trailer alignment

davel1971 · 12-19-2013, 08:33 PM

I am having a severe right side tire wear issue on my 2013 Wildwood 30kqbss. After only a couple thousand miles, my right side tires are 80% gone, while left side is only about 10% worn. I am getting nowhere with my local dealer. They insist trailers can't be aligned. I spoke with local truck/spring shop and they said they align trailers all the time and even do it for the rv dealer. Anyone had to deal with getting a warranty align done? Have you paid for one and how much did it cost?

09grizzly1 · 12-19-2013, 09:14 PM

Generally, they replace the affected axle(s).If you get nowhere with the dealer, contact the factory.

davel1971 · 12-19-2013, 09:30 PM

I've seen where that is the case sometimes, yet service manager said he has only seen that once in 17 years. BULL. Just bolting on a new axle doesn't guarantee its aligned properly though.

Iwannacamp · 12-19-2013, 10:04 PM

Any decent alignment shop can allign the axles on your trailer. Just call and ask...if they say no...then call the next.

davel1971 · 12-20-2013, 06:20 AM

that's not the problem. My dealer said it there is no such thing and no way to align a trailer. I have to go through them since its under warranty. The local truck/spring/align shop told me they do alignments all the time for the RV dealer. I called the RV dealer service manager out on it and he denied it and was mad at me for calling him a liar.

AquaMan · 12-20-2013, 07:45 AM

Lippert makes a product called "Correct Trak II" made to align axles. To be sure your axles are out of alignment, measure your hangers corner to corner and your wheels center to center. I think 3/8" on the diagonals is what they consider an acceptable variance.

**ependydad** · 12-20-2013, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davel1971

that's not the problem. My dealer said it there is no such thing and no way to align a trailer. I have to go through them since its under warranty. The local truck/spring/align shop told me they do alignments all the time for the RV dealer. I called the RV dealer service manager out on it and he denied it and was mad at me for calling him a liar.

IMO, it's time to skip the dealer. I'd contact Wildwood's warranty manager directly and find out the process to taking the camper to the place that said that they do alignments.

Here's the warranty contacts for FR:
https://dealers.forestriverinc.com/D...nformation.pdf

**Herk7769** · 12-20-2013, 10:11 AM

Every trailer at the Goshen 2013 rally was offered a free laser alignment.

Many who took advantage of it found axle alignment issues and had them repaired at the factory.

(I believe it was no or low cost - someone who had the work chime in. Mine were fine thankfully.)

See you in 2014.

KMP44 · 12-20-2013, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davel1971

I spoke with local truck/spring shop and they said they align trailers all the time and even do it for the rv dealer.

Sounds like the dealer is not being at all helpful, so contacting FR's Warranty Dept sounds like a good idea at this point.

Did the local shop give you a price for checking this? One option to try to cut through the run-around would be to have them give you the measurements. Armed with that you could go back to FR for remedy and ask them to reimburse you the cost of the alignment check. No guarantee they will, but this is a potentially serious issue, so getting an independent opinion on what the problem is might be worth it if you don't have to lay out too much $$ upfront to have them check it for you.

Iwannacamp · 12-20-2013, 11:54 AM

The "aluminum foil" they make the axles and frames from will not take a lot either... I have seen alignment issues with the way the axles are "snatched" over stuff. Poor trailer

davel1971 · 12-20-2013, 08:32 PM

The cost of the align is basically a time and material job. Depends oh what needs to be done to make necessary adjustments. I trust them, as they are a very reputable shop that has been around for many years. Trying to get done through dealer so I don't have to fight for reimbursement

OldCoot · 12-20-2013, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davel1971

that's not the problem. My dealer said it there is no such thing and no way to align a trailer. I have to go through them since its under warranty. The local truck/spring/align shop told me they do alignments all the time for the RV dealer. I called the RV dealer service manager out on it and he denied it and was mad at me for calling him a liar.

So take it to the local truck/spring/align shop and have them check and fix it.

btritschler1437 · 12-20-2013, 08:58 PM

I had a problem wearing a right tire down. Found out the wheel nut was about to come off, not the lug nuts. Tighten up fine ever since.

davel1971 · 12-20-2013, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btritschler1437

I had a problem wearing a right tire down. Found out the wheel nut was about to come off, not the lug nuts. Tighten up fine ever since.

believe me, I check and double check everything safety related. Only thing that I can't do anything about, it the tires shredding themselves off. I might take some measurements this weekend as we will have much warmer than normal weather. I want proof its out so I can keep chewing on the service managers *****

Frank-VA · 12-20-2013, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herk7769

Every trailer at the Goshen 2013 rally was offered a free laser alignment.

Many who took advantage of it found axle alignment issues and had them repaired at the factory.

(I believe it was no or low cost - someone who had the work chime in. Mine were fine thankfully.)

See you in 2014.

When they preformed the Laser Alignment they use a tube that fitted around the King pin and the tube went to the ground. This tube was plum up and down. They used the laser to measure to each L&R front wheels to make sure they were inline. They then measured to the center of the front wheel hub to center of back hub.
Our 5th wheel was measured and it was only off less that 1/8 of an inch.
It was within standards.

Here is information:

Correct Track Installation II Installation Procedure - YouTube

ResQfrog · 12-22-2013, 07:53 PM

When we had our trailer checked at the 2013 ralley they found ours to be off by slightly over 3/8". Purchased the correct track kit and installed it at home. Going to get the lifetime bushing kit for the springs, as I found them to almost worn through. This was in less than 3,000 miles of towing. Will then need to get it rechecked.

Found the brackets to be square to the frame and with each other.

davel1971 · 12-22-2013, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgmiller32

When we had our trailer checked at the 2013 ralley they found ours to be off by slightly over 3/8". Purchased the correct track kit and installed it at home. Going to get the lifetime bushing kit for the springs, as I found them to almost worn through. This was in less than 3,000 miles of towing. Will then need to get it rechecked.

Found the brackets to be square to the frame and with each other.

I thought about doing something similar, but since it's still under warranty, I'm riding their a%% until they pay for it.

ResQfrog · 12-22-2013, 08:56 PM

Our trailer was still under the warranty also. The thing you must check is if you weight equally on both sides both empty and loaded with your stuff. When loaded and ready to roll we were heavier on one side. Still within limits but this causes the springs to flatten more on one side and change the aliagnment more on one side.

davel1971 · 12-22-2013, 09:15 PM

good point. The only thing we take out of the camper during the off season is food, and the pantry is pretty close to center line so not really an issue

AquaMan · 12-23-2013, 06:51 PM

I had found fault in the laser alignment done at Goshen. Having a trailer that's over 41' in length, the place they were doing the alignment had a slope to it. Never thought about it at the time, but figuring later, that would have thrown the laser off when dropping plumb off the pin. Laser shown it was off by more than an inch, actual figures were closer to 3/8 or less.

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