Tag axle radius rods

[Jeremy Parrett]

Leaving San Quintin two days ago I drove over a very high "Tope" ( speed bump)at less than 5 MPH.
Instantly I felt the coach wobbling  at the rear so I slowly pulled onto the dirt and stopped.
  The passenger side wheel on the tag axle was pointing out at 45 degrees !!!   A quick inspection revealed   a threaded   rod end had pulled clean out of the radius rod threaded inboard end.
 Lifting the tag axle I drove 100 feet to a Mexican Electrical Repair shop.
Pedro confirmed the problem and hired a 'Mechanico' to remove the tapered outboard end ball joint and the stripped inboard rod end. After a long wait the soldura/machine shop  in San Quintin were forced to weld the two dethreaded parts    exactly where they  fit  together so the alignment would not be affected.
 The mechanico then reinstalled the whole assembly. This was all made possible  by my 'Wagon Master',
John Smith from www.bajawinters.com who speakes fluent spanish. The total bill including the machine shop welding ,part search as far as Ensenada and 3 hours labour was $250 US !!!
 The problem in finding a replacement rod end was that the one that pulled out of the rod was reverse threaded. This enables the rod to be turned to adjust alignment evenly on both rod ends simultaneously.
I am now back in Desert Hot Springs . I was told the drivers side rod end is also loose. This may be because  both inboard rod ends had no locking nuts thus allowing water to penetrate the threads !!
 The part that pulled out of the rod is made by Sealmaster. Its part number is TREL 12.
I am now going to replace both asemblies on the tag axle which is basically a steering axle with radius rods instead of a steering box etc. This will lead me to inspecting the steering axle up front for any issues as well.
 If we had been travelling at 65 MPH on the roads we drove on from Cabo San Lucas   when this happened Jane and I might be looking down on you all now !!
I would recommend all Beavers here with tag axles make a serious inspection of these parts as well as the tie rods etc on the steering axle.
Sealmaster state this rod end is good for 10,000 hours !!!  It may not be !!!   :-/

[Jeremy Parrett]

Here aresome pics.. :-/

[Jeremy Parrett]

We also managed to knock the plate off the rear passenger side hydraulic jack. Using two opposing pry bars and some elbow grease the mechanicos popped it back in place !!  The hydraulic jacks were then used to lift the coach high enough to effect the repair.
As both ends of the radius rods are threaded for adjustment I may just weld the  drivers side rod end to the rod and be done with it.  
From now on I will be lifting the tag axle at any bumps in the road and when making tight turns on uneven ground.  
If   much beefier rod ends and radius rods are  available I will  upgrade both sides.

[Robert Mathis]

You were lucky that the spped was low. I had no idea some tags had adjustment like that. Mine doesn't and I had to take it to Josam for alignement via heating and bending. I think your idea of getting eveything aligned properly and tac welding the agjusters in palce is a good one.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hi Robert,
  perhaps you would like to tell me what model and year your Beaver is and how the tag axle is mounted and aligned please  ??
  I am seriously thinking of making up a pair of  heavy duty radius rods to eliminate this potential hazard.  
I cannot believe Beaver actually used a steering axle for the tag.
 If there was a way to change my coach to a fixed axle I would be interested.
          Jeremy

[Robert Mathis]

Jeremy, my Beaver is a 2007 Contessa. I'm not sure how the tag is mounted, but I know that Josam had to heat and bend it to get it aligned. I will look at it tonight when I get home and see how it is actually mounted, then get back to you.

[Gil_Johnson]

Jeremy,

My guess is that they used steering hubs (not a full axle) solely due to space constraints.  There's no other logical rational for not using cheaper straight axles.  As I recall, GMC did the same on the old front wheel drive REVCONs.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hi Gil,
  if you look closely at the pic you will see that my tag axle is actually a complete steering axle.It even has the mounting points for the stabilizer bar !!  
 Maybe the reason Beaver used steering axles was because of the welding/alignment problems on straight axles??
 I have had two full alignments done  and nothing was out of alignment by much more than a touch.
     Jeremy

[Gil_Johnson]

Jeremy,

Why they used a full steering axles makes little sense really.  The solid axle alignment problems are simply due to the factory not performing an initial alignment.  Once aligned, the solid axles should be good to go.  FWIW, when I had my axles aligned the tag was aimed to the right and the drive axle wheels each pointed outward.

I guess the good news is your problem was corrected at a reasonable cost with no big damages and no one hurt.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Gil,
   I guess an adjustable axle is a good thing.  Yes, we were very lucky it happened at very slow speed.
      Thanks for your advise.  If upgrades are possible I will post the results.
                                                      Jeremy

[Jeremy Parrett]

MCI used steerable tag axles for their coaches to enable tighter turning and backing radius.