Bent axles

albertr · 09-01-2013, 01:57 AM

I have been plauged with tire/axle problems since day 1. I bought the 2011 Crossroads Cruiser new August 22nd 2012. Did not get to use it much last year because the dealer had it for a long time to correct problems and our season is over October 15th. Back to it again in late May this year. Tires were wearing unevenly and were also out of shape with huge bumps. I had them balanced ant the tire shop told me that they were very difficult to balance and advised me not to use them. I had contact with Crossroads on this and got nowhere. I hoped that the poor quality tires were the cause of all the problems so I bought 4 'LT' tires and after a 2000 mile trip those tires are also starting to wear unevenly. I contacted Crossroads again and talked ro Bill Hodge. He sent me an email saying that Lippert will contact me directly. that was on Aug 28th. I have not heard from Lippert. Meantime I have made an appointment to have the axles checked at a trailer shop on Sept 4th. The shop tells me that they never heard of Lippert and they sell Dexter and Al-ko. I am waiting for a response from Lippert. I fully expect to get the run around here but will see how this pans out.Meantime I have to make a decision soonbecause the end of deason is fast approaching.

harley · 09-01-2013, 04:27 AM

I too , straighted out an axle causing the tires to wear on the inside pretty bad. (13500 km trip this summer) and all 4 springs were flattened .I had already stopped at a scale and was 500# under suspension max.Bill Hodge got a hold of lippert and they called me mid vacation and had 2 axles and 4 springs (4400# vs 3500#)shipped to my service dealer ...not the dealer I bought it from , they sucked. parts arrived in 7 days and are to be installed soon.
Was very happy with the promp answers from both Bill and lippert.

hang in there

CeeDee · 09-01-2013, 06:08 AM

Just replaced both axels, the equaflex suspension& 4 tires on my 09 cruiser 30sk. The shop said in their opinion the axels were too light for the unit. Replaced with 7000# axels, will see how this goes. The trailer weight is just over 10k#. From the past experience I've had with Xroads I'm not going to even contact them
Cal

**Lloyd** · 09-01-2013, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CeeDee

Just replaced both axels, the equaflex suspension& 4 tires on my 09 cruiser 30sk. The shop said in their opinion the axels were too light for the unit. Replaced with 7000# axels, will see how this goes. The trailer weight is just over 10k#. From the past experience I've had with Xroads I'm not going to even contact them
Cal

Did your rig have 5200# axles originally?
Your trailer weight at just over10,000, is that dry weight?

CeeDee · 09-01-2013, 06:57 AM

Hi OF
Yes I had 5200# axels & it is 10000# gross
Cal

mike06081969 · 09-01-2013, 08:09 AM

With as many travel trailers as there are on our highways, you would think that the federal government would have some safety regulations on allowing RV manufacturers to use axles and suspension components that are either underrated or barely meet minimum spec. There should be some safety margin engineered in, but as bent axles seem to be a hallmark of a Lippert suspension, they are apparently cutting it very close. It will probably be several years before I'm in the market for a new RV again, but I'm pretty sure whether or not it has a Lippert suspension will be a determining factor in buying it. You can see how flimsy Lippert components are with the naked eye.

rcflyer · 09-01-2013, 10:02 AM

I had an axle failure on a Cruiser about three years ago. I contacted Cross Roads and they gave me a number to call Lippert. Lippert had me back on the road with a new axle in three days two of which was Easter weekend. Time to call Bill Hodge and ask him for a number to use to call Lippert. You have to be proactive and I do not wait for someone to call me I call them.

cwit · 09-01-2013, 10:12 PM

I have to ask why do you have to call lippert if you bought a crossroads RV? It should be up to

crossroads to contact Lippert.

raym · 09-23-2013, 11:27 AM

I have a 2014 32RL I was in Houston (850 miles from home)anddiscovered that the front axle tube had opened up. I called local dealer they called Crossroads who called Lippert. Lippert Jesse Sidwell called me and told me not to make the trip home. I was told the next day Friday (was leaving for home this day) by him that it would be 3 -5 business days before they could ship the new axle. I contacted him to tell him to ship it to my home instead of to Texas. It had already shipped (imagine). Axle was air freight,AM delivery, but did not arrive until Monday afternoon 1:30 PM. I had put 5 U-bolts around the axel over the weekend. With axle in bed of truck we headed home. Got home no problems. I was replacing the axle and discovered that it is a 5200 lb axle instead of a 4400 lb. Lippert says no it is a 4400 lb and will be fine. I have read and read and talked to people, everything indicates that the weight rating should be same on both axles. Crossroads and Lippert have nothing more to say. I have 2 6000 lb Dexter axels with 12" brakes on order.

My trailer is rated at ~9600 lbs. 998 Lb tongue weight and 2x4400 axels = 9798. I estimate that I am at about 9000 lb going down the road. That puts me within 9% of the max weight.

Looking at the bearings on the old axlesevery reference to weight rating says 3500 lb.

NorskeNY · 09-23-2013, 11:33 PM

One would think that the axles would at least support the GVWR of the trailer.

Our unit - GVWR of 12,380 and has 5200 # axles. I know that the truck or front legs support allot of the weight (over 2000 lbs) - but still it should have at least 6000 or 7000 lbs axles to provide some design margin.

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harley · 09-24-2013, 12:27 AM

Just got my bent 3500# axles and springs replaced,along with new tires that wore on the inside . Lippert sent 5200axles ,but with my 10" brakes off the 3500# ers ,that apparently makes them 4400#. They upgraded the original springs ,that were flattening out, with 2200# springs. Now there should be no more tires bottoming out to the bottom of the trailer.
Trailer weights 6000 dry and at the scales,axle weight was 6600#,so I was 400 #'s under the 7000(3500 x 2) from orig springs and axles.Way to close in my mind.
So far happy with Bill Hodge from CR and with Lippert on sending parts within 7 days....they also sent wet bolts n/c.

albertr · 09-30-2013, 10:09 PM

Update..... About 1 month ago I posted about my bent axle problem.Lippert gave me 2 axles at no cost and Crossroads is paying the installation cost. Thats the good news. I was a little disappointed to find that onethe axleswas manufactured with an offset of 1/4 inch on the spring attachment location. This causes the front wheels totrack 1/4 inch to the left outside the rear ones. The rear axle is 'bent' so that the left rear wheel is 'towed out' about 1/4 inch. Lippert tells me that those measurements are 'within tolerance'. We shall see.

NorskeNY · 10-01-2013, 01:41 AM

Found this:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...pging/1/page/1

Edited by: NorskeNY

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