Broken Bal Leveler

[wavery]

This was so weird and I hope that it doesn't happen to anyone else.

I was jacking up our leveler this weekend and the hex end of the screw broke off.

It was weird because I thought that the hex end was a machined part of the screw........IT'S NOT. It is just a cap that is pressed on to the top of the screw which is machined round (that is mind boggling). I was pretty upset to see this......to say the least. Here I was with my trailer jacked up about 4" off the ground and no way to lower the leveler :yikes: .

After the weekend was over and we were all popped down and set to leave, I just had to wheel the trailer around in a half circle to get it off of the leveler. There was a good chance of tearing a hole in the tire but I had no other option.

Anyway, I am pretty disappointed in this piece of equipment right now. I'm going to email Bal and see what they will do about it. I may have to just weld the cap on but I think that Bal should take care of this problem. It is a real shoddy way to build that thing. I'll keep everybody posted on what I find out.

[Tim5055]

You know, this has never happened with my Lynx Levelers

OK, with that off my chest, I have heard of a few people with similar problems and BAL has always been quick to make it right for them.  They seem to be a company who really looks out for the customer.

[wavery]

To be honest with you, that's what upsets me the most. I have been recommending this thing to people and to find out that they built that screw like that was pretty disappointing. I will be very careful to qualify my recommendation of this product from now on, even if they do stand behind it.  In fact, it they are still making it the same way, I may just weld it on myself and recommend that others do the same or forget buying it.

It's a pretty helpless feeling to have that 2700# trailer 4" in the air and no viable way to get it down.

I still like the concept of the Bal Leveler, that's just no way to design that screw. That's the worst piece of engineering that I have seen in a long time :mad:  and there is just NO excuse for it.

[HersheyGirl]

The same exact thing happened to my BAL leveler and I emailed them and they called me and sent me the whole big screw in just a couple of days.  My new one doesn't have that little screw that can break off...looks like it is one piece.  I guess they had some quality control issues, but they are so good at making things right.  I have not had any more problems with the BAL.

[AustinBoston]

After the weekend was over and we were all popped down and set to leave, I just had to wheel the trailer around in a half circle to get it off of the leveler. There was a good chance of tearing a hole in the tire but I had no other option.

I think I would have used my bottle jack (the one I would have used to change a flat) to just barely lift the tire off the BAL, pulled out the BAL, and lowered the jack.  Of course, knowing my luck, that's when I would have found that the bottle jack had 5/16" too little travel.

Austin

[wavery]

I think I would have used my bottle jack (the one I would have used to change a flat) to just barely lift the tire off the BAL, pulled out the BAL, and lowered the jack.  Of course, knowing my luck, that's when I would have found that the bottle jack had 5/16" too little travel.

Austin

Ya, I considered that......for about 20 seconds :p . My understanding is that you can bend the axle by using a jack on it. I figured, I had a spare tire if I damaged that one. A tire is a lot cheaper and easier to deal with than a bent axle. Even then, you don't know if the axle is bent until you ware out a tire. The other issue was (as you mentioned) my bottle jack is too high anyway (with the tire on the ground).

Twisting the trailer around on the leveler wasn't too bad. I was fortunate that I had enough room to turn the trailer in that direction. It was just a very uncomfortable position to be in and there is NO excuse for designing that screw like that. I still can't believe that they did that :confused: . It makes NO sense to me. I don't see any cost saving in it. It's almost like they designed it to fail. It wasn't even hard to turn. I had just cleaned and greased the screw and I was very happy with how easy it was going up.....then.....all of a sudden....the hex just starts free wheeling without turning the screw. When I removed the wrench, the hex cap just came off and fell on the ground. I must have stood there and stared at it, in disbelief, for 2 minutes. :mad:

[tlhdoc]

If you had a small screw you could have put the head back on the threaded rod, or if you had a pair of pliers, robogrip wrench, etc. you could have tried turning the threaded rod with that.  I had to get a replacement rod for my leveler.

Here is a picture of the older style threaded rod with the small screw in it.
 
http://community.webshots.com/photo/54009005/1145097658039762025ezaWrm

[wavery]

If you had a small screw you could have put the head back on the threaded rod, or if you had a pair of pliers, robogrip wrench, etc. you could have tried turning the threaded rod with that.  I had to get a replacement rod for my leveler.

Here is a picture of the older style threaded rod with the small screw in it.
 
http://community.webshots.com/photo/54009005/1145097658039762025ezaWrm

I usually carry a pair of Vise Grips everywhere that I go. It's a MUST have in my book..........didn't have one :swear:

Anyway, I called Bal. The tech agreed that the screw was poorly designed. He apologized and said that they would send one out today.............more to follow......it ain't over 'til it's over.

No matter what happens with mine, I will not recommend the Bal Leveler without qualifying the recommendation. I love the concept and it has worked great for me...........up 'til now

It just drives me crazy :eyecrazy:  when someone comes up with a great design like this, then screws it up by trying to save a buck in the engineering design of the most critical part of the system. It would have been so easy to just cast that hex into the raw rod before it was threaded. The thing would have been indestructible.

[TheViking]

To be honest with you, that's what upsets me the most. I have been recommending this thing to people and to find out that they built that screw like that was pretty disappointing. I will be very careful to qualify my recommendation of this product from now on, even if they do stand behind it. In fact, it they are still making it the same way, I may just weld it on myself and recommend that others do the same or forget buying it.
 
 It's a pretty helpless feeling to have that 2700# trailer 4" in the air and no viable way to get it down.
 
 I still like the concept of the Bal Leveler, that's just no way to design that screw. That's the worst piece of engineering that I have seen in a long time :mad:  and there is just NO excuse for it.

 I think you got screwed Wayne.....LOL

[AustinBoston]

Ya, I considered that......for about 20 seconds :p . My understanding is that you can bend the axle by using a jack on it. I figured, I had a spare tire if I damaged that one. A tire is a lot cheaper and easier to deal with than a bent axle. Even then, you don't know if the axle is bent until you ware out a tire. The other issue was (as you mentioned) my bottle jack is too high anyway (with the tire on the ground).

How would you change a flat tire?  That's what I was picturing doing, except instead of removing the tire, I'd have remove the BAL...nothing there about lifting on the axle (which I would never do).

Austin

[wavery]

Well...............like I said, "it ain't over 'til it's over".

I just received a package from Bal (actually Norco Industries). It contained the threaded nut that the screw goes through.   UHGGGGGGGGGGGGG!! :banghead:

I called and the person said, "It was a warehouse error". They listed the correct part on the P/S "Threaded rod for 28050" but that's not what they shipped :eyecrazy: .  OMG, this reminds me of my days of being Service Manager at the Chevy dealership. It seems like every day, one of the parts guys would hand out the wrong parts and screw up a job for one of my techs. Then I had to face the customer and tell them why their car wouldn't be ready on time .

At least they are trying to resolve the issue and I am confident that they will get it to me . I just hope that I get it before we leave on Friday.

Just as a precaution, I guess I will drill through the old one, thread it and put a screw in it and grind it flat (like tlhdoc suggested). So, if anyone needs one, just let me know, I'll have a spare . (and I won't ship the wrong part :p )

[wavery]

ALL'S WELL that ends well.

I just got the new screw (just in time for this weekend's camp-out). Sure enough, it is all a one piece casting . The way that it should have been designed in the first place .

I can't say enough good about the service that I received. I will highly recommend this product as long as people make sure that they get the screw that is a one piece casting and no separate hex nut, pinned on top, .

You just can't get any better service for a replacement part (other than the little shipping error :p ). The best part is, they owned up to the poor design without hesitation and took care of the problem....no questions asked.

[Tim5055]

I still say I never had a problem like this with a Lynx

You have confirmed what I hae heard, BAL is a great customer oriented company.

[tknick]

we had BAL stabilizer jack on our old trailer trailer.  one of the jacks was damaged due to a communication error b/w me and my DW (thats my story and i'm sticking to it).  I called BAL to order a replacement and to speak to them because instead of a nut on the end that was turned by a socket, the three remaining jacks had a hook that inserted into a hole similar to that on japanese car jacks.  the problem was the metal ripped out around the hole leaving the jack useless.

Not only did they give me a great deal on the replacement jack (it was several years ago, but I seem to remember something about them not selling directly to the public), they sent me three new rods and a new crank handle with the redesigned nut and socket setup to retrofit the remaining jacks.

just like waverly, they were quick to admit the design flaw and quick to remedy the problem.  I would definitely recommend them and the BAL leveler even though I still using Lynx levelers!

travis