Lippert axles

[Dave&Ginny]

This was posted on line and I had to chuckle

“We’re proud to offer the industry leading warranties on spring and torsion axles,” said Scott Mereness, president of LCI. “At LCI, we’re always looking for ways to be the best supplier in the industry. We stand by our axle and running gear product, and through this new warranty, we’re illustrating our commitment to providing the highest quality products and our continued dedication to new product innovations. We want all retail customers to feel safe and confident knowing they are riding on LCI’s axles.”

How many folks have experienced broken springs with their Redwoods and then had to fight tooth and nail to get any help. The words safe and confident, shouldn't be in the same sentence with the name Lippert

[Alex]

Lippert has quality control issues for sure... Not a 5ver but we got a snowmobile trailer with lippert axles... we had extra washers where they were not supposed to be, and the weld snapped within the first 50 miles of towing our trailer letting our brake drum spin freely and cutting the electrical to the brakes! Video of quality... http://youtu.be/s2JB6I8pLgI I never had had an issue with dexter axles.

[Rick and Mindy]

Unfortunately, Lippert will soon own everything manufactured for RVs. What they do not own, Thor will.

[Tomkidder]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

This was posted on line and I had to chuckle

“We’re proud to offer the industry leading warranties on spring and torsion axles,” said Scott Mereness, president of LCI. “At LCI, we’re always looking for ways to be the best supplier in the industry. We stand by our axle and running gear product, and through this new warranty, we’re illustrating our commitment to providing the highest quality products and our continued dedication to new product innovations. We want all retail customers to feel safe and confident knowing they are riding on LCI’s axles.”

How many folks have experienced broken springs with their Redwoods and then had to fight tooth and nail to get any help. The words safe and confident, shouldn't be in the same sentence with the name Lippert

Right? Meanwhile people with Redwoods flock to MoRyde to have their suspensions updated to some type of thing that kind of resembles something that may be moving toward the 20th century. (Even though it was invented around 1930) Instead of the Obadiah Elliott's 18th century gizmos. (Did I really use that word) This should make one think.......... Is this really the best we can do 200 years later. Copy the same patent that was issued in May of 1805 mounted to a "coach". How fitting.

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by Rick and Mindy

Unfortunately, Lippert will soon own everything manufactured for RVs. What they do not own, Thor will.

The bad thing is....Thor owns Lippert. That's why the Redwoods had the Lippert axles to begin with

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

The bad thing is....Thor owns Lippert. That's why the Redwoods had the Lippert axles to begin with

Well, I stand corrected then, Unfortunately, Thor will eventually own it all!

[rob_fla]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

The bad thing is....Thor owns Lippert. That's why the Redwoods had the Lippert axles to begin with

Guess I did not realize Thor owned Lippert

[mhs4771]

Lippert is owned by Drew Industries, so does Thor own Drew?? Would be news to me. I can't find anything associating Drew with Thor.

[Dave&Ginny]

I could be wrong but I thought Lippert was a Thor product. I was told that this was the reason Redwood was using them in 2012.

[mhs4771]

Lippert is owned by Drew, says so in black & white on the Drew site and Drew is traded on the Stock Exchange and doesn't appear to report to anyone other than their Stock Holders.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

I could be wrong but I thought Lippert was a Thor product. I was told that this was the reason Redwood was using them in 2012.

No that wouldn't make sense, or all Thor Products would be decorated with LCI and they are not. Montana is Thor and still uses Dexter.

[Lanny Ptacek]

We are just about ready to purchase our first fifth wheel and the Redwood has been one of our top two choices, but after reading these comments, I'm beginning to think that we should eliminate the Redwood option. I guess I find it hard to believe that Lippert would continue to manufacture products that have these kind of problems.

[spindrift]

Originally Posted by Lanny Ptacek

We are just about ready to purchase our first fifth wheel and the Redwood has been one of our top two choices, but after reading these comments, I'm beginning to think that we should eliminate the Redwood option. I guess I find it hard to believe that Lippert would continue to manufacture products that have these kind of problems.

It's not a RW problem, it's an Everyman's Problem. That's the challenge of an industry that is dominated by sole suppliers. Unless you go the custom built route, $$$$$, this is what all buyers need to manage. We purchased our RW because we didn't find a layout, design and "sex appeal" that was better. Plus, we had a good relationship with our dealer. You put those things together and it was a fairly simple decision for us. Fortunately, I'm handy with a tool box which I knew would eventually have to be used to do my own repairs.

Don't let the negative scare you. If enough consumers question current methods, things will get better...eventually.

[Pete385]

Remember, what you are reading here is a small percentage of total owners of lippert products, and read closely, only a small percentage of these have experienced real failure. Many of these are (myself included) a fear of failure, so we upgrade to reduce the chance of failure. Peace of mind has a price.

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by Lanny Ptacek

We are just about ready to purchase our first fifth wheel and the Redwood has been one of our top two choices, but after reading these comments, I'm beginning to think that we should eliminate the Redwood option. I guess I find it hard to believe that Lippert would continue to manufacture products that have these kind of problems.

I read these threads before buying my Redwood last year... They made me think , then I subscribed to other manufacturers forums ,and guess what , they have the same type of complaints , and some worse.

At the end of the day , we felt that we were better off with the Redwood because of the value. A lot of the complaints can be handled by the right dealer. WE have the right dealer , and now with the new Redwood management team , it LOOKS like they are ALL-IN which sounds great !

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by Pete385

Remember, what you are reading here is a small percentage of total owners of lippert products, and read closely, only a small percentage of these have experienced real failure. Many of these are (myself included) a fear of failure, so we upgrade to reduce the chance of failure. Peace of mind has a price.

I too went this way.. The way I see it , IF the unit came with H rated tires , I would have paid for those up front ,I paid for them , just to another person not Redwood.. Same as the plastic bushings that used to come ,I paid for bronze , just paid a different person.
The list goes on.. Read these forums and live by them , and you will end up in a funny farm !
Read them , sort out the BS and settle in the middle and you will be fine.

OH BY THE WAY - - - I DO NOT REGRET my purchase , 14 months later and 10,000 miles later ( weekend warrior) and we are still 100% in love with our Redwood.!

[Lanny Ptacek]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the input.

[Tomkidder]

A lot of us here vent our frustrations here so it looks worse then it really is. If I had to to it all over again I would buy a Redwood again. All RV have the same problems. NONE are with out problems. What I really love about this form is when you buy your redwood at least you can see the other problems that other people have had with their's, and fix the problems yourself before you have an issue. The RV industry is so busy trying to crank these units out they have little to no Quality Control. What little they do have, not everything can we expect them to find. On the flip side of all this some problems have been the same for a few years and corporates refusal to address them, and that does get pretty old. Just for instance the RW36RL had a drain line that never was connected in the slide this problem continued for a couple of years.

[RV4us2]

I followed this forum for a couple years before we bought our RW off of a lot. I noted many of the common issues I read here, and added them to the PDI list. To be honest, most of these extra items I listed checked out fine, but it gave me more peace of mind. We did have a couple other defects show up after we drove it off the lot, and I repaired those minor ones myself. Lanny, your doing the correct due-diligence now. And yes, buy from a dealer you can trust (which we did not). We too love our RW.

[travelin' texans]

I would guess Lippert axles are under the majority on all the rvs built that reduces the odds of problems tremendously just by the shear numbers. Also, some will say it ain't so, but if you had a Lippert axle next to a Dexter axle both with no identification, 99.9% couldn't tell you which was which. We have 40-50k miles on our RW with 7k Lippert axles, I've replaced the plastic bushings with the MorRyde heavy shackles & wet bolts, replaced the grease saturated brakes & had an alignment done under warranty , so not too bad in almost 4 years of traveling.