Uneven Tire Wear

[Sebass]

We have a 2021 GD Reflection, 295rl with around 5M miles on it. We’re weekend warriors and don’t carry much extra weight. After our last outing to a state park about 100 mi. away, while I was packing up to leave and checking everything, I noticed that both tires on the rear axle were wearing unevenly on the inside of both tires. I went ahead and drove home then went directly to the dealership where we bought the camper. They confirmed the uneven wear and would “check it out”. I got a call from them a few days later saying the axle was bent and they would submit claim to GD and Dexter.
I always check tires at every stop and haven’t noticed any uneven wear till now.
I guess I’m just venting because I’ve pulled campers and trailers for over 40 years and have never seen uneven wear like this. It’s like the tires are both splayed outwards and we’ve done nothing that would have caused this. Anyone else ever have this issue?
I’ll keep y’all posted about the claim outcome.

[livinthelife]

We have a 2021 GD Reflection, 295rl with around 5M miles on it. We’re weekend warriors and don’t carry much extra weight. After our last outing to a state park about 100 mi. away, while I was packing up to leave and checking everything, I noticed that both tires on the rear axle were wearing unevenly on the inside of both tires. I went ahead and drove home then went directly to the dealership where we bought the camper. They confirmed the uneven wear and would “check it out”. I got a call from them a few days later saying the axle was bent and they would submit claim to GD and Dexter.
I always check tires at every stop and haven’t noticed any uneven wear till now.
I guess I’m just venting because I’ve pulled campers and trailers for over 40 years and have never seen uneven wear like this. It’s like the tires are both splayed outwards and we’ve done nothing that would have caused this. Anyone else ever have this issue?
I’ll keep y’all posted about the claim outcome.

My husband was wondering if the rig is level front to back when towing?

[Sebass]

Yes, perfectly level

[huntindog]

We have a 2021 GD Reflection, 295rl with around 5M miles on it. We’re weekend warriors and don’t carry much extra weight. After our last outing to a state park about 100 mi. away, while I was packing up to leave and checking everything, I noticed that both tires on the rear axle were wearing unevenly on the inside of both tires. I went ahead and drove home then went directly to the dealership where we bought the camper. They confirmed the uneven wear and would “check it out”. I got a call from them a few days later saying the axle was bent and they would submit claim to GD and Dexter.
I always check tires at every stop and haven’t noticed any uneven wear till now.
I guess I’m just venting because I’ve pulled campers and trailers for over 40 years and have never seen uneven wear like this. It’s like the tires are both splayed outwards and we’ve done nothing that would have caused this. Anyone else ever have this issue?
I’ll keep y’all posted about the claim outcome.

this happens a lot. axles are often sized just barely strong enough and are just a bad bump,pothole, or curb away from bending.couple that with the tendancy of owners to overload, and failures are common. have you weighed it loaded? whenever i have an axle problem i always upsize them as much as possible.
GD is better than most others about this,on my momentum they had an option for 8k axles,so i was able to get it already beefed up.

[Sebass]

For an update on my axle issue, my local dealer diagnosed a bent axle and forwarded this to GD. Trying to speed the process up, I called GD who was already aware of the claim and said they were in discussions with Lippert. I don’t know if Lippert or GD determined fault, but I was notified today that “they” will replace to axle.

[SuzanneD]

Hi, I've been lurking for months, first time posting though.
We have the same fifth wheel as the OP, a 2021 Reflection 295RL, but with about 12,000 miles. We've been full-timing since January, traveling a big loop around the US (plus a bit of southern Quebec & Ontario). We're probably a little overweight, and are a tiny bit off-level when towing (very slightly low in the back). We just had to replace our two back tires, both worn very badly and only on the inside. One was showing frayed metal by the time we noticed!

We will be back at home base in Santa Cruz, CA, at the end of the month (June 2023) and need to have the axle checked out and the problem fixed before we take off again in mid-August.

My questions:
Can any repair shop that does axles handle a fifth wheel, or is that a specialty and we need to take it to a dealership? Would GD/Lippert reimburse anyplace that does axles, if we're as fortunate as the OP and they'll cover the cost?

Does anyone have a recommendation of where to take our FW in the Santa Cruz area, or even the Central Coast of CA? We bought the FW used a year ago, and the orginal purchase dealership is in Kentucky. We didn't have a great experience with the GD dealership in Gilroy, CA last summer, so we're hoping to go somewhere else.

All advice welcome. :-)
-Suzanne

[Hoopy Frood]

IMO any good trailer shop will have no issue working with your 5th wheel, and I would take it to a qualified trailer shop before any RV dealer. With both rear tires wearing on the inside, I would be concerned with the possibility that the axle is no longer correctly bowed/flat. Perhaps you're more overloaded than you think. Being nose high may cause more stress on the rear tires too. I would definitely have it checked and corrected before any travel.

[SuzanneD]

IMO any good trailer shop will have no issue working with your 5th wheel, and I would take it to a qualified trailer shop before any RV dealer. With both rear tires wearing on the inside, I would be concerned with the possibility that the axle is no longer correctly bowed/flat. Perhaps you're more overloaded than you think. Being nose high may cause more stress on the rear tires too. I would definitely have it checked and corrected before any travel.

Thanks! We'll look for a trailer shop in our area then. And if anyone knows of a good one in our area, we're all ears... or eyes. Whatever. ;-)

-Suzanne