Escape 13 Tires & Wheels

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by comsult

A little disappointed in the build. Way over sized & Enlarged holes in the frame to mount the axle.
Looks like the holes were cut with a torch, rather than drilled.

That is disappointing.

These holes don't need to locate the axle assembly vertically under load; that's done by the axle bracket being up against the bottom of the frame), and some Torflex brackets have a vertical slot instead of a hole. They do locate it fore and aft; a properly fitting hole would be nice.

I can't imagine torching a hole in production. I wonder if drilled or punched holes didn't line up and someone used a torch to make it fit?

The usual method of bolting Torflex axle assemblies to a frame is to buy side mounting brackets and weld them on. Escape has (as far as I know) always used these custom-fabricated mounting plates which are substantially thicker, and place the axle bracket directly against the frame. If it is properly made, I think it's a sound design.

Originally Posted by comsult

I've decided that I'll use all 6 side mounting holes in the axle to mount it to the frame.

There are two side-mounting holes in each of the two brackets, so I wondered what other hole would be used. There are usually a couple more holes for running wires - I suppose you could use those.

[cpaharley2008]

It is possible those are not the factory or original axles and were previously replaced?

[comsult]

The Dexter Mounting Bracket welded to the Axle has one fore, one aft, and one just to the rear of the axle. To mount the Axle, both sides only need the 2 holes, one in the front and one in the back of the axle mount to fit the holes in the Frame mounting bracket. (See Pics Attached) Forgive my drippy paint job.
MY axle has a total of 4 holes in the axle bracket per side. 3 original and one additional one in the front to fit the torched hole in the Frame bracket.
The holes in the Axle Bracket are all drilled to fit a 1/2 inch bolt.
I decided to use the "centre" hole in the axle bracket as an additional mounting hole.
The bottom holes are the ones that were added and used to attach the Axle.
If you take a look at Pic #7 in the first set of photos I posted, you can see the "Centre" hole in the Axle Bracket.
Note to cpaharley2008 I purchased the trailer directly from Escape in 2012 and picked it up in March 2013. This was a special order 13, as Escape has just stopped producing the 13, but we wanted one to pull behind our 4cyl Outback.
I now tow with a 6cyl Tacoma, but we still love our Escape 13.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by comsult

The Dexter Mounting Bracket welded to the Axle has one fore, one aft, and one just to the rear of the axle. To mount the Axle, both sides only need the 2 holes, one in the front and one in the back of the axle mount to fit the holes in the Frame mounting bracket.

I agree.

Originally Posted by comsult

MY axle has a total of 4 holes in the axle bracket per side. 3 original and one additional one in the front to fit the torched hole in the Frame bracket.
The holes in the Axle Bracket are all drilled to fit a 1/2 inch bolt.
I decided to use the "centre" hole in the axle bracket as an additional mounting hole.
The bottom holes are the ones that were added and used to attach the Axle.

If you look at the drawing in the Torflex #10 section (page 24) of the Dexter Axle catalog for light-duty axles, I think you'll see that four holes are standard, and that the lower (and outer) holes are the ones intended for bolts and correctly used by Escape (with the upper/inner ones for wiring access and presumably unused). Although they happen to be the same size and you could put a bolt through any of them, for sufficient strength the holes closer to the ends of the bracket (which are the lower ones) need to be used.

[comsult]

Thanks for that info Brian B-P
So it looks like Escape did not drill any additional holes in the Axle mounting bracket after all. Makes me feel a little better.
I don't think using 3 bolts per side is going to make any difference rather than 2 per side.
So I did find the torque specs for the mounting bracket 70-90 lbs on a 1/2 inch bolt. I've also gone with steel lock nuts (or Stover type) torquing it to 80lbs - should be good to go.
Tires and wheels arrive tomorrow, must just get them mounted. Discussing it with the Tire shop as to balancing or not. My previous wheels were dynamically balanced, so I think I'll have these done too. (Probably could start another thread just mentioning balancing trailer tires & wheels) LOL. Again will take pics once everything is assembled.

[comsult]

Fitted and Torqued down. Cables Run and Fastened. Task Complete. I'm very happy with the results.

[Brian B-P]

Looks good

It looks like you have a 10 degree down arm start angle and low profile brackets. If you ever replace it, you can get a similar height with either the same angle and a high profile brackets, or 22.5 degrees down and low profile brackets... and no need for the spacers.

[comsult]

Thanks Brian; Not planning on replacing the Axle, but will keep that in mind. Probably looking at purchasing a replacement trailer, a 17B comes to mind. Maybe in my near future. I keep my eye on the for sale section. I don't think, i'll have any problem selling mine.
Thanks for the information you provided while I was doing this project. I do go to Red Deer on occasion, maybe we could meet ?
Regards
Greg

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by comsult

Thanks for the information you provided while I was doing this project. I do go to Red Deer on occasion, maybe we could meet ?

If you make it further north - Edmonton or so - that would be great