OK . . . the trailer is at a trailer repair shop (Trailer Made Custom Trailers, LLC) in Northglenn, Colorado . . . about two miles from our house!
They manufacture custom trailers . . . car haulers and such, plus provide suspension repair!
Before I give you the details, I want to tell you their first impressions of what they saw when they crawled under our 2013 Heartland Trail Runner with less than 6000 miles on it from the factory . . .
When I arrived, the owner was running a little late and wasn't there yet, so the others helped me back the trailer into a tight space by their garage, and one of the techs crawled under the trailer and looked around and said (and I'm not making this up) . . .
"Jesus . . . I can't believe what I'm seeing!"!
Ironically, about 10 seconds later, the boss man called to let him know that he would be there in about 10 minutes.
He inquired about my trailer (as he knew I had an appointment with him - and I was on time . . . really!
. . . Cathy says I'm always late!), and the gentleman that was still investigating under my trailer said to him (exact words) . . .
"You won't believe this when you see it!"
Remember earlier in this topic thread when I said that he told me over the phone that my trailer should have five leafs in the springs and not four leafs?
And some said . . . "Well, that is what I had when we bought our Heartland trailer!?
Anyway, when he got there a few minutes later and crawled around and checked it out . . . he slid out from under my trailer and shook his head and asked me if I wanted to fix it the way it was from the factory . . . or did I want to do it right!
OK . . . I'm not going to get into every detail as it would take me two hours to type all of this up, but the down low is that they believe that the axles and springs for our trailer are just barely enough to make it legal on the road for dry weight and is more appropriate for a small light duty utility trailer!
Not a 28-foot travel trailer that weighs over 7000 pounds!
And he also told me that he felt that this trailer should have never left the factory with this light-weight of a setup.
That being said, to do the basic fix to make it the way it came from the factory, he felt that the repair we had done in Phoenix back in January was a bandaid to allow us to finish our trip and to get it home (cost us $1000 out of pocket and also said that he felt that is why we had the uneven wear that trashed out our tires on the rest of the trip), but felt that if we relied on that repair (the axle cut in half and welded back together fix that we got in Pheonix in the photos earlier in this topic thread) that most likely we would find ourselves sitting along side of the road waiting for our Good Sam's Roadside Assistance to come save us once again) within the next 1500 miles!
By the by . . . the Good Sam's Roadside assistance is cheap insurance that if you ever use it once . . . it pays for the yearly fee!
And by the by . . . I also thank Sun City RV in Phoenix, AZ for getting us fixed up and on the road, even though their repair wasn't the end-all of our problem!
Anyway, to fix it back to factory specs . . . it will cost us $800!
He feels that at minimum, we need to replace the axle that was cut in half as he doesn't think it (the repaired one we have now) will last much more that a couple thousand miles (which we already have a little over 1000 miles on that repair).
But . . . he also feels that if we replace both axles with heavier duty axles (ironically, he said when he first looked at the trailer before even looking under it that it only has 205/75/15's and a trailer this size should have at least 225/75/15's), it would last us a lifetime and really is what should have been put on by the manufacturer!
OK . . . right now I am awaiting a phone call from him as he is running this through our extended warranty provider (N-Compass, which I don't trust as they are only after the money they make at the signing of the loan and warranty, hoping that they will never have to pay out - proof since they left us hanging out to dry in Phoenix) . . .
It sounds like they may cover the cost of repair to make it equivalent to what Heartland provided from the factory.
But that is not enough!
Time to make Heartland send all of their units out with the proper suspension and everything else from the factory!
We'll see if they
(edited in - extended warranty company - not Heartland) are willing to fix it right to what is actually needed for the trailer the way it should be manufactured from the factory!
I will hear from them either later this afternoon or tomorrow morning . . .
By the way . . . don't forget that all of these photos were taken with less than 6000 miles on our trailer from the day it left the Heartland factory!
Go outside and look at your trailer NOW!
When I hear from them, I'll post the rest of the story!
