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Old 06-10-2019, 08:40 PM   #1
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Check your battery box!

Towing the XLR today, to the dealer for inspection, and a car pulls up next to me and starts pointing.😡. I pull over, and what do I find? The crappy plastic battery box that hangs through the floor of my storage storage compartment (with nothing beneath it) has decided to crack and break. The battery is hanging down from the cables and dragging on the asphalt. Of course, it’s been dragging long enough that it’s worn through the bottom of the case, and all the electrolyte leaked out.

Great engineering, Forest River! 🙄. Will be reinforcing this bad design shortly.
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Old 06-10-2019, 08:54 PM   #2
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Happened to my 2014 XLR Thunderbolt...it's a poor welding job by LIPPERT
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Old 06-10-2019, 09:17 PM   #3
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Lippert?

Bad Welding?

You mean like this:



Bad wire routing by FR.
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Old 06-10-2019, 10:02 PM   #4
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Oh, this wasn’t welding. Welding would imply that the part that failed was made of metal.🙄 This was entirely due to the thin white plastic battery box which degraded and became brittle over time. It just picked today and Pennsylvania pot hole #5380 to shatter and drop my battery into the nothingness below it. But still a poor design.
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Old 06-11-2019, 02:26 AM   #5
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Batteries and their boxes are DEALER-INSTALLED items on towables, not the manufacturer.
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Old 06-11-2019, 06:07 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
Batteries and their boxes are DEALER-INSTALLED items on towables, not the manufacturer.
That may be true, but it’s still a FR designed spot for it, regardless of who installs it, and it’s still seems like a bad design idea to put your 50# battery in a hole in your forward storage compartment in a flimsy plastic battery tray (that will degrade over time with exposure to the elements and sun) with nothing solid beneath it (except the highway.)

Oh, and this is a 5-er, not a tow behind. But I think the dealer does the install regardless on both types.
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Old 06-11-2019, 12:47 PM   #7
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I keep saying anyone can be president and anyone can get a job as engineers and designers in the RV Industry. Only study required is that you pass the LAR Engineering exam... given weekly at Bubba's outback shed! LAR --- "Looks About Right" engineering. And it isn't even about saving money, it is piss poor design and assembly. Obviously inspection of welds isn't done by a journeyman welder.
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Old 06-11-2019, 01:06 PM   #8
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Not the exact same problem but shortly after I purchased my TT I was routinely checking over the trailer and for some reason opened the battery box. Filled with water up to a half inch below the terminals. If I had been pulling it would have shorted and caused all types of problems. No vent holes on the plastic container but with heavy rains water could get into the box. I ended up drilling some weeping holes in the bottom of the box and then inserting a raised plastic strip below the battery so that now if water gets in it can drain through but the battery is still fully protected from below and above. When I took my battery out for storage last fall it was 'dry as a bone' so I guess I did the right thing. No welding issues (knock on wood) but I have had to replace the stabilizers due to a bending issue. The ones that came with the trailer were under weight rated (as far as I was concerned) so when one bent I bought after market stabilizers and re-drilled the mounting holes so that the new ones are rated more than double the stock units. No problem since I did that. Of course there was the sink plumbing issue on the first camp out when water was coming out from under the cabinet and onto the floor. I had to replumb the kitchen drain temporarily until, on the way home, I dropped it back to the dealership where I had them reinforce and support all the drain pipes at their cost. While there they found that the cabinets also needed to be reinforced and that there was a manufacturing flaw on the front exterior panels that required warranty replacement. Three weeks later I picked up my newly repaired trailer and headed directly out for my next excursion to the lake and everything has been fine since then. That was four years ago,
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Old 06-11-2019, 02:53 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taranwanderer View Post

Oh, and this is a 5-er, not a tow behind. But I think the dealer does the install regardless on both types.
A 5th wheel IS a towable, which is what I posted.
I never said tow behind.
Popups, TTs and 5th wheels are classified as Towables.
The only factory installed batteries are in motorized units.
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Old 06-11-2019, 10:26 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
A 5th wheel IS a towable, which is what I posted.
I never said tow behind.
Popups, TTs and 5th wheels are classified as Towables.
The only factory installed batteries are in motorized units.
Gotcha. But my point about poor design/placement still stands. Who installs it is kind of irrelevant. 🤔
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Old 06-11-2019, 10:37 PM   #11
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Sorry this happened.

Your warning should be taken seriously by anyone who hasn't moved their batteries to a location where they aren't hanging under the coupler a-frame or in a through-the-floor box.

Just like checking tires, anything that could possibly come loose and fall off should be checked before starting a trip, or for that matter before starting out in the morning while on a trip.

Pretend you are flying a small airplane and do the same kind of pre-flight walk-around check.

Even if a perfect design, "stuff" happens.
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Old 06-12-2019, 08:15 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TitanMike View Post
Sorry this happened.

Your warning should be taken seriously by anyone who hasn't moved their batteries to a location where they aren't hanging under the coupler a-frame or in a through-the-floor box.

Just like checking tires, anything that could possibly come loose and fall off should be checked before starting a trip, or for that matter before starting out in the morning while on a trip.

Pretend you are flying a small airplane and do the same kind of pre-flight walk-around check.

Even if a perfect design, "stuff" happens.
Oh, I agree. I always do a walk around prior to driving, but who can predict that a plastic box is going to $h1t the bed and crack, dropping your battery like an explosive turd out into the highway. I don’t have that kind of clairvoyance. Super annoying.
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Old 06-17-2019, 05:38 PM   #13
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Im here to tell you the battery is not the only thing that falls out of an XLR.
It would behoove all XLR owners to peak under inside the underbelly and make sure is all secure. Ask me how I know.

Mike
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Old 08-05-2019, 07:09 AM   #14
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I put a strap around the battery box and metal frame after reading a warning on here several years ago.

Just a few months ago, I removed the strap to remove the lid and check the batteries and the plastic insert crumbled apart and the battery fell through. Luckily I wasn't moving. Ordered a replacement and put two straps on for additional security.
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Old 08-05-2019, 09:26 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tx_Rider View Post
I put a strap around the battery box and metal frame after reading a warning on here several years ago.

Just a few months ago, I removed the strap to remove the lid and check the batteries and the plastic insert crumbled apart and the battery fell through. Luckily I wasn't moving. Ordered a replacement and put two straps on for additional security.
This seems like a good plan. Thanks for the idea!
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Old 08-31-2019, 10:48 AM   #16
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I was have a few adult beverages and noticed cables hanging down below the skirt. Open up the battery cabinet to find the battery box lost the bottom and two cables hold the battery in mid air.
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