Our 5th wheel camper trailer, columbus 295rl, failed to help tow vehicle stop. While there was no accident, inspection of wheels indicated grease contamination. Dealer and lippert, mfg. Of axle and brake system found grease contamination in three out of four hub assemblies and replaced all four with new drum/brake assemblies. Since, have only pulled trailer just under 200 miles with no evidence of failure.
2014 Palomino Columbus brakes complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 15 of 15, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Upon inspection it was found that grease seals had failed on all four wheel assemblies. Grease had leaked out and coated the brake assemblies. Braking action had been diminished substantially. In october 2013, a local dealer replaced all four brake assemblies and seals under forest river warranty.
I purchased a 2014 forrest river/palomino/columbus 320rs in april of 2013. On a camping trip in september I received a message on the dash of my truck to check the trailer brakes. When I got to the campsite I found the emergency brake cable had been pulled out, activating the brakes. Problem was, I didn't feel the brakes. When I got home I removed the r/f wheel of the 5th wheel. It was covered in grease. I then checked the other wheels and found all four to have failed grease seals, three of the four shoe assemblies covered in grease, and one wheel, the l/r the brake wires were severed. After taking it to an incompetent recommend service facility, I ended up replacing all four brake assemblies myself. After 5-6 short, and one very long trip with this unit, it is a miracle that there was not an accident. There are apparently many of these columbus 5th wheels with this issue. Shame on forrest river for using lippert industries for the axles of these campers. I know with my unit it is a workmanship issue as all four seals were damaged on installation.
Brake seals are over greased or broken. We've had our unit go back to the manufacturers factory for work & had them check the brakes & seals. The unit came back with different wheels and brakes but the issue of literally having little to no brakes when pulling was most definitely still there. Lippert makes the brake & parts and we tried contacting them about this dangerous issue. We were not helped much at all. We voiced our problem to lippe via phone, email & their facebook wall. The manufacturer of our unit says it's lipperts problem. All it will take is us going down a hill in our f350 pulling our 42ft. Unit with these defective brakes that are being pre assembled by lippert and applied by forest river's columbus palomino factory staff, there is no telling how many lives can and will be taken including ours due to this issue. We are also members of a columbus rv group and we are not alone in our scream for help and for these brakes and parts to be recalled!!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 forest river columbus fifth wheel. The contact stated that while driving approximately 28 MPH, the brake pedal was engaged with a delayed response. The contact swerved and then crashed into another vehicle. The front seat passenger of the second vehicle sustained unknown injuries. A police report was not filed. The front driver's side fender and rear bumper of the contact's vehicle became slightly detached. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, who informed the contact that the four brake assemblies would need to be replaced. The vehicle was scheduled for repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 300.
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