danemayer
Well-known member
I know you already have had some discussion about how two 3500 pound axles can support a trailer rated at 6900 pounds, but perhaps I can add to that.
The weight is distributed across the two axles and the hitch. This is not theoretical and it's not a marketing device to claim more than the actual capability. If you had your trailer and tow vehicle weighed, taking individual wheel weight, with and without the tow vehicle, you could easily demonstrate this. The only variable part is whether the hitch is carrying 10% of the total, or 12%, or 9% or some other number. I'd guess it's more than 10%, but 10% is a conservative assumption.
So if you ever fully loaded up to the GVWR of 6900, 10% or about 690 or so will be on the hitch and the remaining 6210 will be on the axles - or about 3105 on each axles vs. a rating of 3500 per axle. So anyone who says that 3500 pound axles are not enough to support a trailer with GVWR of 6900 is not basing his comments on the engineering design. This is definitely not an argument you want to have with Lippert.
When your alignment guy commented on the size of the axle, if we assume he's correct, then that may be an indication that the axles have been mislabeled - perhaps these are 3000 pound axles mistakenly labeled 3500. It can happen. Or perhaps the person making the comment is more familiar with other vehicle types and is making an irrelevant comparison.
If your dealer will back you up that the tire wear occurred before flipping the springs, and the alignment shop will back you up that they haven't done any bending, you may still be able to convince Lippert to inspect the axles. If they're mislabeled, or they find a manufacturing defect, I'd guess they'll acknowledge their error, set aside other issues, and help you, even though they don't have to.
The trick here is to get them to back up after they've made a decision to not help. It's also important to recognize that they really have no obligation to help you after the warranty expires - it's their choice to do so. I'd suggest that you appeal to their expertise - let them know that while you've gotten lots of opinions, it may be that the only way to figure out what really happened is for their experts to take a look.
Of course, if you send the axles to them, you'll probably get to pay shipping and if they don't find a defect, you'll almost certainly have to buy new axles vs getting them aligned. But they may just find that it's their error and send you new axles.
Good luck with it.
The weight is distributed across the two axles and the hitch. This is not theoretical and it's not a marketing device to claim more than the actual capability. If you had your trailer and tow vehicle weighed, taking individual wheel weight, with and without the tow vehicle, you could easily demonstrate this. The only variable part is whether the hitch is carrying 10% of the total, or 12%, or 9% or some other number. I'd guess it's more than 10%, but 10% is a conservative assumption.
So if you ever fully loaded up to the GVWR of 6900, 10% or about 690 or so will be on the hitch and the remaining 6210 will be on the axles - or about 3105 on each axles vs. a rating of 3500 per axle. So anyone who says that 3500 pound axles are not enough to support a trailer with GVWR of 6900 is not basing his comments on the engineering design. This is definitely not an argument you want to have with Lippert.
When your alignment guy commented on the size of the axle, if we assume he's correct, then that may be an indication that the axles have been mislabeled - perhaps these are 3000 pound axles mistakenly labeled 3500. It can happen. Or perhaps the person making the comment is more familiar with other vehicle types and is making an irrelevant comparison.
If your dealer will back you up that the tire wear occurred before flipping the springs, and the alignment shop will back you up that they haven't done any bending, you may still be able to convince Lippert to inspect the axles. If they're mislabeled, or they find a manufacturing defect, I'd guess they'll acknowledge their error, set aside other issues, and help you, even though they don't have to.
The trick here is to get them to back up after they've made a decision to not help. It's also important to recognize that they really have no obligation to help you after the warranty expires - it's their choice to do so. I'd suggest that you appeal to their expertise - let them know that while you've gotten lots of opinions, it may be that the only way to figure out what really happened is for their experts to take a look.
Of course, if you send the axles to them, you'll probably get to pay shipping and if they don't find a defect, you'll almost certainly have to buy new axles vs getting them aligned. But they may just find that it's their error and send you new axles.
Good luck with it.
