Melted bushing from a powdercoated torsion axle?????

[Sawyer]

I had my Flexride torsion axle powdercoated today, and when it was in the oven (at 400 degrees) a bunch of white plastic melted out of each side of the axle shaft. I did a little research and found that there is a Nylon 66 bushing just inside the axle shaft to provide camber support and to reduce squeeking. Upon further research I found that the melting point of Nylon 66 is 509 degrees, so it shouldn't have melted anyway... The powdercoater said he's done hundreds of torsion axles with no problem at all. The bigger problem here is that the bushings cannot be replaced because the caps are welded on.

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts or insight on this situation. It obviously isn't the powdercoater's fault, and I'm pretty sure my ignorance isn't entirely to blame either, due to the fact that the bushing should not have melted in a 400 degree oven... I haven't heard back from Flexride yet, but I'm hoping they'll help get to the bottom of this and find a way for me to avoid spending another $325 on a new axle.

[Steve_Cox]

Two obvious possibilities, oven thermostat was faulty or the bushings were made out of the wrong material. Should be interesting. Let us know what happens. My guess is the bushings were made of Nylon 6, not Nylon 6-6 it liquifies at 420 degrees F

[Sawyer]

I'll ask my powdercoater about the possibility of the oven being hotter than 400 degrees, but I doubt that's the problem, this place is very professional with high quality modern equipment. Flexride's website said specifically that it was made of Nylon 6-6, but who knows??? I'll hopefully find out more tomorrow, and I'll update ya'll...

[wannabefree]

With all deference to Flexride, they may not know what they are getting with all the counterfeit crap coming out of China. After it gets into the distribution chain it can be awfully hard to sort it out. I would make a call to Flexride to alert them they have a materials issue. Who knows, they might even replace your axles.

[Sawyer]

Well, turns out it's impossible to get in contact with anyone at trailerparts.com (distributor where we bought the axle) or at Flexiride who has even a basic knowledge of how their axles work or what components they are made of. All they seem to know is that it wasn't their fault and that they will happily sell us a new axle.

So now we have an extremely heavy and awkwardly shaped paper weight. Anyone else considering powdercoating their torsion axle should probably steer clear and just buy some rattle cans instead.

P.S. my powdercoater gave me an in depth tour of his oven setup, and it has a very precise temperature control system with multiple safety shutoff systems in case it gets over the proper temp. He said depending on the outside temperature, the oven will only vary between 390-410 degrees...

I'm just inclined to think the bushings were made of a sub-par material and the company isn't willing to cop to the screw-up. And NOWHERE on any of their product info can I find a warning not to powdercoat their axles...

[bohemian]

Sounds like a job for small claims court.
Wayne

[chorizon]

I'd be interested in seeing pics if you get the chance. Most plastics tend to burn/discolor pretty quickly after reaching melting temp.

If it were hot enough inside the axle to melt the plastic bushing you can bet the extremities i.e, the idler arms were even hotter.

So if the plastic were to melt and run outside onto the idlers, chances are it would burn pretty quickly.

I'm not suggesting the problem could be something else or that your axle may be OK (because it probably is not), but the "Manufacturing CSI detective" in me wants to get a better idea of what is going on...

Our powder-coat line at work is pretty typical. The parts run through the oven on an overhead conveyor.

The oven itself is about 1200 sf and has a 3.8 million BTU burner that supplies the heat.

The parts are painted 95% by robots and then touched up by two painters before entering the oven for curing.

The touch- up painters are literally a few feet from the opening to the oven.

An air-knife separates them from the oven and helps keep the heat away from them for the most part, but it is still pretty hot work.

If the fancy electronics failed to notice an over-temp situation, the human factor would take over and the painters themselves would say, "Hey, the oven is running hotter than normal!"

Ergo, I believe the oven temp was probably what it should be. The plastic that melted out of the axle tube may not be nylon at all, but "something else", and that's all I got at this moment...

Like I said before, this exercise is simply for posterity, that we may learn something and hopefully not repeat the problem in the future.

"Let all our mistakes be new ones"
-Some Guy I Used To Work With

[Dale M.]

Well, turns out it's impossible to get in contact with anyone at trailerparts.com (distributor where we bought the axle) or at Flexiride who has even a basic knowledge of how their axles work or what components they are made of. All they seem to know is that it wasn't their fault and that they will happily sell us a new axle.

You just have not gone up the corporate hierarchy ladder far enough to get real answers... Low lever e-mail is probable never going to give the information even if they have it....

Dale

[Sawyer]

Chorizon, I'll take some snapshots today when I'm at the shop. You very well may be right that it could be something else, but whatever it was, there was a lot of it. Enough melted plastic to fill a 12oz cup at least... In looking at the diagrams online of the axles, the only thing I think it could be is the bushing... I'll post pictures either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Dale, we got as high as talking on the phone with the GM of Flexiride, who was more helpful than the underlings, but still was obviously way more interested in selling a new axle than getting to the bottom of the melted material issue. When asked if it's ok to powdercoat his axles, he said, "I don't see why not."

[chorizon]

You talked to the GM and his disposition seemed to be of a divert/deflect nature.

Natural, the GM of any of the companies I've worked for would probably try the same tactic first, especially if the customer with the problem was considered "small potatoes."

This may necessitate a second inquiry, after conferring with our fellow TD & TTT brethren/sistren a little more.

Sounds like Flexiride may need the special "Camping World Treatment"!

[bohemian]

Oh no Not the "Camping world treatment".

How about this.
Maybe flexiride will take the damaged axle and put new bushings back in to it??

[eamarquardt]

"Never give up, never surrender" Tim Allen - Jason Nesmith/Commander Peter Quincy Taggart in "Galaxy Quest"

Give them some time to think about a resolution (a couple of days), provide some test data to support that the powder coating oven wasn't too hot, point out that they are apparently "ok" with having their units powder coated, suggest there is always some "middle ground" and then ask politely WTF are they going to do to help you out and let them know if they choose not to, you're gonna let the world know via the power of the internet!

Cheers,

Gus

[Sawyer]

Chorizon & Eamarquardt, you're right, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I'm going to dig and pry more on Monday...

Bohemian, we tried, their official stance is that once the end caps are welded on, the axle cannot by modified or repaired.

Right now, all I really want, and what I think is fair, is for Flexiride or trailerparts.com to sell us a new axle beam at cost, and to get them to investigate the issue themselves so they can change the bushing material or at least put up a warning not to powdercoat their axles...

[Steve_Cox]

Ahhhh, perhaps it is time for a letter to Corporate Customer Service for Flexiride. We are just tiny trailer builders, but we have 12481 registered users on our "little" forum. I could just as easily use a Dexter axle as a Flexiride on my next trailer.

[Steve_Cox]

[email protected]

Subject: Defective Torsion Axle report on Tear Drop and Tiny Travel Trailer Forum

Just thought someone at your organization might be interested in knowing of possible defective Flexiride Axle bushing problems being reported on our forum.
We are a group of teardrop and tiny camping trailer builders and have a worldwide membership of about 12,500 members or so. We have had many forum threads in the last 8 years and most speak highly of your products. Unfortunately there has been a problem with axle bushings melting at temperatures much lower than the nylon 6-6 melt index. It appears at this juncture a different type of material has been substituted in your manufacturing process. Please advise us as to your thoughts on this situation.

Here is a link to the TD & TTT forum thread. Please read http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight=

Hundreds of us have used your products and would appreciate if a representative of your company join our forum and post a plausible explanation.

We also have a place for Manufactures to post as well, it would be a great place for your company to answer technical questions.

This letter will be copied and posted in the forum thread linked above.

Regards,
Steve Cox

Maybe someone at the corporate level will take an interest.