Travel trailer warranties

[36guy]

So, in the fall of 2018, we bought a new Grand Design Imagine 2600 RL, in Grande Prairie Alberta, hauled it 15 hours home to Princeton BC, and parked it for the winter in the pole barn, for six months. Warranty ticking away here.....next spring, dug it out, back to Grande Prairie, another 15 hours, found the trailer odd looking on one side, pulled into the dealer we bought from, could find nothing wrong other than a distinct lean to the passenger side.
Pulled it back home, and shortly thereafter, a trip to Williams lake, 6 hours away. Then 6 hours home, got under the trailer, discovered flattened springs, 57 hours total travel time, till a suspension failure.
Called Grand Design, they urged me to call Dexter, as Dexter made the springs, did so....they asked me to ship the springs to them, wherever they are in the states, wouldn't warrant them otherwise.
By now, I'm past the one year warranty period Dexter has on their springs and axles, so Grand Design steps up and ships me new springs and hardware, keep in mind they warrant the trailer for three years, BUT ONLY THE TRAILER, not the running gear, which by the way has 3500 lb axles under a 30 foot trailer.

So, in go the new springs, under the pole barn for another winter, no mileage put on, till this spring, when I load up a full tank of water, groceries and head out to a spot about a hundred miles from here.

Within 30 miles, I notice a bent rear axle, sure as ****, it is bent. Get home, call Grand Design, they politely tell me I'm out of luck, too far from the warranty and they'll do nothing, they suggest I call Dexter and I explain that I'm not about to go through that exercise again.

So....monday its off to a real axle and spring shop, 6000lb axles and a dexter ez flex system, new wheels and tires, considerable expense on what is a new trailer with no miles on it.

My post isn't to slag Grand Design, they have been helpful, it's to hilite the **** warranty program RV's fall under. When you buy a new car, all the suppliers for that car fall under the car builders warranty, in the rv business, I'm forced to deal with dexter, dometic, furrion, and everybody else who supplies parts separately from the trailer manufacturer, who has a three year warranty on the shell and interior. This system is garbage, really screws the owners who have legitimate issues by allowing the manufacturer an out when something isn't designed the way it should be.

I understand that bent axles now are more common than uncommon, regardless of the maker, and we get screwed by having our units sit over the winter with the warranty clock ticking away, seems to me that if a trailer has a three year warranty, it should be for the entire unit. Opinions?

[mbopp]

Yes, GD changed from 3500# to 4400# axles on some models. The 3500#'s have a 5-bolt wheel, the 4400#'s use a 6-bolt. I have a GD 2650 with 3500# axles. Knock on wood, no issues yet.

[Grit_dog]

valhalla360 wrote:
Specs say 4400lb axles...even 3500lb should be fine with a GVWR of 7800 (should have around 1000lb on the hitch).

Real question is why on earth would you drive 15hr to buy? By the time you add gas, lodging, food, wear and tear on the truck and not having a local dealer, I would want a heck of a deal (as in a good $10k off compared to local).

I also don't get if it was clearly sagging, why the dealer or you weren't able to find out why.

If you can’t drive 30 hours ( not 15) for under $1000, you’re doing it totally wrong.
But thanks for the lack of useful input.

[reno6]

The Bullet I have, while built pretty crappy, also has 3500# axles, but weighs 4800# so there is more of a cushion. It is crazy that they can use that weight axle on a 30 footer!

GrandpaKip wrote:
So, the “Grand Design” of this trailer puts 2 3500# axles under a 7500# gross weight trailer.
That’s what is under my 6000# gross weight trailer.
I agree, your trailer was built to an absolute minimum. What you are now paying for is what should have been there from the get go.
As far as warranties, basically it comes down to an extra phone call or email. So that you get to be told no twice.

[36guy]

Valhalla, the new axle specs are 4400, but not mine, it was an earlier model. The new springs sent by GD, were 4400 lb, secondly. I was visiting my daughter and for a lark, went to look at rv's for the day, ended up cutting an awesome deal and bought the unit.
And no, the dealer didn't pick it up, thought it was a bent axle, checked for that and sent me on my way. And, hitch weight is around 650, at 6800 without water and absolutely dry, the trailer is at the axles maximum. Load up 75 gallons of water.....you'd be looking at a bent axle.
I'm no piker, been building custom motorcycles and cars all my adult life, owned several rv's, my last one was a Cougar 244 fifth, for thirteen years it saw every type of road, never had a single issue with that trailer, and nothing but issues with this one.

[MitchF150]

I've only got #3500 Dexter Torflex axles on my 2019 #7000 GVWR Rockwood 2511S. It does have 14" LR D tires which at the 65 PSI on the sticker exceeds the axle ratings for 2 of them and having probably close to #900 TW.

Just for comparison, my old 2003 #5000 GVWR Prowler had the same #3500 Torflex axles on it, but only the little 13" LR B rated tires which were only good for #2200 each.. I did upgrade to 13" LR D tires, but never had an issue with the Tork-Flex axles..

I'm surprised that a "Grand Design" has leaf spring suspension? Aren't those supposed to be a so called "high end" manufacturer?? From the prices of their units, I would think so??

I don't think my Forest River Rockwood is anywhere close to a "high end" model, and my 2003 Fleetwood Prowler, defiantly was not!

But, they both have had the Torflex as OEM and that's what sold me from the start.

As far as "warranty" work by the deal or the manufacture.. Well, all they are going to do is replace the same part that failed in the first place.. It'll just fail again in most cases..

I think you can go ahead and pay Lawyers to fight a fight that won't go anywhere, or just go ahead with your planned upgrade and start enjoying your rig!

I did have a "warranty" issue with my Rockwood. Fridge would not stay running after it cycled it's temp. I talked to the dealer and they said I'd have to bring it in, they would have to "trouble shoot" the issue, get approval of the warranty claim and just replace the main board of the fridge which is what I told them was the issue...

That would have taken well over a week, plus dropping off the trailer to them (which, they are only 2 miles away, but still a PITA for such an easy fix)

I just bought a new board for $100 and replaced it in about 30 minutes. It was a 2 day online delivery and I didn't have to take the rig to the dealer..

But, that's what worked for me.. Yes, I know they should "pay", but in the end, I have no problem with it, as the hassle of them to pay $100 just was not worth it to me when I am capable of doing the work myself.

Sure, replacing axles is a lot different deal.... I would not take that on myself as a DIY project either...

Just just saying that "warranty" work is not fun at all, no matter what the issue is... 🙂

Good luck! Mitch

[valhalla360]

Specs say 4400lb axles...even 3500lb should be fine with a GVWR of 7800 (should have around 1000lb on the hitch).

Real question is why on earth would you drive 15hr to buy? By the time you add gas, lodging, food, wear and tear on the truck and not having a local dealer, I would want a heck of a deal (as in a good $10k off compared to local).

I also don't get if it was clearly sagging, why the dealer or you weren't able to find out why.

[CFerguson]

Lantley wrote:
There is no secret The RV industry is shady and unscrupulous. It will not change unitl gov't enacts more regulation or foreign competition comes along.
Unfortunately your finding out the hard way. Sooner or later we all find out!

Yep. Folks, always remember that your warranty, extra years or not, is only as good as the company that is standing behind it.

I wish i rem who posted here that instead of buying an extended warranty from the factory to just send him half the money and he'd gladly answer your call when you needed him and tell you how that particularly problem wasnt covered under warranty.

[GrandpaKip]

So, the “Grand Design” of this trailer puts 2 3500# axles under a 7500# gross weight trailer.
That’s what is under my 6000# gross weight trailer.
I agree, your trailer was built to an absolute minimum. What you are now paying for is what should have been there from the get go.
As far as warranties, basically it comes down to an extra phone call or email. So that you get to be told no twice.

[Lantley]

There is no secret The RV industry is shady and unscrupulous. It will not change unitl gov't enacts more regulation or foreign competition comes along.
Unfortunately your finding out the hard way. Sooner or later we all find out!

[36guy]

I'll agree the axles are overloaded, but not by me. Our trailer has our clothing, groceries and a full tank of water, not considered an overload by any one. These things are built to an absolute minimum standard, the dry weight on the scale minus the hitch weight is 6800 lbs, I had to provide that to Grand design to show proof to have them send me springs.

[theoldwizard1]

36guy wrote:
I understand that bent axles now are more common than uncommon, regardless of the maker, and we get screwed by having our units sit over the winter with the warranty clock ticking away, seems to me that if a trailer has a three year warranty, it should be for the entire unit. Opinions?

Similar thing happened to my daughter. Jayco, bought new at a fall camper show. Sat all winter. First outing the water heater would not fire. Dealer "adjusted" the flame sensor. Adjustments not covered by warranty. I don't remember all of the details, but I know it went back twice and once was after warranty. Now it fires the first time, but 9 times out of 10 it will not re-fire until you cycle the switch.

Much less expensive then your fiasco !

[Lynnmor]

guidry wrote:
That’s one of the reasons I bought a RV with a 2 year warranty. And it was probably over loaded to have a bent axle.

Mine was bent when I got my new and empty trailer home, probably bent by the dealer. I played pretty much the same game as the OP with my useless dealer and warranty, then yanked out absolutely everything from the tires up to the frame and replaced with up sized or homemade parts. Warranties are simply a joke with the denials, waiting time and terrible workmanship.

[guidry]

That’s one of the reasons I bought a RV with a 2 year warranty. And it was probably over loaded to have a bent axle.

[Huntindog]

The axles were marginal as most are in the biz.
You were probably overloaded.(2 failures in a row)
Good move on the 6K axles..... Another warranty fix would not have upgraded the axles anyway.

36guy wrote:
So, in the fall of 2018, we bought a new Grand Design Imagine 2600 RL, in Grande Prairie Alberta, hauled it 15 hours home to Princeton BC, and parked it for the winter in the pole barn, for six months. Warranty ticking away here.....next spring, dug it out, back to Grande Prairie, another 15 hours, found the trailer odd looking on one side, pulled into the dealer we bought from, could find nothing wrong other than a distinct lean to the passenger side.
Pulled it back home, and shortly thereafter, a trip to Williams lake, 6 hours away. Then 6 hours home, got under the trailer, discovered flattened springs, 57 hours total travel time, till a suspension failure.
Called Grand Design, they urged me to call Dexter, as Dexter made the springs, did so....they asked me to ship the springs to them, wherever they are in the states, wouldn't warrant them otherwise.
By now, I'm past the one year warranty period Dexter has on their springs and axles, so Grand Design steps up and ships me new springs and hardware, keep in mind they warrant the trailer for three years, BUT ONLY THE TRAILER, not the running gear, which by the way has 3500 lb axles under a 30 foot trailer.

So, in go the new springs, under the pole barn for another winter, no mileage put on, till this spring, when I load up a full tank of water, groceries and head out to a spot about a hundred miles from here.

Within 30 miles, I notice a bent rear axle, sure as ****, it is bent. Get home, call Grand Design, they politely tell me I'm out of luck, too far from the warranty and they'll do nothing, they suggest I call Dexter and I explain that I'm not about to go through that exercise again.

So....monday its off to the shop, 6000lb axles and a dexter ez flex system, new wheels and tires, considerable expense on what is a new trailer with no miles on it.

My post isn't to slag Grand Design, they have been helpful, it's to hilite the **** warranty program RV's fall under. When you buy a new car, all the suppliers for that car fall under the car builders warranty, in the rv business, I'm forced to deal with dexter, dometic, furrion, and everybody else who supplies parts separately from the trailer manufacturer, who has a three year warranty on the shell and interior. This system is garbage, really screws the owners who have legitimate issues by allowing the manufacturer an out when something isn't designed the way it should be.

I understand that bent axles now are more common than uncommon, regardless of the maker, and we get screwed by having our units sit over the winter with the warranty clock ticking away, seems to me that if a trailer has a three year warranty, it should be for the entire unit. Opinions?