In preparation for an upcoming trip I pulled the drum brakes and found all seals leaking and two of the drum brake assemblies completely soaked with grease.Ive read up on Lippert axles and am aware of the issues people are having.Im not going to take it anywhere to get repairs completed because I feel its a safety issue to drive this on the street, but will be making the repair myself,I sent a formal email LCI requesting them to pay for parts associated with repair and am waiting for a reply.What are the odds they will help me out on this?

Probably only if you can convince them it was done at the factory. Or due to faulty seals or seals installation from the factory.

I had a problem with my TT frame several years ago. It was bad. We contacted our dealer who contacted Keystone who contacted Lippert. Long story short, Lippert sent a crew to the camper (which was not at my house), fixed it, and didn't cost a cent, other than paint to repaint part of the frame. Before jumping in, ordering parts, and demanding repayment, contact them and state the problem and give them a chance to respond. If you jump in and attempt the repair yourself, they may deny you. They may also provide a repair crew to come out to your camper and do the repair, right there. But if you jump in and start dismantling and replacing, and then demanding resolution, they may turn a deaf ear to you, as they now cannot validate what the original situation looked like. Doing it yourself, if you've already started, you might as well finish now, and take your losses. Sorry!

There's no other way it could have been done then at the factory or faulty seal/install.This is the first time Ive had them off.Are you saying Im in for a fight. :M

Could have been done at the dealer when they prepped the unit if the tech used a high pressure grease gun and it was his last day of employment..JMO

The two on the drivers side were just seeping a bit, I didnt think anything of it, just thought maybe some residual from factory.Cleaned the inside of the drum and inspected seal reinstalled and adjusted brakes.Got to the right rear and it got pretty nasty. I wiped the grease off the brake assembly and then decided to check the right front and it looked same as the rear, so I let it be, contacted Lippert and now Im just waiting for a reply.They did send me a case number and said someone will be contacting me within 24hrs. The email I sent was not rude or disrespectful. I kept it short and on point only asking for parts reimbursement.Honestly I think four seals and two brake shoe assemblies is the cheap way out for them.

Grease soaked brakes, Will Lippert reimburse me?

minnow
Explorer
Apr 08, 2017
myredracer wrote:
Is it Lippert's fault? I thought the get the axle assemblies are all set up and greased and ready to go from their axle supplier/manufacturer. Lippert should take responsibility but in the RV industry you get passed onto the next party down the line.

Lippert is the axle manufacturer and supplies the running gear assemblies to the manufacturers. Lippert greases the bearings on the assemblies.
time2roll
Nomad
Apr 07, 2017
73guna wrote:
Well, they are going to pay for all four backing plate brake assemblies and four seals.
I will be making the repair.
Im very happy with how they handled this.
Lippert is very happy not to also pay an additional 200+ for the dealer's labor.

Glad it worked out. I think I would have asked for disk assemblies but no need to push your luck.
myredracer
Explorer II
Apr 07, 2017
Is it Lippert's fault? I thought the get the axle assemblies are all set up and greased and ready to go from their axle supplier/manufacturer. Lippert should take responsibility but in the RV industry you get passed onto the next party down the line.
wilber1
Explorer
Apr 06, 2017
fj12ryder wrote:
I guess you can choose to look at the issue as a glass half full or a glass half empty. You choose half empty. My thought is they could have just blown off the OP while still doing nothing about improving their process. But damage control is better than nothing.

Without the internet and social media they could be blowing people off and no one would be any wiser.
otrfun
Explorer II
Apr 06, 2017
73guna wrote:
Well, they are going to pay for all four backing plate brake assemblies and four seals.
I will be making the repair.
Im very happy with how they handled this.
Take a close look at the drums, too. Depending how long they were leaking the drums may have worn unevenly due to the grease.

The brakes on our trailer had been less than stellar since new. Dealer said the brakes were working properly. I decided to pull the drums myself and have a peek. I found grease coating all four sets of brake shoes. I took pics of everything and emailed it to my dealer. Dealer contacted Lippert and got an initial approval to replace the seals and backing plate assemblies. Once the dealer got a look at the drums they recommended they be replaced, too. Fortunately, Lippert agreed. FWIW, we had been driving with our brake controller adjusted to maximum to compensate for the grease coated brake shoes. I guess the grease and max'd out brake controller had taken its toll on everything--including the drums.

All said and done, Lippert agreed to to replace everything---seals, entire backing plate assemblies, bearings, and brake drums on all 4 wheels.

Before the repair, the trailer would barely stop with a full 12v of braking voltage (11.5k trailer). After the repair I could lock up the brakes on pavement with only 5-6v; on dirt it only took 2-3v. Massive difference in braking.

Good luck!
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Apr 06, 2017
I guess you can choose to look at the issue as a glass half full or a glass half empty. You choose half empty. My thought is they could have just blown off the OP while still doing nothing about improving their process. But damage control is better than nothing.
wilber1
Explorer
Apr 06, 2017
This is a chronic problem with Lippert axles, they have been delivering axles with leaking seals for several years. I don't know why anyone is happy about the way they are handling it. They aren't handling it, they are just doing damage control.
ol_Bombero-JC
Explorer
Apr 06, 2017
73guna wrote:
Well, they are going to pay for all four backing plate brake assemblies and four seals.
I will be making the repair.
Im very happy with how they handled this.

Plus - as a "bonus" - look at all the free advice & 'gee whiz' stories
you (we) received as a result of your post/question!..:W

~
spoon059
Explorer II
Apr 05, 2017
73guna wrote:
Well, they are going to pay for all four backing plate brake assemblies and four seals.
I will be making the repair.
Im very happy with how they handled this.

Awesome, glad it worked out for you. I've heard a couple stories like this and it was covered by the manufacturer. I'm glad to see/read another story like this.
73guna
Explorer
Apr 05, 2017
Well, they are going to pay for all four backing plate brake assemblies and four seals.
I will be making the repair.
Im very happy with how they handled this.