21 BHE joined the bent axle club :-(

[tfgd21bhe]

Just discovered that I now have a bent rear axle on my 2020 21BHE, now the rear wheels angle out at the bottom. It was fine on my last trip a week ago. No idea how it was bent as I have never been close to overloaded and have never curbed it. I'm guessing it had something to do with the torture tracks that pass as roads in Michigan.

To add insult to injury it ruined 2 of my new goodyear endurance tires that I just changed over to last month. GRRRR......

I bought the trailer in Aug of 2019 - I wonder if GD/Dexter will do anything for me?

 

[NB Canada]

Call them


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

 

[Hitsman3]

Sorry to hear that! You have any pics you can share? I'm interested to hear on how this happens? Definitely call GD/Dexter as soon as you can. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Hitsman3]

Should have a 5 year warranty on the axles according to the Dexter website. Are they bowed up or down?

 

[tfgd21bhe]

Thanks, the 5 year warranty is good news - I had forgotten about that. Both axles were originally bowed up but the rear axle is now flat.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

ok, no idea why they loaded upside down.

 

[JCR GD]

Here ya go

 

[Buckskin]

It appears tires got into black fabric material on sub floor if I am looking at picture correctly. Also appears damage to plastic basement covering. This would definitely cause axle to bend if it travels that far for tire to cause this kind of damage.
Try to get GD or Dexter to send you new axles.

 

[Hitsman3]

you think the CRE3000 could have caused this?

 

[tfgd21bhe]

It appears tires got into black fabric material on sub floor if I am looking at picture correctly. Also appears damage to plastic basement covering. This would definitely cause axle to bend if it travels that far for tire to cause this kind of damage.
Try to get GD or Dexter to send you new axles.

The stuff you see hanging down behind the tire is just a piss poor tape job by my dealer when they cut into the coroplast to fix a leak when dumping the black tank. They had to cut into the coroplast to replace an o-ring. It isn't actually touching the tire although that's not obvious in the picture.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

you think the CRE3000 could have caused this?

I doubt it since the cre3000 was installed early last year and no damage occurred to the original westlakes I was still using until this spring. I also didn't see any damage to the goodyear endurance the first two trips this year. I believe the axle was bent either on the way up to the campground this trip or coming home from the trip before.

 

[huntindog]

Either overloading or road hazard or a combination of the two. Not eligible for warranty. Fortunantly axles aere not that expensive. I recommend upgrading both while you are at it.
Axles are too often run very close to their limit... A little road hazard is all it takes to damage them.

 

[Hitsman3]

I doubt it since the cre3000 was installed early last year and no damage occurred to the original westlakes I was still using until this spring. I also didn't see any damage to the goodyear endurance the first two trips this year. I believe the axle was bent either on the way up to the campground this trip or coming home from the trip before.

Good to hear, so your still happy with the CRE3000? I was going to install mine today but after seeing your post, I got scared & decided not to. Ordered the dexter ez-flex instead, but now I’m thinking I should still install the CRE3000? I would still call dexter if I were you and see what they say.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

Either overloading or road hazard or a combination of the two. Not eligible for warranty. Fortunantly axles aere not that expensive. I recommend upgrading both while you are at it.
Axles are too often run very close to their limit... A little road hazard is all it takes to damage them.

Definitely never overloaded. We travel very light and have verified with cat scale.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

Good to hear, so your still happy with the CRE3000? I was going to install mine today but after seeing your post, I got scared & decided not to. Ordered the dexter ez-flex instead, but now I’m thinking I should still install the CRE3000? I would still call dexter if I were you and see what they say.

I'm happy with the CRE3000 and feel that I have less chucking since they were installed.

 

[jproctor9]

Just discovered that I now have a bent rear axle on my 2020 21BHE, now the rear wheels angle out at the bottom. It was fine on my last trip a week ago. No idea how it was bent as I have never been close to overloaded and have never curbed it. I'm guessing it had something to do with the torture tracks that pass as roads in Michigan.

To add insult to injury it ruined 2 of my new goodyear endurance tires that I just changed over to last month. GRRRR......

I bought the trailer in Aug of 2019 - I wonder if GD/Dexter will do anything for me?

Curious what size are your axle tubes?

Good luck. I hope it all works out.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[tfgd21bhe]

Curious what size are your axle tubes?

Good luck. I hope it all works out.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Not sure, but I think they are 3". They are Dexter 3000 lb axles. I'll try to remember to measure them the next time I go to the trailer.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

Curious what size are your axle tubes?

Good luck. I hope it all works out.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Measured the axle tube today, they are 2.5".

 

[tfgd21bhe]

Just heard back from grand design and they have directed me to dexter so we'll see how that goes. Apparently axles don't fall under the 3 year structural warranty.

 

[huntindog]

Measured the axle tube today, they are 2.5".

In the event you have to fix it on your dime (likely) I recommend purchasing at Auto Safety House. They have good prices and knowledgeable people.
Also, it bent once, so it will probably happen again unless you upgrade. Now is the time to do it. Axles can be custom built to your specs. They are available in light, medium, and heavy wall tubes as well.