Huh, why in Strafford you ask??
Ok here goes. You may remember that back in January we were in Bakersfield, California having some work done on our trailer at Camping World and that when they removed the wheels to repack the bearings they had found that the seals had failed. This required new seals and new brakes for both axles. Fortunately the axle manufacturer, Dexter, covered the repair under warranty. The service techs at Camping World gave us no instructions regarding “breaking in” the new brakes. As we left the Camping World parking lot the trailer brakes were not stopping the trailer at all. I drove back to the store and the mechanic adjusted all the brakes to the maximum and told me they were self-adjusting and would take a little time to form to the drum. He did not explain how the self-adjusting feature is activated (I now know have learned you are supposed to back the trailer up periodically with the brakes engaged).
As we are driving east the brakes do get somewhat better but still nowhere near the stopping power I had previous to the brake job. So I keep this in the back of my mind. Move on to the next issue. While in Tucumcari I noticed one of the tires was completely worn on the outside tread. I had the Camping World in Bakersfield rotate the tires to hopefully balance out the wear and had asked the mechanic about the tire wear issues. I was told it was somewhat normal on trailers due to load distribution. Ok, so now I have the brake issue I am thinking about, a tire going bad and now believe I must have an alignment or camber issue on the axle.
At our next stop I decide to make some calls to see how best to get these issues resolved. The next Camping World on our route would be in Strafford, Missouri, just outside Springfield. I call them first and tell them my issues. They service person was pleasant enough but indicated he was not sure how to proceed on the brake issue as his store did not do the repair and it was a warranty repair. Ok, I understand, except Camping World, any store, should stand behind their work. I called the Bakersfield store and the service tech that had previously helped me said he would get the issue resolved and contacted the Strafford store. I spoke with the Strafford store again and we agreed to a service date of May 18th where they would look at the brakes and see if anything needed to be done. In addition I would purchase a new tire and they would swap it out with the bad one. As for the alignment issue on the axle I was told they do not that and they referred me to a truck repair shop in Springfield that specializes in wheel and axle alignments for big rigs. I contacted them and set up an appointment for the afternoon of the 17th.
May 17th we arrive at the truck repair shop and they align the axles and wheels telling me that they were out of alignment and that was what was causing the irregular tire wear. One issue resolved, $300 later. We leave Springfield and drive the 10 miles to Strafford and decided to stay in an RV park that is in town near the Camping World. This is just a small, very old RV park but it has full hook-ups with 50 amp power. The problem is the sites must have been laid out 50 years ago when trailers were much smaller. When our slides are open on both sides we just miss the electrical box on each side by inches. Fortunately the place does not fill up as if there was someone next to us it could get dicey. Here is a picture to show how narrow the sites are.
Today, Friday, we go to Camping World first thing and the service guy I spoke with is waiting along with the warranty manager. They tell me about how new brake pads are supposed to be broken in during the first 2,000 miles and how the self-adjusting feature is activated. All new information to me. They take the truck and trailer around the lot, back it up and play with the brake controller. They then come back and tell me that they noticed some improvement and that Dexter wanted a weight on the trailer to see how large a load is on the axles. At this time it is felt that most likely we did not probably break in the brakes and with this new information their performance should improve. We get in the truck, with trailer attached, to go get it weighed and to test out what they are saying about the brakes. I do notice a slight improvement but when fully engaged the trailer never fully stops. I cannot “slam on the brakes” for the trailer. We get the trailer weighed at a nearby truck stop and come back to Camping World. I tell them I did notice some improvement and that with this information I will make sure to back up periodically to activate the self-adjusting feature. Meanwhile they still needed to put the new tire on and swap the spare with one of the tires. The warranty manager said he would have the mechanic take the drum off the wheel so he could see the brakes. Well guess what they found??? The seals had failed again and there was grease all over the brake pads. No wonder it was not stopping. Now it is elevated to a big problem. All seals and brakes need to be replaced and we are not paying for it and this Camping World is concerned because they did not do the sloppy repair work. It appears the seals were not properly seated by the Bakersfield mechanic. So we wait for a couple of hours while calls are made and finally the axle company, Dexter, stepped up and said they would cover it and most likely go back to the Bakersfield Camping World for reimbursement. Problem is the parts are not available until Monday, so we are here for the weekend, back at our narrow little site!
I do have to commend Dexter as a company with excellent customer service. They stepped up both times. Hopefully the repair will be done properly and I will now break-in the brakes and everything will be good.
No comments:
Post a Comment