So for years Dad towed a 1978 5th wheel, and when it was aging out I bought the new 2000 28' cougar with super slide. I called him (I lived in North Dakota and he in Oregon) and told him to sell his rig and come get the new one.
Keystone had just started mass production back then; and I saw many in the midwest, none were seen in the PNW; they were rare.
I moved home and Mom and dad decided to start spending a month in Yuma so off they went. We had just put new tires on his truck and the trailer (I worked at Firestone) Two days into the trip he called and raved about the tires; the 3rd day he called cussing- he had a blow out near needles California. Farther looking showed the leaf spring broke and punctured the tire. The trailer was about 3-4 years old with less than 10,000 miles on it. He made it to a campground in needles; I called around and found a replacement spring in Bullhead City. He swapped it out, not a easy job for someone in his early 70"s. When they arrived home we eventually "matched" 3 more springs to that one as the trailer wasnt setting level and the new spring was heavier.
So, without going into each issue with the wheel bearings, lets just say there have been many. One time setting in Susanville California for 3-4 days waiting for a new hub. another time along side the road between Susanville and Shasta Californa, and just this last week was 4-5 days waiting for a new axle in Toneapah Nevada. It has come to the point where we carried a complete repacked hub and greased checked the bearings prior to every trip but it didn't help.
As dad was waiting for parts last week, a 2003 Cougar stopped by, same size as ours but lookie there-- a 6 bolt wheel. Ours is 5..... Seems as tho Keystone under axled the first series trailer...
His total bill for the repair was about 1000. that got him safely Home, and within one day I have already priced out complete 5000 lb axles. (1015.00)
replacing the axles in the long run will be cheaper, and we need the piece of mind back- Dads old rig he did the bearings once in many many years of pulling
We are needing new tires soon anyway; so this summer we will get rid of the pesty bearing issue and put what keysone should have in the first place.
I think everyone should look at the axles under the rig and check the weight. We trusted that the rig was built to XXX specs but now we will fix it (as well as get a true weight check of our rig.. something we have been meaning to do.
While i am under there- also gonna put that Dexter kit on the leaf springs
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