Bent Axle?

[Cate&Rob]

Bowhutn

Welcome to our owners technical forum. When you have a chance, have a look at our welcome post. https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members . This will help you set up your signature and navigate the forum.

To the specifics of your concern . . . the only way that you are going to prove this one way or the other is to have the trailer alignment measured by someone who knows what they are doing. Look for a heavy/truck/trailer repair facility with alignment equipment. Hunter is a trusted name in trailer alignment measuring.

Rob

[Bowhutn]

I have a 2021 GD Reflection 29RS that has the same issue. We just got back from our 1st trip (NH to Ca and back) with a total of 8450 miles on the rig. It is currently at RV One in Vt (formerly Country Camper) and we are waiting on the results. At 1st glance service dept said bad wheel bearings, but i have never seen wheel bearings go on the same axle and wear the tires the exact same way. I believe it is a bad axle from the build. Front axle and tires were fine, camper is level front to back, we are way under the weight allowed. We purchased brand new Nov 2020, stored it for the winter and left on our maiden voyage in Oct 2021 and returned in April 2022. Of course the 1 yr warrenty had expired before we completed our trip but we purchased the 5 yr complete coverage service, so it will be interesting to see the results and who is going to be charged for the repair. I will try to post what there answer is when this is all done. I enclosed pictures of the rear tire (bad) and front tire (good) for comparison. Left and right side are exactly the same wear.

[jsmith6541]

Absolutely but as you said that’s a different case. I’m not aware of a rash of issues with the OPs model.

I called a GD dealer near me to get prices for parts(upgrade axles) and the person I spoke with said they did have issues with the axles on my model being undersized. But I guess not enough for a recall.

[ncitro]

ncitro Neil,

I have to agree where any system can be abused, so in the case of the OP there is no history. Even in my case, I never put the unit in a state to flatten the springs and since they have been replaced they are still holding up. Delivery driver abusing the rig? Defective springs? Who knows.

But in the case of my older Imagine, there were a rash of flattened springs with floor contact and future units were updated where the issue is non-existent today. Since so many cases of floor contact were out there (similar to greased brakes) this does indicate there was an issue. So one case is impossible to make a determination where multiple cases followed by an update does look like the issue was addressed. We did purchase our rig with the verbiage that the manufacturer has the right to make changes at any time. I've accepted that and with buddies to help me with the heavy stuff, I updated the rig to avoid floor contact while keeping to the original design as best as possible.

Jim

Absolutely but as you said that’s a different case. I’m not aware of a rash of issues with the OPs model.

[Guest]

ncitro Neil,

I have to agree where any system can be abused, so in the case of the OP there is no history. Even in my case, I never put the unit in a state to flatten the springs and since they have been replaced they are still holding up. Delivery driver abusing the rig? Defective springs? Who knows.

But in the case of my older Imagine, there were a rash of flattened springs with floor contact and future units were updated where the issue is non-existent today. Since so many cases of floor contact were out there (similar to greased brakes) this does indicate there was an issue. So one case is impossible to make a determination where multiple cases followed by an update does look like the issue was addressed. We did purchase our rig with the verbiage that the manufacturer has the right to make changes at any time. I've accepted that and with buddies to help me with the heavy stuff, I updated the rig to avoid floor contact while keeping to the original design as best as possible.

Jim

[ncitro]

I guess when the equipment is defective, not just a convenience or performance upgrade.

I don’t know that there’s any evidence that the equipment is defective. As suggested earlier you don’t know what the previous owner did or did not do, they may have overloaded the trailer or not a curb with it. Grand Design had on GVWR on the trailer the year you bought, and the axles support that weight, then in a subsequent year their customer feedback suggested they should increase the GVWR on that model so they built it with larger axles. There’s no malicious intent there. You got what you paid for, if you wanted a higher carrying capacity you should have looked at the newer model, or a different floor plan.

Believe me, I don’t drink the kool side, I’ve had my fair share of issues with my trailer (they just replaced my entire wall out of warranty), but I don’t see how they used defective equipment.

You don’t mention any of your actual weights, but if the tongue weight you’re referencing is the one from the brochure, yours is probably quite a bit higher. It’s usually 10-15% off the total, so if you’re at the axle weight then your tongue weight is probably close to 500-750 pounds, which is how they come up with a GVWR of 5495. The trailer as built is designed to carry that GVWR with margin to spare.

I agree that does not give you much carrying capacity, but unfortunately there are several models with that issue. There’s a Solitude I saw at a rally once with cavernous storage under a rear bedroom, but when I looked at the tag, it had around 1,000 pounds of carrying capacity. They’ve since made 8,000 pound axles and option which increases it by 2,000 pounds, but that’s still how it was made for several years.

The cargo carrying capacity is the second thing I look at after the floor plan itself.

[jsmith6541]

Jason, We all go thru this. Just after we bought ours, the spring hangers, stove/oven,and the light over the door were upgraded and interior mods were made including medicine cabinets. The TireLink was also added. At what point is the Mfgr not responsible for retroactive upgrades? Now 8K axles and disc brakes are an available upgrade. Should I be able to take mine back and get that upgrade done at the option cost?We are having to balance the spring hanger upgrade against how much we will be travelling and the timing of the IS / disc brake upgrade. It is just the nature of the beast that "allows" such frequent upgrades to be made during production rather than like many other processes that require to wait until the line is shut down at the end of the model year for retooling.

I guess when the equipment is defective, not just a convenience or performance upgrade.

[Guest]

I agree with that.
But my point was...even GD had upsized the axles in this model for 2021.....because the difference between UVW and GVWR was not sufficient with the lighter axle/GVWR combination, otherwise why would they bump it up to larger axles. I personally feel that GD should upgrade my axles to what they have on the 2021........a design change they felt was necessary. But that likely won't happen, so I am disappointed because I spent a lot of money for a brand I looked up to. I've owned 3 other, much cheaper and older, travel trailers and never had tire wear and axle problems like this.

I will probably increase the axles/suspension to either 3000 or 3500 lbs axles. Right now I'm gathering advice so that I don't, like you mentioned, oversize them too much....because it will not flex properly and be a rough rider. The RV dealer near me, but not a GD dealer, suggested 3500 lbs axles.

I've gone through this as well with my MY17 Imagine 2600RB with 3500lb axles and 1750lb flattened springs, 5 lug wheels and D rated tires with floor contact. Ouch.
The newer models came out with 4400lb axles, 2200lb springs, 6 lug wheels and E rated tires. I felt the unit should have been recalled.
I went with one inch lift blocks, new 1750lb springs, CRE3000, wet bolts and E rated Goodyear Endurance tires where so far, its holding up. So to Robs point, this rig does ride smooth. So smooth I would like to have shocks to dampen things out a bit.

We still however love our Imagine.

Jim

[ThePowells]

Jason, We all go thru this. Just after we bought ours, the spring hangers, stove/oven,and the light over the door were upgraded and interior mods were made including medicine cabinets. The TireLink was also added. At what point is the Mfgr not responsible for retroactive upgrades? Now 8K axles and disc brakes are an available upgrade. Should I be able to take mine back and get that upgrade done at the option cost?We are having to balance the spring hanger upgrade against how much we will be travelling and the timing of the IS / disc brake upgrade. It is just the nature of the beast that "allows" such frequent upgrades to be made during production rather than like many other processes that require to wait until the line is shut down at the end of the model year for retooling.

[jsmith6541]

jsmith6541

There certainly appears to be something wrong with that one axle. A new axle is not particularly expensive. The "least stress" solution is just to replace it.

On the topic of "upsizing" the axles . . . if you do this, don't go too far. There is a perspective by some, that larger capacity axles (actually stronger springs on the axle assembly) is a good thing to do. This is not necessarily true. This would mean that the springs will flex much less because they are carrying less weight than they were designed for and the trailer will get a much rougher ride. The spring capacity should be matched as closely as possible to the weight carried so that the entire range of spring flex is used . . . giving the trailer as smooth a ride as possible. (in my opinion). Think of how an empty box trailer bounces around back there vs how smoothly it rides when carrying a load.

Rob

I agree with that.
But my point was...even GD had upsized the axles in this model for 2021.....because the difference between UVW and GVWR was not sufficient with the lighter axle/GVWR combination, otherwise why would they bump it up to larger axles. I personally feel that GD should upgrade my axles to what they have on the 2021........a design change they felt was necessary. But that likely won't happen, so I am disappointed because I spent a lot of money for a brand I looked up to. I've owned 3 other, much cheaper and older, travel trailers and never had tire wear and axle problems like this.

I will probably increase the axles/suspension to either 3000 or 3500 lbs axles. Right now I'm gathering advice so that I don't, like you mentioned, oversize them too much....because it will not flex properly and be a rough rider. The RV dealer near me, but not a GD dealer, suggested 3500 lbs axles.

[Cate&Rob]

jsmith6541

There certainly appears to be something wrong with that one axle. A new axle is not particularly expensive. The "least stress" solution is just to replace it.

On the topic of "upsizing" the axles . . . if you do this, don't go too far. There is a perspective by some, that larger capacity axles (actually stronger springs on the axle assembly) is a good thing to do. This is not necessarily true. This would mean that the springs will flex much less because they are carrying less weight than they were designed for and the trailer will get a much rougher ride. The spring capacity should be matched as closely as possible to the weight carried so that the entire range of spring flex is used . . . giving the trailer as smooth a ride as possible. (in my opinion). Think of how an empty box trailer bounces around back there vs how smoothly it rides when carrying a load.

Rob

[steve gravelle]

Jason, my heart goes out to you. We had a similar problem in 2014 when we bought a new Reflection 337. We had identical tire wear on the rear axle, and contacted the factory. We found that they had put 5200 lb. axles on, when the proper axle was 6000 lb. I don't know whether our situation caused it, but this became a factory recall. The factory sent two axles and four tires to Tarpley RV in Durango, CO, near where we were camped. It does seem that your situation is similar. Brad Smith and Jerry McCarthy are two people who might help you. We have had great accommodations from GD which helped us upgrade to a 2020 Solitude. The second owner makes it challenging on their end though. Hope you get some help.

[jsmith6541]

My point about the increased GVWR on the new model is:

The fact that GD increased the GVWR by putting heavier axles on the 2021 model without the UVW changing is an indication that the previous lighter axle/GVWR combination WAS problematic.
I believe the cargo carrying capacity for the trailer with the previous lighter axle/GVWR combination was not "practical" for many users and caused problems with the axles.....so here I am....after having spent $$$ on a brand with a good reputation....paying for new axles, tires....for a design flaw that has now been remedied on the 2021 model.

Just my thoughts.

[Jlawles2]

I'm going to throw this one in there, don't forget to check the center to center of the hubs. If the axles are not aligned to each other funny things happen. Also check to see that the axle is not bent rearward from centerline (indicating something like a hard it to a curb or pothole).

You may want to check for binding in the equalizer on the axles also. I do this by jacking up one axle and observing what's happening. You may need to grease the pivot bolts on the ends of the springs.

[Country Campers]

Being a used camper it would be hard not to place some of the blame on the previous owner , unless you know them and had traveled with them while they used the camper. They could have done some kind of damage or towed with the nose high a few times or even overloaded the rear of the camper enough times that the axel bent and you were the recipient of bad fortune. All manufactures use axels that are undersized by a certain amount , usually close to the tongue or pin weight. Yours is only 495# under , mine is 995# under. Yes on the new models they have increased the GVW but it still probably has undersized axels. If Dexter does not warranty this then I would suggest replacing the axel , or both if you want to go to a 3000# axel. You could also turn those tires around and wear out the other side this year and do the axel in the fall , just kidding of course.

Brian