UPDATE: Lippert covers warranty on axle on a 2011 travel trailer

I am looking for advise. I have a 2011 northtrail travel trailer. In september last year on my first trip with this unit one of the wheel bearings went out in Roswell, NM. I contacted my dealer. They sent me over to a local dealership. A new wheel bearing was installed, I had to pay for this out of pocket as the dealer had no interest in dealing with lippert for warranty. Sat night while traveling down I10 the bearing went out again. well less then the recomended service time or milage. But this time the wheel hub and all came off in heavy traffic on I10. I contacted my dealer again as I am still under my heartland 1 year. Lippert was contacted, They refused to warrant this item becouse the wheel bearing had already gone out once. I have contacted lippert's VP of warranty and as exspected I have yet to receive a return call. So hear i sit with a 3 wheeled RV stuck 1000 miles from home and heartland nore lippert will do any thing about it. How does that work when its a 2011 RV!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Is this a common problam when dealing with hearland and lippert?

Re: Lippert refuses to warranty axel on a 2011 travel trailer?

Hi Chad0425,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

If you have not contacted Heartland, have your VIN handy and call Heartland Customer Service 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030.

I hope you ge this taken care of.

Jim M

Re: Lippert refuses to warranty axel on a 2011 travel trailer?

Chad, welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear about your problem, and no I do not think this is a common problem. I do think however that your dealer gave you a bum stear when they sent you to a dealer that did not want to work with Heartland or Lippert. The common practice is to get authorization from them before a non participating dealer does the work. I think their story now will be that they cannot warrant someone elses work. And I don't blame them.
About the only thing you can do now is wait for a return call and plead your case. You might also contact your dealer and see what they can do on your behalf, well as contacting the first dealership and see if they will do anything. After all, they did the work.

Peace
Dave

Re: Lippert refuses to warranty axel on a 2011 travel trailer?

I broke down same as you last year headed that way. Installed 2 sets of bearings on one wheel lasted 50 miles. There is a place in Los Lunas, NM that treated me fair.

Accutrak mfg. corp.
PO Box 310
Los Lunas, NM 87031
505-865-9648
www.accutraktrailers

Re: Lippert refuses to warranty axel on a 2011 travel trailer?

Contact the dealer that did the repair, I would think they are the ones responsible for the second one going out.

Re: Lippert refuses to warranty axel on a 2011 travel trailer?

Thanks for the info. I did finally get to talk to the VP of warranty of lippert. After a little consideration lippert will be covering all aspects of this repair.

That's great news Chad! I edited the title of your thread to reflect this change.

Jim
Admin

chad0425 said:

I am looking for advise. I have a 2011 northtrail travel trailer. In september last year on my first trip with this unit one of the wheel bearings went out in Roswell, NM. I contacted my dealer. They sent me over to a local dealership. A new wheel bearing was installed, I had to pay for this out of pocket as the dealer had no interest in dealing with lippert for warranty. Sat night while traveling down I10 the bearing went out again. well less then the recomended service time or milage. But this time the wheel hub and all came off in heavy traffic on I10. I contacted my dealer again as I am still under my heartland 1 year. Lippert was contacted, They refused to warrant this item becouse the wheel bearing had already gone out once. I have contacted lippert's VP of warranty and as exspected I have yet to receive a return call. So hear i sit with a 3 wheeled RV stuck 1000 miles from home and heartland nore lippert will do any thing about it. How does that work when its a 2011 RV!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Is this a common problam when dealing with hearland and lippert?

Click to expand...

Based on my experience, YES!

CS

I had a outter bearing go out on one wheel causing excessive tire wear. I replaced the bearings on all 4 wheels, it was time for me to repack them any way so I thought since I am taking it apart I'll just put all new bearings. Don't know if these new bearings are any better but they came from NAPA and were made in Japan where the originals were made in "guess where"? Yep, China hard to believe but true! LOL

I have found that even tho bearings are replaced by a so called professional shop that a lot of folks doing the repair work have no idea how to properly pack the grease on the new bearings. I had a friend who had some bearings replaced on the road they froze up and we found that the installer didn't even pack the new bearings he just stuck them in place straight out of the box with nothing on them other than the light coat of grease that was on them for shipping. When I hear of bearings not lasting very long I always think of this and wonder if that wasn't the problem.

Good Luck,

Ron

Sorry to hear about your problem. It sounds like something is not right. I too have a new 2011... less than 2 weeks since I took delivery. I'm having an issue with the suspension setup and alignment and have had nothing but problems trying to work with Hartland. They try to pass it off on Lippert, who passes me back to Hartland. I love my new coach, but I must say that I am a little disappointed with the warranty and customer service. I hope that this is not a precursor to any future relationship. Lets face it.... most problems happen while traveling, and having problems on the road or being stranded is every RVers worse nightmare.... A good and solid warranty program coupled with a helpful customer service can make all the difference.

Snakebite

Snakebite, your issue is with Lippert. They supply the frames and suspension to HL. I don't know if you have Lippert or Dexter axles. I would give Lippert a call again and nicely raise cain. It's Lipperts warranty that you are fighting. JMHO

I have alignment problems with my '11 Big Country 3250. Right front tire, outside tread down to 3/32, inside 9/32. Service guy where I bought it recommended Fleet Pride. Took it, they aligned both axles, so it was out from day one. Will replace the worn tire, and put the spare on the ground, so I'm running the same diameter on that side.
I have to agree, am not very impressed with Heartland's Quality Control. Had water lines hooked up backwards, leaking black tank flush, just a bunch of little stuff but enough to irritate you. I don't think I'm even going to go after any warranty, even though this rig has not been mistreated.

I truly understand your frustration. We purchased the 2011 North Trail May, 2010. With only putting approx 4k miles on our trailer, in June of this year, we were traveling from CA to LA. After going about 300 miles, we were motioned by a concerned motorer that there was a problem. Pulled over to the shoulder and the entire brake drum, bearings, seal, brake shoes, magnets and backing kit had caught on fire and melted to nothing on the right rear wheel. We were informed by the mobile mechanic that the axle was bad. Heartland nor Lippert would cover it because we were out of warranty (by less than 30 days). We paid $1300 to get the above items replaced and was still told by the mechanic that we should get the axle replaced when we return from vacation. On our way home, on I40 in Kingman, AZ, a concerned motorist beckoned that we had a problem. Pulled over to the shoulder and noticed the entire right front wheel was gone and the spindle was bent on the axle. Of course Heartland and Lippert said this was not their problem. We have spent 4 nights in a motel getting our extended warranty to approve the repairs. Heartland needs to put stronger axles to cover the weight of the trailer.

Lippert strikes again....I'm going throught the same thing...brand new trailer and the bearings went out after a 100 miles.. Repaired by dealer....500 miles later and 200 miles from civilization....brakes smoking..tire wobbling...bearings out again. Every tire had play in it but one (4). I take the trailer down today. .. Hopefully the dealer will have some success with Lippert (doubt it since the overlying theme here is Lippert doesn't back there product). This axles are obviously flawed and our lives are at risk....I wonder how many Rv'ers have had this problem.

Blueice55 welcome to the forum.
I have heard of bearings going out in the past. It seems that the problem stems from no grease or improper installation of the castle nut.
If your bearings were replace the first time by an authorized dealer and your rig is still under warranty I see no reason why Lippert would not take care of it.
As far a Lippert backing their product, I and others that I know have had no problems there. In fact I know of a couple that have had repairs after warranty, although I would not expect that.
Come back and let us know how you make out.

Peace
Dave

Bleuice55,
Wow, 100 miles, then 500 miles, I thought I had it bad, mine went out with 3,500 miles on them. After many phone calls and a strong emails to Heartland and Lippert, things were fixed. Since then I have upgraded axles and new bearings. While getting bearings fixed on the road, tech thankfully found another bearing with badly pitted rollers, defective from manufacture. When you get bearings replaced, do yourself a favor and have all wheel bearings checked, and stand there to make sure it gets done. With all of the axles and bearings being made, I'm sure there have to be some defects, but when it happens to you on the road, it sure feels like a big deal, especially when the wheel comes off. Which model RV do you have?

bleuice55 said:

Lippert strikes again....I'm going throught the same thing...brand new trailer and the bearings went out after a 100 miles.. Repaired by dealer....500 miles later and 200 miles from civilization....brakes smoking..tire wobbling...bearings out again. Every tire had play in it but one (4). I take the trailer down today. .. Hopefully the dealer will have some success with Lippert (doubt it since the overlying theme here is Lippert doesn't back there product). This axles are obviously flawed and our lives are at risk....I wonder how many Rv'ers have had this problem.

Click to expand...

Your lives are at risk?? Might be a little dramatic. Never heard of a bad wheel bearing killing someone. Axles could be just fine. My guess is that either the bearings themselves are bad or the bearings were not installed and set-up properly. The bearings sit on the axles. The part that sits on the axle doesn't turn. Play in the wheels is from loose bearings or bearings that self destructed because they were set-up too tight by someone...I'm sure this problem can be easily resolved...Good luck, I know it's frustrating...Don

In all my time working in maintenance, every time we did an investigation on failures of bearings we found the cause was not the bearings but the environment. I am sure they have these axles engineered for safe loads and applications, and errors are to blame for the failures. I SAY IT AGAIN BEARINGS ARE NEVER THE CAUSE OF FAILURE.

I have a utility trailer that I use for my firewood and made it with Mustang hubs, the bearings are so noisy from overloaded wear, and never failed yet with over 2000 lbs on each hubs every load. But they are well greased and clean.

I had problems on our trip to the SW. After 3800 miles total on our 2011 NT 21FBS right rear tire was worn to the cords on the inside edge. Worn on the left rear also but not as bad. Put on the spare and headed home. Told the dealer about it, I thought it was bearings or axle or both. Found more play in the wheel than I thought should be there when I put on the spare. Lippert is replacing the axle. Dealer had to jump through some hoops to do everything required to get the axle but it is being done now. Dealer has been good to me and Heartland trailers are new to them.