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Silvertwinkie · 07-15-2005, 09:37 PM

AE,

Saw your post on the other thread and immed thought of the recall.

I have no idea what the difference is in a Dexter axle vs. the hench axle, but I will say this, Don on the tour is gonna have to modify his speech when he talks about the torsion axle (a wee bit).

Pahaska · 07-15-2005, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

I have no idea what the difference is in a Dexter axle vs. the hench axle, but I will say this, Don on the tour is gonna have to modify his speech when he talks about the torsion axle (a wee bit).

The Dexter and Henschen axles are so similar that you would have to look at the label to tell the diference. Airstream has been using Dexter axles on the 22' trailers for at least the last 4 years. Dexter has been providing brake assemblies all along.

Henschen is a poor stepchild of a big conglomerate while Dexter is in the axle business pure and simple. I suspect that Dexter has economy of quantity and simply underbid Henschen for the axle contract.

Don is way off when he waves that axle model with the gear-shaped center rod and claims that is what makes Henschen axles unique and better than Dexter. When I toured the Henschen plant at last year's Homeoming, all center rods they were building were square. I asked the tour guide about the gear-shaped rod and he told me that Henschen had used the gear-shaped rods very briefly in the past, but they were terribly expensive to manufacture and proved to be no better operationally than the simple square rod. Someone whould divest Don of that obsolete model. I meant to go back and tell him to check into it, but had no opportunity.

WayWard Wind · 07-15-2005, 09:58 PM

Comment came as somewhat of a suprise to me, but then all things considered, maybe it's the best. I think A/S is probably correct when they don't inspect for grease prior to installing the axles, as they probablyshould come from the supplier ready to mount. In this case perhaps the squeaky wheel

didn't get the grease. Also I thought A/S had the "rights" to the axle setup or is that available to all?
Best,

desi arnaz · 07-15-2005, 11:01 PM

wilco: that dealer didin't even know who wally bayum was,when i posed a question to them...also i think airstream charges way way to much

desi arnaz · 07-15-2005, 11:02 PM

for repair parts and even way tooooo much for segment panels...i bought a 1 foot wide panel yesterday and it cost me $250

Westfalia · 07-16-2005, 03:39 PM

Oy, I thought I would dodge the bullet on this when I first heard about it, but I fall into the NON-EXCLUDED number range for this recall. The PO said that she had no maintenance done on the trailer, and I guessing that she never did anything about the recall. Unfortunately, since it is the height of RVing season, my local dealer said they are booked until Aug 17. Of course, this was before I gave any thought about this recall affecting my trailer, and they didn't exactly jump to mention a recall when I said that I wanted to have the bearings checked.

Do you think I have a strong enough case to get bumped to the front because of this recall?? I was planning on putting several hundred miles on it next week! So far, everything looks fine, especially after putting about 80 on last night.
In any case, I'll be talking with the service manager first thing on Monday morning to see if I can get this resolved.

Westfalia · 10-17-2005, 08:23 AM

Update, after talking with the service manager, I had no problems getting Airstream is early to get this recall performed. All looked well with the bearings, but the were repacked per the server bulletin.

dieterdog · 10-17-2005, 10:07 AM

received the same recall notice and took the trailer in for service, after a trip to visit a friend in the mountains i noticed a burning rubber type smell. hope it was taken care of and that this was an old post, not a new one for this year. thanks, dieterdog

SilverRanger · 10-17-2005, 05:03 PM

I have seen many posts where "homecoming" at Airstream was mentioned. What is it?

Pahaska · 10-17-2005, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverRanger

I have seen many posts where "homecoming" at Airstream was mentioned. What is it?

For years, there was an annual get-together at the factory. It was discontinued years ago over the dumping of gray water on the ground.

In 2004, Airstream was able to restart the event. It is a yearly rally in the field behind the plant and draws hundreds of units. I attended in 2004 and intend to go back in 2006.

Go to http://www.airstream.com/, click on "Airstreamer", click on "Events", and look for "Homecoming".

The dates for the 2006 event are not set yet. Should be in early June, a month before the International.

SilverRanger · 10-17-2005, 08:47 PM

Thanks for the info. It sounds like a good time. Awfully brave of Airstream.

Cracker · 10-18-2005, 07:33 PM

A handy little gadget I've been using for the past few years is the Raytech Temperature Gauge. It looks sort of like a small flashlight and you simply point its lazer beam at whatever you want to check (---from a distance of two feet or so) and it gives the temperature reading on a small LED screen. Supposingly accurate to +/- one or two degrees. I use it as a relative measurement for tires and hubs. If anything is out of kilter it'll show up right away. It only takes a minute or two to walk around the rig when I stop for a break. It's sensitive enough to reveal that the right front tire on the trailer is always slightly warmer than any of the others - due to the exhaust from the diesel TV! You'll also detect a slight difference between the tires on the "sunny" side of the vehicle and those on the shady side. Note that an underinflated tire will show up right away with a higher temperature than the other tires - even though it may not be visually apparent. This is of particular concern for a dual-wheel vehicle. The temp gauge doesn't substitute for the morning pressure check with a tire gauge - but it's sure a quick way to maintain "peace of mind" during the day's travels. I also use it to check the output of my A/C unit ever so often.

Although my primary interest is this gadget was for checking my tires, you never know when a bearing might be failing - even if you pursue a rigid bearing maintenance regime.

You should be able to find the unit by doing a quick search on the Web. I believe I paid about $79.00 for mine - but that was several years back.