meritor rear drive axle

[powerboatr]

I was reading about my rear axle and trying to ascertain if i needed to changed out the fluid based on the freightliner book or the meritor axle website

i discovered a glitch
the RS -19-144 rear axle that is in my chassis is rated at 19,000 lbs as per meritors site and listing in the big book
but my chassis has a printed tag rating it at 20,000 lbs
sooooooo
which should i beleive?
1k de-rating is serious imo.
the gvwr for the coach is 32k and that is a 12k front axle

i will give freightliner a call in the am for sure
after i scurry under the rear and get a set of eyes on the serial number to double check the numbers i have on the label in the cabinet from freightliner

[powerboatr]

Hats OFF to Freightliner. Not only did i get a reply this morning and now feel so much better. They also included a pdf of the maintenance schedules that is imo so much easier to decipher than the paper one i have



20k is the rating and not to worry.

[Pigman1]

I had the same issue with the Allegro Bus. According to what I was told at Camp Freightliner, they (Freightliner) asked and was granted a 1000 pound extension on the rear axle rating by Meritor. How does that explanation fit with what you were told?

I'm not too excited about the extension. If Meritor wanted it rated at 20K, they would have put that rating on the axle. Since they extended the rating, some cushion that was in the axle was reduced. Not my idea of a good way to go, but nothing I can do about it now.I will, however, consider what they did when I'm looking at another rig with a Freightliner chassis.

[powerboatr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pigman1 I had the same issue with the Allegro Bus. According to what I was told at Camp Freightliner, they (Freightliner) asked and was granted a 1000 pound extension on the rear axle rating by Meritor. How does that explanation fit with what you were told? I'm not too excited about the extension. If Meritor wanted it rated at 20K, they would have put that rating on the axle. Since they extended the rating, some cushion that was in the axle was reduced. Not my idea of a good way to go, but nothing I can do about it now.I will, however, consider what they did when I'm looking at another rig with a Freightliner chassis.

I actually felt pretty good about the uprate.
mainly because the gut and ends are rated higher
this is what i received from f/l
AXLE: 12000 20000


SUSPENSION: 12400 20000


TIRES: 13460 24800


WHEELS/RIMS: 14500 29000


HUBS/SPOKES: 14000 26000


BRAKES: 13300 23000


STEERING: 13300


MAX CAPACITY: 12000 20000

the hubs and brakes being rated higher than the 20k to meet the f/l spec
it does make you wonder just how much they are willing to fudge, as the next axle inline form meritor is a 21k rating.
i got deeply involved because the lube oil change times were so far apart
the damon book had 12k miles change the gear oil
meritor had 50k/24 months
now the f/l has 100k/24 months
so i am changing out the lube gear oil this weekend
all 33 pints because i timed out on the lube at the 24 month mark
f/l also bumped the lube change to 300k and 36 month if i go full synthetic
for the price i may just do the dino and 24 month
as I am knee deep into a heavily revised 12 month "annual"
i greased the front end today, still need to do the steering column, and rear fittings, break out the big jack stands...
will change out the front hub oil as well,
all fuel filters done this week, engine oil on monday
i hate that this year everything timed out, vice mileage but life got in the way of actual miles driven,
so after a few hundred we will be ready to roll.
am leaning towards installing a fuel tank drain since i am below a 1/4
but might chicken out

as far as worrying about the 19 to 20 up rate....i have driven all my miles right at the 20k mark or maybe a shade over and no problems to report
I was hoping f/l or damon would say "we goofed" and offer to swap in a 21k rated axle to be nice people
f/l seems pretty solid behind the uprate and i couldn't say enough good things about the quickness of replies

[Kuppajoe]

Powerboatr, Thanks for the great information. For further elaboration, I had my Tuscany 4072 weighed a few weeks back--all four corners individually. I did it with full fresh, grey & black tanks for a worst case scenario. The rear axle came in 850 pounds overweight and a 2000 pound difference side to side. That was unacceptable to me. Over the past two weeks, we have made a number of changes beyond just dumping the three tanks. We'll run with minimal fresh water for toilet and hand washing underway. The Accuride rims are stamped to carry a max of 110 psi so one should not go more than that on the tires. This particular coach by design can be heavy on the passenger side rear. Owners need to know their individual coach and what to watch for. In our case, it involved moving heavy items and removing things that are not being used. It involved some choices but I always want to lessen the chance of a blowout which would really, really ruin my day.