axle consensus: camber or not?

[oldboyscout]

I'm working on a smal trailer and have to decide on camber. spring center is 42" and hub face is 60". Trailer LOADED will be no more than 1200lbs, on a 3500 lb axle. I would expect a no camber axle would be preferable, but with the spindles hanging out that far from the springs I'm not so sure. Any thoughts?

(cross posted on IH8MUD)

[cowboy4x4]

personally as a trailer builder I can't stand them. In theory if you fully max out the trailer weight they say the axle will flex to (straight). Here is what I have learned I had a cambered axle on one of my previous trailers and was never able to max out the load hence my tires NEVER rode flat on the ground and were prone to having a short life span due to them wearing out on the edge. I will never put them on small trailers again they may be fine for toy haulers and the bigger camp trailers, I had them on my 39' triple axle 5th wheel, when fully loaded I was pulling about 17/18 k on the scales..... JMO

[Mark Harley]

No camber on small trailers. Flat is where it's at!
None of the military trailers come with cambered axles and they work just fine
even overloaded.

[Hill, Bill E.]

I agree, no camber on a small trailer.