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Old 08-23-2007, 10:39 PM   #1
Texas 250
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You need to read this !

Lost rear axle on '07 Mobile Suites traveling down I-35 in New Braunsville, TX Wednesday. Luckily we made it safely to Camping World unknowningly that rear axle bolts (all 5 of them) had been sheared off of the rear hub. The only indication that we had was the loss of trailer brakes. We lost trailer brakes, pulled over, found rear brake line broken with a trail of brake fluid. Thought that we had just broken a brake line, limped in for 30 miles to Camping World. Then found out, after being put into the service bay, that all 5 bolts were sheared off of the hub. Axle, leaf springs, shocks, wheel, tire and hub are all going to have to be replaced. They checked other 3 remaining hubs and found them to be okay. They seem to think that the reason that the bolts sheared was because the lugnuts were torqued too tight on the wheel. Camping World talked to Kent at Mobile Suites as well as the manufactured of the axle and they said that it would be covered under warranty. We are trying to make sure that our unit will be delivered to us at home instead of us having to drive 8 hours to pick it up. We thank GOD for keeping us safe during this ordeal that could have turned out to be a tragedy. We were told by the service advisor that nothing was holding the wheel on except for the spindle nut.


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Old 08-24-2007, 08:37 AM   #2
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Glad you were able to park safely.
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Old 08-24-2007, 09:31 AM   #3
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OK, I'm confused.

What kind of brakes have hydraulic? Disk? Where are the 5 bolts that failed? Did anything actually come off? Camping World said that the lug nut tightness caused the failure?
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Old 08-24-2007, 11:21 AM   #4
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Axle?

Did you loose an axle or a wheel?

How many miles on the '07" ?

Aluminum or steel wheels?
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Old 08-24-2007, 02:46 PM   #5
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The brakes are disk,the bolts that sheared connect the axle to the hub, crawl under you unit and where the axle connects to the hub you will see a square flat plate on the end of your axle that has five bolt holes in it. Bolts go through that plate into the hub,then the wheel bolts onto the hub with lug nuts. The wheel did not come off, Lippert who makes the axles said the only thing that kept the wheel from coming off was the spindle nut. The wheels are Aluminum. The miles on the unit are less than 1500.
I did talk to a Lippert Tec today a he feels that the torque on the lugnuts is not a issue , he said they use the same pneumatic gun on all units when putting the wheels on. I do have pictures but will have to figure out how to attach them.
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Old 08-24-2007, 07:48 PM   #6
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I'd be more inclined to think the guy that was supposed to torque those nuts simply missed them and they left the factory somewhat loose to allow the backer plate to try to rotate every time the brakes were applied. A few brake applications would eventually shear those bolts and allow the plate complete with caliper to rotate and separate your brake line. That's just an opinion but like the guy says: same gun, same compressor, same regulator setting but maybe one dude went to coffee break and forgot where he left off when he returned (needed retraining ) and allowed the axle to leave without checking.

The wheel torque has nothing to do with it as those wheels aren't installed until Doubletree builds a unit. The Lippert tech probably meant the same gun is used for every HUB installation.
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Old 08-27-2007, 10:06 PM   #7
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Here are the pictures on the axle on my Mobile Suite. Camping World service department is saying that it looks like the wrong bolts might have been used in connecting the axle to the hub.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg hpim1396_1__151.jpg (133.4 KB, 153 views)
File Type: jpg hpim1393_1__126.jpg (105.3 KB, 153 views)
File Type: jpg hpim1395_1__185.jpg (142.8 KB, 153 views)
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Old 08-28-2007, 08:11 AM   #8
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Glad you were able to stop safely.

When I read "Lost rear axle on '07 Mobile Suites traveling down I-35" I had visions of an axle coming loose and sliding out from under the trailer.

Then the post was "The brakes are disk, the bolts that sheared connect the axle to the hub" and I wasn't sure what the actual issue was.

The photos show the problem was caused from the brake backing plate anchor bolts that fasten the plate to the axle coming loose or shearing off.

Would not this be a Dexter or Lippert warranty issue rather than a DT issue?

We have some friends who lost one of their wheels when the lug nuts broke, allowing the wheel to come out from under the trailer, causing damage to the slide and back cap as it exited. They were able to stop safely and get temp repairs made. When I last communicated with them, they had not made any determination as to cause, i.e. loose lugs or over-torqued or some other cause.

Not sure a pre-trip inspection would have caught either problem but it we should all try and inspect closely for anything that does not look like it belongs.
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Old 08-28-2007, 09:23 AM   #9
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keithandpenne, FWIW, generally when a wheel comes of from broken lugs it's due to under torqueing the wheels rather than over torque. Because trailer wheels do not center on a pilot hole, but rather with the lug nuts, when they are not tight enough they work on the studs until the studs break. I find very few trailerist carry a torque wrench. I've checked many trailers with my torque wrench and I've not found one yet that was tight enough. Many times by a quarter turn or more. BTW, I learned this lesson the hard way when I nearly lost a wheel. I was lucky that I noticed a broken lug on my walk around and didn't loose the wheel.
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Old 08-28-2007, 09:35 AM   #10
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The photos verify my post above. The sheared bolts are probably a result of them being loose and as you were driving and using your brakes the backer plate with the caliper attached attempted to rotate with the disc until eventually all those bolts sheared allowing the caliper to whiz around and rip off the brake line and whack the shock a couple of times as well as bend itself in the process and ultimately digging into the rim.

All-in-all, you got off lucky! You may want to check the tire for a "flat spot" or two. I'd be suprprised if the wheel didn't actually come to a full stop at least once while all of this was happening and if so that flat spot on the tread surface will be impossible to balance out and induce awful vibrations inside your coach!

The bottom spring clampng plate/shock mount also took a couple of hits from that caliper and surprisingly it remained relatively intact except for a bend visible in last pic. If this happened at speed, the kinetic energy of that whirring caliper must have been tremendous!
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Old 08-28-2007, 09:39 AM   #11
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Keithandpenne,

From the photo's that is definitely a Dexter issue. The axles come as an assembly for installation to the frame and are put on by Lippert. I doubt that DT did anything other than count the axles on the frame before assembling the trailer on it.


Texas,

It might be a real good idea to have the repair facility check the other mounting bolts on the remaining axle if they haven't already. That's a scary and dangerous situation there.
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Old 08-28-2007, 09:39 AM   #12
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Texas250, As near as I can tell from your pictures the bolts in question do not hold the wheel on, but rather they hold the stationary part of the brake system. On drum brakes they hold the backing plate and with disc brakes they hold the caliper. When someone told you the only thing that kept your wheel from coming off was the spindle nut he was right! That is the only thing that always keeps the wheel from coming off! If you think about it they could not have 5 small bolts to hold the spindle on and then require 8 large studs at the wheel itself. The spidle is a machined piece and is welded to the end of the axle.
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