2015 267BHWS Axle/spring/frame issue?!?!

[wdwfreek]

Has anyone else had 2015 267BHWS Axle/spring/frame issues.

We were towing ours back home and was waved down by another RVer. Looking at our rear axle we found it was bent down. After replacing 2 tires (and the spare later on) we took it back to the dealer.

Dealer "seems" to be fighting for us. Dexter (axle company) will not help us.
Jayco is saying it's not our problem. Lipart (springs) saying not our problem.

We have lost our entire camping season. Used it once, at the dealer for a month now. With no end is site of getting it back we had to cancel the rest of summer plans so we don't take a $ hit.

Has anyone else had this issue, axle looks bend, tires slanting out and warn on inside tread to the wire.

[jasoncw]

I had that happen to my previous TT (Keystone Bullet Premier) after about 3 or 4 years. My only guess is that the axles were right at their limit of being overloaded, and we hit 1 too many potholes... If you are not under warranty, I would highly suggest going to a place that services large vehicles, and is not an RV shop. The place I went to locally actually shopped around and found a replacement axle that was a bit higher rated at Tractor Supply Company, of all places.

[wdwfreek]

Thank you jasoncw. The reason we bought the Jayco is for the two-year warranty. We will only had it 13 months. I know we were not overloaded because we did weigh it on the scales. (Shoot, half my storage is empty) Basically the dealership told us that it was assembled incorrectly . It's just a waiting game right now . Thanks again, enjoy your summer.

[bankr63]

Most trailer axles have a bow up in the centre that flattens as you add weight. We ran our little pup pretty close to the limit, and bent ours hitting a large dip in the road at speed. It was hard enough to throw a bike of the rack, breaking free from the restraints. I actually saw the top of the pup in the rearview when we hit. That very quickly reversed the bend in the axle for us, and exactly the same issues you describe.


I think it would be hard to assemble an axle incorrectly, they would have to have welded the axle mounts to the axle upside down; doubt that happens often especially on todays automated lines. The jigs they use for assembly would make sure the orientation is correct. It is most likely bent from some sort of road hazard.


In our case we eventually traded in as we were getting too big for the pup anyway. The dealer replaced the axle before reselling (at least he said he would) as it was taking forever to get one through the channel for us. I did get one good suggestion that truck repair shops that deal with transport trailers may have the capability to repair the bend. Apparently this also happens on much larger trailers from time to time as well.

[jasoncw]

I agree that it likely was not installed incorrectly. You mentioned that you were over weight. Was that just for the axle, or were you also over your TT GVWR? If that is the case, I can see them not wanting to replace it. But if you were within your GVWR, then it should be a warranty issue, likely for Jayco, rather than Dexter, since Jayco is the one who chose to install an underrated axle.

Going back to my issue, for my model in particular, after a couple years the model was out, it became well known that many axles were bent. Again, undersized for the TT. For those where they bent within their warranty period (1 year for Keystone), they did get them replaced. Everyone else was out of luck. But I also read that they upgraded the axles on future models after warrantying a few of them.

The place I went (Redline Collision Truck & Fleet) said they would need to replace it, rather than try to bend it back. When they tried to source an RV axle, they got sticker shock. Fortunately for me, they didn't just order it and charge me for it. They did some calling around, and got a better axle, as I mentioned, at TSC. So keep that in mind if anyone needs to replace in the future on their own dime.

[wdwfreek]

Thanks everyone for the good suggestions.

Like I said I know it's not a weight issue because we have taken our trailer on the scales. We're under by at almost 700 pounds.

The axle is bent downward. What it looks like is it was cinched down too hard when they put it on a trailer for shipping. But the dealership is telling me they don't trailer them in, they are all driven in

[bankr63]

It doesn't have to be overloaded to bend. Just like your car hitting a large pothole and damaging suspension components, the same thing can happen to a trailer. It is possible that it happened before delivery, it is possible it happened after you took delivery. Do you recall hitting a road hazard?
For the one that got me, it wasn't the first time I've rolled over a road hazard; there have been a couple where I have hit a hole or dip hard enough that I pulled over to check. When you've got four axles, some of these things are hard to steer around. This one just had my number.
Should they replace it? The trailer is 2 model years old, and possibly has many miles on it. If I took my car in for alignment after 2 years, I wouldn't expect that to be under warranty.
And yes, Jayco does use fairly light weight axles for the trailer sizes. That is one of the ways they keep the weight and capacity down so it looks like they can be towed by lighter vehicles. If you see "ultra-light" on a trailer, that probably also applies to the axles used as well. You won't find heavy duty axles on an ultra-light trailer.
ETA: Note that my TT chewed through a (newish-replaced at start of season) set of tires in about 400 miles after my axle bent. If you have gotten a lot more than that on your unit, then it was most likely caused by a road hazard and not an installation issue.