The grass is always greener on the other side, so I decided to raise my 2019 2108DS three inches via the adjustable Lippert axles. I'm mainly looking for the extra ground clearance.
Fred nicely posted the PDF instructions here:
https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ml#post3893967, and there was quite a long meandering discussion on the topic here:
https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ht-357729.html This topic isn't for everyone. I believe Winnebago went with non-adjustable Dexter axles starting around 2020 or 2021. The photos below will give away if yours are different. The adjustment is very obvious when you get into it.
If you believe the manual, you need to consider that lowering your rig with 15" wheels may not be the right thing to do. The manual suggests the reason for the higher position is to provide clearance for the bigger tires. I happen to have 14" so it worked at the lower level. I bought my rig "used" (about 6 months "used" over the winter) so it's unclear if Winnebago built it that way, or if the previous owner had it lowered.
In the first attached photo you are looking at the rig from the rear driver's side. The manual says to lower the jack so the butt end of the trailer pops into the air and you can get a jack stand behind the rear axle. Then you raise the jack so the whole rig is up in the air. While that's a fine thought, it won't work if you are raising the rig. The wheels will indeed get off the ground, but not nearly far enough to replace after lowering. So you can see I built cheap little ramps to get the front axle higher off the ground. The rear wheels are well off the ground already, so that axle is the one I did first after checking the front axle could indeed lift off the blocks.
In the second photo you can see the axle with the wheel removed. This is also on the driver's side, but now looking more rearward. You can see the torsion arm where the wheel bearing/drum is attached, and the axle itself is attached to the inner movable plate. It's currently bolted in the highest position, which means the axle is up high making the whole rig sit in the lower position. These are 15/16" bolts. You can see a little angle bracket on the side that is just sitting there doing nothing. This angle bracket gets flipped around onto the inside of the bracket after the axle is lowered to help carry the load.
The third photo is taken from the passenger side of the rig. If you look close you can see I have a car scissor jack on a block holding up the axle, and now the bolts (and angle brackets) are removed. I've lowered the axle to align with the lower bolt holes. What I found interesting was that the axle really didn't want to lower. I had to pry it a little to get it to move. But I still wouldn't pry without the car jack fairly close in position. I lowered the axle in steps with loose bolts on the other side. It went ok.
In the fourth photo I am starting on the front axle as the rear axle is done. While you couldn't see in the other photos, I always kept the other axle "on the ground" as much as possible. And I avoided crawling under the rig. I just don't trust jack stands. The bolts do require torquing (see the instructions) and I used a breaker bar or combination wrench on one side and the torque wrench on the other side. An air wrench would have been so handy here! The tricky bolt to torque is the one behind the torsion arm. A combination wrench works here, and you can wedge it so you are only torquing from the other side.
The last photo shows it all done. The wheels are torqued back on properly, and my weight distribution hitch is now set at a different height and totally readjusted. All in all it was a total PITA, but it's all done now. If someone quotes about 2 hours for this job I'd say they are about right. With the right equipment, and especially if they've done it before, I'm sure they will get it done much faster. But that's how those quotes go. I probably spent about 4 hours on it going methodical and slow, and that doesn't count all the wasted prep time figuring out how to get it on the jack stands properly. So I'm posting here to save the next guy some time!
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