Cruiser 5th wheel axle question....

[efavilajr]

Hello again,

A technical question for y'all -- we were out on a group campout and a friend who's pretty sharp with RV's and all noticed that the axle's on our 2006 Crossroads Cruise have a slight bend pointing upwards. He was quite concerned that this was an indication that my axles were "bent!" Oh oh.......so,

when we got back home I called our local RV/Coach guru (great business in the Sacramento area, by-the-way) and over the phone he said this was "normal" for this rig. The axles are designed that way so the more my wife loads into our 5th wheel (she's really good at that, but that's another post for another time!!!) the straighter they become.......so,

My question for you technical experts is this the way its suppose to work with the axles and they weren't "bent" from damage? I've driven along side the 5th wheel and the tires appear to track perfectly and there's no noticeable tire wear due to alignment problems.

Thanks again to all for your help! Great forum here!

Ed and Debbie

[Stan]

My 07 is the same way. The RV dealer said it was normal and although I am not an expert, I think it is for alignment purposes. When I had our last TT aligned, they actually bent the axles slightly.

[BipeFlier]

Perfectly normal. That is how "camber" is put into the axle. Everything is welded up as close to straight as possible, then put in a fixture to align the "toe in" and "camber".

[Chrisnan23]

Originally Posted by BipeFlier

Perfectly normal. That is how "camber" is put into the axle. Everything is welded up as close to straight as possible, then put in a fixture to align the "toe in" and "camber".

Yup normal

[DKingdon]

Yep! Mine are exactly like that on our Cruiser CF31REP!

[SWAILES]

Structural components generally have a slight bend to them and the axels on our trailer are curved slightly as well.If you want to see a really good example of the bend look at an unloaded transport flat deck trailer deck from the side. You will see a noticable arc in an upward direction and if you see the same flat deck loaded thearc is gone I was told that this is designed so that under stress the structural steel is at its strongest.

[Retired Mike]

Ours looks the same ===slight upward bend

[Jimehc]

without question - all the above "slight bend" statements are true...

[efavilajr]

Glad you guys out there to answer our questions -- I feel more confident about issues with our 5th Wheel........we just got back from 2 weeks in Bandon, Ore Bullard's Beach State park maybe the best State park around!!

My dear bride loaded up our trailer and there wasn't much bend left in them axles....LOL.....I'm still working on convincing her, put something new in the trailer, then taking something out.....not working so far!!

Thanks again,

ed and deb


Edited by: efavilajr