Unpainted Henschen Axles?

[overlander63]

Today a customer came in to get the bearings repacked on their Airstream, and as I was working on it, I noticed the axles looked horrible. They were spray painted, and lots of rust was showing through the silver paint. The axles also had what looked like the old Henschen build tags on them. I could tell the axles had been out, they had relatively new mounting bolts on them. They also had all new backing plates, drums, shocks, and bearings.
When I asked the customer about this, he told me he had the axles replaced about 2005 or so, and when he picked the trailer up, he noticed they were completely unpainted, and already starting to rust. So, has anybody else run across replacement Henschen axles that were unpainted when delivered?

[Colin H]

Hi Terry,
I've never heard of any Henschen, or other manufactures axles being installed without paint. You should keep in mind though that when replacement axles are ordered from the manufacturer, it is an option to get them without paint. Perhaps your clients axle supplier did not request paint when the order was placed & then the installer didn't bother to protect them with any form of coating. Seems like poor workmanship to me & the axle supplier only saved a few dollars in the process.
Thanks,
Colin

[Hummer]

I pulled the first axle off my 76 Sovereign and there is no evidence the AS frame nor the Henschen was ever painted.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Hummer

I pulled the first axle off my 76 Sovereign and there is no evidence the AS frame nor the Henschen was ever painted.

Henschen axles, starting from 1961, were "ALL" painted as part of the axle.

It was as standard as you could get.

Same way with the Airstream frames, as they were always painted, sometimes perhaps not very well, but always painted.

Asking Henschen to not paint the axle would have not decreased it's price, one penny.

Henschen dip painted the axles as a matter of routine.

Andy