Defective brakes on 7 month old TT

Lynnmor wrote:
Gil, I would have thought that by now, you would have realized that you must do any and all work yourself. There is little chance that the hubs will be inspected, greased, assembled and adjusted correctly with no damage by disinterested parties.

Ain't that the truth (sigh)... I don't have a problem doing this myself per se, it's being told it's not a warranty item that is. If I ultimately had to do it myself, it'd be just another part of the learning process in TT ownership but on the positve side, it'd give me a chance to install quality bearings (sigh again)... It's almost like you should go straight to a frame & axle shop to get properly inspected right after you take delivery of a new TT. I can't believe this is the 2nd time on two TTs with contaminated brakes (all 4 too). So much for QC along the way.

Thanks for all the comments above!

I just called Al-Ko and they said that the seals should not have gone in just 7 months and definitely not on all 4 wheels. They said the dealer should be contacting them directly first to discuss and get any work approved. Our dealer obviously hasn't done that yet but the service manager is away until Tuesday and this will have to stay at their on hold for a few more days. I'll hold off on contacting the plant.

I didn't realize that the overall "food chain" works like that. I know you can get redirected around the TT manufacturer and told to talk to Lippert, but not the axle manufacturer. So does Lippert take an axle assembly from Al-Ko as delivered and mount it on a frame without any inspection? And does a TT manufacturer just take the complete frame and axle assembly as delivered and not inspect it? Is a dealer supposed to inspect brake/axle assemblies or is it at their discretion? We had a dealer tell us that brake assemblies get shipped out of the manufacturer to Lippert and that Lippert is supposed to take drums off and clean the parts. The dealer said that the brake manufacturer puts cosmoline on internal parts to prevent rusting before being put into service but I've never heard this anywhere else.

Al-Ko said that Axletek brakes (made in China) are supplied to them and Al-Ko does the final assembly so this is now a non-issue. I thought that Al-Ko products were US made but in actuality, things are "assembled" in the US. Seems like there's no escaping made in China stuff.

If I were to remove a grease zerk, can you tell if it is dry or had grease pumped through it? I also wonder if there could be different colors of grease that might give a clue?

BTW, the dealer said it would be a 4-5 hour job @ $150/hr.