Sanibel Upper Frame Flex

[Team Wilhelm]

Originally Posted by jimmyt11664

Well I spoke to soon. I hooked up to evacuate and because of this great forum, I knew what to look for. Left side is dropping about a inch. The wall near the slide is bowing. We are going to the Rally in August in Indiana. Hope we can get it repaired ASAP. Wish me luck 😭

JimmyT. What year is yours ?

[BBBlue]

Originally Posted by jimmyt11664

Well I spoke to soon. I hooked up to evacuate and because of this great forum, I knew what to look for. Left side is dropping about a inch. The wall near the slide is bowing. We are going to the Rally in August in Indiana. Hope we can get it repaired ASAP. Wish me luck 😭

Jimmy,
It will most likely take Recreational Specialist approx 3 days to fix. In our case, I made an appointment months in advance and so far the fix is holding. Wishing you luck in getting it fixed ASAP.

[jimmyt11664]

Mine is a 2015 3601 yes those guys are awesome 😊 I am going to have DW make appointment.

[dreamer5th]

We had upper deck flex repairs/modifications done to our 2014 Sanibel 3501 at Recreational Specialties in Elkhart about two months ago. Ron Green and his staff are very experienced and did great work! So far, we're very satisfied...no longer any evidence of any flexing occurring to the front end of our Sanibel!

[jimmyt11664]

😊 They do awesome work. We were there last year. Heading back for FROG RALLY 👍😆

[cemetery]

Originally Posted by keepaeyeonit

If your getting that much flex then theres a big problem in the frame,I have flex in mine but right now its not to bad(steel has to flex but I feel the flex should not be noticeable) you also have more miles on your unit then I do.
when you first got the unit what was happening up front(the area your having trouble with now)was it just pushing out a little putty and got worse over time?
Good luck and please let us know how this turned out for you! Keepaeyeonit

I have a 2014 Sanibel and it's flexing alittle just like yours. I'm keeping an eye on it to see if gets any worse.

[wamafi43]

Just let you all know that this seem to be a problem on a lot of heavy 5er trailers. I had a 2008 Keystone Challenger, after the warranty period run out, I noticed the flexing, about a 1/4 inch. Keystone washed their hands, sorry out of warranty, I was very disappointed with Keystone not standing behind their product. The Dealer told me that a lot of 5ers develop this problem, but it should not be a safety issue.
I was not happy with the flex and traded the unit against a 2015 Sanibel 3250 and hopefully I won't run into the same problems down the road when I have more miles on the unit.
Should it happen I hope Prime time stands behind their product.

[sharon rayburn]

We wanted to love ours.

[Platokidd]

Greetings folks, the site team has moved some off topic post on led awning lights and 4 door fridge's to their own threads. This will help other members who may be interested or have input to chime in with.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...dge-85821.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ing-85820.html

Thank you
The site team

[Robertb4588]

I noticed the caulk pushing out on our 2014 3501. I will have to watch on my next hook up for any movement.

[djeirlessr]

I have a Crusader and I noticed that the chalking appears to be pushing out a little. I was going to replace with silicone but maybe I shouldn't. I have only had the RV since this June. I'm new to the RV world and wondered why silicone wasn't used on all the seams.



Duane
2011 Toyota Tundra V8 iForce 5.7
2016 Crusader 295RST FW

[Idylours]

I would get int touch with your dealer & insist they get in touch with Forest River or get in touch with FR yourself. You only have a one year warranty so you need to act on this asap. I'm not sure how you would go on if your warranty has expired. If this is a flex issue I believe they can tell by the serial number if it would fall in that catergory or a bad caulking job.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by djeirlessr

I have a Crusader and I noticed that the chalking appears to be pushing out a little. I was going to replace with silicone but maybe I shouldn't. I have only had the RV since this June. I'm new to the RV world and wondered why silicone wasn't used on all the seams.



Duane
2011 Toyota Tundra V8 iForce 5.7
2016 Crusader 295RST FW

Try this contact at Prime Time......she was great when we attended the Rally for our warranty work.

Mary Faulstitch....mfaulstitch@forestriverinc.com.

[djeirlessr]

Thanks rracer5, I will get in touch with her.



Duane
2011 Toyota Tundra V8 iForce 5.7
2016 Crusader 295RST FW

[DDC]

It's nice to hear that prime time is repairing the frame issues, what is bothersome is that it still seems to be happening on 2015 models, we are shopping around and like the Sanibel's BUT when we see this coming up again and again it is not giving us that warm and fuzzy feeling.

[Vic1957]

I have a 2014 touring Vengence toy hauler. I have had mine in to my dealer for the same issue .. It is flexing a lot in the front left side the siding has come completely out and back in. The dealership has tried to repair it with a forest river rep on site this repair did not work the dealership and forest river have now gotten LCI the frame manufacture involved the unit also has a recall from forest river about the hitch not being related the same as the unit GVW rating of 21300 the axles are only rated for 6000lb each this one is going back to the dealer end of this week for some serious dealer forest river disscusion to see what can be done I am worried that the frame is not strong enough even for the stated hitch rating of 18000 much less the unit rating of 21300.

[johnbyers]

We have a Sanibel 3500RE we bought new in 2012. We have approx 20,000 miles on it now. Noticed the over flexing issue, very minor at first. After a run this spring from Houston to New York City and in between over a five month period and back to Houston by end of May the problem was pretty serious. Made a call to Sanibel and they made an appointment for us to bring it to Elkhart Indiana for repairs - at their cost. While it was there had a 6 point Levelup installed, also, MORryde IS and Hyd disc brakes installed. Spent more dollars and put a Hensley BD3 air ride fifth wheel hitch in our truck and installed onboard air to control air springs and the air hitch with reserve service air - added the tank under the frame of the truck. Sanibel picked it up and we went to Elkhart and brought it to NC. We are full timers and had to stay in a hotel while it was in for repairs. Very happy with all that was done. What a difference coming through the mountains. Love the hydraulic disc brakes - highly recommend them for large fifth wheels like ours, especially if you are full time RVrs as we are. Got the MORryde tour - great forward looking innovation going on there. Very pleased and comfortable with the repairs and upgrades.

[wamafi43]

How much flex did you get before they fixed your
fifth wheel. Did you measure how much the flex was between
hooked to the truck and off truck?
I have about 1/8 of an inch, ours is a 3250 2015 Sanibel, some of chalking/
seal is quishing out already.
We have not used the unit very much, more time in the
shop the camping.

[johnbyers]

The measurement was approximately 5/8" and welds had torn out of the wall structural framework on the driver side of the coach. I had been babying the bedroom slide coming in and they found the gear had broken because of the extra strain caused by deflection of the framework around the bedroom slide out. Ours was not as bad as some I have seen but it was headed that way. They replaced the structural members in the walls with heavier square/rectangular tubing and more of it. Also, they removed the bedroom slide out and pulled the flooring back so they could make a good repair around the slide out opening. I understand they added more steel underneath the pin box frame too but I do not know how much. I do know that I see no flexing now and of course the gear cluster was replaced so the slide out for the bedroom works great again. It was very professionally done - walls reinsulated and bonded. You cannot tell it was ever worked on - of course being factory repaired that should be the case. By the way - about an 1/8" was the way ours started out. I recommend you keep a close check on that.

[wamafi43]

Thanks for the reply, I will get in contact with Sanibel and see
what their answer will be.
I had a Keystone Challenger with the same problem, except
Keystone washed their hands , my warranty had run out.
I hope this will work out OK.