For seven years an Arctic Fox 25S has been my home. It has served me well with one major exception:
It appears the running gear wasn’t made to the standards Northwood Manufacturing specified. As a result I am on my THIRD PAIR OF AXLES and REAR LEAF SPRINGS!
This morning I contacted Northwood Manufacturing because I wanted to meet with them about the matter. It appears they did not make this to the published specs or should I say that their build specifications do not add up?
In return Northwood Manufacturing refused to communicate with me! This seems most unreasonable. I had not threatened them in any way. I am not threatening to sue. I contacted them directly this morning by email.
My friend urged me to have an attorney write a letter to them. But why go though the expense and the formality? Heck, my buddy was right.
There is no accountability in American manufacturing these days. Gone are the good standards that made this country great.
Because of this design flaw I have bought several sets of tires. I have been through two sets of axles and a pair of rear leaf springs earlier. I even paid huge fees for two alignments. I have since learned that aligning a travel trailer is a bogus enterprise. They can not be aligned,
Finally, I resorted to upgrading with a heavier set of leaf springs, new shocks and thicker axle tubes and better axles. The original leaf springs were only rated to 1500 pounds. The new ones have one more leaf and are good for 2000 pounds. The new axle tubes are 1/16″ thicker steel tubes.
The real problem is Northwood built the parts too far apart and as a result all of the weight and strain was on the axles. One may conclude from this that my Arctic Fox 25S was an
INFERIOR DESIGN
There was not enough axle nor enough wheel underneath them to carry the weight Northwood specified. Northwood should have used 5,000 lbs. axles and wheels with more than five lug nuts. Otherwise, it is a solidly made rig.