Tire rubbing slide bar- frame buckled at axles

[Iwannacamp]

E-dad... have you decided what caused the failure besides cheap steel?

[18CrewDually]

Lippert's inferior construction. Poor excuse for a cross member. I wouldn't use that wire framework as lattice to support my grapevines.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

E-dad... have you decided what caused the failure besides cheap steel?

This is rambly, so try to follow... but you asked.

Nothing specific- I think it's a combination of cheap steel and being under weight/engineered for the application (a trailer with a 15,825 lb. GVWR). Combine that with the extensive number of miles I put on vs. what a weekender would do AND that I'm running overweight (16,800 lbs.) and you have a recipe for this.


This is now the 3rd instance of a non-impact frame buckling failure at the axles that I've learned of. In each case, it was a fulltimer who experienced it. I'm unsure if the other 2 were at or under weight.


I did add Joy Rider shocks to the system. I don't know if the added stress of their installation contributed. I know one of the other 2 cases that I'm familiar with does NOT have shocks, I'm unsure of the 3rd.


I find it very interesting that shortly after I bought my trailer, Palomino/Sabre derated the GVWR down to 14,666 lbs. I asked a head engineer if I had to worry about the derating and he indicated I would be fine. I have no way of knowing if it was frame related or what.


05CrewDually makes a great point. The cross member "support" is laughable at best. Flimsy angle and wires.

If we upgrade trailers- I'll be tempted to proactively have reinforcements installed.

[ependydad]

Old vs new:



You can see how badly this cross member buckled and broke:





This is the one that literally pulled a hole through the I beam (look close, that's daylight showing through):

[m35a2]

That's plumb scary

[ependydad]

Aye, crud- put a small stress crack into the bottom of the gray tank near the drain. Going to have to drain it and try to get it to dry out. At this point, I'm thinking of running a soldering iron on it to try and heat/weld it and then put some JB Weld on that. OR just the JB Weld.

[ependydad]

All 4 of the cross-members are in and bolted into place.

There's a litany of small stuff to do tomorrow before we close up:

• check mounts/springs for plumb
• check running/break lights with truck
• fix gray tank crack
• add padding needed for gray water drain through cross member
• close up under belly
• spray foam?
• replace slide bar

We also need to pickup our new 17.5" spare tire (I've held onto a 16" tire since I upgraded). And we need to get a new tire for the one that went flat- we tried but the guy must not have understood what my wife was asking for and mounted a different brand tire.

Additionally, my wife has a truck appointment at Spring Works for the pickup- oil change, driver's side headlight issue (stopped working, started working, stopped working), clicking in wheel, and noise in door.

And lastly on Friday, I hope to take the camper to a trailer shop to check the axle alignment.

[purduepete97]

Weight of new cross member minus weight of old cross member = ????. Whatever that number is, that's why FR byilt it like they did. We'll, that and it was cheaper. . .

[gectisme]

Originally Posted by ependydad

All 4 of the cross-members are in and bolted into place. There's a litany of small stuff to do tomorrow before we close up

Good deal, it's pretty amazing to me, to go from what you started with, to almost done in less than a week!

If you get a chance to go to Bodega Bay, make sure you get the clam chowder from Spud Point Crab Company! It's easy to spot, it will have a line of people out the door... We always make an excuse to go there at least a couple a times a year when we are home.

[ependydad]

We knocked out the list of little stuff for today. We decided to leave the hole in the I beam. I'll take picktures of it and we'll monitor it regularly.

We ended up not needing to add additional spray foam once the under-belly was put up. Because the under belly was previously screwed into the flimsy cross members, we had to come up with another idea. We mimicked what the factory does and bought a few 1x3 boards and laid them from frame edge to frame edge. That gave us something to bite into.

The tires are still off at the moment. We'll move it to a campground tonight so that we free up space in the work yard. That'll be done on 3x17.5" tires and my current 16" spare. Tomorrow we pickup a new 17.5" spare. I need to find somewhere that has my Continental tire - a local tire shop could order it, but it would be a week.

To add insult to injury to all of it, I finally sent the truck in to get an oil change and to check out a clicking. Turns out we have loose parts in the suspension and something and something and that'll be $3,000. They'll need my truck overnight in order to wrap it up tomorrow. So yeah- it's always something. We'll use my buddy's truck tonight to get the camper moved to the campground.

[18CrewDually]

$3k ? Are they replacing every single suspension component in the front end and then some? I'd get a second opinion with that one.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by ependydad

All 4 of the cross-members are in and bolted into place.

There's a litany of small stuff to do tomorrow before we close up:

• check mounts/springs for plumb
• check running/break lights with truck
• fix gray tank crack
• add padding needed for gray water drain through cross member
• close up under belly
• spray foam?
• replace slide bar

We also need to pickup our new 17.5" spare tire (I've held onto a 16" tire since I upgraded). And we need to get a new tire for the one that went flat- we tried but the guy must not have understood what my wife was asking for and mounted a different brand tire.

Additionally, my wife has a truck appointment at Spring Works for the pickup- oil change, driver's side headlight issue (stopped working, started working, stopped working), clicking in wheel, and noise in door.

And lastly on Friday, I hope to take the camper to a trailer shop to check the axle alignment.

Attachment 150827

Attachment 150828

Good job Sir. You attitude seems much better than mine would be. Keep up the good work.

[Wobbles]

Originally Posted by ependydad

We knocked out the list of little stuff for today. We decided to leave the hole in the I beam. I'll take picktures of it and we'll monitor it regularly.

We ended up not needing to add additional spray foam once the under-belly was put up. Because the under belly was previously screwed into the flimsy cross members, we had to come up with another idea. We mimicked what the factory does and bought a few 1x3 boards and laid them from frame edge to frame edge. That gave us something to bite into.

The tires are still off at the moment. We'll move it to a campground tonight so that we free up space in the work yard. That'll be done on 3x17.5" tires and my current 16" spare. Tomorrow we pickup a new 17.5" spare. I need to find somewhere that has my Continental tire - a local tire shop could order it, but it would be a week.

To add insult to injury to all of it, I finally sent the truck in to get an oil change and to check out a clicking. Turns out we have loose parts in the suspension and something and something and that'll be $3,000. They'll need my truck overnight in order to wrap it up tomorrow. So yeah- it's always something. We'll use my buddy's truck tonight to get the camper moved to the campground.

My life story: "With a Little Help from My Friends" Might sound like a prayer about now...
I hope you guys get past this trouble soon and move to a unit that can handle your requirements.

[ependydad]

As I mentioned, last night we moved over to the fair grounds RV park. We have a couple of little things left - dealing with 2 tires and buying a replacement bar for the slide bar (it appears to be bent and rubs the tire when extending the slide). The camper has new creaks and groans when we do a couple of things- we'll have to wait and see if these become long term issues.

As of now, we're hanging onto the camper.

[arter368rlbhk]

To each their own, but I think I would be tempted to dump that thing and never look back....moo

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by arter368rlbhk

To each their own, but I think I would be tempted to dump that thing and never look back....moo

We would, but we are in the middle of a fast-pace of moves and my work over the next 2-3 months. Plus, we are stupidly particular and picky that finding a camper is a royal pita. It took us 6 months and exploring 60 models to find this one.

[dblr]

Doug all I can say is WOW!!!! Love your outlook and admire the way you are handling it all, a friend once told me there are 2 ways to solve a problem, cry about it or man up and fix the problem usually the way to solve it is right in front of you. Take the time to step back get a good look at things and it will work out. Glad you received such GREAT help and hope you continue your travels safely.

[aceinspp]

This story about blows me away as we thought all the good folks no longer existed. know this was a trying time but thanks for sharing. Lot of good folks out there and glade you found them through your travels. Safe travels Later RJD

[TitanMike]

Thank for sharing your story. Your friend that helped you with the repairs/upgrades deserves more than just an Honoragle Mention. He's one of those in our society that renews my faith in people.

Your story should be a lesson to others that tend to carry too much weight. For some reason it doesn't matter what the GVW rating is, everyone seems to have a few more items they want to carry that either pushes the max (leaving no margin for big bumps) or just plain exceeds it and they cross their fingers.

I'm sure it's difficult when full timing to make choices but it appears you are on the right track with the lighter weight batteries (I assume they are lighter) and stripping the excess "cargo".

Good luck with your camper now that you've renewed it's undercarriage.


BTW, I personally am "in the shop". Seems that I had a heart attack Wednesday and now they are getting me ready to become a member of the "Zipper Scar" club, getting the "pump" re-plumbed on Monday. All RV Trips are on hold for at least 12 weeks now.

Given the choice I'd rather have to rebuild my trailer's frame

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Thank for sharing your story. Your friend that helped you with the repairs/upgrades deserves more than just an Honoragle Mention. He's one of those in our society that renews my faith in people.



Your story should be a lesson to others that tend to carry too much weight. For some reason it doesn't matter what the GVW rating is, everyone seems to have a few more items they want to carry that either pushes the max (leaving no margin for big bumps) or just plain exceeds it and they cross their fingers.



I'm sure it's difficult when full timing to make choices but it appears you are on the right track with the lighter weight batteries (I assume they are lighter) and stripping the excess "cargo".



Good luck with your camper now that you've renewed it's undercarriage.





BTW, I personally am "in the shop". Seems that I had a heart attack Wednesday and now they are getting me ready to become a member of the "Zipper Scar" club, getting the "pump" re-plumbed on Monday. All RV Trips are on hold for at least 12 weeks now.



Given the choice I'd rather have to rebuild my trailer's frame

I think that would cause me to have to go to the shop. Edad is the man as far as I'm concerned.