2020 190 Bent Lippert Axle

Good news!

My Dealer initiated the warranty claim with Lippert and it is being covered! 

As I am 240 miles away from where I bought it would have been a pain for me to drive it over just for photo documentation, so I took photos of everything they wanted including Toe In/Tow Out dimensions and sent the finals over on 6/23.  Today 6/29 I received a call that the axle will be covered and a new one will be sent out.  

As an afterthought I sent an email to the dealership asking if they would transfer the warranty coverage over to a Forest River dealer local to me to avoid me driving for 4 hours.  Not sure how the labor is covered in a warranty claim – if Lippert reimburses the dealer or they absorb it.  We will see how they answer.

I will definitely be doing the support mod once the new axle is installed.

Originally posted by Colt A 1/16" bow *up* in the middle could easily be inside manufacturing tolerances. Plus, a bow up in the middle would camber the tires out at the top, not in. A 1" positive camber on a 26" O.D. tire calculates a reasonable 2.2 deg pos camber. Are you sure something is bent? If so, it's not the center beam.

Hmmm...I am definitely in negative camber per my pic so something is bent - 1" on the passenger 3/4" on the drivers. I thought the axle was supposed to be more 1/4" to 3/8" upward camber?

At any rate the dealer has contacted Lippert, sent me a request for more information (toe in/ toe out dimensions), and more photos.

I will be sending these in tomorrow. We will see...

Keith

You might want to check out this link" https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws.com/forms/oem_axle_and_running_gear_standard_warranty_effective_1_1_2017_final.pdf "Which I believe gives the Lippert limited warranty (I have not given this a full study) on its axles and parts to the axle.  Your dealer should be very involved with representing you in this claim.  Hope this helps.

Originally posted by offgrid Your first option would be the least expensive assuming the axle tube is what's bent and not the spindles, the trailer shop should be able to tell you. But I would recommend my version of reinforcement as it requires no welding, just a slightly bent steel angle and 4 ubolts. I would skip your option 2. If your axle is not fixable then I'd go with your option 3 or the equivalent Lippert version. The tire and wheel upgrade is a good thing, the OEM tires and wheels on mine didn't have any more capacity than the axle, and you are only as good as your weakest link. A leaf spring axle has advantages but to my knowledge no one has yet done that mod so you would be on your own for the engineering.

Your first option would be the least expensive assuming the axle tube is what's bent and not the spindles, the trailer shop should be able to tell you. But I would recommend my version of reinforcement as it requires no welding, just a slightly bent steel angle and 4 ubolts.

I would skip your option 2. If your axle is not fixable then I'd go with your option 3 or the equivalent Lippert version. The tire and wheel upgrade is a good thing, the OEM tires and wheels on mine didn't have any more capacity than the axle, and you are only as good as your weakest link.

A leaf spring axle has advantages but to my knowledge no one has yet done that mod so you would be on your own for the engineering.