Broken Axle!

rcharrette · 08-08-2018, 02:20 AM

Yesterday we were driving the Sea to Sky Hwy from Squamish BC to Whistler. We were just getting to the edge of Squamish when "bang" and the trailer lurched hard. I was initially just stunned, didn't know what was going on then my wife yelled we lost a wheel! We were on a stretch of road the was 4 lanes (2 in each direction) and had cement barriers on both the middle and outside. I only had enough room to get half way out of the lane. I put on the hazards and got over as far as I could. Jumped out and began to run back to grab the wheel which was laying against the cement barrier in the middle of the road. A group of cars came flying up the road and I began to hear tires screeching. Thank goodness no one crashed! Also thank goodness the wheel didn't hit and kill anyone!
Got the wheel throw inside and limped it about 100yds to where we could pull off on the dirt. After the initial shock, trembling and shouting of expletives we tried to calm down and asses the situation.
By an unbelievable stroke of luck there was a trailer repair shop just 1KM away. Yesterday was a holiday here in Canada but I called anyway. The owner of the shop was there getting caught up on paperwork! I explained our situation, feeling bad for bothering him when he was actually closed! I just needed a yes or no. Can we drop it there for him to look at in the AM. He said yes, no problem.
Now we need to decide if we were going to call and wait for a tow truck or try and make it there. After almost causing a huge pile up I was still pretty uncomfortable being on the side of the road there. Cars and trucks were flying by so I made the decision to limp it another 100yds where I made the right turn on a side street that went back to his shop. Again, thankfully we made it!
We spoke with the owner of the shop who was a super nice guy and left it there.
In the mean time my wife was on the phone with our extended warranty company. They have been helpful so far and said they just need confirmation from the shop on the repair and cost and it "should" be covered in addition to our hotel costs.
As of today parts are on the way and the shop is calling the warranty company tomorrow AM. Firgers crossed it all goes smooth........
Wish us luck!
2014 Kodiak 240BHSL

franktafl · 08-08-2018, 09:25 AM

So happy to hear that everyone is OK. Sorry to hear that you had this issue and hope all is well as of this morning. Please keep us posted.

Frank

CSCLARK · 08-08-2018, 10:57 AM

Wow unbelievable really. Glad all are ok.

rich2481 · 08-08-2018, 01:31 PM

Thankfully everyone was safe. Are they going to replace both axles? I would worry if it was workmanship or to save money the manufacture put in a cheaper axle.

rcharrette · 08-08-2018, 01:51 PM

@rich2481, I asked the guy at the repair shop to inspect the other axle for any signs of damage, etc and he said of course he would do a thorough inspection of the whole system. I spoke with him last night and he felt the other axle was ok. You can bet I'll be peeking under there periodically for a while! We should have it back by Friday at the latest and I'll let you all know how it goes with the shop, warranty company, etc.

franktafl · 08-08-2018, 01:53 PM

From the looks of your picture, it seems that the bottom part of the axle had separated or cracked before the rest of the axle broke..

Sinecure · 08-08-2018, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franktafl

From the looks of your picture, it seems that the bottom part of the axle had separated or cracked before the rest of the axle broke..

Good catch!

rcharrette · 08-09-2018, 03:57 AM

So I got a call from the mechanic today and he said the warranty company denied the claim! We called the warranty company and moved our way a few levels up the food chain and finally the answer was "the pictures provided by the repair shop were not good enough". So they just declined it!! A bit more arguing and they are now sending out what they call "an independent assessor" to look at the axle. They said he will be there within 48hrs.
We are now preparing for a fight.............

azdryheat · 08-09-2018, 04:14 AM

So much for expensive extended warranties. A friend had an issue with the gelcoat on his trailer and his claim was also denied. Waste of money.

CSCLARK · 08-09-2018, 12:21 PM

Care to share warranty company?

franktafl · 08-09-2018, 01:16 PM

I used my extended warranty to repair one of my slides and I'm getting ready to use it for repairing my gray and black tank valve (I'm going to replace them with electric valves and pay the difference).

rcharrette · 08-09-2018, 02:23 PM

Warranty company is XtraRide. I made a claim about 2 years ago on the microwave (and one other item I can't remember right now.).They covered it and it was a very easy process. I can't imagine how they can justify denying this claim?

CSCLARK · 08-09-2018, 02:56 PM

Maybe more pics will help. Keep us posted. Wish you luck.

rcharrette · 08-15-2018, 01:37 PM

Hi all, just wanted to give an update on this as it's still on going.
Yesterday I called in to check the status of thing. The inspector that came out to look at the axle Friday should have had things wrapped up. I got transferred around a few times and finally ended up on the line with the claims adjustor. He was very direct and dry but said it is indeed a part that is covered and it is broken. "I'm going to ok this". I was so shocked (and happy) I lost my train of thought and didn't get an email to submit!
Now I needed to submit all of my receipts. I went to the website as I thought I saw a form on there last time but no go. So I called back to customer service and asked how I can submit for reimbursement? She transferred me to the clams dept. This guy was a bit of a @ss. He pulled up the file and starts to read through it and says it shows we denied this claim. I start to boil inside and jump in to explain everything again. He then says "you didn't let me finish reading" I'm still working my way down". Well then read and shut up!!
Finally he says yes I see that you spoke with an adjuster this morning. I said yes he agreed it was a covered part and clearly covered under our extended warranty. He then says "I'm not going to disagree with any of the last statements" WTF?
He then says "your welcome to submit any invoices for review" and gives me an email address. I'm pretty pissed at this point. Review! This has been approved! I hang up.
Now that I've had 24hrs to cool down I have a few thoughts.
1) Calling in to these places is a total luck of the draw. Out of 5 calls in we've had 2 super helpful normal function people. One completely useless person and 2 @ssholes.
2) Now that I've had time to digest things I can only assume his statement about "submitting invoices for review" just means they may not cover everything. Meaning all meals, hotel and possibly any work or parts not related to the axle failure. I can only hope that is the case!
Anyway, receipts are all being emailed in today along with a long email, again!
Will update once we hear back...............

franktafl · 08-15-2018, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcharrette

Hi all, just wanted to give an update on this as it's still on going.
Yesterday I called in to check the status of thing. The inspector that came out to look at the axle Friday should have had things wrapped up. I got transferred around a few times and finally ended up on the line with the claims adjustor. He was very direct and dry but said it is indeed a part that is covered and it is broken. "I'm going to ok this". I was so shocked (and happy) I lost my train of thought and didn't get an email to submit!
Now I needed to submit all of my receipts. I went to the website as I thought I saw a form on there last time but no go. So I called back to customer service and asked how I can submit for reimbursement? She transferred me to the clams dept. This guy was a bit of a @ss. He pulled up the file and starts to read through it and says it shows we denied this claim. I start to boil inside and jump in to explain everything again. He then says "you didn't let me finish reading" I'm still working my way down". Well then read and shut up!!
Finally he says yes I see that you spoke with an adjuster this morning. I said yes he agreed it was a covered part and clearly covered under our extended warranty. He then says "I'm not going to disagree with any of the last statements" WTF?
He then says "your welcome to submit any invoices for review" and gives me an email address. I'm pretty pissed at this point. Review! This has been approved! I hang up.
Now that I've had 24hrs to cool down I have a few thoughts.
1) Calling in to these places is a total luck of the draw. Out of 5 calls in we've had 2 super helpful normal function people. One completely useless person and 2 @ssholes.
2) Now that I've had time to digest things I can only assume his statement about "submitting invoices for review" just means they may not cover everything. Meaning all meals, hotel and possibly any work or parts not related to the axle failure. I can only hope that is the case!
Anyway, receipts are all being emailed in today along with a long email, again!
Will update once we hear back...............

Thanks for the update. You have to remember that it is their job NOT to spend any of their company's money, just like any other insurance company. It worries me that these folks don't really know how to read or jump to conclusions. I have had MANY run ins with the insurance companies, both medical and otherwise. Most of the time, if you stick to your guns, you will persevere. VERY happy you are getting a resolution. Try not to get too frustrated with them. I also found out that many times, it's how it was presented to them where the error occurred and a resubmission is required. I have a very low regard for insurance companies (and lawyers)!

lcv800 · 08-15-2018, 03:16 PM

When I had to submit receipts to Xtraride, due to an emergency claim, they only asked for the claim number, a brief e-mail, and copies of receipts. Easy one, two three. Sorry to hear about the problems with reimbursement. I'm so satisfied with Xtraride, I'm going to use them again on my new fiver once the regular warranty is up.
Rusty

Alprath · 08-15-2018, 09:07 PM

Glad everyone was safe. Have you weighed your RV to ensure you are not overweight? That can happen if you are. It's easy to lose track of what you add to your rv over time.

Alprath · 08-15-2018, 09:13 PM

They will claim you were over weight. The inspector probably will weigh each axle to see if you are. If you are, your claim is out the window. Just an FYI.

woody2010 · 08-15-2018, 09:24 PM

Just out curiosity, what did the shop quote you to fix the axle?

efbush · 08-16-2018, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcharrette

Yesterday we were driving the Sea to Sky Hwy from Squamish BC to Whistler. We were just getting to the edge of Squamish when "bang" and the trailer lurched hard. I was initially just stunned, didn't know what was going on then my wife yelled we lost a wheel! We were on a stretch of road the was 4 lanes (2 in each direction) and had cement barriers on both the middle and outside. I only had enough room to get half way out of the lane. I put on the hazards and got over as far as I could. Jumped out and began to run back to grab the wheel which was laying against the cement barrier in the middle of the road. A group of cars came flying up the road and I began to hear tires screeching. Thank goodness no one crashed! Also thank goodness the wheel didn't hit and kill anyone!
Got the wheel throw inside and limped it about 100yds to where we could pull off on the dirt. After the initial shock, trembling and shouting of expletives we tried to calm down and asses the situation.
By an unbelievable stroke of luck there was a trailer repair shop just 1KM away. Yesterday was a holiday here in Canada but I called anyway. The owner of the shop was there getting caught up on paperwork! I explained our situation, feeling bad for bothering him when he was actually closed! I just needed a yes or no. Can we drop it there for him to look at in the AM. He said yes, no problem.
Now we need to decide if we were going to call and wait for a tow truck or try and make it there. After almost causing a huge pile up I was still pretty uncomfortable being on the side of the road there. Cars and trucks were flying by so I made the decision to limp it another 100yds where I made the right turn on a side street that went back to his shop. Again, thankfully we made it!
We spoke with the owner of the shop who was a super nice guy and left it there.
In the mean time my wife was on the phone with our extended warranty company. They have been helpful so far and said they just need confirmation from the shop on the repair and cost and it "should" be covered in addition to our hotel costs.
As of today parts are on the way and the shop is calling the warranty company tomorrow AM. Firgers crossed it all goes smooth........
Wish us luck!
2014 Kodiak 240BHSL

If you look closely at the photo you will notice the rust on half of the axle housing indicating that it was rusting for some time prior to breaking. You're lucky it lasted that long. Glad all came out of it fine.

You may also like: