Wheel / Axle Alignment

[Bucky573]

Been having tire problems with my 06' 3400RL since I bought it new. I had an RV technician measure my center of wheel to center of wheel and the curb side wheels are 1/2" father apart than the street side wheel.
Then measured the from front of the axle at leaf spring to the landing gear and the street side is 1/2" longer than the curb side.
Has anyone else had similar alignment problems with their Montana and what did Keystone suggest/do.
I'm in Gulf Shore, Al. are now and am looking for a place nearby place to have the alignment done.

[Les and Julie]

We had a problem with tires wearing out prematurely in our 2004. It was delivered with 5000# instead of 6000# axles. I have Dexter axles and you can check the axles to see if they are the right ones by stampings on the axles. Keystone replaced the tires and axles in 2005 when we discovered that the tires were wearing out on the inside after only a few thousand miles on the road. Since this was a manufacturing defect and a significant safety issue, I just had a dealer verify the wrong axles and there was no question about Keystone doing the work. May be worth a look. Stranger things have happened.

[8.1al]

Two things to be aware of; before measuring between the wheels the trailer has to travel in a straight line because the axles do shift back and forth in a turn, secondly, you need to measure forward to the kingpin not the landing legs.

[sreigle]

Bucky, first make sure you have pulled that trailer in a straight line for at least 50 feet before making that measurement. Otherwise it will be off, every time.

Then if it's still off I think I'd find a competent axle alignment shop to take a look at it. Make sure the mounts are properly located, etc. They also could align the axles if necessary.

On our prior Montana we did have an axle alignment problem. We were near the Keystone factory in Goshen, IN at the time so they recommended a shop in Elkhart, IN. We paid $150 at the time to have the axles aligned. We had no more problem with alignment.

I understand it's pretty easy to skew the alignment if you hit a curb, pothole, etc. I would think it would require a pretty hard hit, though, or these things would be constantly out of alignment.

Good luck with yours. I'm not sure what shops are available in the Gulf Shores area but you might contact one or more of the RV dealers or even Camping World up in Robertsdale. One of them should be able to point you to a shop.

[Bucky573]

Thanks to all for info.
Yes I've pulled the trailer straight in a line before measuring, and am aware that to properly align the axles you have to reference to the kingpin. I was just doing a rough check before involving an alignment shop. Also the RV tech measured the location of the shackles, laterally and diagonally and advised me that there was a problem there.
Guess I'll contact Keystone and see what they have to offer.
Thanks again for your comments.

[sreigle]

Bucky, those shackles use plastic bushings that tend to wear out and elongate the holes. That could be the source of the measurement difference with the shackles. Many of us have replaced these with the Dexter wetbolt kit for those shackles so we can grease them occasionally. Here's just a couple of samples of the wear, the first one being on our prior Montana. Note that you can not always see the elongation without removing the bolt. On our current Montana we have the wet bolts.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Bucky, first make sure you have pulled that trailer in a straight line for at least 50 feet before making that measurement. Otherwise it will be off, every time.

One way around this is to raise both axles off the ground. That's what truck places do to check axles for alignment.

[scductman]

I just replaced mine they lost the camber and eat up the tires. I took it to a shop to have it aligned and the tech told me he could rebend them but they would not hold up they were not heavy enough. I ordered a set on wed from dexter in ga they made them for me on thurs and I got them on fri 7k heavy wall beams. bucky mine was 3/8" diff on one side also. I pulled from the kingpin when I replaced them and now they are the same distance on both sides also the same between the axels I also replaced the bearings,races& seals not from china plus 4 new uniroyals also not from china!! pulls great just don't have the money left to go anywhere. LOL. BTW it is not overloaded I have weighted it two times befored a trip. 5650lb on each axel "I was close".
Bobby

[al-an]

We are having somewhat a similar problem. Ours is just on the rear axle.The street side tire is wearing on the inside and the curbside is wearing on the outside.The street side is considerabley worse than the curbside.Does this sound more like a bent axle than anything else?

[dieselguy]

al-an ... Best course is to take it to a place that aligns trucks and trailers. It could be just the axle or it could also be an alignment issue as well. Usually when you peel the tires on just one side, you've lost camber at that spindle. Unless your unit is brand new, I'd suggest taking it straight to a shop as stated above. Few RV dealerships have the equipment to accurately check/repair alignment. As soon as you drop off your fiver, they just take it down the street to a business equipped for the work.

[sreigle]

How best to locate a shop that checks/aligns/repairs axles? Ask an rv dealer?

[al-an]

Thanks for the info. will take it in as soon as possible,when we can find a shop to work on the rig.

[Bucky573]

Well I had the alignment corrected yesterday 3/15 and learned some interesting information in the process. I took my 06'-3400RL to Baughn Alignment in Pensacola, Fl. I arranged an appointment with them about 3 weeks in advance. Got there at 8am and they went straight to work on it. The camber was out on the left two wheels and they had shifted due to stress when the weight of the trailer shifted when I incurred a blowout on the left rear tire about two years ago. This is a common occurrence for 5th wheelers using the Mor-Ryde system.
This is what I learned: The owner informed me that the Mor-Ryde setup on my 5th wheel needed a beam installed between the Mor-Ryde boxes to stabilize them. He told me to contact Mor-Ryde and ask for the support. He had another unit like mine into the shop only two weeks earlier with the same problem. He was going to build the support for the other customer, but the customer called Mor-Ryde and they informed him they already had the support and would ship it to him. Mor-Ryde has incorporated this into the design of their new system.
I'm still on the road, but will be calling Mor-Ryde next week to inquire about this support for my 5th wheel.
BTW - Baughn did the alignment in about 2.5 hours and got us back on the road. Cost was $300. Not cheap but worth every dollar to get good honest service.

[al-an]

Thanks for the info. We will give Mor-ride a call. The places we called to get an aliagnment basicly gave us a runaround. Will be looking for a shop when we get home.
Ken

[dieselguy]

al-an
Visit a local truck parts and equipment business or a local farm and home or implement dealer. These kind of places will steer you in the right direction. Truckers and people that pull say implement or horse trailers use businesses that these kind of places will know about. Going to an automotive tire store, Sams, Costco, or say Sears will mostly be a dead end. The Mor-Ryde X Factor cross beam is easy to install if you have any mechanical ability. Some of us have even made our own for considerably less coin. About a dozen bolts and the factory beam is on.

[Bucky573]

Got my reply e-mail from Mor/ryde. They pretty much said I can purchase the "X Factor" brace kit from one of their suppliers. No offer to correct the poor design of their LRE system. I went on line and find that they make X-Factor kits for many of their systems.
I guess the only way to get them to offer to furnish at no cost would be hire an attorney and threaten a law suit. Not my style. I'll take the money for the lawyer and have the alignment company that alerted me to the problem fabricate and install a cross member. I'm sure the one supplied by Mor/ryde is borderline design and plenty of cost.
I will demand it on the next 5ver I buy.
Live and learn.

[al-an]

We had our alignment done today. We only had to pay $220.00 for both axels. We can recomend Motor City Ailgnment in Grand Jct, Co.
We will be getting the X factor from Mor Ryde. We should be good to go now. Thanks for all the help.

[pathlestravel]

We have been on a year long trip around the U.S. and today going through New Orleans ( really bad roads especially the bridges ) we stopped for fuel and during my tire check I notice the hubs were warmer than usual, the rear streetside tire was wearing on the inside. I could just get my fist between the tires on one side and the other side was wider about 1 1/2. I couldn't see any thing that broke or changed. So we are across the street from a truck & trailer repair shop waiting for morning & hoping for an easy fix. Thanks MOC once again for great information !!

[al-an]

Hope all works out for you. Yes this is a great place for great info.
May you have many happy travels.
Ken and Julie