Where Does Third Axle Normally Install When Adding Axle to Tandem Axle

Updated 04/13/2020 | Published 04/11/2020

Question:

Hi! I’m re purposing an old camper into a beautiful new tiny house on wheels. I’ve already demolished and disposed of the camper and am left with a beautiful trailer upon which to begin my project! The trailer itself is roughly 32’ long not counting the tongue which adds another 3’ or so. Not sure how much it weighs but it sits on two axels which definitely have to go. Considering the size of the trailer, I want to allow for at the very least 15,000lbs, however by adding a 3rd axel 7,000lb ea I should be fine. My first question would be how would I go about deciding the location of the third axel and am I going to need to move the other axels as well? Just wondering what resources I should research to calculate all of that. Also wondering where I should place the jack stands as well. Thats all for now! Hope you can help! Thanks! I can reply with pictures if you need just let me know!

asked by: Myles

Expert Reply:

The best axle location will be the location that allows the tongue weight of the trailer to be between 10 and 15 percent of the total trailer weight. We realize that's really hard to determine in your current situation since the trailer isn't built yet, but I did attach a link to a page that has info and formulas to help once you get to a place where you can place the axles. In general though when adding a third axle to a tandem the two axles would need to be moved forward a bit.

A great starting point is normally that the center axle would end up where the center hanger is between the tandem axles.

expert reply by: Jameson C