What a croc. Bent axle

[rakane]

It took 6 weeks for my axle to be delivered from Dexter. So hope you find one in stock.

[johnnyice]

If you have some type of RV Care package , flat bed the unit to your home dealer ; or as stated in this post , replace the axle ( complete or just the axle , use existing breaks etc ) instead of trying to limp home for 900 miles . Why wreck your vacay time .

[Chuck_S]

Not sure how anyone is going to "limp home" 900 miles or why they'd be limping back to the selling dealer when there are dozens of dealers available. Factory warranty is not tied to the selling dealer. And there are probably trailer axle shops available too -- the factory buys these axles, they don't make them.

-- Chuck

[Dan50]

Originally Posted by RockDodger

My new trailer, which BTW I had to wait for 5 mos to be built, now has a bent axle, and of course this happens 900 miles away from home. Do you think I could find anyone to fix it? Nope. At least not right away. My warranty is up in 8 days and I now have to limp this thing back to my dealer before the warranty expires, because they can't take my word for it and they have to inspect it and make sure I'm not 'lying' to them just to get a new axle. Apparently, I am the evil warranty claim customer now who will probably end up on their 'troublemaker' list.

Get this: I went to a Palomino dealer who tried to give me that crap that the axles are supposed to look that way, to which I promptly told him he was full of it and he didn't know what he was talking about. Then he told me even if he could do it, they wouldn't be able to get to it for at least month because there were a lot of repair jobs already and backed up waiting for parts. That was he end of that visit. I called a couple of other places whose names I won't mention, and pretty much got the same answer. I guess I would rather it sit at my own dealer for a month or two than somewhere way out of town, so camping trip is over and now it's just a trip.

If your axles are bowed upwards in the middle of them that's the way they are supposed to be.

[phillyg]

Originally Posted by Dan50

If your axles are bowed upwards in the middle of them that's the way they are supposed to be.

Its possible for the axles to still have their pre-bend, but have a bent spindle.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by phillyg

Its possible for the axles to still have their pre-bend, but have a bent spindle.

At this point, anything is possible since the OP is short on details and pictures. Hopefully he will get back to us with 'the rest of the story'

[Dan50]

Originally Posted by phillyg

Its possible for the axles to still have their pre-bend, but have a bent spindle.

That is quite true and a whole other subject. The theme of this post is about bent axles unless I am totally wrong. A bent spindle would manifest itself in usually outside edge tire wear. Inner edge or outer edge would depend on the angle of the bend.

[Sharon455]

Originally Posted by Chuck_S

Not sure how anyone is going to "limp home" 900 miles or why they'd be limping back to the selling dealer when there are dozens of dealers available. Factory warranty is not tied to the selling dealer. And there are probably trailer axle shops available too -- the factory buys these axles, they don't make them.

-- Chuck

OP said that if his trailer was going to sit in a shop he wanted it to be a shop near his home. I completely understand this as I cannot imagine having to make another 900 mile one-way trip to pick it up whenever.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

At this point, anything is possible since the OP is short on details and pictures. Hopefully he will get back to us with 'the rest of the story'

X2

We are all surmising what it "could" be.

Unless the OP provides additional information we are all doing that thing in the wind.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by 5picker

X2

We are all surmising what it "could" be.

Unless the OP provides additional information we are all doing that thing in the wind.

As an old boater I can attest that a lot of that is done but you learn very quickly never to do it INTO the wind.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

As an old boater I can attest that a lot of that is done but you learn very quickly never to do it INTO the wind.

Unless you are severely in need of a shower and that is your only source of water.

[Mr. Dan]

Objection sustained.
Would the members please drop this line of questioning?


Site Team

[bbells]

I had to bring mine into a truck alignment shop too for my axle. But, it cost me $256.

[billywilly]

You know, stuff happens. We load our campers to the max, cut the corner and ride up the curb and drop off the other side, hit a pot hole, etc, and expect the tire dealer, or the RV dealer (Oh please, ANY ONE) to bail us out. Last time I had my axles trued was in San Antonio. Tx. two years ago.
Charged me $125 to true the rear axle and $35 for checking the front on which was still true.
Man up. Get a grip.
It’s Memorial Day. And I’m remembering the twelve guys I served with who died in the Republic of Vietnam.

[cl733]

Alot of trailers i noticed on my last purchase have just enough carrying capacity to get you on the road, check your gross vehicle weight and your unloaded vehicle weight, I've seen as low as 700lb carrying capacity, add water and propane and food and you're on the verge of overweight, check into upping your axle size when you are getting you axle fixed under warranty, take a picture of your bent axle and send it to the manufacturer, it will extend your warranty until the matter is dealt with

[traveltrailerrookie]

I just replaced my Alko axle with a new Dexter (3500lb). A local shop gave me the website they use. http://www.axleinc.com
They are Dexter axles sold by Lippert to the general public. Cost to ship from Elkhart to Joliet was around $250 plus crate fees. I went and picked it up and saved the fees. They were very helpful.

[Foodguy923]

Mobile tech diagnosed a bent axle on my Cherokee. Called Lippert and it was replaced under warranty. Lippert warranty is 5 years parts, 2 years labor. Took a month for the new axle to arrive.

[Justired]

You didn’t give enough info. Some axles do have a slight bend, you can check with maker of your axle to see if is correct or indeed bent. I would assume it is a Lippert axle,all you have to do is get serial # and call Lippert. # is on plate center of axle

[RET.LEO]

If seriously needing a new axle then check out Etrailer. At least able to see if they have them in stock and it will be a lot quicker shipping.

[RockDodger]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

It depends of course how mechanically inclined you are, or how much mechanical work you want to do, but replacing an axle is not really a tough job.

A bare axle itself is not all that expensive and generally the hubs, bearings, backing plates w/brakes, as well as drums are all reusable.

Jack up and support, remove all wheel hardware, remove U-Bolts, and remove axle. Reverse process with new axle. Spring has a bolt in the center of the leaves and the spring mount on the axle has a corresponding hole that the "pilot" head of the spring bolt sits on to locate the axle. Replace everything in reverse order it was removed.

It's not as complicated as many other mechanical jobs can be like replacing an engine or transmission.

That is if you want to do it yourself.

Ya. This is not a hard job and I could do it. But I'm in my 70s with medical problems, so the DW would rather I didn't. I was an auto mechanic and have the whole gambit of tools, air compressors, truck jacks, etc. Garage sale coming soon.