1st Mods. Axle Flip & Maxxairs

[marky]

Just couldnt wait to do the axle flip, wow what a difference & the vents should do a much better job too. takin her out this weekend

Before




After




Vents W Maxxairs

[JohnB]

Marky

You are moving right along. And looking good too.

Thanks for posting the pic's

Good luck camping

John

[Poppy & Nana]

Nice mods and a clean roof to boot!

[Theron211]

I have a 1984 T2100. What is the procedure for the axle flip? I am mechanical and would do it myself. Thanks for your help.

[SanDimasJoe]

Therib211,
You can go to www.dexteraxle.com and they will have all the info you'll need. Provided you have a dexter axle.
Joe

[marky]

Thanks for the replys, did the roof with camco rubber roof cleaner. had the axle work done at a local machinery shop by a friend. The trip went great, but my bike carrier with 3 bikes twisted my rear bumper thought it could handle it but it was weaker than I figured. anyone ever have this problem with the bumper or replace with a stronger one
Mark,

[Steve Collins]

Originally Posted by marky

Thanks for the replys, did the roof with camco rubber roof cleaner. had the axle work done at a local machinery shop by a friend. The trip went great, but my bike carrier with 3 bikes twisted my rear bumper thought it could handle it but it was weaker than I figured. anyone ever have this problem with the bumper or replace with a stronger one

Sunline intentionally fabricated the rear bumpers to hold only about 100#. They wanted to keep extra weight off the rear end of the trailer whenever possible so that folks would not put too much weight on the bumper so that it would begin to unload the tongue weight.

The principle is the same as a teeter-totter. The farther away from the balance point that you sit, the easier it is to lift the person on the other end.

JohnB worked with Sunline regarding weight on the rear end of his 2499, and they ulitmately sent him a letter approving the extra weight back there. But he had to jump through a few hoops to prove his plan to them and he balances his trailers very well. In JohnB's case, it wasn't the bumper but an extension to carry some aluminum cargo boxes. If you use the search function, you can locate that thread and learn more about all this.

There are also several discussion threads dealing with the Sunline rear bumper situation. Worth finding and reading.

[henryj]

If I remember some physics correctly: mass x distance from fulcrum = downward force. Three bikes on a typical receiver type bike carrier are levered way off the back of the bumper and exert a considerable torque on that bumper. Then hit a couple of bumps too...

I see bikes hung off bumpers all the time--some may be stronger, but Sunline's is pretty typical and not a design flaw, as Steve pointed out. You can even buy a bike rack that hangs off the spare tire, but that wouldn't be any better. So... there is certainly lots of info out there that would mislead campers into thinking it's safe to carry bikes on the bumper.

Hope you can get it straightened out ok.

Henry

[JohnB]

If your Sunline bumper looks like this, it will not take much load to twist it.

What you are seeing here is a 1/8 inch plate stitch welded to the bumper. Behind that plate are 2 very large holes to allow the head of the 3/8” carriage bolt heads to pass thru them. The bolts only hold that thin plate to the TT frame. If you put much torque on the 4” square bumper and that plate will be the first thing to twist and or break loose. This is how the 100# overload bumper is made. Sunline went to great lengths to make it this way on purpose.







Hope you get your issues fixed. Good luck

John

[marky]

Henry, you are right on, it was the location of the weight up high applying torque not the actual weight. (Mi. roads are Awfull )

John, my bumper is diff. than that one, it has a channel welded to it that slides into another piece welded to the frame rail.

I am working on a new bumper now (will post pics. when done)

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by marky

(Mi. roads are Awfull )

You can say that again! Heck, say it three or four times!

Jon