After being a victom of a Lippert Axle fire, it amazed me how many other stories were so similar to mine. I had never thought to review this when purchasing my 2011 Primetime Lacrosse Travel Trailer. I am posting this to warn others that are looking for a camper to be on the lookout. Our experience happened last month on the way to Myrtle Beach, that was the furthest camping trip we had gone on and was 5 hours into our drive. After warning from other travelers, we discovered our bearing, brakes and axle on fire. After having it looked at, was told the other side had a bad bearing on it as well. Needless to say, I spent the whole vacation time, on the phone trying to get the trailer fixed, through all avenues: Lippert, Primetime, and McGeorges RV (where we purchased the RV including the warranty contract). I have sent many emails, phone calls and spent $2400.00 total on out of pocket expenses to date. I have only been reimbursed a total of $100.00 from Lippert (they said that is all they will give us), and 250.00 from easy care (my warranty, that I paid 1700.00 for at original purchase). I was told I would receive 245.00 from Primetime, but nothing yet. To make a long story short, for my peace of mind, I am putting Dexter axles on my trailer, ordered and will not move my camper until they are put on. I also find it funny that if you look at Lacrosse website, effective 2013 models are proudly advertising dexter axles. Do you think they finally realized that lippert and all the complaints they have needed to be replaced? Customer service I received from this whole ordeal on the phone is very friendly, but they do not come through on the promises, non of them: Lippert, Primetime, or McGeorges warranty. Again, my goal is for all to not only review your camper, but the parts put on it.

Moved from Forum Technical Support

Three model years old. Did you ever remove the wheels and inspect/repack the bearings?

I'm sorry for all the bad stuff that happened but after 3 years it's not a manufacturer issue, it's purely a maintenance thing. The bearingz should have been repacked when the trailer was one years old (though I checked mine when they were new..) and any failure after that is the fault of who ever did the work or who ever let too much time go by before checking them again.I don't repack mine every year but I do check them for roughness and adjustment. I also check them for heat every time I stop.The next item you need to watch is the axle shackles. They can wear out and fail in a catastrophic manner as well.

If you neglect routine wheel bearing, brakes etc on those Dexter Axles you could end up with the same problem.I'm not a Lippert fan but wheel bearings, brakes just like tires are wear & tear items unless you have a mfg. defect within the covered warranty period.Extended contracts are just 'service contracts' and do not cover wear & tear item either.Having major problems while on a trip is a real hassle..especially when those problems could have been avoided with some routine maintenance/inspections.

I'm sorry for all the bad stuff that happened but after 3 years it's not a manufacturer issue, it's purely a maintenance thing. The bearingz should have been repacked when the trailer was one years old (though I checked mine when they were new..) and any failure after that is the fault of who ever did the work or who ever let too much time go by before checking them again. I don't repack mine every year but I do check them for roughness and adjustment. I also check them for heat every time I stop. The next item you need to watch is the axle shackles. They can wear out and fail in a catastrophic manner as well. For some reason, it always seems to come back to the OP's fault. Car bearings can go ten years without any attention, the OP purchases an RV and the bearings have to be repacked every year. Cars purchased new and driven every day come with at least a three year warranty if not more. An RV that is purely a recreational occasional use vehicle has a one year warranty and requires annual maintenance. Maybe the manufacturers should start making RV's better with longer maintenance intervals. Car manufacturers do. I am with the OP on this one and would not be very happy. Hopefully the OP learned the extended warranty lesson and won't make that mistake again. The OP can purchase a lot of grease and bearing seals for $1700.I carry in the TT a bearing kit (bearings and races), seals, drift, hammer, wrench, brake adj tool or screwdriver, jack and grease. Everything (except the jack) is less than $50 and can fix a bad bearing in a rest area, campground, even alongside the road if necessary. The OP should also. And if the OP wants to be really careful, purchase an infrared temp probe gauge and check temps every stop. That is a really good early warning of a potential problem. Sometimes it is really about us knowing how to fix brakes and bearings to avoid the costly and time consuming issues the OP is going thru to get some relief. For less than $50 the OP could have avoided all his aggravation and got home before dealing with Dexter on axle replacement.

Lacrosse Lippert Axle Fire | Good Sam Community

1492
Moderator
Oct 22, 2013
Moved from Forum Technical Support
donn0128
Explorer II
Oct 22, 2013
Three model years old. Did you ever remove the wheels and inspect/repack the bearings?
ScottG
Nomad
Oct 22, 2013
I'm sorry for all the bad stuff that happened but after 3 years it's not a manufacturer issue, it's purely a maintenance thing.
The bearingz should have been repacked when the trailer was one years old (though I checked mine when they were new..) and any failure after that is the fault of who ever did the work or who ever let too much time go by before checking them again.
I don't repack mine every year but I do check them for roughness and adjustment. I also check them for heat every time I stop.

The next item you need to watch is the axle shackles. They can wear out and fail in a catastrophic manner as well.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Oct 22, 2013
If you neglect routine wheel bearing, brakes etc on those Dexter Axles you could end up with the same problem.

I'm not a Lippert fan but wheel bearings, brakes just like tires are wear & tear items unless you have a mfg. defect within the covered warranty period.
Extended contracts are just 'service contracts' and do not cover wear & tear item either.

Having major problems while on a trip is a real hassle..especially when those problems could have been avoided with some routine maintenance/inspections.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Oct 22, 2013
I'm sorry for all the bad stuff that happened but after 3 years it's not a manufacturer issue, it's purely a maintenance thing.
The bearingz should have been repacked when the trailer was one years old (though I checked mine when they were new..) and any failure after that is the fault of who ever did the work or who ever let too much time go by before checking them again.
I don't repack mine every year but I do check them for roughness and adjustment. I also check them for heat every time I stop.

The next item you need to watch is the axle shackles. They can wear out and fail in a catastrophic manner as well.

For some reason, it always seems to come back to the OP's fault. Car bearings can go ten years without any attention, the OP purchases an RV and the bearings have to be repacked every year. Cars purchased new and driven every day come with at least a three year warranty if not more. An RV that is purely a recreational occasional use vehicle has a one year warranty and requires annual maintenance. Maybe the manufacturers should start making RV's better with longer maintenance intervals. Car manufacturers do. I am with the OP on this one and would not be very happy. Hopefully the OP learned the extended warranty lesson and won't make that mistake again. The OP can purchase a lot of grease and bearing seals for $1700.

I carry in the TT a bearing kit (bearings and races), seals, drift, hammer, wrench, brake adj tool or screwdriver, jack and grease. Everything (except the jack) is less than $50 and can fix a bad bearing in a rest area, campground, even alongside the road if necessary. The OP should also. And if the OP wants to be really careful, purchase an infrared temp probe gauge and check temps every stop. That is a really good early warning of a potential problem. Sometimes it is really about us knowing how to fix brakes and bearings to avoid the costly and time consuming issues the OP is going thru to get some relief. For less than $50 the OP could have avoided all his aggravation and got home before dealing with Dexter on axle replacement.
fla-gypsy
Explorer
Oct 22, 2013
Really?, a 3 year old unit and you guys are lecturing the guy about bearing maintenance? Boy did y'all buy that junk from a shoddy manufacturer! I have done nothing to my Al-Ko Ultralube axles but add some grease for (are you ready for this?) 8 years, that's right EIGHT freakin years! My bearings never run hot, the wheels are barely warm to the touch after driving for many hours.

OP-you made a good choice to dump the Lippert axles and Lacrosse ought to be ashamed. On the other hand you made bad choices wasting money on an RV extended warranty plan and doing business with McGeorges. A quick search ahead of time would have alerted you to avoid both.
Gunnerrae
Explorer
Oct 22, 2013
After posting this last night, I thought the replies would be that we did not pack the bearings. My husband and I are overkill on the maintance we provide on our trailer, check list and follow it every time we camp. He was a mechanic and packing the bearings was done. In fact, when we finally were able to have it looked over, all of them were packed already. The other point I did not mention was we upgraded the axel size from Lippert 3300 to Dexter 5200, just looking at the size of the bearing, it was a no brainer. Perhaps some will take away from this that maintance is key, or consider everything when deciding on a camper, including the parts underneath as well. Like I said, information is key and that is what I wanted to put out there.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Oct 22, 2013
After posting this last night, I thought the replies would be that we did not pack the bearings. My husband and I are overkill on the maintance we provide on our trailer, check list and follow it every time we camp.

He was a mechanic and packing the bearings was done. In fact, when we finally were able to have it looked over, all of them were packed already. The other point I did not mention was we upgraded the axel size from Lippert 3300 to Dexter 5200, just looking at the size of the bearing, it was a no brainer. Perhaps some will take away from this that maintance is key, or consider everything when deciding on a camper, including the parts underneath as well. Like I said, information is key and that is what I wanted to put out there.

Sometimes stuff just happens. If your hubby was a mechanic he should
know how easy and inexpensive it is to carry a spare bearing and the tools to change it and to use an infra red temp probe to detect bearings that are not performing as they should. You say you had two bad bearings. That is odd!

The bigger issue, I suspect, is that as a mechanic he knew the bearings should last a lot longer than they did and was not ready for the failure. Mine are five years now with no maintenance so far but I will repack this winter (Dexter). Going with larger axles is good, still they need to be maintained. Dexter has a good reputation so hopefully your problems are over.

We were not there when the OP purchased the trailer. But, I suspect if the axles were some kind of EZ lube the salesforce said just add some grease occasionally and the bearings will receive lubrication. This is not the same as taking the bearings out and checking them and the races and then repacking and putting it all back together. Just adding some grease is not a bearing repack. Adding grease to a failing bearing still is a failing bearing. It does not fix a bad bearing.

To save your family a second headache you might review on this forum OEM ST tires if that is what is on your coach. It will be enlightening as well. If your coach is about three years old the tires could be four from the date of manufactur and that is about all some ST tires will reliably last.

Also, going the Dexter route get the EZ flex spring equalizer and the wet bolt kit to replace the cheap plastic bushings and allow for periodic greasing of the bushings. After three years the OEM bushings are probably gone as well. The kit is about $175 and well worth it.
JamesBr
Explorer
Oct 22, 2013
You cannot compare most of todays sealed car bearing to trailer axle bearings.

If you burnt up a bearing and spindle after 3 years, I would immediately suspect maintinance. After that you could suspect other items, but in my history I have seen most people do not take trailer bearing maintinence serious enough. Yes the bearings should last quite a long time, but with long times sitting between heat cycles moisture can and will get into the bearing cups and foul up the grease. Even my little car trailer with 5k axles needs to be inspected annual but usually requires a complete teardown and repack every 2-3 years and its only used about 2-3k miles a year.

It does suck that this happened, and it should not have and the expense sucks. But I doubt anyone will cover much more unless you can clearly show that this was due to a manufacturing defect and not lack of maintinence.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Oct 22, 2013
You cannot compare most of todays sealed car bearing to trailer axle bearings.

Obviously! That is part of the frustration with the OP's vacation re-axle project. The second issue is the extended warranty coverage.

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