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Old 11-01-2014, 10:15 PM   #1
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Axle and Tank Clearance Too Small

I have a 2013 Forrest River Wildwood XLite, model number T231RKXL. It has less than 4000 miles on it so far. I recently took it in to have the bearings serviced and the mechanic noticed there was very little clearance between the axle and the gray water tank. He said that if I hit a good bump in the road the axle would strike and rupture the tank.

Sure enough, I took a look and it is certainly less than one inch clearance (see picture below) and this is with an unloaded trailer. In fact the decal attached to the axle appeared to have already been scored by some contact with the tank.

This appears to be a design flaw and the tank should be moved forward a few inches to clear the axle. Would you agree this is a design flaw and would you expect Forrest River to correct it free of charge?

If any reader of this has this trailer model, please share what your axle to tank clearance is. Or if you have some other model of Forrest River trailer and have the same problem please share. Maybe Forrest River caught this later in the production history and corrected it.

I plan to contact Forrest River about this as soon as I find out how and who to contact there.

Thanks for your time.
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Old 11-01-2014, 10:33 PM   #2
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Are you sure it does not have torsion suspension.
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Old 11-02-2014, 10:11 AM   #3
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Yes. It certainly has leaf springs and shackles.
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Old 11-02-2014, 10:19 AM   #4
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Here is the people to contact at FR, just find your Div.
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Old 11-02-2014, 10:31 AM   #5
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Thank you! That contact list certainly saved me some time searching.
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Old 11-02-2014, 01:36 PM   #6
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Thank you for that Contact List; very good to have!
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Old 11-02-2014, 03:30 PM   #7
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Thank you for that Contact List; very good to have!
Make sure you start with the warranty admin. then go up from there. You can also order parts from that person, don't have to try and explain something to the parts person then they will take care of it they know what you are talking about not like parts dept at FR.
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Old 11-12-2014, 11:19 PM   #8
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Status Report

Status report. The dealer, RV Solutions here in San Diego, says they've not seen this issue and don't know what Forrest River will do about it. However, RV Solutions said they'd be happy, for about $150, to take a look at the axle, photograph the axle issue and try to contact Forrest River to see what they might do. They also mentioned that I should consider an axle flip.

I've twice telephoned and left voice mail with the Forrest River representative for California Warranty of Wildwood models. No response. Nada.

I plan to try more telephone calls and email to Forrest River representatives. I'll post my results so readers can get an idea of how Forrest River supports their products.

Cheers
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Old 11-16-2014, 02:52 PM   #9
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Status Report

Status report. Contacted Mike Rodriquez (California Warranty Administrator for Wildwood) on 11/14/14. He was quite understanding and suggested I email him some photographs of the issue so he could review the options with the warranty manager. I was happy to receive that positive response. I sent him some photographs today and look forward to hearing some positive news back from Forest River. Attached is one of the photographs I provided Forest River. I’ll keep you posted.
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Name:	View of axle top..JPG
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ID:	66490  
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Old 12-10-2014, 01:54 AM   #10
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Status report. Forest River has proposed a fix for the problem and will pay for the parts and labor to accomplish this fix. Forest River proposes to extend the height of the Equalizer, attached to the Center Hangar. They expect the extended Equalizer height to provide a 1 to 1.5 inch rise of the frame and similar rise of the tank above the axle. This should provide a final separation between the front axle and gray water tank of 2 to 2.5 inches. Raising the frame a bit would be nice as this trailer sits low and often times scrapes the backend on the ground.

However, the final 2 to 2.5 inches of clearance between the axle and tank doesn’t seem to be sufficient clearance to me. What do you think?

Thanks
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Old 12-10-2014, 07:43 PM   #11
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I'd say if it is just barely bumping the tank now, adding 1-1.5 inches will solve your problem.
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Old 01-11-2015, 12:13 PM   #12
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Status Report - Post Fix

I have completed the fix proposed by Forest River. It consisted of swapping the equalizer of the leaf springs from a 2.5" long equalizer to a 4.0" long equalizer. My measurements indicate about 1.5” of total clearance or a 0.5" increase in the clearance between the axle and tank. The measured increase is much less than the 1.0” to 1.5” increase expected by the Forest River representative.

I’ve reported these findings to Forest River and asked Forest River to report if this new axle tank separation is satisfactory. Attached are photos of the new equalizers and clearance.
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