Warning to all owners of Lippert Frames on 5th wheel

[Krismh]

Originally Posted by spock123

I hope everything works out for you, we love our Creek

Thank you, that would be awesome if it does work out. We used to love ours too, hoping to be able to rekindle the love In the near future.

[BandJCarm]

Kris,

Kudo's for the calmness. I pray you get this fixed.

Some perspective. I know MANY CC owners. I have owned mine for about 20 months. I have probably had more problems than anyone in those first months, yet I did not have the problem you had. However, I had a bunch, including the dealer screwing up the winterizing process last year while holding it for (unsuccessful) slide repair. That caused my tank to blow up the next spring because they left it full of water! LOL They repaired it, but turned out not very well.

Just FWIW, from someone who spent many months driving a trailer down the road where the slides fell out in transit:

-Forget dealers. Buy one at best price, anywhere in the U.S., and don't go back. There are exceptions, but they are rare as hen's teeth.

-Deal with Cedar Creek. The names above are good contacts. They are swamped, but they are good. I don't think there's another manufacturer that will step up like they do. If/When they don't, it usually turns out there is a reason.

-Now, me personally.........after what I've been through.......I would not take my trailer anywhere on Earth other than Amish Family Services in Topeka, IN. There's a long wait, but fine. Orvan is the sole person that was able to fix my trailer. A one day appointment turned into a week, and he pulled his hair out. But he found it all, and fixed it. And now I'm Golden. DO TRY and contact Denise and work it out with her, but suggest that the work be done at Orvan's shop. I suppose I'd give the factory a chance, and would probably be happy, but I'd dang sure drive by Orvan's afterwards and have him 'bless' their work!!

-All that said, and after all my problems, I'd only buy Cedar Creeks. Period. I got a lemon. Everyone says so, including CC privately, and Orvan also. But it's fixed, and it's awesome. It took 17 months of patience and calmly (well not always, lol) working with CC. I gave up on dealers after giving them 3 shots to fix it and seeing their work. Even on the things they stepped up to the plate on (NEW roof, new tanks, etc), Orvan had to shore up or replace/repair. So dealers are gone. I will probably never buy another trailer, but if/when I do, warranty is meaningless to me......except for any possible payment they'd make to Orvan!

My 3 cents, for what it's worth.

Oh, and back to the original post..........truly, if you are 'warning' folks against Lippert stuff, you probably can't buy any trailer. Sad, but true.

OK, sorry, 4 cents worth.....but one last thing. Frog Bob is probably one of the "Simply Best People" I have ever met. What he does for all of the folks on this forum is amazing. He's a wonderful liaison and FR should give him a big raise. I am not sure they realize what they have in him. He will help you.

[spock123]

X2 on Orvan, he is great. I have a appointment in April 24 to get some work done, rear cap has to be replaced. The Cedar Creek I want next is a 38FBD but it’s a ways off.

[Krismh]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Kris,

Kudo's for the calmness. I pray you get this fixed.

Some perspective. I know MANY CC owners. I have owned mine for about 20 months. I have probably had more problems than anyone in those first months, yet I did not have the problem you had. However, I had a bunch, including the dealer screwing up the winterizing process last year while holding it for (unsuccessful) slide repair. That caused my tank to blow up the next spring because they left it full of water! LOL They repaired it, but turned out not very well.

Just FWIW, from someone who spent many months driving a trailer down the road where the slides fell out in transit:

-Forget dealers. Buy one at best price, anywhere in the U.S., and don't go back. There are exceptions, but they are rare as hen's teeth.

-Deal with Cedar Creek. The names above are good contacts. They are swamped, but they are good. I don't think there's another manufacturer that will step up like they do. If/When they don't, it usually turns out there is a reason.

-Now, me personally.........after what I've been through.......I would not take my trailer anywhere on Earth other than Amish Family Services in Topeka, IN. There's a long wait, but fine. Orvan is the sole person that was able to fix my trailer. A one day appointment turned into a week, and he pulled his hair out. But he found it all, and fixed it. And now I'm Golden. DO TRY and contact Denise and work it out with her, but suggest that the work be done at Orvan's shop. I suppose I'd give the factory a chance, and would probably be happy, but I'd dang sure drive by Orvan's afterwards and have him 'bless' their work!!

-All that said, and after all my problems, I'd only buy Cedar Creeks. Period. I got a lemon. Everyone says so, including CC privately, and Orvan also. But it's fixed, and it's awesome. It took 17 months of patience and calmly (well not always, lol) working with CC. I gave up on dealers after giving them 3 shots to fix it and seeing their work. Even on the things they stepped up to the plate on (NEW roof, new tanks, etc), Orvan had to shore up or replace/repair. So dealers are gone. I will probably never buy another trailer, but if/when I do, warranty is meaningless to me......except for any possible payment they'd make to Orvan!

My 3 cents, for what it's worth.

Oh, and back to the original post..........truly, if you are 'warning' folks against Lippert stuff, you probably can't buy any trailer. Sad, but true.

OK, sorry, 4 cents worth.....but one last thing. Frog Bob is probably one of the "Simply Best People" I have ever met. What he does for all of the folks on this forum is amazing. He's a wonderful liaison and FR should give him a big raise. I am not sure they realize what they have in him. He will help you.

I’m glad it’s all good now. We had three pages of things to be addressed when we initially got it but nothing that bad.
Other than the frame we have a few more issues but the frame is our biggest concern.
Our outdoor kitchen seems to be leaking somewhere but I’ll be darn if we can figure out where. Countertop was replaced once under warranty in first year but now it’s so swollen that we almost can’t close outside cubby door.
We have delamination on back wall in bunk room over cubby door and the slide out in master bedroom seems to be swelling at the bottom and pushing out the supports underneath yet we can’t find any leaks there either so not sure what is up with that either. Those were things we were going to get fixed before we realized the extent of the other issue. So the one needs to be addressed before the others. Keeping my thoughts hopeful things will be made right and that awesome people are now on the case. Thanks to all

[paulrb]

I purchased a 2009 cedar creek in 2016 and found I had the same problem. After a lot of searching and research I removed the panel around the pin box and found that the frame was in fact ok. No breaks or bad welds were found. The problem I think is the way the frame and pin box have to flex. Cedar Creek poorly designed the fiber glass enclosure under the bed and closet while trying to maintain an R factor rating for insulation. I was able to repair it myself by adding hardwood reinforcement in areas that the cap and panel come together. I replaced the glass under the bed and closet myself at an expense of $1200.00 and I do not recommend this by a novice jack of all trades!! I also installed a suspension pin box. first trip out was an off road Elk Hunt and I still saw a small amount of separation. It is a fact of life on some fifth wheels, steel frames and fiber glass will not flex the same when connected with screws and seam sealer. We the consumer will loose no matter what we feel. WE are at their mercy because there are not any strictly enforced building codes for this. BUYER BEWARE. Best of luck and Merry Christmas......

[spock123]

Originally Posted by paulrb

I purchased a 2009 cedar creek in 2016 and found I had the same problem. After a lot of searching and research I removed the panel around the pin box and found that the frame was in fact ok. No breaks or bad welds were found. The problem I think is the way the frame and pin box have to flex. Cedar Creek poorly designed the fiber glass enclosure under the bed and closet while trying to maintain an R factor rating for insulation. I was able to repair it myself by adding hardwood reinforcement in areas that the cap and panel come together. I replaced the glass under the bed and closet myself at an expense of $1200.00 and I do not recommend this by a novice jack of all trades!! I also installed a suspension pin box. first trip out was an off road Elk Hunt and I still saw a small amount of separation. It is a fact of life on some fifth wheels, steel frames and fiber glass will not flex the same when connected with screws and seam sealer. We the consumer will loose no matter what we feel. WE are at their mercy because there are not any strictly enforced building codes for this. BUYER BEWARE. Best of luck and Merry Christmas......

We are on our second Cedar Creek and have not had any problems with the frame. We had a Wildcat Sterling that had problems with the frame, we traded it for a Cedar Creek

[paulrb]

I love my cedar creek. I think they are a great fifth wheel. When you own an RV you are either fixin or payin someone to fix it that's a fact of life. You accept it or go to a motel. I prefer the RV life.....ENJOY!

[spock123]

I went to Disney World recently and stayed at a resort but next I go it will be at Fort Wilderness. I had rather stay in my Creek

[Arctic Wolf]

Originally Posted by spock123

I went to Disney World recently and stayed at a resort but next I go it will be at Fort Wilderness. I had rather stay in my Creek

That's funny... We're here now and my wife keys saying "I wish we were in our camper"

[Arctic Wolf]

Originally Posted by Arctic Wolf

That's funny... We're here now and my wife keys saying "I wish we were in our camper"

She KEEPS saying... Not KEYS.

[crunchman12001]

Originally Posted by Krismh

Thanks for sharing your experience. F.R.O.G. Bob suggested that I no longer comment on this subject because we are trying to work with CC so we don’t want to do anything to make them unwilling to help if they decide to do so.
We did pick it up today and got it home safe so that was good.
Unfortunately for whatever reason after we winterized trailer in October at dealers, when we realized we probably wouldn’t get it back before it got too cold, we got it home and heard the waterpump running in trailer and knew we shut it off. Turns out someone at dealer hooked up trailer and ran water through it. Filter housing instead of being the pink like we had left it was full of clear water. Husband was very angry, they used the bathroom sink for some reason. Called Dealer and naturally they denied it. So imagine what more would have been ruined if we hadn’t caught that before spring. So in this instance thank god we picked it up and heard that pump running.
Reran antifreeze through all the faucets so hopefully we are good there again.

Did you open the black tank valve? I would bet the tech left a gift for you before he washed his hands in your sink.

[Brucecav]

Lippert has been paying for this issue for years I know. As said pay a reputable repair place to drop the fiberglass and take pictures of any frame damage and cracked welds. Fax these to Lippert and I am sure they will either pay to have your RV fixed or have it loaded into a flatbed and taken to Lippert and they will fix it.

I went through this as said but found I did not have any damage. When the RV Repair place contacted Lippert they said if I did have broken welds they would pay the cost of dropping the front fiberglass if not I had to pay the cost.

From the pictures you uploaded I agree you have cracked welds somewhere in your pin box frame. I know people who had this and Lippert fixed it better than ever so as said just find a company and have it checked out.

You paid lot's of money for your Cedar Creek and it will be A-OK just document the damage and then send Lippert pictures and you will find they will corporate with you once they see actual cracked weld issues.

Best of luck have a super Holiday

[spock123]

On my Wildcat Sterling it seemed like the floor or something was moving to the right and pushing my LP tanks out the side. After awhile you could not close the door where the LP tanks were sitting at. The floor was leaving the wall as the crack between the floor and wall down the hall got wider. I bet something was wrong with the frame

[paulrb]

for sure better get it checked out