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Old 10-15-2015, 05:23 PM   #1
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I needed a new axle on Rockwood 5th Wheel

I had a problem with a loose wheel on my Rockwood ultra lite 5th wheel, I think its a 8288SS model. I'm the original owner. My problem isn't that I needed an axle, its that the Forrest River manufacture took 8 weeks to get the axle to the repair place ( Range RV in Hesperia, ca ). That is BS !
In this day and age why would it take 8 weeks to get a new axle delivered????? I hope nobody else is getting treated like this by Forrest River !

Thanks, Rod
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Old 10-15-2015, 05:47 PM   #2
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I would be willing to bet that about half of that time is on your dealer stalling on sending the order in, it has been known to happen.
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:04 PM   #3
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I lost an axle back in 2009 on a TT that was out of warranty. I identified the part number on the axle, the looked on line for a dealer, called them and they received it in about a week.

I didn't go through an RV dealer. Any decent shop can replace your axle.

If it's a lippert axle, order it online and then take it to the repair shop that has your camper.

Hope that helps.
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:19 PM   #4
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You didn't say what year your camper was.

A few axle manufacturers have merged or gone out of business over the years. Perhaps it took a while to track down a direct replacement.

If it was a newer one, was it an Al-Ko? They merged with Dexter and the mounts on the Dexter are different I am told. They may have had trouble finding one that would fit.

Then again, it could be your dealer was busy (it is the busy season) and could only work you in later and blamed FR for bumping you for his local folks.
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Old 10-15-2015, 06:24 PM   #5
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Most vendor parts on any RV are warrantied by the specific manufacturer ... things like an axle can be purchased from a business that deals daily in the part ... received quickly ... installed ... warranty work filled out wayyyy before the dealer even gets to initiate your paperwork. I've dealt several times with FR warranty division personally. They get me what I need within a week to week and one half. The dealer deals in months and fractions of years ... ha!
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Old 10-16-2015, 11:04 AM   #6
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Ditto to this
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Old 10-16-2015, 11:53 AM   #7
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I go to a Spring/Axle shop for that type of work. Excellent response.
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Old 10-16-2015, 12:04 PM   #8
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There is no reason for that much delay. We had a problem with a brand new unit. Customer broke down on highway close by. Had it towed in. Called manufacturer and they said it would be 4-6 weeks. Forget that, Called axle mfr. and They overnighted the axle. The customer was back on the road at noon the next day.
Here is the problem. Mfrs do not stock axles in parts dept. SO. That means When the dealer calls in the order. The next day ,Maybee, the Mfr. orders an axle. The axle mfr. will put in a build order for that axle. In a week or so they will build it. Then a day or so later they will ship it to the mfr.. It will sit on the dock till it is inventoried and then will be sent to shipping after all the paperwork is done . it will then be shipped to the dealer who will then schedule the job back into the shop to be installed. NOTHIN TO IT !!!! Learned a long time ago that since the items are under individual warranties its much quicker to go directly through the items mfr. not the coach mfr. Ask your dealer if he is set up directly with the parts mfr.
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Old 10-16-2015, 12:07 PM   #9
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We had to get a new axle on our Rockwood 8265WS in 2011 and it was on warranty. We were at the time 6000 miles from home on the east coast of Canada and it took 3 weeks to get it delivered and installed. Forest River was very good to us.

We have Al-Ko axles on our trailer and again we need a new axle (we were in a wrestling match with a logging truck). Dexter axle bought up Al-Ko and they do not keep much in stock. Most axles can be built in 2-3 days or less, however, they are booked up 7-10 days and then it has to be shipped.

We have been told that our axle was built and shipped last tuesday and since we are in the west coast of Canada and the axel is made in Indiana it will, I'm sure take another week or so to clear customs etc...

Just stay on top of everyone. Our local dealer took over two weeks to get the order in. A phone call every 2-3 days works and tell them you will check back in 2-3 days.

We were supposed to be in Mexico by now

Good luck
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Old 10-16-2015, 02:45 PM   #10
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FR Axle Replacement

Our story is a little different. Last year, in the middle of nowhere Kansas we lost a wheel bearing and axle on the second day of a 12,000 trip to Alaska. The small town had no RV facility, but there was a NAPA store. The mechanic there agreed to help. We called FR and they said that it would take a week to get the axle made and about four days to arrive after that. I ordered the axle. Later that afternoon, I began looking on the internet for the nearest FR dealer. That turned out to be Wichita, roughly 150 miles behind us. When I contacted the dealer, he had a Dexter axle that would fit, but it was a 5200 lb axle instead of the 3500 lb that was on the trailer.

I agreed to buy the axle and made a deal to drive to Wichita the next morning to get it. I then called FR back to cancel the order with them. They told me that since it had been considered an emergency that they had pulled an axle from the assembly line that that is was already to be shipped and charged me $100 to cancel the order. True, or not, who knows.

I picked up the axle the next morning and the NAPA guy and I swapped it out in the gravel parking lot. Later in the trip, near Denali, we fried the other axle. We had it replaced with a Dexter 5200 to match the other and went to heavier springs all around.

Before this trip we had lost an original axle on the 46th day of a 47 day trip. As the trailer was in warrantee, FR paid for that one.

It was a bit time consuming and not really expensive, but we have solved any issues about overloading. As the service manager in Anchorage said, "You can haul a baby elephant now, if you want too.".

Pete S.
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Old 10-16-2015, 06:48 PM   #11
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Lipper gave me the runaround so I went to a local RV repair and they ordered me a7K Dexter axel to replace 6K Lipper axel. It was in the next day, early enough that it was installed by quitting time.
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Old 10-16-2015, 07:22 PM   #12
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Follow up ( Forrest River, PLEASE CALL ME ! )

Just got the call, after 8 weeks they sent the wrong axle. Range RV says Alcove got bought by Dexter, and Dexter can't figure out what axle it is..... I'm screwed. Don't know what to do.

If ANYONE from Rockwood or Forrest River reads this can U message me on this forum with a number I can call for HELP ??????

Better yet, does anyone have a number I can call for Forrest River?????

Thanks, (I still owe a lot on this 5ER and now its usless).

Rod
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Old 10-16-2015, 07:25 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rodinbigbear View Post
Just got the call, after 8 weeks they sent the wrong axle. Range RV says Alcove got bought by Dexter, and Dexter can't figure out what axle it is..... I'm screwed. Don't know what to do.

If ANYONE from Rockwood or Forrest River reads can U call me please?????
Thanks, (I still owe a lot on this 5ER and now its usless).

Rod
Please remove your number before you get spam calls.

It is never a good idea to post that type of information.
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Old 10-17-2015, 09:34 AM   #14
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Old 10-18-2015, 11:52 AM   #15
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Axle issue on our 2008 8315SS travel trailer...... While on a trip from So Cal to UP of Michigan in 2011 DW and I were on our way home going through Oklahoma City, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw smoke coming from the trailer wheel. Pulled over immediately and saw the wheel was sloppy on the axle. "Luck" had it, a Camping World with an RV repair center was at the next exit. Limped the 1/2 mile to the facility and found the bearing had failed and it ruined the spindle. Being it was an ALKO torsion axle the spindle could not be replaced but a whole new axle would have to be replaced. Since the rig was under "extended warranty" it would be replaced under that warranty with the deductible being paid. (That's a whole other story, but they eventually paid.) Too many different axles out there on RVs to stock them in inventory so it would have to be made and it would take as long as two weeks to complete the process. This Camping World had 6 RV full hookup "camp sites" in the back of their business where they do their PDIs for customers. They allowed us to "camp" there for the two weeks it took to get the axle and get back on the road. No charge for this "camping". Thankful for that and we got to see a lot of OK City as well. Nice town, nice people.
Anyway, no axle problems for a while on many long mileage trips, then, on the return of another trip to the Midwest from So Cal this summer, coming back through AZ, same thing. Look in rear view mirror, smoke from trailer wheel and sloppy wheel on axle. Towed on flatbed about 12 miles to nearest RV dealer I found with the help of Forest River Customer Service. I saw this movie before it was a rerun. Bearing failed, ruined spindle, have to replace whole axle, no stock, had to be made and shipped, at least two weeks to complete the process. We were close to in-laws in AZ this time so we stayed with them until process completed. Had to pony up the cost this time as "extended warranty" was up. $1700.00 later, which included replacing the bearings on the other axle as well. I now have two "new" axles since purchase on our RV.
Really still looking for an answer to my axle issues as I have repacked/replaced my axle bearings yearly and or after any extended long distance trips.
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Old 10-19-2015, 08:26 PM   #16
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Axles

Just my 2 cents worth, I hope that the people having trouble with bearings are not relying on the bearing buddies. These are only good for an ocassional add, but they don't do anything when it comes to inspection, cleaning, and repacking. I myself don't repack every year, but every two years. My 5er has 16" wheels (the size of the wheels matters) and I put on and average of 3500 miles per year. I also carry a digital thermometer gun and use that along with my tire guage when I stop for gas.
For those of you who have had an occasional bent axle, been there trying to get in a small site on a narrow road, if your out of warranty bring it to a frame an axle shop. The one that did mine had it back to me in 36 hours.
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Old 10-20-2015, 06:44 PM   #17
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Rockwood 8280 Axle

I just went through a similar exercise. I have ALKO torsion axles with the easy lube hubs. The camper is 2010, and probably has at least 10000 miles on it. I changed out the grease using the easy lube hubs this spring, and check the tire and hub temperatures with an infrared thermometer at most every rest stop. While in north Georgia headed for Murrell's Inlet in South Carolina, I stopped at a rest stop about 1 hour in, and when checking, I saw grease all over one wheel. I called Good Sam, and the sent a mobile service tech, but there was nothing that could be done on site. The tow company took the camper to their shop and started looking for an axle. A few days later, when I got home, I got on the internet and found a company, Axle, Inc. in Elhhart, Ind. After the garage in Georgia got me the serial number from the bad axle, Axle, Inc. worked directly with Alko, which was actually shutting down in about 10 days, and got a replacement axle to the garage in a little over a week. Since the tires were about six years old, and the camper had been towed about 20 miles on 2 wheels, I went ahead and had all 4 tires replaced, upgrading from load range C to load range D. I also had the bearings on the remaining axle replaced as well. I am confident that there was plenty of grease in the bearings, especially given the amount on the wheel and tire. I think maybe the outer grease seal failed, so maybe having the hubs serviced every couple of years, and the seals replaced, even with the easy lube hubs. I'm sure there was no grease showing when I left my campsite in Georgia. By the way, the lady at Axle said Dexter was going to make drop in replacements for the Alko axles. I was very happy with the help given by Axle, Inc.
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