I've got a friend that said mobile home trailers are being outlawed because of the wheel end hub assemble and tire mounting assembly. Something about the DOT and ICC getting them all off the road? Anyone else heard about this, or have some written proof? I've got a tandem axle deckover that i love, but i wanna be legal!
Thanks
Chuck
P.S. I work for a large trailer manufacturer, and with talking to some "law" people here, they say that they may be doing something about the ones that are really wide, not the other ones.
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2000 F-250 Powerstroke, 4" MBRP stainless exhaust, hi flow open air filter, gauges, 6 position TS Performance chip all from FKDP (Fat Kid Diesel Performance) Brush guard - 140k My Truck Pics
Just a shot in the dark, but I believe many may made for "one time" use and just are not suitable for 10's of thousands of miles. I've noticed the tires are marked "Mobile Home use only" which would seem to indicate they are designed for one use (factory to build site).
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1985 International rollback, 6.9L 5 speed "Li'l Big Truck"
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Just a shot in the dark, but I believe many may made for "one time" use and just are not suitable for 10's of thousands of miles. I've noticed the tires are marked "Mobile Home use only" which would seem to indicate they are designed for one use (factory to build site).
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Good theory, but mobile homes were designed to be "mobile" you can move it to the next place you want to live...and if i were designing a one time use axle, i'd use bushings, not bearings. bushings are way cheaper, and if they only have to last for one trip...why not. Just my 2 cents.
And the tires are marked that way because they're not rated for speeds greater than i think 55mph from the tire manufacturer.
Thanks for your input
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2000 F-250 Powerstroke, 4" MBRP stainless exhaust, hi flow open air filter, gauges, 6 position TS Performance chip all from FKDP (Fat Kid Diesel Performance) Brush guard - 140k My Truck Pics
Years ago I scratch built a trailer with Mobile Home axles, pulled like a dream, for several years. (Legal or not, they are NOT one time use I think,,, [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/phoney.gif[/img])
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Jim T.*48* SLAPS Co-Founder, 30.8 yrs RETIRED UAW 6/01/06, Now a full time Technician in the MOANG 12/10/07 My pics! and my New'03 Dually pics!, Charcoal Grey, Black and Grey interior, Black leather seats, Van Turbo/ATS ported housing/WW, Quad "A" pillar pod with Carbon Fiber series AUTO METER Gauges, FUMOTO Valve. BTS BUBBA" /TS 4pos chip, 4" Turbo back straight pipe/stainless 5" tip 131st F/W St.Louis MoAirNatlGuard We're losing the F-15s. BUT BEING HANDED THE KEYS TO THE B-2 BOMBERS at WHITMAN AFB, Near Kansas City, MO.!! We are Lindburghs OWN! Suffering from *PMS,, "Powerstroke mod syndrome"
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Good theory, but mobile homes were designed to be "mobile" you can move it to the next place you want to live...and if i were designing a one time use axle, i'd use bushings, not bearings. bushings are way cheaper, and if they only have to last for one trip...why not. Just my 2 cents.
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Good theory, but wrong. Mobile homes were originally designed to be hauled from the factory to the home site and never moved again (though they may be moved to a wholesaler in between). They don't get their name from being mobile, but rather because the first manufactured homes were constructed in Mobile, Alabama at the end of WWII. All our GIs came home, and wanted houses instead of apartments. Many couldn't afford stick-built homes though, and an entrepreneur in Mobile began to build these types of homes. Others in the area started copying his methods, and soon all manufactured houses were known as "Mobile homes". Look it up on snopes.
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Good theory, but mobile homes were designed to be "mobile" you can move it to the next place you want to live...and if i were designing a one time use axle, i'd use bushings, not bearings. bushings are way cheaper, and if they only have to last for one trip...why not. Just my 2 cents.
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Good theory, but wrong. Mobile homes were originally designed to be hauled from the factory to the home site and never moved again (though they may be moved to a wholesaler in between). They don't get their name from being mobile, but rather because the first manufactured homes were constructed in Mobile, Alabama at the end of WWII. All our GIs came home, and wanted houses instead of apartments. Many couldn't afford stick-built homes though, and an entrepreneur in Mobile began to build these types of homes. Others in the area started copying his methods, and soon all manufactured houses were known as "Mobile homes". Look it up on snopes.
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Ok, great tidbit, all I know is I put several thousand miles on my trailer with tandem axles on it. NO problems with tires at all, though I usually only had 3-5k lbs on it at anytime.
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Jim T.*48* SLAPS Co-Founder, 30.8 yrs RETIRED UAW 6/01/06, Now a full time Technician in the MOANG 12/10/07 My pics! and my New'03 Dually pics!, Charcoal Grey, Black and Grey interior, Black leather seats, Van Turbo/ATS ported housing/WW, Quad "A" pillar pod with Carbon Fiber series AUTO METER Gauges, FUMOTO Valve. BTS BUBBA" /TS 4pos chip, 4" Turbo back straight pipe/stainless 5" tip 131st F/W St.Louis MoAirNatlGuard We're losing the F-15s. BUT BEING HANDED THE KEYS TO THE B-2 BOMBERS at WHITMAN AFB, Near Kansas City, MO.!! We are Lindburghs OWN! Suffering from *PMS,, "Powerstroke mod syndrome"
You can get other 14.5" tires than the "mobile home use only" ones - I've borrowed a pretty heavy flatbed with 8.00-14.5 (or maybe they're 8-14.5, something like that) that are a shade bigger than the 7.00 or 7's that are typically on mobile homes, and are 10 ply, actual trailer tires. I've been talking with the neigbor that owns it about converting it several times (figuring that if he gets the parts and I do the labor, I've got lifetime borrowing rights [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]), but it works well enough that we haven't bothered with it yet.
It really has nothing to do with the tire or the axle beam. DOT does not like the stud and clamp mechanism that holds the rim to the drum. It is not illegal in all states, but DOT has cracked down in Texas. The reference to one time use is the mobile home manufacturers are not allowed to use the axles more than once. Hence, cheap axles for trailer manufacturers.
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Darrick S - TDS Sponsor Southwest Wheel - Serving the wheel, trailer, and towing industry since 1919.
AXLES - Can mobile home axles be reused?
The Dexter MH (mobile home) type axle is designed for limited usage in the delivery of manufactured homes and has a one-time limit use. The axle has steel forged spindles that are not precision ground. The brake assembly is welded onto the beam and not intended to be field replaced. Additionally, the bearing package is smaller than the more expensive service type axle. Most MH axles are also equipped with a single leaf spring suspension for very heavy loads. We do not have components that would convert MH axles to servicable assemblies.
Mobile home axles have been outlawed for trailers for several years. Mid '70s if I remember right. Any axles built before that were legal as long as they weren't over width. They started using lightweight bearings and hubs is why they're outlawed. If they aren't stamped (or cast into the hubs in raised letters) "for mobile home use only", you might can still get away with it. If they are stamped you don't want to run them under your trailer. Catastrophic failure can result.
Joe
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In Oregon, the difference between a "mobile home", and a "manufactured home" is a date. The definition changed in 1985, and that's all - went from mobile to manufactured with the stroke of a pen.
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Feb 03 6.0 Silver F-250 SD SC XLT long box, 6-spd 3.73ls, Fx4, Stock, Spray-in liner, Contico box.HARPOONED.
I believe most manufacturers and wholesalers refer to them as "manufactured homes" rather than "Mobile homes" because the latter term started to become synonymous with "cheap". Wouldn't surprise me to hear that the industry put some money... errrr... pressure on a politician to redefine the terms in a bill.
Why go to all the trouble of building a trailer and use disposable axles?
I never got the thinking behind that.
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