could not do the job myself, but just to cover any possible insurance issues.
A friend had his 14ft van and jeep rolled by a wind gust 30Km west of Nullabor Station sometime ago.
In May this year about 20Km west of Yalata, down the bottom of Big Bertha a long steep downhill slope a semi had been blown over, blocking the road luckly we were able to bypass using a rest area. 400Km west another semi had been blown over. To me a combination of wind and speed. My point is, if you ever have a prioblem similar to my friend, Insurance could be looking for excuses not to pay, ie you did not tell them about the mod.
Solid beam axles on caravans have toe-in ie the wheels are not totally parallel to each other. I don't know if this is intentional, or if it is the way the axle has been made ie they weld the stub axle on one side, and then the other side, but shrinkage in the weld as it cools means that the stub axle never returns back to what it was when the first started the welding. Net result - stub axles not 100% at right angles to the main cross beam. I suspect it is the way the axles were welded, and they never check if the stub axles are truly square to the main cross beam.
I have had 3 caravans in my life, and 2 of them (single axle vqns) have had wildly excessive toe-in in the axle from the factory. One had 11 mm toe-in at the tyre tread, the other 9 mm. Both vans wore out the tyres in less than 20000 km. The first van (11mm toe-in) was a Viscount camper trailer, and I took it back to the factory and they fixed it (but it still had toe-in). The second van was (still is) a Jayco poptop, and I had hell's own job getting Jayco to admit that their warranty should cover this. They side-stepped their responsibilities by saying it was the responsibility of the axle manufacturer (ALCO), but Jayco had mounted the axle about 20 mm offset and they certainly couldn't deny responsibility for that. A simple check with a tape measure prior to assembly would have found both faults. To their credit, ALKO repaired the axle and paid for 2 tyres, but it still had 5 mm toe-in. Eventually, they totally replaced the axle (still has about 3 mm toe-in) but tyre wear seems to be even now. ALKO claim that toe-in is necessary for stability. I am not so sure...
The point of this diatribe is that IF you already have toe-in on your axle, when they flip it, it will become toe-out and you will experience wear on the inner edges of your tyres. Most people probably don't do 20000 km in their vans, so this problem rarely arises, but I certainly did a lot more mileage and I am acutely aware of it. I have found 6 vans in caravan parks with badly worn inner edges of the tyres - the owners knew nothing about the problem. So by all means, flip the axle. You will have to change the brake levers over, but this is nothing major. Just check the alignment before & after the flip.
Our 21'6" Van has a 4 inch Chassis front to back, the 4 inch A frame (with an offset steel bar underneath for additional strength) is welded underneath the front to back chassis and goes to the front spring hanger of the Tandem wheels. I had this 4 inch tube extended to the rear stabilizers and had the spring hangers etc welded underneath.
Done for 2 reasons, have seen in the past a big-name 25ft caravan with a 4 inch chassis, ( ie similar setup to our original) look like a Banana (bent chassis)when not supported by stabilizers and 2ndly, we go bush and did not want any stress cracks. (Had a chassis stress crack on a previous vehicle)
My son modified his Jayco by swapping the whole suspension, axle and wheels. He fitted an OME set of after market springs designed for a LC 79 series, a 3T heavier straight axle and wheels and tyres to suit his Paj. ATM was increased by about 1Ton and it handled rough roads MUCH better. They did a lap, travelling for a full year with a family of 4 (2 teenagers) without incident (including the GRR). It was planned to also get shockers, but he ran out of time.
