RPod Axle Issue....why?

It is possible that the heavier rPods have too low a margin of error in the axle design and may bend too easily, but proving that this is a true design defect is a very costly issue.  For every engineer you will find who is willing to testify that in her opinion that the axle is undersized, FR will find 3 or 4 who will say that it's finest axle ever installed on a small travel trailer and exceeds industry standards by orders of magnitude.  Who will the jury believe?  It is very expensive to prosecute with a class action suit.  This is not the kind of case where a contingency fee would be a risk a sensible lawyer would be willing to take.  Would you be willing to donate a several years of your income to such a venture?  

People continue to buy these trailers because they provide a pretty good value for the money, are certainly of average quality as required by the Uniform Commercial Code, and are not really suffering axle failures at that high a rate.  For my money, if I were the owner of a heavier rPod, I'd do the axle reinforcement that StephenH put on his and that some engineers on our board have also suggested.  Buying a piece of angle iron, duplicating the axle camber, and attaching it to the axle seems like a much more sensible and cost effective approach.  If FR has axle failures at such a rate that it is clear that the heavier trailer axles cannot sustain the forces applied, they will likely go to the next size up at some point.  And if the failure rate is high enough, the NTSB will require them to strengthen the axle to avoid accidents.

Greetings:

I have a 2015 179 which has been on many a rough road and has about 12 k on it.  So far no problems. I have the lift blocks installed, and have 8 ply tires at 65 psi.  I try to be very careful making turns and not running over curbs.  This year I installed a Eaz Lift R3 Weight distributing hitch due to my truck being a bit old with 124K on it.  I wish I had done this a long time ago.  It really improves handling and levels the whole combo.  I have enjoyed the 179 and had few problems.

Crankster78  (now 79)