Can I Increase The Weight Capacity Of An 18' Pace Utility Trailer With Two 3.5K Dexter Torsion Axles

Question:

I have an 18 foot Pace utility trailer and am wanting to increase the load capacity. It is a tandem axle with 3500 axles. Dexter axle P16 model SLR. Serial D8608749. Is this enough information or do I need to still measure spindle to spindle and spring to spring. There are no springs. It is a torsion axle. If I do upgrade am I going to need to change wheel and tire size too? It looks as though the axles are just bolted to angle iron that is welded to the trailer itself. I would like to try and keep it as simple as possible. Thanks for all of your help.

asked by: Chris

Expert Reply:

Hey Chris, I do have some information that will be helpful for this project. Increasing the weight capacity of a trailer is tricky because every trailer has multiple components with a specific weight rating. Things like axles, hubs, brakes, wheels, tires and even the frame of the trailer itself all are rated for a specific capacity. Since you have 3.5K axles, it stands to reason that the rest of these components are also rated similarly. I will say that generally we do not recommend attempting to increase the capacity of the trailer in this way. There may be components of the trailer like the frame or the tongue that are not intended to carry an increased capacity. So, there can be some grey area as far as the actual capacity of the trailer. It sounds like you want to do this anyway, so I can definitely still point you in the right direction.

The first thing to look at will be replacing both axles. We do not offer any torsion axles here at etrailer, but we do offer basically all the rest of the components you will need. In order to replace the axles we would need to know the hub face length of the current axle. Your choice of axle will dictate what brakes, hubs wheels and tires you will need. Like if you were to go with a 5,200 lb axle it would require a 6 lug hub which would mean new wheels and tires as well.

You may want to think about beefing up the angle iron that the axles are attached to. You may also want to add support to the frame like additional crossmembers, depending on how much weight capacity you intend to add.

expert reply by: Jesse M