King Pin Weld Issue

[TooFast]

This weekend went fishing and when we loaded to leave noticed our 2012 forest river, wildcat fifth wheel was sitting very low. Was about to move the hitch when we notice the welds on the king pin had failed. (See Pics)

Can anyone tell me if they have had any success getting Forest River or Lippert to pay for the repair?

Thanks

JW

[houstonstroker]

Good luck. I have a buddy who has a 2009 Wildcat. His did the same thing a few years ago. I don't think he was successful with Forest River or Lippert with any compensation.

The good news is my buddy and his son both weld. The bad news it was a bear to get to the frame before welding could take place.

[BandJCarm]

Well, Lippert is who put it together to start with.


If it was me, I'd avoid Lippert at all costs, and just take it to a respected local welding shop and if they're any good they can fix it forever.

[houstonstroker]

My buddy's Wildcat collapsed in his driveway. No tow company would touch it. He had to do it all on the spot. You might have to tear it apart and then call in a mobile welder.

[xd40c]

That is not a weld failure. The welds held, it the metal around the weld that failed.

Originally Posted by TooFast

This weekend went fishing and when we loaded to leave noticed our 2012 forest river, wildcat fifth wheel was sitting very low. Was about to move the hitch when we notice the welds on the king pin had failed. (See Pics)

Can anyone tell me if they have had any success getting Forest River or Lippert to pay for the repair?

Thanks

JW

[McCormickJim]

x2 on what xd40c said. This is not a weld issue. This is a material issue: The metal failed.

If this were mine, I'd consider an estimate for full replacement and Small Claims court. There is a materials issue that makes the whole assembly unsuitable for its intended purpose.

I also would not weld this unit and tow again. Since it is a material issue, when will it fail again?

[TheWolfPaq82]

A seven year old Trailer ? I think this ones on you. Sorry. That should not have failed like that. As others said...the welding held, the steel around it failed.

[Photo Lab]

We had a similar failure on a new Keystone Cougar a number of years ago. Called the dealer right away, as I noticed the failure when backing into the back driveway after bringing the trailer home for the first time.

Dealer called back a few hours later, and offered full replacement, or if I wished, I could do it myself for the labor cost. Examining the hitch, I found the part that actually holds the pin is what failed, and the part welded to the trailer frame looked fine. So, I took this option. In a couple of days, UPS brought the whole assembly, and a return shipping ticket. It weighed nearly 140 pounds, by the way!

Our son and I unbolted and replaced the hitch, and found the cause appeared to be some gussets unwelded. the new unit was very nicely by the way!

The welding on the OP's trailer isn't that hot, but the material did fail. Had the welding been spread over a wider area, it would surely be better. I would suggest that both material and fabrication are at fault here, along with some perhaps overstressing of the assembly at some point.

[pdqparalegal1]

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

A seven year old Trailer ? I think this ones on you. Sorry. That should not have failed like that. As others said...the welding held, the steel around it failed.

Could we have an overload problem?? ��

[Witch Doctor]

Years ago there where problems with the same thing, if I remember right lippert did step up and sent a person out to repair it at the guys house. Don’t believe all this negative stuff about lippert, take pictures and email them in, you might be surprised. Wildcat had a problem with this. You can do a search on this forum about your problem. Good luck hope this helps a little.

[onetonford]

Is that a west coast or East coast unit? If I remember that Lippert had issues with units built in the east. I keep checking mine for any indication of failure and so far so good nothing is showing up.

[Vikes79]

Welcome to the forum.

What kind of hitch are you using to connect to your truck if I may ask?

[-lenny-]

I had a similar issue with a 4 year old Lippert frame on a Thor product in 2012. Lippert, Thor, CrossRoads, and my insurance co. all told me to pound sand. I got it fixed on my dime, (50,000 dimes to be exact) and it failed again in a different spot less than 2000 miles after the repair. FWIW I had about 45,000 miles on that rig, always within a couple hundred pounds of GVWR(under). After the second failure we cut our losses and upgraded to a larger rig.

[Oaklevel]

I would try to get Lippert to repair it but don't be surprised if they say it was overloaded. Then it will be up to you to provide weight tickets from a place like CAT scales to prove that it was not overloaded.

Good Luck.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

A seven year old Trailer ? I think this ones on you. Sorry. That should not have failed like that. As others said...the welding held, the steel around it failed.

That would depend on what kind of roads/terrain it was towed over, the speed at which it was towed and a myriad of other factors.

That frame took a Severe Beating before that metal failed!

IMHO, We do not yet know "The Rest of the Story".

[TheWolfPaq82]

Found this interesting.

Hardening Techniques and Welding Effects
Work- or strain-hardened metals exposed to the intense localized head of welding tend to recrystallize and soften in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). Assuming the correct filler metal is used, the only area affected is the HAZ. The admixture and filler metal don’t suffer recrystallization and remain as strong as the base metal. This explains why, when you’re dealing with work- or strain-hardened steel, failures usually happen in the HAZ right next to the weld joint, not directly in the joint.

This is especially true for cold-rolled steel, wrought iron, and drawn or rolled aluminum. When working with these materials, joint design is critical, and you must take into account the amount of stress the finished piece will experience in service.

[Tiggerdad]

You said "King Pin" but if I am seeing correctly the damaged area appears to be the frame.

[Iwannacamp]

There was a member here who rebuilt his to “military duty” a couple years ago.

I had a goose neck adapter on my old unit...you can’t give me one of those. I must admit I thought about something like that when I saw these pics.

I will try and find it.

[Iwannacamp]

Here is the one I spoke of. The repair here was extreme. There are many threads about similar problems. Search for cracked frame or pin box or something like that.

05' 37SP Sierra 5er...photos of cracked frame
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ad.php?t=76790