2015 Cardinal 3875 Wheel Failure

[lesterw]

While on a trip last weekend we experienced a wheel failure on my Cardinal. The left front hub studs all sheared off causing damage to the skirting to the slide-out. The are Lippert 7000# axles. I understand, through Forest River, that my cardinal and axles were not involved in the recall regarding this type of wheel failure.

However, the description of the failure matches the failure on my Cardinal. I understand that this type of failure may also be caused by over are under torquing the lug nuts. To my knowledge the lug nuts were tight, but I couldn't swear too it.

I specifically torqued all wheels prior to my departure before heading home. We made it home without any further incident.

Has anyone else experienced this???

[donniedu]

Whether you torqued them to speca or not is probably immaterial. All it takes is one idiot with an impact gun to over torque them once and their done. If it were me, I would 32 brand new studs and replace all of them. From there on using a torque wrench torque them to specs at the start of every trip

[lesterw]

Thanks, thats my plan. i have already purchased new lugs. I am waiting for insurance to come over and estimate the damage. I waiting to see if I can get them to include that in the estimate. My guess is they wont but I'm not going anywhere in the near future.

[CMelder]

Sorry to hear of your incident, I get sick just thinking of how bad that could have been.

You may want to contact Lippert directly. You will need to get under the RV and look for the Lippert Tags on the back side of each axle tube and take a picture of them. This will identify the exact axles, serial numbers, etc. you have.

You can then contact Lippert at customerservice@lci1.com and attach the pictures of the tags and the failure, damage, etc. and see if they have a recall on them. Explain to them you had tightened the lug nuts prior to rolling out.

[SilverbackMel]

A "recall" is required to notify all buyers. Since they are a supplier; that transfers to the "user" which would be FR. While it is worth checking, the better " individual" route is to start with FR. I had a Lippert issue. My unit is better than when built. FR and Lippert were IMMEDIATE AND FANTASTIC.
FR has the relationship with Lippert. YOU, as end user, have a relationship with " customer service".
Keep in mind, a "recall" is an admission of a defect in Manufacturing. That open them up to unlimited potential liability damages in event of property damage; personal injury or death.
We are talking "wheels" here, NOT something less potentially harmful in the event of failure; i.e.; stabilizers won't retract.

[CMelder]

Hi SilverbackMel, Just to clarify, I believe LesterW did contact FR, per his original post, and did not get any help on the axle failure, which wheel studs shearing off would be an axle failure to me. Reportedly this is the type of failure that the recall was addressing.
So, my suggestion of contacting Lippert directly would be two fold; (1) Inform Lippert of an axle failure, which they then could record for possible recall expansion; (2) Lippert may look into the issue deeper than simply looking at a list to see if the Serial No.'s were listed.
While I realize FR, as a premium buyer of Lippert components, would/should have a better relationship than myself or the average end user, it may help to bring the matter directly to their attention. Who knows, maybe the Customer Service representative becomes very interested in this incident and pursues it. I can't see where it hurts to let Lippert know about the situation whether they help correct it or not.

[SilverbackMel]

You are correct: doesn't hurt.
BUT if you have an issue with your car, truck, refrigerator, tv etc; the manufacturer of the end product is the point of contact. It's not any different with RV's.
My Dodge has a defective air bag inflator. Point of contact is DODGE, not Takata.

[CMelder]

Lol, I don't think anyone will be able to talk to Takata. BUT, RV's are different from car mfg.'s and the axles in question are not a "special design" just for this particular RV. Lippert makes 1,000's of axles and other products for numerous applications, not just RV's. You and I can buy Lippert products without buying an RV, and you can talk directly to them about your Lippert products, that is why they have a Customer Service Dept. If you want to rely on your RV Dealer chasing the problem for you all the way back to Lippert engineering, cool, go for it.