RV Axle Alignment Shop in Buffalo NY area

[danskool]

Been reading all the forums that are saying, Take the RV to an alignment shop and they get can bend the axles if they have to and make everything aligned. Well I can't find one. Anyone from this area have this done?


Been to the dealer because I had a left rear scuffing the inside of the tire. They concluded both my axles were bent. It is two year old rig. Never called me back on extended warrantee claim.

Talked to Dexter and they sent me two new axles/springs/brakes. I installed (easy) and I still want to get it checked. I hate putting on a new tire every 1,000 miles and now I am gun shy , Even with two new axles.

I can do the porta power and chain trick that i see on youtube, But would rather just take it to the shop and watch it being done.

two year old 5th wheel. V-Clips installed, X factor Installed. Morryde heavy duty wet bolt and bushing kit. And i am still uneasy and wondering if i have a problem. My spring mounts are measured perfectly but difficult to get a perfect measurement after the axles are mounted. I just want to take it to the shop and be done with this knowing I am straight and true. Can't find a Shop. I have a trip planned and have some time before to get this finished.

Anyone have this done around the buffalo area?

[mbopp]

If you want to make the trip to Rochester, Hawk Frame & Axle in Fairport repaired a 10-wheeler truck frame for my brother and straightened a Dexter axle on my TT.

[JRscooby]

Veebyes wrote:
If anything is out of alignment tire wear will tell the story. There are other methods without getting your bank account raided.

Something to think about is once a tire starts to wear funky, even if you fix what caused the wear, tire keeps wearing funky, and faster than should. Likely not a issue for most RVs, but if you use it a lot should be aware. This is not to say don't look for wear. That should be done for every vehicle.

Measure the distance between the tires. Should be very very close to the same.

Take a board across both tires at axle height. It should be touching each sidewall front and back.

Loop a line around the kingpin and take it to center under each U bolt. Should be the same left and right.

You Tube is your friend. Look up instructions for installing the Correct Track system.

Any/all of these work if, and only if trailer has been pulled straight, and is on level surface. Axles work some side to side on curves and leans.
If you can get the level surface, long enough to pull straight, sprinkle heavy layer of floor in front of tires. Pull, stop so can look at tracks behind each tire for sign of side force.

[JRscooby]

Grit dog wrote:



Funny story, few years ago, my wife is visiting her parents, who to this day still do not seem to have dementia and are fairly technologically saavy for late Silent Gen/Early Boomer age folks. She goes to the grocery store w/her dad and after the groceries are scanned, he hands the cashier (green hair, piercings, tats, you know definitely VERY trustworthy looking, lol) a blank check to fill out for the total…..still totally inexplicable to this day…and his only reasoning is they offer that “service” to their customers…. Yes they live in a blue hair town in Nevada, of all places. Moved there so they could be close to Vegas….lol.

The fact that you would declare the store clerk untrustworthy because of hair color, tats and piercings tells me more about you than the clerk. (I has ear pierced in teens, got my tats on leave. My hair was never green, but most of life it was longer than acceptable to my elders). But as to filling out check; I don't use, but many places have printer hooked to register. Clerk pushes some buttons feeds check thru for date and total to be printed. Trust is not in clerk, but in the business.

[Veebyes]

If anything is out of alignment tire wear will tell the story. There are other methods without getting your bank account raided.

Measure the distance between the tires. Should be very very close to the same.

Take a board across both tires at axle height. It should be touching each sidewall front and back.

Loop a line around the kingpin and take it to center under each U bolt. Should be the same left and right.

You Tube is your friend. Look up instructions for installing the Correct Track system.

[Grit_dog]

Right now there’s still 69 people grumbling in their coffee saying “he’s full of ….”

[Grit_dog]

^Yeah ain’t no one “bending axles back into shape” under any typical tin can RV. And I still would love to hear how you “set toe” on something that is not adjustable.
Lotsa members here think I’m full of ….., but that’s the internet, right?
Unlike the majority of men, everywhere, I’ve been fortunate enough to learn and have a great deal of experience repairing, rebuilding, operating, or managing most things with “wheels”.

I am confident, in the context of this thread, that an “axle alignment” on that trailer will be of similar use as new muffler bearings or fresh blinker fluid!

Cheers

[StonedPanther]

Grit dog wrote:

StonedPanther wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Can anyone explain what an “Alignment Shop” is gonna do that the OP can’t do with just his eyeballs, a ruler and straight edge or string?

Cash his check or run his credit card? Do I win a cookie?

You’re one of the few people on here that I would expect to “get it.” Which is really sad considering the collective respondents thus far just in this thread probably outnumber you and me together by about 690 more trips around the sun.
Considering the seeming necessity for participation trophies in society these days, you win a whole batch of cookies for actually being correct. Rather than the ubiquitous pat in the back for “trying” even though you may be wholly incorrect!
You should check out the Searching For Tires thread…. It’s another Grammy award winning rvnet performance by the same cast of misinformed characters we’ve come to know and love!

And yes the same people who are the leading actors very likely are still writing checks at places like the alignment shop.
Funny story, few years ago, my wife is visiting her parents, who to this day still do not seem to have dementia and are fairly technologically saavy for late Silent Gen/Early Boomer age folks. She goes to the grocery store w/her dad and after the groceries are scanned, he hands the cashier (green hair, piercings, tats, you know definitely VERY trustworthy looking, lol) a blank check to fill out for the total…..still totally inexplicable to this day…and his only reasoning is they offer that “service” to their customers…. Yes they live in a blue hair town in Nevada, of all places. Moved there so they could be close to Vegas….lol.

I don't know what the end result would be if one was to take a come-along, chainfall, or porta power to these axles if they're hanging off a Lippert frame and start tugging on them using the frame as part of the equation LOL. I suppose it would rip the hangers off, which seem to have a hard time staying in place just under normal conditions, or possibly rip the cheapass main rails in half LOL.

[JIMNLIN]

I can do the porta power and chain trick that i see on youtube, But would rather just take it to the shop and watch it being done.

When I was on the road I looked for a big rig trailer repair shop for axle work.

They have all the equipment that aligns from the pin/ball or pintle hitch receiver to the trailers front axle.
From there they can bend the axle back to alignment with the hitch....set toe angles...and check camber....and set the following axles (tandem or tri axle).

Drop by a real pro shop and let them show you how to properly align a trailers suspension.

After replacing a axle myself or a shop I always ran the trailer in service and watched for odd wear patterns in the tires tread. Pulling trailers I didn't always have time in my schedule or was close to a good trailer alignment shop.
If a odd tire wear pattern showed then was the time set up a appointment for a check or R&R.

I would run the trailer but watch the tires for irregular wear issues.
.

[Grit_dog]

StonedPanther wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Can anyone explain what an “Alignment Shop” is gonna do that the OP can’t do with just his eyeballs, a ruler and straight edge or string?

Cash his check or run his credit card? Do I win a cookie?

You’re one of the few people on here that I would expect to “get it.” Which is really sad considering the collective respondents thus far just in this thread probably outnumber you and me together by about 690 more trips around the sun.
Considering the seeming necessity for participation trophies in society these days, you win a whole batch of cookies for actually being correct. Rather than the ubiquitous pat in the back for “trying” even though you may be wholly incorrect!
You should check out the Searching For Tires thread…. It’s another Grammy award winning rvnet performance by the same cast of misinformed characters we’ve come to know and love!

And yes the same people who are the leading actors very likely are still writing checks at places like the alignment shop.
Funny story, few years ago, my wife is visiting her parents, who to this day still do not seem to have dementia and are fairly technologically saavy for late Silent Gen/Early Boomer age folks. She goes to the grocery store w/her dad and after the groceries are scanned, he hands the cashier (green hair, piercings, tats, you know definitely VERY trustworthy looking, lol) a blank check to fill out for the total…..still totally inexplicable to this day…and his only reasoning is they offer that “service” to their customers…. Yes they live in a blue hair town in Nevada, of all places. Moved there so they could be close to Vegas….lol.

[StonedPanther]

Grit dog wrote:
Can anyone explain what an “Alignment Shop” is gonna do that the OP can’t do with just his eyeballs, a ruler and straight edge or string?

Cash his check or run his credit card? Do I win a cookie?

[Grit_dog]

Can anyone explain what an “Alignment Shop” is gonna do that the OP can’t do with just his eyeballs, a ruler and straight edge or string?
I won’t hold my breath for that answer.
Sometimes things are so simple they escape folks, thinking there’s some very technical aspect to something that there really isn’t.
If he is mechanically inclined enough. To swap out axles, springs, brakes, etc, surely he can see/figure if they’re straight.

And yes to one of the above posts, hope he installed heavier axels than the ones that got trashed inside of 2 years.

[subcamper]

I would try LOE trailer sales in North Tonawanda. They sell and repair trailers (non-RV). I have dealt with them in the past and they were very knowledgeable. They are on 40 Connecting Blvd in North Tonawanda, ny. This is right off Niagara Falls Blvd about 3 miles north of I-290. Call them and ask about axle alignment.

Steve

[JoeH]

Run a string or straight edge between the tires on each side. It should touch evenly on both tires if the axles are alligned. If not, adjust as needed.

[Grit_dog]

What are they gonna do? And I don’t say this sarcastically but out of hundreds of different tow behind trailers both for personal and business use, including repairing a fleet of them, I cannot see what getting the alignment “checked” will do for you.
Axles were bent, now they’re not. You replaced the springs that bolt to the same spot on the trailer and presumably you made sure you bolted the axles on centered up and parallel. Kinda hard not to unless there’s no pin in the spring pack.
Nothing to align. Just like a “4wheel” alignment on a live axle rwd vehicle. It’s a sham.