Bent axle just dicovered

[Sandman]

Keep us informed of the alignment process/details.. never been there..

Sent you a PM...

[96PSD]

I have read in some places on Rv.Net and CedarCreek RV Club that in the 2003 year that AL-KO had a bad batch of axles that were flawed, there was a bad weld on them causing them to camber in more than normal. I am in the process of starting to looking into a problem with one out of my 4 tires that is wearing significantly on the inside. I have about 6000 miles on the tires.

[450Donn]

You cannot look at the axles to determine if they are out of alignment no more than looking at your car/truck you can determine if something is wrong.
1) AL-KO had problems with axles manufactured and installed on 2003/2004 trailers. Contact then with the serial numbers of your axles to see if they are in the bad batch. The serial number is on a small metal tag attached to the axle.
2) Take your trailer to a good truck alignment shop and have the alignment checked to see if they are bad,out of alignment, or just your imagination.

[ncason]

96PSD
Unusual wear on the inside of the tire and cupping would not happen if the axles were in proper alignment. (If tires are properly balanced etc). It is worth a phone call. ALCO-KOBER 1-574-294-6651. I talked with Forest River this week. They are "happy" with ALCO and are still installing their axles. (Per Chris at Cardinal Customer Service) Our rig will be realigned next week and we will watch the new tires more closely.

All things considered we did get 4 years on the tires and axles with about 20,000 miles on them. So maybe that is the best you can expect?
Nancy

[charliez]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Unusual wear on the inside of the tire and cupping would not happen if the axles were in proper alignment. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Wrong. This is a clear indication of overloading.

[ncason]

Well Charlie if the rig is overloaded it is a design issue. The customer has no say in where the stove, refrigerator, hotwater tank are located. On my model they are all close together on the curb side and the living/dining slide is on the opposite side. We are not the type of people who carry a lot of stuff. I have not had the trailer weighed loaded on each tire or side to side. But we have had it weighted on truck scales and as stated earlier we were almost 2,000 lbs under the GAWR on the CAT scale. If it is still overloaded then there is a major engineering miscalculation in the design. However I am not an engineer and the 5vr overall is holding up well and we are not unhappy with the unit. We will get the unit realigned and see how long that adjustment lasts.

[96PSD]

Well, I am going to put a new axle in next week and replace the one tire and see what happens. After pulling the trailer in a straight line forward on level ground you can see that just the one side rear axle was slightly out of alignment to the other side and straight ahead. So something has gone astray. I'll update sometime in Sept. after I've put on about 1000 miles and look at wear patterns.

[Geojudi59]

Guess other brands are having bent axle problems. I have a 05 Keystone Everest with AL-KO. YES i had the same problem. After calling Keystone They had me bring the Everest to a dealer & he ordered 2 newn axles & 3 new tires. Call your dealer they all know about the bad AL-KO axles.

[dpmac]

Bill:

Your problem may be not enough weight to take the bow out of the axle and make the tires perpindicular to the road. Outside edge tire wear would result. I am having this problem myself and will try to correct it by adding more freshwater to tank which is at the extreme back of my trailer.

[godskntrygrl]

Bill & Nancy.... I am aware that this is far long after the fact...but....In May 2006 we purchased a 2006 Sierra 5th wheel toy hauler, 37ft, Forest River manufacturer and we had the EXACT same problem. Only, we went on a 12,000 mile trip one month after purchase. Went through 4 tires on the trip, 2 due to tire failure, 2 due to axle being towed in too much. I am attempting to contact Alco axles myself. 2 msgs and counting, no return call. They already replaced the axle, FREE! but there are 2 tire costs that they are responsible for. I'm no expert on tires, but a tire should last at least 50,000 miles, depending on the tire. Usually when you purchase a tire it will state the usage mileage. Hope your winter trip went well, or is going well. Northern California is having great weather now, Jan07. We haven't seen rain since November and it's been an average 65 degrees.

[TXiceman]

If you have a bent axle, first thing you need to do is get individual axle weights and make sure you are not overloaded when in travel load.

As for rain, we are 1.5" ahead for the year already. Be glad to send you a bucket or two of rain.

Ken

[2x6 Bulldog]

I just discovered I have bent AL-Ko axles on my fiver. I am wearing tires out on the inside. The rear tires worse than the front. The rear axle is a 5200 lb and the front is a 6000 lb. I am under the weight specifications for the axles but they are bent anyway. I have found that in 03 and 04 there were some manufacturing problems on these axles. AL-Ko would not help. The rear axle had lost all of its camber. The arch in the middle is gone. The front axle is not as bad but still wearing out tires on the inside. My camper is at the dealer now for new bigger axles with more capacity. $$$$$

[diandtom]

I have 20,000 plus miles on our fiver. I just bought new tires and the old ones looked almost new. I have not noticed any bends in the axle. Northwood says they use a straight axle. I am going to look at it next time I go back there.