Add On Air Axle

Add on air axle TRUCKS Conversions 11-6-34 You can boost the carrying capacity of your farm trucks by nearly 8,000 lbs. and take weight off the steering axle with a new add-on "air axle" from Kelderman Manfacturing, Oskaloosa, Iowa. The one-piece axle assembly simply bolts to the truck frame. Air-bag springs, which raise and lower the axle as needed, get their air from the truck's air brakes ora small 12-volt air compressor that installs under the truck hood. The axle is fitted with electric brakes activated by the truck's brake-light wiring. The axle has a total of 14 in. of up and down travel, with 6 to 8 in. of ground clearance when raised. A 4-in. drop in the axle makes room for the drive axle shaft. Sales manager Bill Livezey told FARM SHOW the air axle can be mounted at mid-chassis or at the rear as a tag-axle. "It lets you increase carrying capacity from about 34,000 (for a 2-axle group) to 42,500 (for a 3-axle group), with the total depending on chassis length. By taking load pressure off the steering axle, it also makes the truck safer to handle," he notes. Livezy says installation of the axle, which weighs 800 lbs., is a fairly easy do-it-yourself project for most farmers. The axle's fitted with top-of-the-line Goodyear Unisteel tires and wheels. The hubs have long-life oil bath type bearings and are . equipped with sight-type hub caps. The complete air axle sells for $2,595. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kelderman Manufacturing, Inc., P.O. Box 273, Highway 92 East, Oskaloosa, Iowa 52577 (ph toll-free 800 334-6150; in Iowa, call 800 622-8236).

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