Uneven tire wear

[Monty9]

I purchased a Cherokee Grey Wolf 25rr TH in Aug 2012. I put around 1000 miles on tires before storing for winter. April 2013 I removed from storage and cleaned trailer. Noticed that curb side front tire and road side rear tire had uneven wear form middle of tire to outside. This is a tandem axel trailer. Called my dealer they said need to do a laser alignment. Laser alignment came back with "This procedure indicates both rear hubs have severe caster issues. All 4 hubs show camber issues the worst of the 4 is the csf (curb side front) and rsr (road side rear). Recommend replacing both axles".

My dealer wanted to send both axels to FR and sell me 2 new axels. I said no and contacted Lippert the manufacture of the axles. I sent them pictures and both the hanger measurement and the alignment sheet my dealer filled out. Long story short Lippert is telling me "At this time, I do not believe the issue is held within the axles. I believe that you may see a difference if you change your tires to a radial style tire rather than the standard bias ply. I believe that maybe the issue lies within the tire itself. at this time I do not think this would be considered an issue that LCI would cover". I responded asking if the issues were with the tires why would my dealer tell me I have severe caster and camber issues. Waiting on response.

Sorry for the long post but I am getting frustrated and do not know what to do if they come back and say this is not a axle issue. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,
Monty9

[Francesca_Knowl]

Monty9 wrote:
Yes I bought new. It is still under the 1 year warranty. Bought from dealer approx 200 miles from home. Took it to a FR approved dealer close to home for this problem. This dealer tells me FR wants him to send the axles to them so they can check them out. This same dealer tells me they want me to buy 2 new axles because they do not have the room to store my trailer whilr FR looks at axles. Called the dealer I bought the trailer from and they can't get me in for 4-6 weeks. I am also afraid if I do drive the trailer to the original dealer the tires mught give out since it is a 200 mile trip. Thinking about getting a lawyer.

My take is that you shouldn't lawyer up yet- Forest River's doing the right thing so far...it's this so-called "service center" you've got a problem with.

I think you should get in touch with Forest River directly- that dealer's storage problems shouldn't have anything to do with his agreement with them to do warranty work. I think they'd put it to him- perhaps even nicely- that if he wants to continue in that very lucrative relationship, he'd better give the customers better service.

Be sure to express your concerns about having to go anyplace else more distant, too....

Good luck!

[Monty9]

Yes I bought new. It is still under the 1 year warranty. Bought from dealer approx 200 miles from home. Took it to a FR approved dealer close to home for this problem. This dealer tells me FR wants him to send the axles to them so they can check them out. This same dealer tells me they want me to buy 2 new axles because they do not have the room to store my trailer whilr FR looks at axles. Called the dealer I bought the trailer from and they can't get me in for 4-6 weeks. I am also afraid if I do drive the trailer to the original dealer the tires mught give out since it is a 200 mile trip. Thinking about getting a lawyer.

[Luke_Porter]

Take it to a truck shop and get the axles aligned.

[coolbreeze01]

Are you out of warranty? Let Forest River deal with Lippert. I'm surprised your trailer came with bias ply tires, but regardless, radials will wear irregularly on axles that aren't true. Good luck.

[Francesca_Knowl]

NOTE:
If you bought this rig used, please disregard the following...

Was this unit purchased new? If so, and the same guy you bought it from is the one that's telling you it's the axles:

I think it's the trailer maker's problem. I know that warranties don't cover components made by someone else, but there's an exclusion for that if defective equipment was installed to begin with by the rigmaker.

A defect that serious should have been caught at the factory.