Axle replacements

[CUMMINZ]

Axles replaced by Forest River.

Old axles were 7k and new axles are 8k.



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[MGreer]

When Forest River replaced the axles on my camper in '08 I checked the quality of work when I got the camper home. The biggest issue I found was about 50% of the grease fittings were in about 1thread and not even close to tight. The next issue was there wasn't any grease in any of the fittings.

I would reccommend going over the tightness of every bolt they touched, including the lug nuts, they were loose also.

Do a search for "This sucks" in the towing and hauling if you want to see what I went through in '08. Look at the pictures of the upgrade they did with the 2x2 tube welded from hanger to hanger.

Good luck with your repairs.

 

[HBarlow]

I can't be sure but I don't think I see any gussets welded on the sides of the spring perches. Simply welding the spring perch to the bottom of the frame rail is the standard method on Lippert frames. The spring perch is subject to tearing off the bottom of the frame rails in some cases.

Better frame manufacturers add a gusset that runs up the side of the spring perch and frame rail to attach the two together, prevent side to side twisting, and strengthen the attachment point.

 

[Barry]

Mr. Cumminz,



Great presentation!!! Thanx for sharing in such a professional way.

 

[THoltz]

I can't be sure but I don't think I see any gussets welded on the sides of the spring perches. Simply welding the spring perch to the bottom of the frame rail is the standard method on Lippert frames. The spring perch is subject to tearing off the bottom of the frame rails in some cases.



Better frame manufacturers add a gusset that runs up the side of the spring perch and frame rail to attach the two together, prevent side to side twisting, and strengthen the attachment point.

Mr. Barlow, which part is the spring perch?

 

[HBarlow]

The spring perches are the brackets that extend from the frame rail that the end of each spring attaches to. Specifically, the one we can see in the photos is the center spring perch with a Dexter Equa-Flex equalizer attached.

The "rocker assembly" or equalizer as it is formally called allows the axles to move up and down independently of each other when traversing uneven surfaces.

The better trailer frame manufacturers will weld a section of 1/4" or 3/16" strap vertically alongside the frame rail and alongside the spring perch to secure the two together and strengthen the attachment point.

I think it was MGreer who posted above who had a Cardinal, made by Forest River, with a Lippert frame, with a very bad experience a year or two ago. While pulling into a campground over uneven terrain one of his spring perches separated from the frame. It had been poorly welded under the frame rail according to his findings. The eventual repair involved welding a section of 2" square tubing under the frame rail from in front of the front spring perch to behind the rear one and attaching strengthening straps outside the frame rails and spring perches as I was describing above.

My HH on a Young's Welding frame uses the method described above.

 

[CUMMINZ]

One thing is for sure the weakest link will always be the first to break.



I towed it home yesterday and it sure rides and handles better. It is obvious by looking at the photos of the springs, they were very rusty and fairly flat when running. The heavier springs will have a much better spring rate. I'll keep a watch on the cheap frame.

 

[HBarlow]

Forest River spent some money on you if they did all that at no charge.

 

[CUMMINZ]

Total repairs to coach was $4,100s.

 

[MAshley]

What was the original issue? . . I must say 8K disks look really cool by the way. .

 

[CUMMINZ]

The DayDreamer came with 7k axles.