Rust on a one year-old trailer?

[BigBaron]

How long was it before you saw rust on your frame?

I have a 2012 Coachmen Clipper 126 (bought in August 2012) that has been out seven times and stored in an underground parking garage. They are painting the garage so I had to move it out and I noticed there is rust ALL over the exterior frame rails!
The brochure says the frame is powder coated, which obviously is BS, because rust doesn't propagate through powder coating, it grows under it. Our 2007 Starcraft was almost five years old before rust started coming through.

[raspivey]

About a year on the last one, but I expect it being about ten minutes off the Tx coast.

[Rugged Brown]

My camper was delivered during the winter so that option came with the camper.

[Twisty]

Nice.
...sarcasm... of course...
I noticed some trim falling off the wall today in ours.
We are going to a different brand.
A year and a half and I'm done.

[BigBaron]

Twisty, I wish I had that option.

[BigBaron]

also, FR has great customer service, but what I need is a trailer that doesn't need any customer service.
The Coachmen class C we rented on our trip was as bad as our pup, too. The trim along the top the slideout fell off and hit the kids on the head, not to mention the clusterf#@& of wiring that the dealership had to go through to fix the slideout motor.
They just removed the slide motor and I just pulled out and pushed in the slideout by hand during our trip, and used slide locks to keep it closed while driving. It was comical. I wasn't laughing at the time, though.

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by BigBaron

also, FR has great customer service, but what I need is a trailer that doesn't need any customer service.
The Coachmen class C we rented on our trip was as bad as our pup, too. The trim along the top the slideout fell off and hit the kids on the head, not to mention the clusterf#@& of wiring that the dealership had to go through to fix the slideout motor.
They just removed the slide motor and I just pulled out and pushed in the slideout by hand during our trip, and used slide locks to keep it closed while driving. It was comical. I wasn't laughing at the time, though.

Don't believe that's powder coat, more of a piss coat of enamel paint. On heavy structural members it will outlast you, sheetmetal shown will waste away much quicker! Maybe .020-.040" per year of steel thicness. Need to keep it preserved where possible. The powder coated pieces are hidded of course!
"Ashes to ashes" you can't stop it, but you can slow it down.

[youroo]

Maybe it was that (Salty Ride) over to Korea? Youroo!!

[BigBaron]

Originally Posted by youroo

Maybe it was that (Salty Ride) over to Korea? Youroo!!

It was shipped inside a container.

Why did it take five years for my Starcraft to start to rust like this?
Why hasn't the frame of my car started rusting like this even though it's 10 years old and has 10 years (and 160,000 miles) of going down salted winter roads?
It's called quality. If this thing actually was powder coated, I'd be surprised.

Here's a shot of the brochure mentioning powder coating.

[rycej]

We just got our 2014 surveyor trailer and I am very surprised at how they construct them with bolts and nuts and such that are not somewhat rust proof. Kind of sucks to walk around a 2014 trailer and see a bunch of rust colour on those parts, and inside the furnace vent. Frame looks fine though.

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by BigBaron

It was shipped inside a container.

Why did it take five years for my Starcraft to start to rust like this?
Why hasn't the frame of my car started rusting like this even though it's 10 years old and has 10 years (and 160,000 miles) of going down salted winter roads?
It's called quality. If this thing actually was powder coated, I'd be surprised.

Here's a shot of the brochure mentioning powder coating.

If I was a gambling man I'd say the frame does not include the side structure supporting the wall. The frame would include the main fore and aft beams with cross brackets carrying the axles. That material may be powder coated.

As I mentioned before, the spindles and drum, heaviy stuff, are made of cast iron or steel, very slow to corrode.

[BigBaron]

You didn't notice this when you bought it? I live overseas so I bought new to prevent this.

[BigBaron]

Well, got a reply back from Lippert. Sand and re-paint. The frame is not powder coated like the brochure implies. (I think it's pretty explicit myself)



As far as I can figure, the ONLY powder coating is on the shepherd's poles. Grrrrr...

[jkklops]

I have a 2007 rockwood travel trailer and do not have rust like that on my frame just a few small spots I powder coat parts every day and if they do not get good coating on it it will rust

[BigBaron]

I also have a 2007 Starcraft that just started to rust last year. "2007" is the difference...

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by BigBaron

Well, got a reply back from Lippert. Sand and re-paint. The frame is not powder coated like the brochure implies. (I think it's pretty explicit myself)



As far as I can figure, the ONLY powder coating is on the shepherd's poles. Grrrrr...

You know lippert is famous for those words. I had a problem with my revolution it tightened up so much that you could not move it as the brochure says. It says that it will loosen up after 500 miles. When I was in Goshen the 2 guy's that designed that system came to my trailer, and said the brochure is wrong. The thing that gets me is that during the summer it is tight you will not move it unless you were plus 300# like the designer. But in the winter I can move it all over the place by hand just like I did when new. To make along story short they admitted it was a false statement and they are the 2 who came up with the design. I called Lippert on this and they said well we are in the process of changing the brochure, and Ya I have a bridge to sell.......

[Weezer]

How about rust on the frame *one month* after purchase?

And now the bolts on our steps are so corroded....grrrrr....gonna ask for replacement when I take it in for the other issues.

(it's a 90 mile trip to our dealer)

[kerrlakelover]

Just finishing up my rust remediation project on the 2010 Sandpiper 345RET that I bought in July. Original owner picked up the RV in Kentucky in February. Drove it home to Tampa in a snow storm. Then it lived the next couple years a few miles east of Tampa Bay. So, no wonder it has rust issues.

But, I got a sweet deal on an RV that had been sheltered and baby'd as much as you can when you live in Florida and knew about the rust when I bought it. Anyway, all the paint was raised and loose on the bottom outside horizontal portion of the frame i-beams. There was lots of rust on just about every exposed weld joint with surface rust on the flat metal surfaces. Amazingly, there was no rust on the frame protected by the belly pans. After much scraping, wire brushing, and sanding, I resurfaced it all with Rustoleum Rust Reformer and then top coated with Rustoleum gloss black. (I know there's lots of other rust treatment products...most more expensive and not as easy to apply in all the frame nooks and grannies.) Anyway, with it's new home here in NC under my shed, I think she will be good for a while. BTW, I did like the way the Rustoleum Rust Reformer product appeared to work. If anyone wants any tips...give me a shout. My first tip will be...remediating rust on the full frame is a nasty job, no fun and takes lots of patience.

[mhartzel]

When I picked up my 2012 Apex 151RBX in February 2012 it had rust on the frame. The final build date was December 2011.

Then again, they messed up welding the holding tank supports and never prepped the frame for paint after fixing the problem.

[CampLife2014]

Mine had rust the day I picked it up. The dealer said it was nothing. I've seen new cargo trailers with it as well. I guess we'll see. It's stored indoors in the winter.