Axle Alignment

[bsmeaton]

Just had the axles aligned on our 2007 under warranty - and lost one of those precious Mission tires .



We received credit for the tire, as the Missions are no longer available. As for now, the new spare went on until somebody besides the Chinese start making an E rated tire for these 7K axles.

Everything was covered under warranty, thanks to Tarpley RV in Durango, CO. I'm not even positive Keystone covered some of the repairs, but the Dealer did. Repairs included replacement of brake wiring and a completely inoperable brake magnet in that wheel, bearings, tire, and full alignment. Not to mention the counter top replacement due to sink cracks and a new DVD player, but thats another topic. This particular wheel has been haunted since delivery, when the rig rolled in with a missing bearing cap and low tire.

Alignment was performed at Genes Frame and Alignment in Farmington New Mexico- in case anybody was looking for a place equipped to do the job in that area.

[LonnieB]

Glad to hear your dealer is a stand up guy. Looks like they are doing all the can to help you out.

The spare is the only one that's left of my Missions, the others went on a couple of stock trailers. If you want it you are welcome to it, but you'll have to make a trip south .

[bsmeaton]

You actually risk the lives of your cattle to those tires??!!! An unoccuppied Monty is one thing, but......

Gotta be a better reason to come see you than that Lonnie! - even a cold beer seems like better justification than Mission tires

[LonnieB]

Not mine, sombody else's. Good to see you still have a sense of humor Brad.

[sdthorn]

Although a member for some time, this is my first attempt at submitting a question. I had a similar problem with my rear axel on my 3280RL. I wore out two sets of tires in six months along the insde edge. I spoke to three RV shops and all said I had a bent rear axel. When I asked about alligning the axel, no one seemed to know what I was talking about. I bought the trailer at Alpine in Morgan Hill, CA, but was not happy with their repair work, so did not go there. The axel cost about $150, but it took eight hours of labor to install. It appears that I should have looked a little further for someone to allign the axel. Any advice for the future would be greatly appreciated.

[bsmeaton]

Steve - Welcome to the Forum!

These alignment shops are a little hard to find. They cater to over the road tractor-trailer rigs, not the RV market. The alignment rack and equipment made my 40' Montana look like a toy they could have folded in half if necessary .

These are not the pristine shops with guys in little uniforms with bears on them running around swabbing the epoxy floor at 4:00..., no sir....., these are the kind of places that heat the shop with your old 90W gear lube and have a wrecker out front that is big enough to repossess your stick house if you wrote them a bad check. Pretty much, if the road is paved out front, it's probably the wrong kind of shop on the wrong side of town and they will waive you off when they see you really aren't driving a Lexus SUV with a Coleman pop-up trailer like they envisioned when you called.

This was the second shop I have found that does it. The first one was in Denver and also does custom paint and body work on over the road rigs as well as large motorcoaches. They primarily have the alignment racks so they can do collision repair on the big rigs (big bucks I imagine).

[Jolu]

Newbills Alignment in Colorado Springs does axle alignments on RVs. A friend just had his 5th wheel axles aligned at Newbills in the past month. The charge was $100 per axle. Newbills has been around a very long time and has several bays. I have used them for motorhomes in the past. I would recommend them if you are in the Colorado Springs area.
JB

[sdthorn]

Thanks for the advice. I had the work done at a local trailer repair shop in Salinas, CA, who charged $60.00 an hour for labor. A lot better than the local RV shops who charge $120.00 an hour.

[MuddyPaws]

Alpine is the worst. Even their office help is clueless. They called us a few months ago and told us that if we were ready to upgrade from our tent trailer!

Every bit of shop work they've done for us has been bad. They will NEVER EVER see us there again.

[Crossthread]

Sdthorn, I tried to send you a PM,and it timed out. Could you tell us the name of the shop where you had the alignment done? Thanks, Bill

[OntMont]

There is a shop in Pennsacola, FL, (Braughn Alignment), much like bsmeaton described, that did ours. They had a shop set up fot axle alignment. It is not high tech work, more brute force, and a lot of measuring, but they got the job done. It took a couple of hours and cost a couple of hundred $

[OntMont]

Just thought I would post this as an FYI for anyone interested in an axle upgrade. While we were in Goshen recently, we visited the TrailAir shop, and noticed a pair of axles with disk brakes sat on the shop floor. I asked about them and was told that they were Lippert axles rated at 7000lbs. They told me they could change out my existing Dexter axles and brakes, and install a disk brake actuator, retaining the origial rims and tires, all for a very good price. I won't quote it, but if anyone is interested, give Dale at TrailAir a call.

[sdthorn]

Bill,

I used Johnson Associates Truck & Trailer Parts, 721 Abbott, St, Salinas. They were outstanding. Concerning Alpine, I know they recently changed owners, and, hopefully will improve. I'm not ready to go back yet.

[Crossthread]

Thanks a lot. I'll get it done soon. Bill