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Old 06-05-2010, 11:27 AM   #1
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Last time I had the Cruiser out on the way home I got a flat on the left front of the 5er. No big deal it picked up a nail. WhenI stopped at a rest stop I noticed the left rear looking a little low and it was much warmer than the front to touch. Checked it out and the front was down to about 10 lbs of pressure. I know the tire was good when I left camp in the morning because I had checked all the tire pressures. So I was running with a flat for no more than a couple of hours.No blowout, no swaying, no symtoms. Iput on my spare, headed down the interstate and stopped at the next little town and got the flat tire patched so I would have a spare for the remaining200 miles of my trip.







When I got home I parkedthe Cruiserin the RV garage. It's been a cold, and wet spring so I just got around to putting the original tire and aluminum wheel back on today. WhatI discovered was pretty scary. My rear axle was crushed on both sides right at thespringmounting pad. The 3 inch diameter axlehad collasped down to 2 inches thick at the mounting pad.Because the axle had crushed the axle u bolts were loose. I mean I could turn most of the nuts with my fingers.We are luckywe made it home. I would be afraid to move it a mile the way it sits now.



I know the axle was not like that before my trip because I was under there just beforeI left on this trip changing out a defective left rear brake assembly and lubing the bearings. I posted last fall on the brake and seal issue.



It appears that the rearaxle collasped due to the increased load it got when the front tire went flat. I know I am well under themax load for this trailer.It seems to me that theseaxles should have enough of a safety margin built in to them that you wouldn't have to worry about the axles collapsing when you get a flat tire!! Maybe I just got a bad axle.



Anyhow, I am well past the 2 year axle warranty so I will be ordering a replacement axle on Monday and fix this one on my nickle.



Just a heads up to all of you to take a good look at your axles and mounts immediately if you get a flat out there. I read a lot of posts on here about guys going thru tires while on the road but not too much about crushed axles which makes me think I just got one of the bad axles. Hope the new one is stronger.

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Old 06-05-2010, 12:47 PM   #2
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Kurt:
That's a pretty scary story. Nasty thing to have happen. I guess the only good that can be found, is you and yours made it home safe and no extensive damage to the 5er.
Keep us posted on how everything goes.



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Old 06-05-2010, 02:05 PM   #3
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Ding Ding Ding, Kurt I think this is what happened to my trailer. I have weight slips where I weighed my trailer so I know it was not overloaded. I think this is exactly what happened to my trailer and I just couldn't imagine it would happen this way.

My tire was flat and coming apart and I thought it was from the Axel being off, When I took the flat off I put it in the back off the truck and never looked at the tire, When I got home The wife said oh, You got a nail , Yep I had no idea until I got home but the exact same thing happened to my trailer.



CrossRoads had me back on the road in less than 4 days with new axles ( Both ) a new tire and a new rim and four new leaf springs. I could not have been more pleased with how they handled it.
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Old 06-06-2010, 01:15 AM   #4
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gtoguy, Thanks for sharing your experience. My tire wasn't torn up in fact it had only the nail hole in it and after the patch it is holding air pressure just fine. So when this all happened there was no apparent damage to the trailer except the undectected at the time crushing of the rear axle.

I guess you were still under warranty huh? Did Crossroads say why they replaced both axles and springs as well? I was wondering about the springs. What year andmodel is your rig? Do you have the 5200 lb axles? I wonder if there is a batch of bad axles that they are aware of and if the customers have a problem, they just replace them. I guess I better do some more digging before I make my next move.
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Old 06-06-2010, 02:04 AM   #5
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Kurt, I did'nt know till I got home but the tire had a nail in it that caused it to go flat, When it ran flat it tore the tire up ( I think ) Our camper 2007 29RL was only 6 months old at the time. I requested the other new axel because I didn't know what happened. CrossRoads took it upon them selfs to send the springs

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Old 06-07-2010, 12:48 PM   #6
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I have been thinking about what has happen to you two guys with a flat tire. Did either one of you have a pressure monitor system? If not, do you think it would have prevented your flat tire from becoming and axle crusher?
I've been thinking about it over the weekend and I'm almost ready to pull the plug and order a system. Been reading on the Hawkshead.


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Old 06-07-2010, 10:47 PM   #7
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All,



I would not assume it is only because of the flat (although this may aggravate the problem). My son-in-law and I both bought Cruiser TTs in the spring of 2007. Last spring (as he was pulling to a parking site, after being on the Interstate at 65 mph all day), he had the rear axle let go. The same thing happened (it collapsed at the saddle), and the U-bolts worked their way loose. According to Crossroads (who was very good and replaced the axle and tires free of charge), Lippert got some "bad" steel. Since we ordered our trailers at the same time, the four serial numbers of our axles our consecutive (and the one that failed was in the middle. According to Lippert, only some of the axles used the bad steel, so they would not replace his other one (nor mine). So we now have a chance of random axles failing. Talk about a case for concern.



So both he and I have double nutted our u-bolts, and I (as the safety nut) have added a surveillance camera system under the trailer to watch the axles. I can't say what happening in your cases is because the axles were weak to begin with, but this is very high on my watch list. I NEVER want to experience the loss of axle at 65 mph.

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Old 06-08-2010, 12:53 AM   #8
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Two things that would help us that have Cruisers with Lippert axles. For those that have had axles fail a picture of the failure. Second the serial number of the involved axles. If it was a case of bad steel during a production run we could check our serial numbers and know if we need to be extra careful. My guess is faulty welding of the spring saddle to the axle tube.
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Old 06-08-2010, 03:13 AM   #9
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If you look at the old site under my name you will find the post with pic's of my axle. My tire went flat after the failure and I thought the axle cause it to go flat but there was a screw in the tire and I think that's what caused my flat after the axle issue.



And I know my ubolts were tight as I looked at them on the way out, I looked under there from time to time while fueling up the truck and my buddy wondered what was wrong when I was looking, I told him I was just looking, I'm glad I did that time and on the way home when it happened to me.
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Old 06-08-2010, 08:32 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Farmer
I have been thinking about what has happen to you two guys with a flat tire. Did either one of you have a pressure monitor system? If not, do you think it would have prevented your flat tire from becoming and axle crusher?
I've been thinking about it over the weekend and I'm almost ready to pull the plug and order a system. Been reading on the Hawkshead.








Lloyd, I don't have a pressure monitor, but in my case it may have saved my axle. It's just a shame that we would have to spend a bunch of $$$ for pressure monitors or surveilance cameras for a little piece of mind on new or almost new trailers.
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Old 06-08-2010, 09:10 AM   #11
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rcflyer, My axle is a 5200# axle andthe serial number is 378791. I haven't figured out how to post pics yet. It took me a while on the old forum to get my signature photo in with a lot of help from some forum members. I'll work on it. You make a good point on the welding on the saddle. If they got it too hot or didn't cure the weld properly It could have softened or weakened the axle tube metal at the weld. The arc they build into the axle for propercamber and flexing is still there. It looks the same as the front axle. So that tell me that the rest of the axle metal and strengthmay have beenOK.

I talked to Randy Mishler at Crossroads this morning about the whole deal. I told him I wasn't moving the trailer until the axle was replaced and that I was going to do the work. He told me to send him the bill for the parts and he would reimburse me. My axle warranty expired over a year ago. Another example of Crossroads sttepping up and doing what is right. I asked him about Lippert axles made with a "bad batch of steel" as mentioned byggates and he said he thinks that was on 3500# axles. ggates I'm not sure what you have on your rig. In anycase he checked my vin and said there was nothing in his records indicatingaxle problems, I guess when mine was built. That was Feb 2007.



Here is my plan: I also talked with Lippert today, mainly to find out if I could upgrade to a 6000 # axle. Are all the measurements the same as my axle so that my bearings, seals , brakes etc will all fit? They said yes, I could use that axle in combination with my stock front (5200#) axle as long as I didn't upgrade to the 6000# springs. My rear springs, hangers and mounting brackets all look good so that is what I am going to do. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get the parts and I'll be away all next week so I'll give you all a progress report when I get back into it or when I'm done.



I know you want pics. that all depends on my success on figuring out how to post them.

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Old 06-08-2010, 10:42 AM   #12
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Can someone tell me how to get to the old site.



If I were replacing an axle on my own nickle I would go with a Dexter. From what I have seen they have a heavier wall tube.



As for upgrading to a 6000 lb not sure it will help. Dexter told a friend of mine the tube on the 5200 and 6000 was the same. It is the spindle and brakes that are different.



I also wonder if jacking trailer under the spring pack is a possible cause of the tube collapsing. Lippert tells you not to jack anywhere on the axle. I have always jacked on the frame and made sure the tire shops did the same.

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Old 06-08-2010, 11:26 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rcflyer
Can someone tell me how to get to the old site.



If I were replacing an axle on my own nickle I would go with a Dexter. From what I have seen they have a heavier wall tube.



As for upgrading to a 6000 lb not sure it will help. Dexter told a friend of mine the tube on the 5200 and 6000 was the same. It is the spindle and brakes that are different.



I also wonder if jacking trailer under the spring pack is a possible cause of the tube collapsing. Lippert tells you not to jack anywhere on the axle. I have always jacked on the frame and made sure the tire shops did the same.
If I were going to switch to dexter axles I would probably be looking at 2 axles, not one and all the running gear such as brakes, bearings, seals, maybe even springs. That is a much bigger cost and project thanI want to take on.





Maybe Dexter 5200# axles have different brakes and spindles than the 6000# axles but as I stated, I was told today by Lippert that my components will fit on the 6000# axle. I am planning on replacing ONLY the axle beam assy which includes the axle with with brake wires in the tube. The spindles are part of the axle and according to Lippert are exactly the same as the 5200# axle. I will also get new u bolts and nuts. I will use my old bearings, brakes and seals. Should be a straight swap out of parts, no mods required. If they are lying to me the axle won't be going on my trailer.



The extra 800 lbs of capacity may not be necessary but it will make me feel better. The upgraded axle is only about $30 more than the stock axle. Besides Crossroads is paying for the parts. I probably couldn't talk them into paying for changing all my running gear to Dexter.
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Old 06-08-2010, 01:44 PM   #14
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Kurt,



No, we do not have the 3500 lb axles. They are same 5000 lbs axles on the Cruiser TTs as the 5vers. Ours were built at sboutthe same time. I'll have to check our axles, but from what I remember (and as an old guy, don't depend on my memory ), theaxles SNs ended in 700/701 range. As to whether the "steel" is bad.or just faulty craftsmanship, I am just relaying what our dealer told us. I am not sure if Dexter is really any better, but if I buy another trailer, it will either have Dexteraxles or I wouldn't buy it.
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Old 06-09-2010, 03:16 AM   #15
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This is a picture of an axle that was replaced by Lippert on my 2010 Cruiser. Both sides were about the same. I have no idea why the axle failed. I had never lifted the trailer by the axles. No tire failure. I had just been over about 200 miles of very rough Interstate highway. My axle weights on the 5200 lb axles were 3920 lbfront and 3940 lbrear. This was done directly after the axle replacement on a CAT scale in case Lippert was to challenge that the trailer was overloaded. Well within axle capacity. It was the rear axle s/n 955957 mfg 4/30/09 that failed. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

I noticed inside tire wear on rear axle and on investigation found the Ubolts were loose. Lucky the Ubolts did not come all the way off.

The axle was replaced with an axle mfg 4/30/09 sn 575659. It does not appear the S/N gives any information about the production run. Now I am looking at the spring perch as well as checking hub temperatures every time I get fuel. The trailer had less than 4000 miles of towing when the axle failed.

When the warranty expires I plan to replace both axles with Dexters.

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Old 06-09-2010, 05:10 AM   #16
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CrossRoads used Alko Kober axles at one time. In '03 and '04 there was a string of VIN numbers on trailers from alot of manufacturers that had defective Alko axles. It was said that Alko admitted having produced a batch of axles where the hubs were wielded on incorrectly resulting in bad tire wear and exploding tires. If you were under the trailer warranty they would replace them. If you were out of warranty or not the original owner, they would replace the axles but the owner was responsible for removing the shafts and shipping them to Alko for inspection. If Alko found a manufacturing defect in the axleshaftsthey would ship new ones. Again it was up to the owner to pay to have the new axles shalves installed. It appears the list of "quality" axle manufacturers is getting smaller. Like Lippert, I would stay away from Alko Kober also.
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Old 06-09-2010, 09:56 AM   #17
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Left Rear. More to follow.
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Old 06-09-2010, 10:01 AM   #18
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Right Rear
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Old 06-09-2010, 10:07 AM   #19
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This is the front axle. This is what the rear should look like. No damage.



I figured out how to post the pics. Just haven't figured out yet how to get them all on one post.
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Old 06-09-2010, 10:12 AM   #20
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Looks like you got picture posting figured out just fine.
That axle is a mess!! I would like to put it in a chop saw to see what the thickness is on the sidewall. Then it would interesting to know what they claim it's suppose to be.

Just move down and paste another one.


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