Axels under my 303

[tgordon]

I have a 2018 Reflection 303. Crawled under it yesterday to look at the axels. The stamp says they are rated for 5200 pounds. Is that right? I thought they would be 7200 pounds.

Thanks,
Terry

[TucsonJim]

5,200# is correct. That gives you 10,400 pounds of axle capacity. With a GVWR of 11,995#, that is quite a bit of capacity. Remember, you'll have about 2,200-2,500# of the weight on the hitch and tow vehicle.

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

I would add that the Reflection 303RLS is one of Grand Design's longest running models with thousands produced and many more thousands of miles travelled. Always on 5200 lb axles.

Rob

[tgordon]

Thanks guys. We love our 303. I am taking pictures of all the info on the stickers to have if they become unreadable. When it warms up a bit, going to pack the bearings. Where is the best place to get seals and what do I need to take them to cross reference part numbers? We might have 2500 miles on this unit. Hope to retire in June 2021 and travel six month out of the year. Been fixing things beforehand: duct work, changing gas support screws to bolts, plumbing pieces, got to drop the bottom to replace a sticky grey water cable, added some ref fans, beefing up receiver to carry my generator box, added two Trojan batteries,

I appreciate this group of folks so much.

Regards,


TG

[Cate&Rob]

tgordon
Hi TG,

Welcome to our owners technical forum, BTW!

Seems like you have a good handle on what needs doing on your 303. Have you recently acquired this 2018 model? Do you have all the manuals that came with (or should have come with) your rig? Since it is a 2018, it will probably have LCI axles, brakes and suspension. You are towards the end of the period when grease seal failure and greased brakes was a big problem. Pulling the hubs, inspecting the brakes, repacking the bearings and replacing the seals is definitely worth doing. Attached is the LCI Chassis Manual. It includes PNs for seals, bearings, etc. Most places will sell whatever brand of seals they carry as "5200 lb axle seals". Some owners will swear by one brand or another of seals, but my experience is that if you make sure the spindle surface the seal runs on is polished clean and generously lube this surface and the seal lips with bearing grease, you will not have any problems with the seals retaining the grease.

There are a number of experienced 303 owners on this forum, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Rob

[Cate&Rob]

tgordon
Hi TG,

Back to your axle question for a moment . . . this is really a "spring" question, because a "5200 lb axle" supports the trailer with two 2600 lb leaf springs. It is best to keep the capacity of the springs relatively close to the weight of the trailer. This means that the springs are absorbing most of the road inpact loads. Over strengthening the springs means that more impact load is transmitted to the body of the trailer. Similarly, over strengthening the tires does the same thing. You want suspension and tires to be soft enough to absorb road impacts before these get to the body of the trailer.

Now . . . having said this . . . the 303 is considerably heavier on the street (left) side than the curb (right) side. This is where all the storage is. Pantry, fridge, cabinets, plus water heater, furnace, etc. Some of us with 303s run stronger springs on the left side than on the right. If you notice that your 303 leans to the left when you are towing it, we can get into the details of how to correct this.

Rob

[tgordon]

Thanks folks. I bought this unit new in October of 2017. I have all the paperwork plus I check out the videos on Lippert and Grand Design webpages and apps.

We live in central KY and have taken her to Niagara Falls and Washington DC. We visit a couple other parks near here. I checked the date code on my axels last year. I was told they were made after the grease seal issue. I owned a Cougar fifth wheel for ten years before we traded to the Reflection. We were wanting to make sure we had time to get the bugs taken care of before we headed west next year.

I’ve not noticed a “lean” yet. I monitor the springs when I grease the wet bolts. I appreciate all the info.

Regards,
TG

[Superduty]

Thanks folks. I bought this unit new in October of 2017. I have all the paperwork plus I check out the videos on Lippert and Grand Design webpages and apps.

We live in central KY and have taken her to Niagara Falls and Washington DC. We visit a couple other parks near here. I checked the date code on my axels last year. I was told they were made after the grease seal issue. I owned a Cougar fifth wheel for ten years before we traded to the Reflection. We were wanting to make sure we had time to get the bugs taken care of before we headed west next year.

I’ve not noticed a “lean” yet. I monitor the springs when I grease the wet bolts. I appreciate all the info.

Regards,
TG

TG,
I bet you have Dexter Axles. My 2018 303 was made in Oct 2017 and I have the Dexter Axles. I asked that question to GD before I order the coach.
The axle mfg name, etc will be on the axle label. I also took pictures of the tags as the will fall off or be in readable at some point.

[tgordon]

They are Lippert. I checked the tag last year.

TG

[Superduty]

They are Lippert. I checked the tag last year.

TG

TG,
Interesting. Our units were built, same month, year and both are 303's. And I have Dexter Axles. Just looked again at my tag.

[Beachcamper]

I also bought mine in Nov 2017 Build date of June 2017 and have Lippert axles not Dexter.

vivian