What do we do next?

kseagle

Active Member
We have a 2011 BC3250TS. Trailer has 5,000 miles on it, On our last trip we found uneven tire wear on the front door-side tire. Took it to a Heartland warranty service center in Rapid City, SD and two different technicians there said it appeared to be a bent axel. Contacted Lippert and they sent a new one to our regular warranty dealer in Idaho so that we could continue our trip. The Idaho dealer changed the axel and returned the old one to Lippert. Two different technicians at the 2nd dealer also said it appears to be a bent axel. Lippert has now denied the warranty claim, saying that the tow and camber are within specs. The service manager at the 2nd dealer has attempted to contact Lippert and discuss this further with them, but Lippert is not returning his calls. We are out a tire, cost of the axel & labor to change the axel as well as a 300 mile trip to the dealer. What would you do next?
 

DMitch

Well-known member
I am not a suspension expert but, it would seem to me that the aligment of the axle should be determined on the trailer not on the ground. How could they tell that it was aligned properly on the trailer? Especially with the known tire wear.

I had this problem with another trailer (brand new) and after wearing out a set of tires they determined the axle was out of alignment. I had to take it to a trailer aligment shop to finally get it fixed. Seems to me that either Lippert or Heartland should stand behind this on such a new trailer. If your not getting satisfaction from Lippert, I would call Heartland. Good luck with getting this resolved.

I'm sure that someone who understands this alignment business will chime in and help.
 

Duramax1

Well-known member
In your post, you said that all four technicians said that the axel "appeared" to be out of alignment.

I thought that alignment shops used a device to determine whether the alignment is correct. In other words the determination is not simply a visual examination of the tire but rather is an exact meaurement.

I sounds to me that the service provider did not have the appropriate equipment for doing alignment work.
 

kseagle

Active Member
Both dealers indicated that the problem was a bent axel--not an alignment problem. 2nd dealer indicated that it appeared to be bowed. I would think that an alignment problem would have caused problems with more than one tire.
 

SmokeyBare

Well-known member
We had a curb side rear tire wearing on our (SomeOtherBrand) Fifth Wheel a few years back. Only effected the right rear tire. It was bad enough to scuff the rubber off about 2 inches of outside of the tire. The tire on the other side of the RV was fine. I discovered this problem as driving to a Escapee's Club Rally. While there I talked to one of the vendors (Henderson Alignment) attending the rally. We made the drive up to Grant Pass Oregon to their shop where they could take care of the work with the proper equipment.

They mounted the alignment equipment to the King Pin... with cables going back to each axle they worked on. Using hydraulic rams they pushed, shoved and bent the axle back to the correct alignment. It solved the tire wear I was having.

Hope this helps you with your issue. Be sure there are others alignment shops across the country who can do this needed service.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
A bent axle could be the cause of an alignment problem. It could also be a problem with the welded on attachments that hold the axle to the frame. There are is nothing on a trailer that is adjustable to correct an alignment problem. It must be bent back into place to correct the alignment. It's quite possible one or more of your spring hangars may be slightly bent or misaligned and that the axle was not the problem. After replacing the axle have you put enough miles on to know if the problem was corrected? I would have brought it to a heavy duty alignment shop and had them check it before replacing the axle. I think your dealer(s) should have done this too. JMHO...Don
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Just a few thoughts here. Have your tires been balanced? And as stated before, an alignment is not a visual check. As far as someone stating that the axle looked bowed, axes do have a slight upward bow in the center. I wonder what kind of bow they saw. Did anyone one of the dealers tell you that if the axle in question proved to be ok that the tab would be on you?
Did the people that looked at it do a axle to axle to pin check. The axle itself may be alright but the attachment to the frame might be off. Call Lippert and ask them the procedure for doing that.
I would make more calls to Lippert and ask if the axle is good, what could have caused the tire wear. What else could it be.

Peace
Dave
 

caissiel

Senior Member
Only on site alignment can determine the problem about tire wear.
On my previous trailer I tried to repair the rear axle with no result because of rear tire wear.
After I did an aligment check to the Pin I found out that the front axle was off by 5/8" causing tire wear to the rear tires.
I had already pushed one the spring shackle back to align the rear axle with the front one but tire wear got worst.
So when I installed spring raisers on the trailers I found that the front shackles were off by the 5/8" on the frame.
After installing the raisers properly the trailer was both easier to pull and not wearing the tires.
The frame had been built out of alignment.
 

kseagle

Active Member
Neither warranty shop suggested alignment problems, therefore we did not ask to have it checked. We were under the impression that if we had it aligned (by bending the axel), it would void the Lippert warranty. Not quite sure where we got that info, perhaps the dealer. We have not driven the trailer enough since the repair to see if the problem has been fixed, and probably won't until spring. Sure wish that Lippert would return our dealer's calls.
 

westxsrt10

Perfict Senior Member
I dont understand your problem.......did you pay for the warrenty work out of your pocket? The shop that did the warrenty work has the problem.
 

Willym

Well-known member
I was seeing uneven tyre wear on my rig. I took some measurements and found that the camber was out on both axles. My dealer sent me to a truck/trailer specialist who corrected the problem. They reform (bend) the axles to get the correct camber/toe in). They told me that bent axles were a common problem - in their words, "the result of putting $75000 trailers on $500 axles"!
I'm surprised that the OP had to fork over cash for the repair when he was only having work done as recommended by the Heartland repair facility in SD. If those technicians misdiagnosed the problem then Lippert should take it up with them. As someone else stated, the axle can only be properly checked when under load from the trailer.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
David,

Consider contacting Lippert Customer Service yourself on Monday. have your VIN ready for them. Speak to them about how the process works. My understandings are:

  1. Axles have a bend in them for proper camber and some people mistake that required bend as a bent axle. Maybe not in your case - just saying...
  2. Lippert regularly sends out replacement axles under warranty as requested by dealers but they verify the axle when they receive the old one and bill it back or deny it, if it's within spec - i.e. didn't require replacement
  3. There is a specific way in which Lippert measures axles to specifications. Dealers can obtain and should obtain/use these specs - whatever they are
  4. Heartland does not own their own warranty or service centers per se. We have dealerships that are independent business that contract with us to carry our products. And those dealerships do have service departments. So by extension, they act as our agent.
Please make the call to Lippert as they may be able to shed more light on the process.

Jim
 
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noobee

Well-known member
Typical Lippert action. Deny, deny, deny........ Get written statements from the technicians that said the axle was faulty.

CS
 
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RoadJunkie

Well-known member
Typical Lippert action. Deny, deny, deny........

Oh, come on noobee, not everything has to be settled in that manner. I don't find this statement helpful at all...whether the forum allows it or not.
 
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GOTTOYS

Well-known member
In my opinion the dealership(s) involved are the ones at fault. A customer came in with a complaint. Mistake #1; Dealer A misdiagnosed the problem, or just told the customer something to get him out the door, not that anything like that ever happens, knowing they weren't going to get the job anyway. Mistake #2; Dealer B. accepted that misdiagnosis and based on it ordered a part. In reality they should have diagnosed the problem again on their own (lazy, gullible, not smart? you decide) because if the repair doesn't work it is now THEIR PROBLEM.... I seriously doubt that it is fixed.. It shouldn't be the customer's responsibility to tell the dealer how to properly repair it. I don't blame Lippert for refusing to pay for the axle if nothing is wrong with the old one. The Service Department should have made that determination first. They aren't doing anything that the major auto manufacturers don't do. There are lots of "parts throwers" in the industry that don't take the time to properly diagnose a complaint. If the new axle didn't fix it and nothing was wrong with the old one..sorry Mr. Dealer, not only should you eat it, you should go on with a proper diagnosis and correct the problem. Not the manufacturer. Not the customer... Now get it into a heavy-duty alignment shop and find the real problem. Complaining about Lippert because they might have the deepest pockets, won't fix anything. The proper procedures to determine if the axle was bent obviously weren't followed..... Let's put the blame on the right party here....Don
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Don, your right on the money. ANY auto dealer I ever worked for "had to eat it" if the diagnoses was wrong....not the customer or the factory. If it was diagnosed by someone else I always checked it myself before doing any repairs. I surely wasn't going to "eat it" because Jiffy Lube and Tune diagnosed it. Kinda sounds like the dealer in S.D. screwed up and so did the OP's dealer.
 

kseagle

Active Member
Thanks for all of your input. We are still waiting for Lippert to contact our installing dealer to discuss his observations. If they don't by Tuesday, we will try to arrange a conference call. FYI apparently the axel is just barely within specs, which appear to be quite liberal. BTW, It was the gentleman at Lippert who told us that bending the axel to correct the alignment would void our Lippert warranty. So we did exactly as Lippert suggested and replaced the axel. At this point we do not know if changing the axel corrected the problem, as we do not have enough miles on the trailer after the repair. Our hope is that both Lippert and the installing dealer will put this matter on hold until we can take it out for a long trip. PS We will also attempt to get the tire inspected to see if it is defective.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
You might mention that on Page 28 of the 2011Heartland Owner's manual that came with my trailer; Under section five, Axle Alignment...it states "only a cold bend method should be used to re-align the axles" . This is a direct quote from the manual. Rather than waiting to go on a long trip and possibly wearing out the rest of the tire, why not bring this to a heavy duty alignment shop, get the alignment checked and put this to bed? Good luck!...Don
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
David, this is a quick and cheap way to tell if the trailer is tracking right.

A large, flat piece of concrete, spray water on it wider that the tread width and pull the trailer..only the trailer through it. If the water marks left by the tires is wider than it should be. Then the axle is bent or something. If it's bent the wrong way it might be pushing the axle to the left in your case. Hence the outside tire wear.

Do you notice when pulling that you can see more of one side or the other of the sides of the trailer?? When my axle came loose I could almost see the whole door side of the BH in the mirror. That was my clue that something was BAD wrong.
 
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