Frame Defect Research and FAQ Topic

[brookside]

With all the talk of frames failing, it would be good to start an FAQ detailing what members should check on their trailers, as well as what models appear to be affected.

Is it a 5th wheel unit, or normal?
Camper model?
Date of manufacture?
Date of failure?
Type of failure? (axel de-torque or frame crack?)

Lets expand on this list get ourselves organized!


Cheers

[pammer82]

5th wheel
2011 puma palomino
295 kbh-ss
Noticed frame crack on pin box structure, and cracked nose cone approx 16-18"
Purchased trailer brand new in April 2011, and had the severe damage on November 11/2011
With little or no help from dealer or frame manufacturer so far

[ryoucrazey]

5th Wheel
2010 Cedar Creek
Silverback 29RE
Purchased brand new in July 2010

Used our 5th wheel locally, a trip to Durango, CO & trip to Pigeon Forge, TN.
The trip out to Pigeon Forge, TN stopped for the night and noticed a gap in the uderbelly where the front cap is attached with screws and caulked to the metal trim piece. Gap was 3/4-1" open from pin box around to the side of the underbelly.
When we arrived at the campground in PF and I started lowering the landing legs and removing the trailer weight off the pin box the gap closed up tight?
To make a long story short when I got back home from our trip contacted the Dealer Service Manager and told him what was going on. Of course my 5th wheel warranty had expired but after sending him pictures and many emails and phone calls with the Dealer, Forest River & Lipert Frames. FR/LF had my5th wheel transported back to the Cedar Creek factory to have the frame repaired and beefed up. Frame was flexing and plan is to remove cap and reweld and plate frame back up to the closet area in the bedroom, won't be getting trailer back until fisrt of march.

[DDC]

The only answer to this is to report the defects to the appropriate government dept. whether it is covered by warranty or not they are supposed to be built to standup to normal use and not to become rolling death traps if they are not reported it's hard to get anything done to make the manufacturer correct the problems,once reported the gov. dept will act to cover their own asses because there will be a paper trail.

[campdohbrew]

Originally Posted by brookside

With all the talk of frames failing, it would be good to start an FAQ detailing what members should check on their trailers, as well as what models appear to be affected.

Is it a 5th wheel unit, or normal?
Camper model?
Date of manufacture?
Date of failure?
Type of failure? (axel de-torque or frame crack?)

Lets expand on this list get ourselves organized!


Cheers

This is a great idea!

[campdohbrew]

Originally Posted by DDC

The only answer to this is to report the defects to the appropriate government dept. whether it is covered by warranty or not they are supposed to be built to standup to normal use and not to become rolling death traps if they are not reported it's hard to get anything done to make the manufacturer correct the problems,once reported the gov. dept will act to cover their own asses because there will be a paper trail.

Agree with you!

[295WP]

Our 2008 Cherokee Wolf Pack 295WP has also failed. We have not had ours torn down yet to see the frame but our bed surround is broken and the plywood under the bed is bowed up, no longer flat.
When we pulled into our driveway after an all pavement trip to and from Moab UT (stayed in a paved campground too) I thought that the trailer was somehow closer to my pickup bed rails, but figured I was imagining it. Once I parked the trailer in it's spot I was positive that the bed rail clearance had changed. We used to have about 8-9 inches of clearance and it now appeared to be about 5-6 inches. I looked at the pin box and immediately noticed that the front leading edge of the pin box was tilted up instead of level like previously.

I went into the bedroom over the pin box and saw that wood trim was laying on the bed and that the driver side of the wood cabinets around the bed were shattered. I pulled the mattress out of the way and the floor was no longer flat it was convex, confirming that the pin box was being pushed in to the living quarters and thus lowering the actual trailer closer to my truck bed rails.

Had I noticed this on the road I would have unhooked immediately. I am very thankful that we made it home safely without at worst an accident injuring/killing us or anyone else and at the very least not damaging our truck. After seeing the pics in the first post I consider us extremely lucky.

I will be posting on THIS PAGE, notifying NHTSA, as well as contacting Lippert and Forest River.

Pics to be posted shortly......

Is it a 5th wheel unit, or normal? - 5TH Wheel
Camper model? - 2008 Cherokee Wolfpack 295WP
Date of manufacture? - 3/29/07
Date of failure? - November 2011
Type of failure? (axel de-torque or frame crack?) - Believed to be a frame crack, not yet confirmed (see above

[Keithf450]

Just got home from a 2000 mile trip with my family and when I was unhooking the rv something looked strange. The pin box was on an angle and up against the nose cone. When I looked up inside where the pin box connects to the frame I could see that the frame was torn where they are welded. I was taken back to see how thin the tube frame was. The weld was not broken. The steel tube was torn. I removed the panel so I could see what the front looked like and was blown away to see that the front main cross member was almost torn in half.

5th Wheel
2007
Wildcat 32QBBS

Frame issue at pin box

[PapaSmurf]

Wow! I would be beyond PO'ed. I would be working with an attorney to get a buy back. Even if you get it fixed you would never be able to trust it again.

[D-mo]

not being a expert in anything here .. but i would think that anything with such frame damage is a write-off insurance wise ... and this should be taken up with a) your insurance company ... who would contact b) the manufacturer.

what a friggin mess.

d-mo

[crocus]

By the look of those pictures, these frames are obviously not designed by an engineer. Is there no requirement to have such things approved before they go into mass production?
If that is the way they are all built, they will all fail eventually. Simple metal fatigue caused by inadequate reinforcement.
I am a structural engineer who has built several projects in my spare time. I would NEVER do what they did.

[PapaSmurf]

You are correct, probably better to let insurance company fight with FR and Lippert. No doubt their first defense is going to be "you overloaded your unit", just like the tire mfg's always claim tires failed due to under inflation.

[295WP]

I am not feeling confident about getting mine "repaired". The guys working at the RV shop are not engineers as far as I know. They are talking about doing some gusseting which has me thinking about what the next weakest link is in this poorly designed/manufactured frame. What ever is the next weakest link will undoubtedly fail at some point. This is a risk I don't feel comfortable taking.

And the best part is we paid over $30k to have the honor of not feeling safe while towing our Forest River 5th wheel.

As a side note I called Forest river and left a message for Bob Miller, Phone: 260-593-0023, last Thursday 2/23/12 with no call back yet. I'm not concerned yet as it was only 1.5 business days since my call and who knows what Bob has going on in his life. I will try again tomorrow.

[crocus]

They need to replace that rear crossmember with a tube double the thickness, then tie the pinbox mounting frame into the bottom of that crossmember, not just butt weld it to the front of the tube.
And the crossmember should be gusseted to the frame members it is welded to, not just tacked on with some dogshit welds like the factory does.