Superior Tire altered my trailer and damaged the tires and axel after installing the wrong leaf springs Bullhead City, Arizona

On 08/21/2012 at 7:00am I took my watercraft trailer to Superior Tire in Bullhead City Arizona to repair a broken passenger side leaf spring. I spoke to the assistant managerJohn who indicated that they could repair the leaf spring. He said he would call me with an estimate. I asked him to check to ensure my axel wasnt bent while repairing the leaf spring. 

Around 10:00am John called me to advise they could repair the leaf springs and advised he also recommended repacking the wheel bearings at the same time. He said the axel was not bent. I gave him the authorization to repair the leaf springs and wheel bearings to the factory settings.  

Around 3:00pm John called and advised the leaf springs were repaired and I could pick up the trailer. I paid for and picked up the trailer around 4:00pm. I returned back to my condo and packed for my return trip to California. I didnt notice anything unusual about the trailer. I left for home around 6:00pm.  

When I got to Ludlow around 8:00pm I checked my trailer, as I always do at each stop, and observed my tires were bald from the middle of the tread line toward the inside of the tires. When I looked at my tires from in front of them they were tilted inward and were not sitting straight up and down. With no repair locations in Ludlow I continued home. 

On 08/22/2012 I took my trailer to a repair facility in Hesperia, Ca. Upon inspection I observed that the tires were no longer centered in the wheel wells and each tire was in a different spot in the wheel well, meaning the axel was not straight across as it had previously been. When the repair facility inspected the trailer, they pointed out new hanging brackets for the leaf springs had been welded to the trailer approximately 1 in back and approximately 1 lower   than the factory hanging brackets. They also showed me where the tires no longer sat in the center of the wheel wells and in fact one tire was farther back in the wheel well than the other indicating the axel was not centered. They pointed out that the leaf springs that were used were not the correct leaf springs for this trailer.

Upon looking at the axel they advised it was bent. They said this most definitely could have been caused on my trip home the night before due to the front part of the leaf spring being lower than the rear. This was caused by the leaf spring not being level due to the newly welded hanging bracket. They indicated that the weight of the trailer with the watercraft on them and the lower angle of the leaf spring could have caused the axel to bend, especially since Superior Tire indicated the axel wasnt bent at the time of repair. They pointed out that the U-Bolts were rusted and were not new, even though I was charged for them by Superior Tire during the repair.  They indicated the grease in the bearing appeared to have come out of the bearings and due to the angle of the tires, the bearings were probably ruined as well. They indicated that a new axel, leaf springs, and tires would need to be put on the trailer. 

On 08/22/2012 at approximately 3:45pm I contacted John at Superior Tire and told him of the problem with the repair and the damage to the tires and axel. He said that the axel was already bent and the tires were worn already. I told him that he had told me the axel wasnt bent and the tires were brand new the summer before and only had 4 trips on them. He continued to say there was nothing wrong with the repair. Only when I confronted him why did he alter my trailer form the factory settings and weld a new hanging bracket when there wasnt anything wrong with the factory bracket that was welded to the trailer, did he admit that they welded a new bracket because they didnt have the correct leaf springs in stock.

I told him that he let me drive away with an unsafe trailer with my wife and 2 year old grandson across the desert to California where I could have had a blow out or worse. He wanted me to bring the trailer back to him for the repair but I refused saying there was no way to safely return it to Arizona in the condition it was in. I told him that I wanted the entire amount of $407.48 returned and wanted them to pay for the repair of the trailer, new tires, and a new axel. He said to email him photos, which I did, and he would talk to the owner. 

On 08/23/2012 the repair facility contacted the factory, Trail Rite in Santa   Ana, Ca. and the factory looked at photographs of the repair and indicated the leaf springs put on the trailer by Superior Tire were not the correct leaf springs. They advised that due to the angle of the leaf springs with the new welded bracket, could have caused the axel to bend and definitely caused the tires to wear unevenly. 

On 08/28/2012 I spoke to John at Superior Tire who said the owners were willing to refund my entire amount for the repair but was unwilling to pay for the axel or new tires as it was their opinion that their repair didnt cause that damage. 

The terrible repair job is one matter but the fact they let me drive away with an unsafe trailer and pull it across the desert is appalling.