A friend of mine found out the same thing. Lippert bought Dexter and quit offering the replacement parts on their axles. Dexter bearing are practically the same, but IIRC they are 4mm difference in size.
A lot of people were upset about the axles being discontinued, as they were on relatively newer campers.
There were no issues with them that I heard. It was most likely Lippert simply saving on manufacturing costs.
He did as you did and replaced with Dexter axles and standard bearings. However, he wasn't offered the same deal that you were.
