TXBobcat
Fulltime
Well I got a surprise on Friday, Oct. 3. Just as we were coming into Shreveport LA, I noticed some smoke coming out of the right side of the trailer. My first thought was “A tire has gone bad.” I have Pressure Pro sensors on the trailer and truck but got no alarm. Fortunately I had pulled over about 100ft from a freeway exit. I got out and the tires were up. Looked at the tires and they were rubbing against each other.
I looked under the trailer and found that my right rear spring was broken in half. This all happened about 1pm.
Then I looked at the tires and they had large groves in the tread.
I called Heartland and talked to Steve Kennel. He got me in contact with Dave from Lippert. Dave got a hold of Jeffery at the Longview office. Jeffery sent Juan out to where we were on the road to replace the springs. It had also bent both shocks on the door side.
This is a photo of some of the parts.
Notice the bent bracket. The middle is suppose to be flat and the ends bent up to mount the shocks. It also bent both front and rear shocks.
I called my Discount Tire dealer in Garland TX and asked him if they had a store in the Shreveport area. There were none available but he gave me the phone number to Michelin tire company. I called them and they gave me a number to a tire dealer in the area. That happened to be Moore Tire. Now would you believe it, they had only two Michelin XP Rib 16” tires and they would come out to me if necessary or I could drive to their shop at any time and they would mount them. Of course after 5pm would be a service charge for someone to come out to the shop to mount the tires.
Juan started to replace the ODS springs. He came out from under the trailer and told me the bad news. The rear axle had collapsed and we needed to change out both axles. To save time we did not replace the ODS springs. Juan said I could make it to Tyler but strongly recommended we replace them before going any further.
At this time we had less than 30 minutes to make it to Moore Tire. Juan followed me to the tire shop to make sure I had no problem with the tires on the way. We made it before 5pm. Moore Tire replaced the two tires and I was on the way to Tyler. We stayed the weekend at Whispering Pine RV north of Tyler.
On Monday I got in contact with Dave at Lippert. I told Dave I did not want the same 6k axles installed but wanted the 7k axles. One thing lead to another and Dave sent two 7k axles with springs and 2 shocks overnight to Longview. On Tuesday morning Jeffery called me and said the axles had arrived. We took off to Longview. We arrived at Longview about 11:30 and by 12:30 Jeffery had Juan and another employee installing the two axles. We were out of there by 3:30 and on our way to Austin with new 7k axles and suspension.
When we started out it seemed that the truck was laboring more to pull the trailer. I thought it might be something to do with the new axles being to tight. I jacked up each tire and could roll it by had so there was no problem with the tires. While we were talking about the trailer being harder to pull, my wife stated that the spare tire looked a lot further off the ground. I had also noticed the sewer hose pipe I have mounted under the back of the trailer cleared the ground easier. I then remember that the employee that was helping install the axles made a statement that the trailer was riding higher than before. So it looks like the trailer is higher and when I connect up it is placing more weight on the truck. I plan to adjust the height of the 5th wheel hitch and maybe the pinbox to level the trailer a little better.
All in all it cost me about $740 for tires, which Lippert is reimbursing, about $1,040 for overnight delivery and about $274 for the second axle and springs which was not covered under warranty and $210 labor for installing the second axle and springs. I think Lippert did me a fair job so the only thing that really hit me was the overnight delivery. I did not expect it to be that much. Figured on about $500 or so but not $1,040. Live and learn.
Only thing I can say and the reason for this thread, is to tell all of you to take a look at the springs and things under your trailer. I don’t know if I would have been able to see the broken (and rusted) spring but that is something we need to be aware of.
So all in all we are back on the road with new 7k axles and will be at the rally in Rayford Crossing on Monday. See you all there..
I looked under the trailer and found that my right rear spring was broken in half. This all happened about 1pm.
Then I looked at the tires and they had large groves in the tread.
I called Heartland and talked to Steve Kennel. He got me in contact with Dave from Lippert. Dave got a hold of Jeffery at the Longview office. Jeffery sent Juan out to where we were on the road to replace the springs. It had also bent both shocks on the door side.
This is a photo of some of the parts.
Notice the bent bracket. The middle is suppose to be flat and the ends bent up to mount the shocks. It also bent both front and rear shocks.
I called my Discount Tire dealer in Garland TX and asked him if they had a store in the Shreveport area. There were none available but he gave me the phone number to Michelin tire company. I called them and they gave me a number to a tire dealer in the area. That happened to be Moore Tire. Now would you believe it, they had only two Michelin XP Rib 16” tires and they would come out to me if necessary or I could drive to their shop at any time and they would mount them. Of course after 5pm would be a service charge for someone to come out to the shop to mount the tires.
Juan started to replace the ODS springs. He came out from under the trailer and told me the bad news. The rear axle had collapsed and we needed to change out both axles. To save time we did not replace the ODS springs. Juan said I could make it to Tyler but strongly recommended we replace them before going any further.
At this time we had less than 30 minutes to make it to Moore Tire. Juan followed me to the tire shop to make sure I had no problem with the tires on the way. We made it before 5pm. Moore Tire replaced the two tires and I was on the way to Tyler. We stayed the weekend at Whispering Pine RV north of Tyler.
On Monday I got in contact with Dave at Lippert. I told Dave I did not want the same 6k axles installed but wanted the 7k axles. One thing lead to another and Dave sent two 7k axles with springs and 2 shocks overnight to Longview. On Tuesday morning Jeffery called me and said the axles had arrived. We took off to Longview. We arrived at Longview about 11:30 and by 12:30 Jeffery had Juan and another employee installing the two axles. We were out of there by 3:30 and on our way to Austin with new 7k axles and suspension.
When we started out it seemed that the truck was laboring more to pull the trailer. I thought it might be something to do with the new axles being to tight. I jacked up each tire and could roll it by had so there was no problem with the tires. While we were talking about the trailer being harder to pull, my wife stated that the spare tire looked a lot further off the ground. I had also noticed the sewer hose pipe I have mounted under the back of the trailer cleared the ground easier. I then remember that the employee that was helping install the axles made a statement that the trailer was riding higher than before. So it looks like the trailer is higher and when I connect up it is placing more weight on the truck. I plan to adjust the height of the 5th wheel hitch and maybe the pinbox to level the trailer a little better.
All in all it cost me about $740 for tires, which Lippert is reimbursing, about $1,040 for overnight delivery and about $274 for the second axle and springs which was not covered under warranty and $210 labor for installing the second axle and springs. I think Lippert did me a fair job so the only thing that really hit me was the overnight delivery. I did not expect it to be that much. Figured on about $500 or so but not $1,040. Live and learn.
Only thing I can say and the reason for this thread, is to tell all of you to take a look at the springs and things under your trailer. I don’t know if I would have been able to see the broken (and rusted) spring but that is something we need to be aware of.
So all in all we are back on the road with new 7k axles and will be at the rally in Rayford Crossing on Monday. See you all there..
. That among other reasons is why we broke down and spent the money to take our 3055 to Mor/Ryde and replace the entire suspension system with the Mor/Ryde IS system we also replaced the mickeymouse electric drum brakes with hydraulic disk brake. I may be paranoid, but I am SAFE. See too much of this kind of thing happening. There ought to be a law
