16K-18K - 20K Front Axle Questions - Toughening up a Dump Truck

i don't recall ever having that much weight on the steers on the dump trucks i drove. been a couple of years though.

seems like the suspension was the same. just more springs.

i do remember having springs that were thicker and a couple more then regular OTR trucks. i think there were 5 or 6 springs total on each side.

 

You can run a single power steering gear with 16k front axles. Once above that, you have to go to a dual setup.

 

Also, don't forget about your braking capacity. You would have to make sure your shoes and drum types are rated for the weight you want to load.

 

Go to peterbilt dealer buy one 12k spring take a torch cut the spring eyes off using the bottom leaf for a template, grind off the ugly, remove center pin now you have 2 add a leafs. Buy 2 new center pins and add one of each of the new leafs to the bottom of your spring pack. 4 new u bolts and a front end alignment. Been working great for me for 7 years I have a 12k front end 4 axle 18' box.

 

Never assume anything. Just something to watch for!

 

Just be carefull as i recall we had a issue with a pete dump just like your running.dot man shut it down for running the same tires with the light duty axle told us you cant run the higher weight tires with the 12,000 axle.this was about 10 years ago guy was probly being a d%#k but if i remember right we looked it up in the vehicle code book and ended up swapping to 11r's,just a little food for thought!

 

here in SE PA, most dump trucks have 18 or 20k steer axles, single steering box with a slave cylinder on the passenger side for steering assist.

 

yes brakes are included, but you can buy axle with or without springs.

also, if the P/S pump is good you can use single steering box, there's hundreds of dump trucks like that.