How hard is it to change to a lift axle on Dry Van

It's not hard to do or have have done but depending on what suspension you have I'd advise against it. Because you probably have the most common HKANT 40K suspension under there (most tandem dry vans & reefers have these axles) and Hendrickson does not recommend installing a lift axle on those. I did it to a brand new van back in 2015 and it was a complete waste of money. I got about 3 inches of lift out of it. Tires would scuff badly in the raised position on even the smallest of bumps in the highway at speed so I ended up never raising them up. If you want a lift axle under a dry van the best way is to either buy a used one that is spec'd with a smart lift axle or order one on a brand new one. They get about 5" or maybe even 6" of lift out of the Hendrickson smart lift.

 

I've seen the ones on smart lift out here scuff before mostly because our interstates are in such terrible shape. Frankly I wouldn't have a lift on any closed tandem trailer. Now spread axle is another thing altogether. I wouldn't have a spread axle without a lift. I saw a nice one on a spread axle reefer the other day ago the driver had the option to lift either the front or the rear axle.

 

Good luck, I spent 3 ##### days on the phone 2 weeks ago trying to find a new Hendrickson slide/axle assembly for my trailer, going to a 10’2 with a front lift, ended up doing all the brake/Bering/spiders on my set because I could not find one in the next ~4-6 months and no one would give me a price on one until it actually showed up,