Axle and Battery issues

Axle

Somewhere between Pueblo , CO and Page , AZ , I bent the axle on my trailer. 
I believe it happened when I backed in to the tiny campsite near the Entrance to Mesa Verde National Monument.  I believe my wheel was stopped by a very low stump, and I kept pushing back for a moment too long. 

The clue that it was bent was that the outside edge of the tire was almost bald after about 120 miles or so of driving!   The next day , I went to a tire store that worked on trailer axles and the guy told me that the axle was bent.  He turned the tire around so that I could make it to Ehrenberg, AZ. 

My friend Kelly is going to help me take it off, (I'll be handing him wrenches!) and I'll drive to Phoenix to get a new one and move the hubs on the old one, and put them on the new one.
Since the one I have is a "drop axle", and I'll be getting a straight axle, I'll get a 4" lift!

Battery

I've been having battery problems since around Labor Day.  I've gotten a new MPPT controller, thinking it was the controller.  I've let it charge and not used it .  

When I was in Prescott, AZ (Crown King road) , I took them to a chain battery store to check them out, and ended up with 4 NEW batteries.  

Here in E'berg, I found that the multimeter reading for volts does not agree with a reading from a hydrometer.  I'm still not entirely sure that that is the problem that some folks diagnose it.  It probably is, but some articles from those same people say otherwise. 

So... still in troubleshooting mode. 

When I go to Phoenix to get the axle, I plan on getting another panel at Sun Electronics ... they have great prices.