R22 Discussion Group

Consult fro the Rhodes 22 Wisdom group.

I spoke to the trailer shop I use about this, and we concluded that it did not make economic sense. In other words, the cost for the conversion would represent a substantial portion of the cost of a new trailer.  The quote I got from Triad for a new trailer was around $5K and it would cost several thousand dollars to add a second axle to my trailer - which is already at least 20 years old. You'd be selling your old trailer to help defray the cost of a new one but I can't say what you can get for it.

Your trailer may differ from mine. I have a Trailmaster that is likely from the same era as my boat (2000). It has heavy-duty fenders over the wheels that would have to be removed & rebuilt. A previous owner installed surge brakes and those would need to be disconnected and reinstalled, since you'd probably want to move the existing axle forward when adding a second behind it. If you're going to do it right you'd probably want electric brakes anyway. You'd need to buy a new axle, wheels, tires, springs, fenders plus anything that needs replacing on your existing axle set. Then there's the cost of the labor to move the old one forward and install the new one.

Another thing they told me to consider: a dual axle trailer is much more sensitive to hitch height than a single axle. If you don't get the dual axle trailer to be level when on the hitch then one of the axles will be carrying less than half the weight.

I wonder if there is any real-world data out there regarding the relative safety of single vs. dual axle on trailers like ours. It would be good to know what the true advantage is (if any) when looking at the costs.

Hope that helps. Let us know if you decide to move forward.

Mark

Boston, MA
2000 R22 *Luna Mia*

The Rhodes 22 Discussion Group

Mark Whipple

Trailer Axles