Axle problem?????

[JeremyN]

Guys,

I have a question for you. A few weeks ago, I was winterizing my 28BRS and went underneath the trailer to make sure all the vent lines were ready for winter. I happened to look at the tires, and noticed a possible problem. The inside tread on all 4 of my tires is worn thin. I mean so thin that there isn't even any tread on this inside line anymore. The two middle treads and the outside tread have maybe 1/2 of their original tread left. I bought this trailer new in April 2011 and I probably have a total of 2000 miles on the trailer over the last two camping seasons.

Does this mean that my axles are possibly bent? I talked to a friend of mine that used to be an RV mechanic at the beginning of this camping season when the tread was not worn this much yet. He said that my tires looked ok at that point, but that they were piece of crap tires and told me that I should have them replaced after this season anyway with some good radial tires. So I guess I didn't think too much of it.

So, my plan right now in early spring is to have the radial tires put on, but if I have an axle problem, I want to let the dealer know about this.

Any ideas as to what might be going wrong?

Thanks.

 

[cookie]

Jeremy, if I was in your shoes, and I was a month ago, I would take the trailer to a big rig alignment shop. They can detect and correct any alignment problems.
Cost is around $165. I would do this before buying new tires.
I took mine HERE. They did a good job.

Peace
Dave

 

[tweber]

Hi, Jeremy. I would suggest having the alignment checked after you purchase new tires. Find a reputable large vehicle/truck alignment center and talk to them about the alignment process. Also, be sure to have the new tire balanced. Good luck.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Those WI guys know what they're talking about..I'd do the same thing..Don

 

[westxsrt10]

Put a 2' level on the side of the tire (check plumb). Other NT owners have had the same problem with squating axles.

 

[JeremyN]

Jeremy, if I was in your shoes, and I was a month ago, I would take the trailer to a big rig alignment shop. They can detect and correct any alignment problems.
Cost is around $165. I would do this before buying new tires.
I took mine HERE. They did a good job.

Peace
Dave

Dave,

I live near Sheboygan and I know exactly where that place you posted about is in Appleton. Two of you now mentioned to go to a big rig type alignment shop. Are these places better than my local RV dealer? I can only imagine the answer is yes because they deal with alignments on semi trailers probably every day, but I would think an RV dealership would see a ton of this too. Or am I incorrect?

I do have a semi truck and trailer repair shop right by me in Sheboygan too. I think I might call them to see if this is something they can look at as well.

Thanks for help guys. I really appreciate all of the quick replies on here.

 

[JeremyN]

Put a 2' level on the side of the tire (check plumb). Other NT owners have had the same problem with squating axles.

Do you know what would cause the squating axles? Is this something that I did, or is it a defect in the axle?

 

[plumber54]

Before you spend the $ check if they are the axls are a lippert product. I also noticed a toe out with some wear on the inside of the tires. contacted Mfg and found that some of there axles are defective! Just had them replaced under warrintee (2 years) didn't cost a thing.

 

[Manzan]

I had a similar problem and Lippert replaced both axles. Have around 4K on the new axles and no wear observable on the new tires (radials). I was in Bakersfield CA when I noticed the problem and put the spare on the worst axle. Wore it out getting home and Lippert gave me $65 per tire to help cover the cost of new tires.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Most RV dealers are not equipped to do an alignment. Their only solution is to replace an axle at a lot more co$t...Don

 

[DougS]

Sounds like you axle lost it's bow. Look under RV at axle, it should have a slight bow up. I went through several defective axles. The axle should have a tag on it, it is probably a Lippert axle. Try calling the manufacturer, several of us had defects. Be persistent.

 

[lwmcguir]

I have aligned many axles over the years. Some stay in alignment and others don't. If you have to go back for a second alignment the rule of thumb here is the axles are upgraded and replaced. All it takes is one large pothole, curb, or 90 degree turn on concrete to bend a light weight axle.

 

[westxsrt10]

Do you know what would cause the squating axles? Is this something that I did, or is it a defect in the axle?

IMO the 3500lbs axles and 14" C rated tires are too weak for that trailer. If you like the trailer upgrade the axles to 5200lb + 15" wheels/D rated Maxxis tires.
Also see post# 12

 

[JeremyN]

Update: I talked to JD at Heartland Customer Service and an axle technician at Lippert this morning. They were both extremely helpful and I will be visiting my trailer in storage this evening to get the information they requested. They have asked me to put a 4-5ft level on the bottom side of each axle. They said there should be a bow up on the axle of about 3/4" to 1" of space between the level and the axle. If the level sits flat against the axle, or if there is a bow down, then my axles are bent.

They asked for me to grab pictures of the gap, tire wear, and axle ID tag. I will be doing this tonight and submitting all the information to Lippert tomorrow morning.

Thanks for all your help on this guys. I realy appreciate it. Now I just hope that if the axles are bent, that Lippert will cover this under warranty. They said there is a 1 year warranty on it, but since my trailer is less than 2 years old, they would try to help out. Hopefully they do cover it all, because I think I have maybe 1500 miles on my trailer. And that would be the max amount of miles. Most all of my camping is at campgrounds with 20-25 minutes of my house.

 

[JeremyN]

Update: I went to the trailer in storage on Wednesday night. I put a 4ft level on the bottom side of my axle, and the axles were flush with the level. So I definitley know they are bent. Now I just have to go back early next week and grab some clearer pictures for Lippert. I really hope that they decide to be nice and honor the warranty, even though I am 6 months past.

 

[DanDargay]

I've had a problem with all four tires on our 2011 Big Country (Mfg. Oct 2009) 3250TS wearing the outside tread. At the 2011 Goshen rally, Lippert people checked the axles and told me to add more air in tires, but axles and springs okay. I was already running max air pressure in tires, 80 psi. This past August 2012 stopped at Lippert service center in Goshen and had axles inspected. I was told the axles were out of spec. (wrong camber), springs were flat (flat from new) and the Trail-Air equalizer were bad both sides. At this point I had 15,000 miles on unit and out of warranty. I had to pay for new axles (up graded to #7000 with arched springs same price as replacement #6000 axles) and Lippert gave me new Trail-Airs. Needles to say I am alittle steamed about this, but I had no choice but to replace. Cannot believe that Trail-Airs wore out in 15,000 miles. Lippert will not tell me what kind of mileage I can expect from new Trail-Airs. So, moral to story keep a close check on tire wear on your new trailer during the warranty period and the moment you suspect I problem get to your dealer get problem rectified.

 

[JeremyN]

UPDATE: Lippert has agreed to replace the axles on my trailer. I took their advice on what pictures to take, added a few of my own, and they very quickly resolved my issue.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Jeremy, Thanks for coming back with an update. Good to hear Lippert is stepping up.

 

[JeremyN]

All in all, I was very impressed with the way Lippert handled this situation. They made an initial offer and I called back with some points of my own. They took the time to listen to my situation and came across giving me warranty time and parts to complete the fix.

The only problem is, I think they might have a bigger issue with these axles than they think. My cousin had a 23ft North Trail and his axle tubes are flat just like mine. His trailer is a little over a year old. And, his friend just bought a brand new 28BRS about 5 months ago. They took a look at his axles, and they are also flat.

I am not sure what is going on here, but I seriously think that Lippert needs to look at these axles, or Heartland needs to start putting larger than 3500lb axles under these trailers. They just don't seem to be holding up at all.

 

[TeJay]

This is the same issue that I ran into with our trailer. It was rated at 7,000# loaded and the axles were rated at 3,000#. What sense does that make. The dealer called the company and was told no, they would not upgrade the axles to 3,500# axles. I called the same day (Dexter)and was immediately told that the axle would be shipped that week. Why did I get results???? I asked and was basically told that because I the consumer figured out that they put under rated axles on a TT they decided to fix it. The next three trailers that the dealer received had 3,500# axles installed even though the sticker on the side said 3,000#. The manufacturer will try to get away with what ever they can and hope that the consumer accepts or does not complain to much. I've arrived at this conclusion because they keep on doing the minimum until the tires blow or the axles sag and the consumer complains. We also have to keep in mind that a lot of TT's are bought, used a little then just sit around for months and some seldom used or not at all. So the manufacturer does what it can to improve the bottom line while not making travel trailers that are built like tanks that nobody can afford.
JMTCW
TeJay