I'm still thinking on building my own car trailer, mostly because I can't find anything prebuilt that really suits what I want. In order to keep the deck height low, I have been considering the Dexter 'torflex axles'. They seem to be priced comparably to a set of spring axles but will be much lighter. I need to run brakes on one pair. Link to their page:
http://www.dexteraxle.com/torflex_axles
Anyone have any direct experience with these and if so how well do they last?
The #11 axle is where you would need to start, 22.5* up for a low deck as well.
I like it.. great idea. I had often wondered if the rear suspension from an aircooled VW could have been adapted to trailer duty.. and here it is
A low deck height is a good thing, but I also need the top of the fender to be no more than 9" from the deck (to clear low doors). So my plans were to use a 10 or possibly 0 degree start angle with 13" tires (to clear a 9" trailer brake drum but still be capable of carrying around 5.5k pounds). I plan to use 3x2 x .120 tubing for the frame, that would give me around 12" from the bottom of the frame to the fender, a 13" trailer tire is about 24" diameter or 12" radius meaning I would probably be best off with the 10 degree down angle. That should give me around 4" travel before the tire hits the fender and put the deck about 17" off the ground.
No direct experience myself. Like you I'm curious about them. I'd be interested in hearing what you ultimately hear and decide.
ever consider mounting the fenders to the axle itself? This would allow you to mount them closer to the wheel (they would move with it) and possible allow you to make a lower trailer
I thought the same thing...you could mount the fender to the axle. Sure, you'll need to leave clearance around it (between deck and fenders) for motion, but that way you'd be able to have your fenders hug the tire better and for maximum door clearance you could even put blocks under the rear and use the trailer jack to take some load off the suspension. Lots of people also do removeable fenders to accomplish the same thing, pick your poison.
I haven't seen that type of setup for a torsion axle, where the rubber is squished for the "torsion" rather than the bar actually being fixed and the steel being twisted to get the torsional force. Weird...I wonder how they hold up long term.
Bryce
I have a friend who has been using one for years. Single axle and he hauls his Corvair race car on it. As far as I know he has had no problems with the axle.
I'm seriously considering mounting the fenders to the axle. That would solve a lot of problems and allow me to use a 0 degree start point axle which would lower the trailer even more. That means I could make the deck flat, rather than having to angle the end down so low hanging cars won't drag. The fabrication of stiff enough brackets that don't weigh a ton will be challenging, though. I don't want the fenders wobbling around due to wind/harmonics/etc and digging into the side of a tire.
Some of the enclosed trailer and 5th wheel type travel trailers use these axles, I guess they hold up pretty well.
My "Travel-Lite" trailer has two 2000lb Dexter axles. Seems to work fine for me- the trailer deck is directly bolted to the axles. The deck is basically 1/4 aluminum that is bent for rigidity.
Those of you at the 2002, 2003, and 2004 challenge saw my trailer.
The total weight of my trailer is 700lb, and it is rated for 3000lb. FWIW....
Eric
(ps- the trailer isn't in production anymore- the builder wasn't making money on them- he had a HUGE metal brake to make them, bundled them up, and shipped them off.)
Sounds like you want the trailer I'm building, same size frame materials and axles and all. I have two 2600# rated torsion axles, with hydraulic surge disc brakes, that I purchased used. The hubs on the axles are actually production Olds Cutlass ones from the rear of one of the FWD years, and are sealed units that can get replaced at any parts store along the way, which is pretty cool from a maintenance standpoint.
My fender solution might work for you too: Use the ramps as your fenders. You need to mount them somewhere while you travel, having a couple of brackets to suspend them over the top of the tires seems to make sense to me. That way they're not in the way when you're getting in and out of the car and strapping it down but they're easy enough to grab and go. When I finish it up (hopefully this weekend) I'll post a couple pictures.
I like that fender/ramp idea. 
I don't really care for having to carry both ramps and removeable fenders. But killing two birds with one stone... I knew there was some reason I was paying you. 
A fender/ramp. That's such an obvious DUH solution.
My first thought was just as the fender top. Still leaving the inside and front and rear of the fender there. Then it occurred to me that there's no reason for that. The whole fender can come off as the ramp. Just use two drop tubes to plunk the entire fender/ramp down in place over the tire.
As an added benefit, if one were carefull, the fender stuff hanging down when used as a ramp could line up as a ground brace when used to roll things up onto the trailer.
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