I purchased my 2011 Cyclone 3010 in Jan. 2011. The most space I could obtain between the camper and the bed of my 2011 Chevy 3500 DRW was 5.5" due to the increased bed height on the 2011 Chevy's. Also the trailer rode low in the back so I was worried about tail dragging or smashing my truck bed and camper as I do a lot of boondocking off road and rarely stay in a park. I waited until the warranty expired then had a reputable dealer install a 4" subframe lift on my Cyclone. This lift gave me 8" and leveled my trailer so I was quite happy. A couple months later I noticed the rubber equalizer donut on the right side of my Dexter suspension had severely cracked. I called Dexter and spoke to Jackie who informed me that the cracking may be due to improper hanger spacing that happened at the factory. It seems some trailers had the hangers welded on to Lippert's specs but then had Dexter axles and suspensions installed on them when the switch was made to Dexter axles instead of Lippert. So I checked it out and sure enough my Dexter suspension should have hangers spaced 29.5" apart yet they are 30.5" apart.
I contacted Heartland and they referred me to Dusty Bell. I explained the situation and the fact that I had modified the frame but the hangers were exactly below where Heartland had incorrectly installed them in the first place. I felt that Heartland should pay to have the hangers moved to the correct location as it was their mistake in the first place and my modifications had not changed the spacing as it came from the Factory. Dusty asked that I send an email with supporting pics which I did. I received a prompt reply that Heartland would not pay as my unit was out of warranty and had been modified.
Am I wrong to feel that when you purchase a Heartland product that the suspension should be properly installed. I would think that once a manufacturer was aware they had made a mistake that caused suspension components to fail prematurely they would do some research to find which units went out the door like that and issue a recall for those units. You can bet any auto manufacturer would!
Where do I go from here? Do I suck it up and pay for these repairs myself? Is there a contact at Heartland that resolves these kind of issues?
Should I contact the NTSB and report Heartland's cavalier attitude to safety?
Thanks,
Merton
I contacted Heartland and they referred me to Dusty Bell. I explained the situation and the fact that I had modified the frame but the hangers were exactly below where Heartland had incorrectly installed them in the first place. I felt that Heartland should pay to have the hangers moved to the correct location as it was their mistake in the first place and my modifications had not changed the spacing as it came from the Factory. Dusty asked that I send an email with supporting pics which I did. I received a prompt reply that Heartland would not pay as my unit was out of warranty and had been modified.
Am I wrong to feel that when you purchase a Heartland product that the suspension should be properly installed. I would think that once a manufacturer was aware they had made a mistake that caused suspension components to fail prematurely they would do some research to find which units went out the door like that and issue a recall for those units. You can bet any auto manufacturer would!
Where do I go from here? Do I suck it up and pay for these repairs myself? Is there a contact at Heartland that resolves these kind of issues?
Should I contact the NTSB and report Heartland's cavalier attitude to safety?
Thanks,
Merton