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Topic ClosedThe axle falling off our R-Pod, revisited
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Happy Tripping View Drop Down
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Posts: 473 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: The axle falling off our R-Pod, revisited
    Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 8:32am
One of the  problems with being a person with a mechanical disability (a p.c term, I am just klutzy), is that when describing things, I am frequently not clear. Recently our R-Pod axle fell off in my driveway. I held off describing it here until I thought I had a reasonable handle on the cause. I was wrong. 

I thought that there was a weld that had failed since all of the bolts were tight. No. As I now understand it, what happened is that an 'L-shaped' piece of metal attaching the boxy riser to the frame had been cut out between the 2 bolts, weakening the metal to the point where over time it failed, dropping the boxy riser down. In pictures, the bolts are fine, covered with rust but fine, but it can be seen that the metal to which they are still attached has buckled. The repair has been to weld the box to the frame.

The default position of Forest River whenever axle/riser problems arise is apparently to blame the user for poor maintenance of hanger bolts. I will keep this forum informed of my discussions with them.
"There comes a time in the affairs of a man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation" - W.C. Fields
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 9:41am
Originally posted by Happy Tripping


I thought that there was a weld that had failed since all of the bolts were tight. No. As I now understand it, what happened is that an 'L-shaped' piece of metal attaching the boxy riser to the frame had been cut out between the 2 bolts, weakening the metal to the point where over time it failed, dropping the boxy riser down. In pictures, the bolts are fine, covered with rust but fine, but it can be seen that the metal to which they are still attached has buckled. The repair has been to weld the box to the frame.


Ok, so someone had removed some material from the angle bracket (the L shaped piece) that was welded to the rPod frame? And then, the angle bracket itself broke rather than the weld that attached it to the frame?

Any idea why the angle bracket was modified? Is your left side bracket the same? 

The riser and axle will only drop down when the rPod has been lifted up. When the trailer is on its wheels the right side of the trailer would drop down, resulting in your tire hitting the fender. That seems pretty likely to also bend the axle or the attachment between the axle and the trailer on the left side.   Are they saying that the axle is still Ok or did it get bent? 
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Happy Tripping View Drop Down
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Posts: 473 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 7:46am
Thank you for helping me to understand what's going on here.

My guess is that whoever made the riser/frame unit (Forest River? The axle manufacturer Dexter?) ran short of the proper material and grabbed something out of the stock pile that had a cut made between the places the bolts are fastened, leading to 2 tabs sticking down rather than a single complete bar. That's my guess.

Both sides failed, the right side first, then the left, but I haven't gotten underneath to see if the left side also has metal missing. I figure it must, tho.

Frankly I am bewildered by the axle guy's comment that the axle isn't bent, but to me that is not very important right now. I just want to be road-worthy.

Again, thank you for helping me to understand this whole thing.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 12:55pm
Sure. Sorry about the problems, that’s scary. Disregard my question on your other post, you answered my question here.
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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