Dual vs triple axles...

[CV-23]

My Loadmaster has 6,000lb dual axles and 16" E rated radial tires at 80psi. My 270/290 claims to be 5800lbs dry and my trailer is 2200lbs. I have not weighted the combo yet but I'm sure I'm at 10,000lbs with fuel, water, etc. My trailer was build for my boat model/engine setup. I own both torsion and spring trailers. The torsion trailers seem to ride smoother but do not even the load between axles. Going over speed bumps you can see one tire/axle lift completely off the ground. Is that really an issue? Depends on the use and roads or ramps you use. Over 10,000lbs and a 32+ ft boat, I would go triple because of overall trailer length. My 270 traler is 35ft long! A 40ft trailer and triples would be needed I think. A lot of aluminum trailers have triple axles just to strengthen the frame structure I've been told. Steel does not flex or float but does weight more and rust. I've heard about aluminum trailers floating and owners strapping on weight! I agree 4 tires and brakes are enough to deal with unless I go to a 330. The quality and design of my trailer was a big plus since it came with the boat! Since is was like new, I got to deduct $5500 from the boats cost because the other 1990/91 270's I looked at had no trailer for the same price! I called Loadmaster and priced the identical trailer for the other boats. A real win for me, Mike.

20ft, 7500lb torsion trailer, 15" tires

This trailer is 1100lbs empty, 14" tires, rated 3500lbs

Awesome package....not sure it needed triple (350 small blocks) but a steel trailer (not mine) a friends.

 

[Quint4]

Another CSR member weighed their 290/270DA with no AC or gennie and here is the results:

1992 sea ray 290DA


Came up with 11,120lbs on the trailer. Yikes! (Trailer rated for 10,500GVW)



 

[Daddubo]

My Loadmaster has 6,000lb dual axles and 16" E rated radial tires at 80psi. My 270/290 claims to be 5800lbs dry and my trailer is 2200lbs. I have not weighted the combo yet but I'm sure I'm at 10,000lbs with fuel, water, etc. My trailer was build for my boat model/engine setup. I own both torsion and spring trailers. The torsion trailers seem to ride smoother but do not even the load between axles. Going over speed bumps you can see one tire/axle lift completely off the ground. Is that really an issue? Depends on the use and roads or ramps you use. Over 10,000lbs and a 32+ ft boat, I would go triple because of overall trailer length. My 270 traler is 35ft long! A 40ft trailer and triples would be needed I think. A lot of aluminum trailers have triple axles just to strengthen the frame structure I've been told. Steel does not flex or float but does weight more and rust. I've heard about aluminum trailers floating and owners strapping on weight! I agree 4 tires and brakes are enough to deal with unless I go to a 330. The quality and design of my trailer was a big plus since it came with the boat! Since is was like new, I got to deduct $5500 from the boats cost because the other 1990/91 270's I looked at had no trailer for the same price! I called Loadmaster and priced the identical trailer for the other boats. A real win for me, Mike.

20ft, 7500lb torsion trailer, 15" tires


This trailer is 1100lbs empty, 14" tires, rated 3500lbs


Awesome package....not sure it needed triple (350 small blocks) but a steel trailer (not mine) a friends.

[/quot]
Love that Formula, it looks like a 33' they are pretty heavy boats my 84 242 weighed 5500 wet (100 gal of fuel) w/a single big block compaired to Sea Ray they say the 268 is 5475 dry w/a big block

 

[MonacoMike]

Sea Ray says my 97 270 weighs 6500lbs dry. My boat and trailer weigh 10,750lbs with half fuel. I also have a gennie and added swim platform. My aluminum trailer is a heavy model triple axel and I don’t have a weight for it separate. In my case the “wet” part of the boat, trailer, gennie, and platform weigh 4250, plus I could have another 400lbs in additional fuel, water, and waste.

The point of all this is to say your older 279/290 may be heavier “wet” than you think. I think your Excursion will handle it. I really like your truck.:smt038

MM

 

[CV-23]

Thanks MonocoMike....It's a 2003 V10 Limited 4x4. I picked it up with 72,000 miles/one owner for $12,500. All new tires and brakes were on it.....just serviced! The window sticker new was $45,000 (still in the glove box)! I needed it to tow my company cargo trailer because my Explorer was only rated for 5,000lbs. With a bigger truck, I could look at a bigger boat. The Explorer really looks small now!

The Formula is a 272 that I could have bought for $17,000 but didn't have the cash at the time...it went to a good home though. My 270 tows nice and I'll have to weight it in April.....you guys have me curious now! I'll have to look at my registration Quint4 for the GVW tonight, Mike.

 

[Dick270da]

Just finished going over a used trailer (34' aluminum dual torsion axle trailer, surge disc brakes on one axle. empty weight 1,540 lbs. 500 lbs tongue weight, 5200lb axles) I bought to tow my 1990 270 sundancer. I changed one axle, redid bunks, replaced rusting hardware, moved the axles forward 9 inches to distribute the weight better (front axle was carrying 6100 lbs, rear only about 2540)

Boat is a 1990 270 that Sea Ray states dry weight is 5800 lbs. It has an Onan 3.0 gen set, a 19,000 btu King Air a/c heater combo, and anchor windlass. Boat and trailer together weigh 9,440 with a full tank of gas and no water or waste on board. All cushions, tools, life preservers, etc had been removed before weighing.

I tow with a 2000 Excursion 7.3 4x4. Empty weight, 8,900 lbs. Once the brakes went out on the trailer and I didn't realize it until I saw a puddle of brake fluid under the trailer master cylinder. The Excursion stopped everything numerous times with no problem.

 

[Woody]

Just finished going over a used trailer (34' aluminum dual torsion axle trailer, surge disc brakes on one axle. empty weight 1,540 lbs. 500 lbs tongue weight, 5200lb axles) I bought to tow my 1990 270 sundancer. I changed one axle, redid bunks, replaced rusting hardware, moved the axles forward 9 inches to distribute the weight better (front axle was carrying 6100 lbs, rear only about 2540)

Boat is a 1990 270 that Sea Ray states dry weight is 5800 lbs. It has an Onan 3.0 gen set, a 19,000 btu King Air a/c heater combo, and anchor windlass. Boat and trailer together weigh 9,440 with a full tank of gas and no water or waste on board. All cushions, tools, life preservers, etc had been removed before weighing.

I tow with a 2000 Excursion 7.3 4x4. Empty weight, 8,900 lbs. Once the brakes went out on the trailer and I didn't realize it until I saw a puddle of brake fluid under the trailer master cylinder. The Excursion stopped everything numerous times with no problem.

What were the tongue and axle weights after you moved the axles? When hooked up to the tow vehicle was the trailer sitting level? I'm just curious because that was a big difference in weight between axles.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Torsion axles don't do a very good job of equalizing loads between axles and are more sensitive to suspension position relative to the CG of the load.

Henry

 

[Dick270da]

When I first bought the boat I towed it home with the trailer as is. Tongue weight was 800 lbs, with the axle loadings at 6200 lbs. front and 2500 lbs rear. It towed fine for the 350 mile trip but I took it to a truck scale just to see what was going on. After the work the tongue weight dropped to 400 lbs., front axle loading to 5000 lbs, rear axle to 4400 lbs. That was after adding 1/2" shims to the rear axle. The front axle was replaced because one of the wheels started cocking out and the rubber "springs" were clearly visible protruding from the inside of the axle. The trailer is only 6 years old but evidently the rubber has lost some of the tension required to maintain full load. My next project will be to replace the rear axle and see if that doesn't bring it's load carrying up to the new front axle's performance. I made sure everything was level when weighing the trailer (and when connected to the truck), going so far as to adjust the tongue jack after the truck was disconnected, realizing this would affect not only tongue weight but axle loadings as well. The adjustments improved ride quality when going over bumps, the boat, trailer, and truck don't bounce around like they did. An engineer with the trailer manufacturer was very helpful but couldn't believe there was that much load difference between the two axles. I didn't get the results I expected by moving the axles, hence the reason to shim the old rear axle.