shadow cruiser 280qbs axle problems

[jlol33]

Having real bad tire wear. Bought new 2 years ago...did cross country trip went through two tires. Wearing on both sides on inner tread. Proper inflation and loading of camper. Now other two are going and newer tires I bought are showing signs of wear too. Any people have same problem.

[profdant139]

There was a bad batch of Lippert axles a couple of years ago -- supposedly, the problem is fixed. What year is your trailer?

[gsxrdeputy]

I know this sounds out of the realm of possibility for a TT that you purchased new, but it sounds like your axles are installed upside down. Trailer axles are bowed in the middle (should bow up in the middle) for camber, propper alignment, and to give them flexibility when loaded.

Look under your TT and if you axles bow down in the middle then they are def installed wrong. If thats not it then take it to an alignment shop and shims will have to be installed. You def want to get that fixed, tires are too expensive to be replacing a every trip. Good Luck!

Jeff B.

[jlol33]

gsxrdeputy...thanks for reply. Axles look like they are installed the right way. profdant139...its a 2011 Shadow Cruiser

[profdant139]

There might have been a recall on your axles -- Google Lippert axle recall. Your dealer should know right away!

[cxccheermom5]

I have read on other forums the same issues regarding the axles being inadequate for size of trailer. Check out other forums there all over the place.

[cxccheermom5]

I have read on other forums the same issues regarding the axles being inadequate for size of trailer. Check out other forums there all over the place.

[Jeeplover]

Originally Posted by jlol33

Having real bad tire wear. Bought new 2 years ago...did cross country trip went through two tires. Wearing on both sides on inner tread. Proper inflation and loading of camper. Now other two are going and newer tires I bought are showing signs of wear too. Any people have same problem.

This is interesting to me as our rear passenger side tire has worn significantly as compared to our other tires. We need to buy a new tire for it and have our tires balanced and rotated this weekend as this happened after our last trip which was an 1800 mile round trip.

We also bought new as well in July 2012.

[Eagle]

Originally Posted by Jeeplover

This is interesting to me as our rear passenger side tire has worn significantly as compared to our other tires. We need to buy a new tire for it and have our tires balanced and rotated this weekend as this happened after our last trip which was an 1800 mile round trip.

We also bought new as well in July 2012.

It sounds like you have a bent axel which isn't uncommon on a trailer when stressed turning and backing into tight locations. It is fairly common on mobile homes too.

Take it to a competent frame/alignment shop. They can check and, if necessary, straighten a bent axle. It far less expensive to fix the cause than continue buying replacement tires.

[Jeeplover]

Originally Posted by Eagle

It sounds like you have a bent axel which isn't uncommon on a trailer when stressed turning and backing into tight locations. It is fairly common on mobile homes too.

Take it to a competent frame/alignment shop. They can check and, if necessary, straighten a bent axle. It far less expensive to fix the cause than continue buying replacement tires.

Just wanted to follow up. We had to replace all 4 tires due to wear. We contacted the dealer we bought our trailer from and come to find out that the tires that were put on our year were cheap and faulty so they will be reimbursing us for those. Now we are just waiting to hear if the axle is also a problem. There were quite a few axles that were improperly installed and Lippert has been paying to replace them. After doing some more searching I found quite a few Shadow Cruiser owners have had this issue.

[RusLwt001]

I can confirm the axel problem exists. During the first year my tires started wearing badly in the inside treads. 2012 285 RLS. I did a lot of research and found out about the axel recall in 2006. The dealer assured me that this was not the problem. They purchased another tire and the same thing started happening again. I took it back to the dealer and they finally agreed to have it thoroughly checked out. After taking all the axel measurements and submitting them to Cruiser RV it turns out the 3500 lb axels were bad. They replaced both with 5000 lb. axels. Cruiser RV stated they had a bad batch of axels that went out on the 2012 models. No recall though. I store my camper in a lot - three other 285 QBS in same lot all have the same problem. I have left notes and tried to talk to the owners but they just don't seem to care.

[Russ]

Rust: You are correct. There was a bad batch of 2012 units that went out with bad axles. I have one of those units.
My tires didnt last 500 miles and they were all bald.
We waited 6 weeks for new axles and they never did show up at the dealers. He felt so bad for us ( they had our trailer almost all summer) that the dealer paid for the new axles and they took up the fight with Cruiser.
The tires were not covered under warranty!!! and i had to pay for 4 new ones.

[RusLwt001]

Russ,

Cruiser took care of me fairly well when I actually got the trailer in the shop. They wouldn't cover all the cost of the new tires, but they did cover like $40 per tire and I picked up the rest.