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Old 11-10-2018, 11:30 AM   #1
CWtheMan
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Keystone RV recalls fifth wheels and travel trailers

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/reca...rs-110618.html
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Old 11-10-2018, 11:38 AM   #2
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I would be surprised if any of those RVs mentiond would even make it to a dealer with only 1/2 of a bearing assembly in place
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Old 11-10-2018, 02:38 PM   #3
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They was all there on my '15 Cougar 'cause I just replaced all of the races and bearings with Timken ... amazing how something I used to do without even a thought is so challenging now.
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Old 11-10-2018, 03:03 PM   #4
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... amazing how something I used to do without even a thought is so challenging now.
Welcome to my world... took all day yesterday to do oil change and fuel filter. I can't understand how that fuel filter cover got that tight and my arms got shorter.
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Old 11-10-2018, 07:34 PM   #5
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That recall is for ANY brand trailer with the listed axles. IIRC, we have inspected some Grand Design units. So far we haven’t had to replace anything.
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Old 11-10-2018, 08:44 PM   #6
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They say 2019 MY units, so a 2018 MY trailer should be safe, even if one of the named brands? We all know very little of anything is usually changed between years. I am new to TT recalls so cautious

Thanks!
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Old 11-11-2018, 02:26 AM   #7
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How in the H E double hockey sticks do you install a bearing with no inner race? This is a major snafu!
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Old 11-11-2018, 03:56 AM   #8
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How in the H E double hockey sticks do you install a bearing with no inner race? This is a major snafu!
When you hire unqualified help off the street to fill a dirty job, anything can happen. Then, there is that fact of life that the war on drugs was lost to the cartels and the ensuing workplace problems.
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Old 11-11-2018, 05:55 AM   #9
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I just can't imagine a manufacturer having a lack of controls, oversight, and inspection that would allow this to happen. Speaks volumes of their management, lack thereof.
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:01 AM   #10
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How in the H E double hockey sticks do you install a bearing with no inner race? This is a major snafu!
Guess that answers the question "do they set the bearings then re-torque the axle nut" .
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:06 AM   #11
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When you hire unqualified help off the street to fill a dirty job, anything can happen. Then, there is that fact of life that the war on drugs was lost to the cartels and the ensuing workplace problems.
That is all very true. But..management of the company is responsible for controlling who they hire. There is a balance between requirements for filling the job and what the company pays. If you're paying $10 an hour and not drug testing you get low quality. I'm not saying someone assembling axles should be paid $45 an hour, but there is the saying that you get what you pay for.
Dirty jobs can be a rewarding high paying career, but in a labor intensive industry it is likely not very common.
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:18 AM   #12
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I would be surprised if any of those RVs mentiond would even make it to a dealer with only 1/2 of a bearing assembly in place
You would think someone would have noticed that it didn't feel right when the brake drum was installed.
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:20 AM   #13
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Maybe the line was moving too fast and Jacob missed the odd race and Aaron didn't notice when inserting the bearing because it was already 10 minutes to 4 and washup is at 15 minutes to 4. Just a theory.
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:32 AM   #14
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That is all very true. But..management of the company is responsible for controlling who they hire. There is a balance between requirements for filling the job and what the company pays. If you're paying $10 an hour and not drug testing you get low quality. I'm not saying someone assembling axles should be paid $45 an hour, but there is the saying that you get what you pay for.
Dirty jobs can be a rewarding high paying career, but in a labor intensive industry it is likely not very common.
I don't disagree with you statement but in real quality manufacturing RVs and their components, today, is only a dream. Please recall that LCI/Dexter are based in Indiana, mostly in and around Elkhart. There is no real employee loyalty plus there are few qualified incoming people where there is virtually no unemployment. An RV manufacturing employee will move down the road to a new job/employer for just a few more cents an hour. As far as QA/QC - well just take a look at ypur RV and tell me how well it was assembled vs you vehicle or built as well as your S&B home. Somesay, maybe. Someday, maybe, RV manufacturing will fully embrace ISO 9000 or if a component manufacturer already dohave an ISO plan, actually may have to build build to that quality plan.

And these bearing omissions - not Keystone's fault but their supplier as they spec'd what was needed and purchased accordingly. Should they have had oversight - you can argue that point but a 'qualified' long term supplier wont need to have the RV builder oversee anything more then an occasional audit. That audit process is to keep a vendor 'honest' - but for sure isn't foolproof.
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:54 AM   #15
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I'm only guessing that the axle manufacturer uses Chinese bearings, but I suppose it's possible the bearings were shipped without the race and no one missed what wasn't there to begin with. Even an experience assembler, with no knowledge of how the axle actually works, might look at them and say: "Huh! Design change." and go right on and install them, thinking they wouldn't send 'em if they weren't right.

On the rear axle of my 2000 Jeep Wrangler, the outer wheel bearing has no separate race. The "race" is a polished smooth spot on the rear axle shaft (A design I don't like, as I've eaten up more than one rear axle shaft). If one has only worked on that type of axle, one would think that was the "norm".
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Old 11-11-2018, 06:59 AM   #16
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Maybe the line was moving too fast and Jacob missed the odd race and Aaron didn't notice when inserting the bearing because it was already 10 minutes to 4 and washup is at 15 minutes to 4. Just a theory.
And the horse an buggy was leaving without them.
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Old 11-11-2018, 07:04 AM   #17
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If they actually did an initial seat of bearing to 50 ft lbs as stated in their spec sheet then back off nut and finger snug nut down an inexperienced worker would not have noticed much...

An experienced mechanic would have known the second he dropped that bearing in the hub with no race in place...

At least they have realized an issue might be out there and trying to correct if before catastrophic bearing failure occurs...which won’t be long without a race.
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Old 11-11-2018, 07:09 AM   #18
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What baffles me is why is Keystone waiting till Dec 2018 as stated in recall? Why isn’t Dexter and Lippert axle stepping up to the plate? I’m sure Keystone buys the axles from either of those places fully assembled. Actually they do....
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Old 11-11-2018, 08:07 AM   #19
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On the rear axle of my 2000 Jeep Wrangler, the outer wheel bearing has no separate race. The "race" is a polished smooth spot on the rear axle shaft (A design I don't like, as I've eaten up more than one rear axle shaft). If one has only worked on that type of axle, one would think that was the "norm".

That's a cheap design to manufacture that goes back, in my experience, to at least my long gone 1979 Mustang. That Mustang and the '86 that followed it used the exact same bearing part number that Dexter uses in their failure prone 42mm NevrLube 5.2/6K axles. I replaced the axles in both Mustangs (same bearings) as well as the NevrLube axles in our SOB 5er(went to E-Z Lube on that 5er)
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Old 11-11-2018, 08:56 AM   #20
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Looking over the "recall news", it looks like the "inner bearing race omission" is not limited to Keystone. There are reports of recalls from every RV manufacturer during the months of September, October and November. all the major RV manufacturers published recalls for "missing bearing races" on their light weight RV brands.

Neither Lippert or Dexter indicate whether their 3500/4400 axle products are assembled in the USA or if they are "shipped as complete units, from China". So, at least for me, I don't know if I'd blame someone installing axles on an inverted trailer frame at the start of the manufacturing line, someone in a "highly advanced machine shop in Elkhart, or someone who wears a white mask in a "sweatbox factory" in some obscure Chinese village. But, with the wide spread recalls throughout the industry, it look to be an axle manufacturer's problem, not a RV manufacturer's problem.

You can review the recalls from various manufacturers at this website: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls/2018/10/

My "criticism" would be that it appears (who really knows the true timeline) that Keystone is about 30 days behind some other manufacturers in announcing the recall. That could be explained by a number of factors from "Keystone management slow leaking the decision" to "being told that none of the axles shipped to Keystone were involved"... So, any of our criticism, mine included, is "at first blush" and has no basis other than personal opinion about what we "think should have been"....
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