Unsafe brake delay on 2021 310GK - what should I expect?

[Gronk1]

I would take it to a reputable RV dealer. I have had & have read on this forum of less than stellar service work out of Blue Dog.
I had a hydraulic cylinder leak on the street side slide...couldn't miss it. Yup BD changed the curb side one. Nice that GD lets you use independent repair facilities under warranty.

[DriverDon]

I would take it to a reputable RV dealer. I have had & have read on this forum of less than stellar service work out of Blue Dog.
I had a hydraulic cylinder leak on the street side slide...couldn't miss it. Yup BD changed the curb side one. Nice that GD lets you use independent repair facilities under warranty.

I can't argue with you. We picked up our 310GK from them this afternoon after not being able to get them to bleed the brakes or take a ride with us to demo the problem 2 days in a row. Today they admitted that they hadn't bled the brakes after the repair, because "it requires a special tool that we don't have." Seriously??? They had been fairly certain they'd bled the brakes prior to this, and kept telling me that they were going to bleed the brakes again for me. Oh, and then they still felt qualified to tell me the brake delay I was experiencing was normal.

During the drive to store the trailer, the brakes stopped working completely. When I checked, the brake fluid reservoir was empty. So apparently among the tools they lack is a funnel.

To summarize, Blue Dog of Redmond took on a job they should have known they couldn't perform properly, and misled us about a matter of safety regarding the state of the brake system before letting us drive away.

[315RLTSinPA]

I can't argue with you. We picked up our 310GK from them this afternoon after not being able to get them to bleed the brakes or take a ride with us to demo the problem 2 days in a row. Today they admitted that they hadn't bled the brakes after the repair, because "it requires a special tool that we don't have." Seriously??? They had been fairly certain they'd bled the brakes prior to this, and kept telling me that they were going to bleed the brakes again for me. Oh, and then they still felt qualified to tell me the brake delay I was experiencing was normal.

During the drive to store the trailer, the brakes stopped working completely. When I checked, the brake fluid reservoir was empty. So apparently among the tools they lack is a funnel.

To summarize, Blue Dog of Redmond took on a job they should have known they couldn't perform properly, and misled us about a matter of safety regarding the state of the brake system before letting us drive away.

LOL, they don't have a 5/16" wrench and a container?

[DriverDon]

I can't argue with you. We picked up our 310GK from them this afternoon after not being able to get them to bleed the brakes or take a ride with us to demo the problem 2 days in a row. Today they admitted that they hadn't bled the brakes after the repair, because "it requires a special tool that we don't have." Seriously??? They had been fairly certain they'd bled the brakes prior to this, and kept telling me that they were going to bleed the brakes again for me. Oh, and then they still felt qualified to tell me the brake delay I was experiencing was normal.

During the drive to store the trailer, the brakes stopped working completely. When I checked, the brake fluid reservoir was empty. So apparently among the tools they lack is a funnel.

To summarize, Blue Dog of Redmond took on a job they should have known they couldn't perform properly, and misled us about a matter of safety regarding the state of the brake system before letting us drive away.

I was preparing to bleed the brakes this morning, and discovered that the driver side rear brake line fitting had broken. I then realized that the rear axle had twisted almost 180 degrees, which caused the brake fitting to snap. This explains the empty brake fluid reservoir, but I have no idea what explains the axle twisting!

[orbsah]

discovered that the driver side rear brake line fitting had broken

Oh wow, that's crazy! On mine I discovered the brake hose where it comes into the caliper wasn't routed properly. From the image below you can see how it would for sure cause a failure when the frame bounced up and down. It was a simple fix to slightly loosen the connector and rotate it ~90-deg. Wonder if yours broke because of something like this.

I remember at my PDI several techs checking out my brake system and "hoping" there were no issues when we hooked up because they told me this was the 2nd unit they received with the disc brake option and if anything wasn't working, they didn't know how to fix it.

[geotex1]

I can't argue with you. We picked up our 310GK from them this afternoon after not being able to get them to bleed the brakes or take a ride with us to demo the problem 2 days in a row. Today they admitted that they hadn't bled the brakes after the repair, because "it requires a special tool that we don't have." Seriously??? They had been fairly certain they'd bled the brakes prior to this, and kept telling me that they were going to bleed the brakes again for me. Oh, and then they still felt qualified to tell me the brake delay I was experiencing was normal.

During the drive to store the trailer, the brakes stopped working completely. When I checked, the brake fluid reservoir was empty. So apparently among the tools they lack is a funnel.

To summarize, Blue Dog of Redmond took on a job they should have known they couldn't perform properly, and misled us about a matter of safety regarding the state of the brake system before letting us drive away.

Huh? Zero special tools required. More like a shop with no idea what they're doing.

[geotex1]

I was preparing to bleed the brakes this morning, and discovered that the driver side rear brake line fitting had broken. I then realized that the rear axle had twisted almost 180 degrees, which caused the brake fitting to snap. This explains the empty brake fluid reservoir, but I have no idea what explains the axle twisting!

Whoa! Sounds like the U-bolts weren't torqued on that axle, and that will be found quickly with disc brakes! Sorry your repair has grown in size! Once my discs were installed, I tack welded my U-bolts to the axle.

[DriverDon]

Whoa! Sounds like the U-bolts weren't torqued on that axle, and that will be found quickly with disc brakes! Sorry your repair has grown in size! Once my discs were installed, I tack welded my U-bolts to the axle.

That's a great idea, Rob! I will consider doing that myself after this repair.

My speculation on how the rear axle spun is as follows:

There was a brake line leak from day 1. I estimate about 5000 miles on the trailer. I haven't seen the brake line routing in the underbelly, but I suspect that the leak had an unbalancing effect on the brakes, resulting in most of the braking force being applied to the rear axle. Over 5000 miles of travel, the torque on that axle during braking was enough to degrade the connection between the axle seats and springs, and they eventually failed, allowing the axle to rotate.

Here are a couple of pictures showing axle seat damage and strained U-bolts.

[geotex1]

That's a great idea, Rob! I will consider doing that myself after this repair.

My speculation on how the rear axle spun is as follows:

There was a brake line leak from day 1. I estimate about 5000 miles on the trailer. I haven't seen the brake line routing in the underbelly, but I suspect that the leak had an unbalancing effect on the brakes, resulting in most of the braking force being applied to the rear axle. Over 5000 miles of travel, the torque on that axle during braking was enough to degrade the connection between the axle seats and springs, and they eventually failed, allowing the axle to rotate.

Here are a couple of pictures showing axle seat damage and strained U-bolts.

Brutal! When the new axle gets slung under there, I strongly suggest upgrading to the HD shackle kit.

Drill mounted wire brush, tack welds, and a little chassis black self-priming paint.

[powerscol]

Folks this is what it is important to check the torque on your axle U-bolts. I found mine loose. The thread is probably at least a year back and has the torque information. Or call Dexter or Lippert customer service.

To the OP It looks like your under warranty and with your history at dealers perhaps have GD authorize an independent repair service. This should be covered by Dexter without issue.