Rear Bumper Strength

[Rugged Brown]

As I stated in an earlier post, I was a convert to the belief that you shouldn't carry bikes on the rear bumper. I removed the bikes some time ago. There was no damage at that time. I have now removed the spare tire mounted on the rear bumper. This is the result of just the weight of the spare tire on the rear bumper. I will admit that I did travel over a stretch of rough paved highway yesterday but I was driving slow and cautious. I was a bit surprised to see this when I backed in the driveway. Do you think something like this will be covered under warranty.

[rhyno76]

It's worth a shot....they may not cover it if you mention that you had bikes on there before it broke. They will likely tell you that the bikes caused enough wear to lead to an eventual break at the weld.

[MtnGuy]

I don't think I would bring up the subject of bikes when talking to your dealer.

[dlhoppe]

The "bumpers" are poorly welded anyway. Whoever the welder is at Forest River should be ashamed of themselves. Take a look at the bottom where the bumper sits on the cutout. It's not welded under there at all, the cut/fit is really bad, and the welding is sloppy. I had mine welded properly and it's very solid now. I have a cargo carrier on mine that I use for light-weight stuff like bag chairs and such. I moved my spare tire up under the tongue with a spare tire hoist.

[lindy]

If you take a close look at the weld pic at the license plate, you'll see that the weld bead is still intact and that the metal portion of the frame ripped away causing the break but the weld bead is intact, not a weld failure, but a metal fatigue failurt.

[Kpinto]

Had the same problem with my flagstaff. Not covered by warranty. The dealer told me they would fix it at no labor cost, but I would have to pay for materials. Well I work at a machine/fabrication shop. I ordered all new material and had one of our certified welders weld a heavier duty bumper to the frame using some real angle iron instead of the sheet metal stuff they are using at Forest River!

[bikendan]

one thing to remember is that these are "Ultra-Lite" trailers and they will try and cut the weight anywhere they can. and the rear bumper seems to be one of the places.
heck, some brands don't even put a rear bumper on.

on Ultra-Lite TTs, they're basically decorative and only for the spare tire.

[lbrjet]

Since you spare is way over by your ladder I would have to assume that it wasn't putting much weight at all where it broke. I would also have to assume that the side it is broke on is where the bikes used to be. This should be a warranty item IMO.

I have moved my spare to the middle of the bumper from the ladder side. My bumper seems pretty strong though, but after these photos I'm going to take a closer look at it.

[Rugged Brown]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

Since you spare is way over by your ladder I would have to assume that it wasn't putting much weight at all where it broke. I would also have to assume that the side it is broke on is where the bikes used to be. This should be a warranty item IMO.

I have moved my spare to the middle of the bumper from the ladder side. My bumper seems pretty strong though, but after these photos I'm going to take a closer look at it.

I moved the tire near the ladder hoping that there wouldn't be as much movement from the bouncing. The bike rack was attached near the other side. I was under the understanding that these bumpers could take up to 150 lbs and with the bikes and tire it was less than that. As mentioned earlier, I removed the bike rack because of the damge the bikes done to the window frame and also the rack's main bolt holding it together worked its way to the last tread. i couldn't trust the bike rack anymore.

[Herk7769]

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...-no-16383.html

See my last post.

Without a doubt, your bike rack caused the fatigue that led to this failure. Bend a paperclip long enough and it will break, Which "bend" broke it? The last one or the twenty before it?

[Rugged Brown]

Originally Posted by herk7769

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...-no-16383.html

See my last post.

Without a doubt, your bike rack caused the fatigue that led to this failure. Bend a paperclip long enough and it will break, Which "bend" broke it? The last one or the twenty before it?

Thanks for the input Lou. I don't know about you, but I can break a paperclip with one bend. The same can be said about my rear bumper.

[MtnGuy]

After seeing the scary pictures by Rugged Brown, I decided to check out my bumper a little more careful. I have the same I-beam frame with the square sewer bumper, but Dexter (I presume) welded an extra ~2x4 channel iron right under the top of the I-beam. It is welded along the length of the I-beam, down the bumper, and it feels like it is just tack welded along the bottom edge....that would be good for drainage. I feel a bit of relief when I discovered that extra piece, and that may be a way of strengthening others members bumpers.

I can't get in there to take a very good picture, but here is the best I can come up with without crawling under the camper:

[youroo]

We have a National Parks decal on our Fac. bumper, and the sewer hose inside the bumper,thats how much faith we have in the bumper! Youroo!!