Axle update

[sreigle]

I said I'd post an update after getting our axles looked at.

Keystone made an appt for us with Alko-Kober. AK replaced both axles and two drums. The service guy said he replaced the drums because he didn't like the looks of the bearings. He also said two of the wheel center cones were 'stuck' to the rim and broke and he didn't have any more. Fat chance they were stuck. When I've changed wheel/tires these cones came right off. I suspect someone tried to pull them out from the front.

So we went to Keystone's service center to see if they had any more cones. Also, since AK took well under three hours and the measurements I made indicated out of alignment axles, I asked Keystone to check their work. We made an appt for them to mount the cones, check the axles, and a couple of other things for me. We had that appt this past Friday.

Keystone found the axles are ok but do need alignment because I had put a LR E tire on one side of an axle while the other side was a LR D tire (our Montana came with D's). They tell me this causes a drag on the E side, causing the axle to become misaligned. Keystone doesn't cover this as it's my fault about the tires. Keystone made an appt for us for Monday morning at a shop in Elkhart. It will cost me either $75 or $150 to get the axles aligned, depending on whether they have to do one or two axles.

Keystone looked for a LR D tire to replace the tire badly worn on the inside but didn't have any in LR D so they put my spare on the ground and the E is now my spare. So I'll have to buy a new tire in the near future. Sigh.

I have no room to complain about paying for the tire or alignment since our Montana is 26 months old. That's a 14 months past the coach warranty and two months past the axle warranty. Keystone paid for the new axles and the two drums.

They also adjusted our patio awning so it closes properly. It's not been right since new. And when I asked where I can buy a day/night shade to replace our defective one they replaced it at no charge.

Although it will cost me for the alignment and the tire, Keystone did all that work and replaced the axles and drums at no charge to me. Yet another reason why we'll stay with Keystone products.