2013 3170DS Bigfoot jacks and a bent frame

[MKrase]

The pic of the small square tube is NOT mine. It's another new Sunseeker on the lot. I think it was 3020? The other 3170 on the lot also had it.


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[MKrase]

All other pics are of my unit.


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[Garrette]

I hope Clemans chimes in. My unit was one year old on march 28. I wonder if this a factory retro or dealer. If factory, why were the Sunseeker owners not notified.
I hope you get everything repaired to your satisfaction. I guess I will be looking for a cross tube tomorrow.

[Garrette]

Originally Posted by MKrase

Garrette, see if yours have a slight inward pitch to them


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I will check them in the morning. There are a lot of 3170 owners here, maybe they will chime in and post pictures of their jacks.

[ATVer]

Originally Posted by MKrase

Here is a pic of another Sunseeker that has the brace. Despite it being small, I would imagine that a tube can hold quite a linear load. Attachment 49143


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I saw the cross brace on later Sunseekers and was planning to add one to my 2012 3120. Looks simple to make, a couple muffler clamps and a square steel tube you can pickup at a Home store. I thought it was there to help stabilize the side motion or wiggle when on the jacks. However it probably was added to prevent frame damage as discussed here. Looking at it's design I think it is a very simple and effective solution that will add significant frame torsional strength by counteracting the loading caused by the offset jack brackets. Since both jacks are both trying to bend inward under load this simple brace will essentially allow each jack to help each other to stay straight.

[parpar1]

Originally Posted by MKrase

As a side note, from day one I noticed that both rear jacks sit at a slight inward angle. I can see that the brackets welded to the frame are cut with a slight angle. Here's a pic of the right rear. You can see just a slight angle, and nothing is bent. It's more apparent with the jack down. Attachment 49144


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I have a 3010ds on a Ford. I just installed some Big foots. Mine both angle in just a bit as said earlier and i do have the leveler cross member installed. Per Big Foot you must install this cross member. Now i want to go look at mine too.

OP Sorry you are going thru this. Did you have the back wheels off the ground?

[MKrase]

Not quite off the ground, but definitely close. Auto leveling usually puts at least one wheel in the air even after multiple calibrations. I know people say it's not the best idea, but no where in the manual does it say not too.


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[ATVer]

Originally Posted by MKrase

Not quite off the ground, but definitely close. Auto leveling usually puts at least one wheel in the air even after multiple calibrations. I know people say it's not the best idea, but no where in the manual does it say not too.


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This seems to explain why it happened. Common sense would say that lifting even one wheel off the ground especially the rears (the frame there is the weakest due to being extended past the part made by Ford) puts a lot of strain on the frame components. My rule is if it takes lifting a wheel off the ground to level the coach, either find another more level spot or go to another site. You could also use leveling blocks. My FR manual does caution against lifting the coach by the jacks and cautions to be sure each jack is solidly contacting the ground thus carrying load. It is not easy to tell this without reaching under to see if you can move a foot or looking closely to see some ground penetration of the feet. In auto I have found the system to often not meet this requirement. The manual then says to retract and try auto again. I usually use manual mode. Although I understood the working and cautions of the system my dealer during the walk around spent a good deal of time reinforcing proper jack operations.

[parpar1]

Originally Posted by ATVer

This seems to explain why it happened. Common sense would say that lifting even one wheel off the ground especially the rears (the frame there is the weakest due to being extended past the part made by Ford) puts a lot of strain on the frame components. My rule is if it takes lifting a wheel off the ground to level the coach, either find another more level spot or go to another site. You could also use leveling blocks. My FR manual does caution against lifting the coach by the jacks and cautions to be sure each jack is solidly contacting the ground thus carrying load. It is not easy to tell this without reaching under to see if you can move a foot or looking closely to see some ground penetration of the feet. In auto I have found the system to often not meet this requirement. The manual then says to retract and try auto again. I usually use manual mode. Although I understood the working and cautions of the system my dealer during the walk around spent a good deal of time reinforcing proper jack operations.

When i first dropped my jacks this weekend it acted real funny. The front of the rv was on the concrete pad and the rears were in gravel. After they all made contact i started to raise the front and it seemed like it was not lifting the front up hardly at all. I then went to drop the back and it jolted down about an inch like they got stuck or had a heavy side load on them jamming them. Then when i tried to lift the left side it seemed that only the front was moving. I worried the frame was twisting. i retracted all four jacks and then tried again. This time it worked perfect. I think the rears where sinking in the gravel and trying to "slide" to the inside (towards each other) a bit. I wonder if i did not have the cross bar on the rears and would have just kept trying to get it level that first shot i may have ended up like the op. It is starting to sound like i made a good choice getting the manual system.

[ATVer]

I tend to use manual almost all the time. Maybe if the site is already level and I am just using the jacks for stabilization I will use auto. I'm glad FR put the control panel on a cord so I can watch the jacks especially in manual. Other manufacturers often permanently mount the control panel inside somewhere. I have no idea how someone could properly operate in manual from inside the coach.

[MKrase]

Yea I have noticed that sometimes in auto that I would end up with one jack not even touching the ground after it was complete. I won't leave it like this, and I do resort to manual for sure. The gravel brings up an interesting point. We were on gravel/DG when this happened. The site was fairly level, but did need a little more lift in the rear to get things right. Quite possibly when the tire began to lose some grip the jack pad slipped a bit and did what Parpar was suggesting but this process took several hours, as it was good and level when we set up camp, and failed while we were out on a walk. It was out in Salton Sea, so maybe there was a little quake that day that set it into motion. It's been pretty active out there lately. Waiting on the dealer for more info.


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[parpar1]

Have you contacted Quadra (MFG of Bigfoot)? I bet they have seen this before and that is why the cross member came into play.

[MKrase]

No, not personally. I'm hoping that the dealer will take care of everything, as it is still very under warranty.


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[ATVer]

Interesting. If you go on the Big Foot website there are several places where they say the cross brace must be installed on the rear inside frame cylinder mounting location like is used on the Sunseeker. They have the brace like the pictured in this post, part number M29627 shown on the installation drawing and video instructions, but I could find no price. Simple enough to make but there certainly was a design improvement since the last time I looked. If you don't have the brace I think it would be a good idea to make one or get one installed. Simple insurance to prevent problems after the warranty ends. I wouldn't count on FR or BF doing a recall to add it because it is not a safety issue.

[MKrase]

Well the first thing the service writer said when I dropped it off and he crawled under to take a peek was, "ummmm, this should have a brace on it". He will be getting it and installing it along with the frame repair all under warranty. Our rig's "lot brother" is still there for sale, and it is equipped with the brace. Same year and model and price. Someone screwed up IMO.


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[ATVer]

It can be tricky in that most changes made to RVs are running changes not necessarily with any model year change over. You could have one built today without the change and the one built tomorrow will have it. Even if yours was correctly built with the older design I'm sure it will be retrofitted since you had the problem. Probably would also retrofit anyone who complains. However this issue is likely with Big Foot. I expect FR just installs what Big Foot supplies.

[bclemens]

For a while we didn't even install them. We sent the units to Bigfoot, they did everything. To try and shorten the lead time we started welding the brackets on every Ford and installed them as they came down the line. Saves us about 3-4 days in shipping time.

[Garrette]

Contacted Bigfoot today and spoke to them. It is part of the install kit. I asked if I could order the kit and pay for it. It is shipped. Cost $95. Could have made it cheaper but I figure using big foots kit will help maintain the WARRENTY. I will send receipt to dealer and see what happens.
Bet forest a River has a pile on the corner and nobody knows what it is. Wonder how many units were involved.

[Garrette]

Thanks to MKrase for bringing this to my attention. Thank you.. Posting your problem was instrumental in helping me to prevent the same problem.

[ATVer]

Originally Posted by Garrette

Thanks to MKrase for bringing this to my attention. Thank you.. Posting your problem was instrumental in helping me to prevent the same problem.

ME too!!
Since I'm out of warranty I just bought the square steel tube and two U bolts at hardware store for $15. Drilled some holes, painted it black and installed. Pretty simple.