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11-25-2020, 02:29 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 3
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Cracked frame! Help
Crawled under my Forest river Grey Wolf, 22RR today. Noticed a cracked frame crossmember, looks like it holds a tank up. Maybe structural too. How bad is this?
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11-25-2020, 02:32 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Frankfort, IL
Posts: 284
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Pretty bad, but a decent welder can fix you right up.
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2024 Brinkley Z3100
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11-25-2020, 02:37 PM
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#3
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Pickin', Campin', Mason
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: South Western PA
Posts: 19,152
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It certainly can be fixed by jacking that crossmember back up in place and plating both sides.
Do you recall hitting a pot hole or something to cause that?
It took some force to crack that crossmember vertically.
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11-25-2020, 04:20 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Yellowknife
Posts: 1,162
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Serious but easily fixable. I'm more concerned with what's going on with the rest of the underside in the first pic.
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2007 Rockwood 2701SS
2017 Ram 2500 Granite Crystal SAP Laramie 6.7L
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1953 GMC 9314
1982 GoldWing Interstate
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11-25-2020, 06:31 PM
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#5
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Just as confused as you
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: south central Wisconsin
Posts: 5,108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianF
Crawled under my Forest river Grey Wolf, 22RR today. Noticed a cracked frame crossmember, looks like it holds a tank up. Maybe structural too. How bad is this?
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There's no maybe about it, that is a structural crossmember. With that cracking, I wonder how many rv's with enclosed underbellies have cracked crossmembers.
__________________
Richard & Jill
2014 Flagstaff 832IKBS Classic Super Lite
2018 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab Z71 4WD All Star Edition
Camping since 1989, Seasonal since 2000.
Car Shredder Op/Tech, Scrap Metal Recycling - retired
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11-25-2020, 07:43 PM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 89
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Frame damage
How old is your trailer? your frame may have a warranty. Looking at the the belly pan cover or what ever you want to call it you may have run over something and that might be insurance.
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11-25-2020, 08:02 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: Front Royal, VA
Posts: 478
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianF
Crawled under my Forest river Grey Wolf, 22RR today. Noticed a cracked frame crossmember, looks like it holds a tank up. Maybe structural too. How bad is this?
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Yep you need to get it fixed soon. I don’t see any damage the other posters are thinking they see. I see your underbelly skirting is all I see. Anyway you need to look at your spring shackles, shackle bolts and the frame area above the axles as well. My guess is this is a fatigue type failure due to the torsional forces produce by turning tightly. Check those shackle bolts because if they are frozen that will transfer a lot of force to the frame as well. Do you have a driveway that you have to turn sharp to get into? Does this trailer have spread axles? What year is the trailer? When you have this repaired have them fish plate the crossmember and not a square plate. The rule on on frame welding is never weld straight up and down on a frame. Let us know what you find and how your repair goes....
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Bill Burke
Firefighter, NREMT
2020 Forest River Vibe VBT32BH
05 Chevy 2500HD 4x4 6.0
Wife W/3 rescue dogs & 12-16 chickens
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11-25-2020, 09:13 PM
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#8
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Grayson County, Texas
Posts: 21,587
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandog
Yep you need to get it fixed soon. I don’t see any damage the other posters are thinking they see. I see your underbelly skirting is all I see. Anyway you need to look at your spring shackles, shackle bolts and the frame area above the axles as well. My guess is this is a fatigue type failure due to the torsional forces produce by turning tightly. Check those shackle bolts because if they are frozen that will transfer a lot of force to the frame as well. Do you have a driveway that you have to turn sharp to get into? Does this trailer have spread axles? What year is the trailer? When you have this repaired have them fish plate the crossmember and not a square plate. The rule on on frame welding is never weld straight up and down on a frame. Let us know what you find and how your repair goes....
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So you don’t see where that crossmember is torn all the way through that big round hole?
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11-26-2020, 12:14 AM
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#9
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 3
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I do turn sharply into my driveway, and had to a few times on the road since I got her a year ago. She’s a 2016, with tandem axles. Didn’t consider the linkage might be frozen, but the bolts do look a little corroded. The shackle nearest to the damage is a little lose and the tire near it is wearing unevenly. Just on the outside edge, like its toed in. I was about to make a post about that. It’s what got me under there to begin with, then I got more concerned with this. I have a local welder in mind, I’ll post updates. Let me know if you have any ideas on the wear, maybe a bent axle or just that loose linkage? The first tire pic is the worn one, second is just for reference
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11-26-2020, 12:55 AM
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#10
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Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25
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After you get the frame fixed I'd check your axle alignment checked too. Are you the original owner?
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11-26-2020, 09:13 AM
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#11
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Just as confused as you
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: south central Wisconsin
Posts: 5,108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wet in washington
After you get the frame fixed I'd check your axle alignment checked too. Are you the original owner?
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Most likely not since OP states in post above yours that it is a 2016 model and he joined the forum in October 2020.
__________________
Richard & Jill
2014 Flagstaff 832IKBS Classic Super Lite
2018 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab Z71 4WD All Star Edition
Camping since 1989, Seasonal since 2000.
Car Shredder Op/Tech, Scrap Metal Recycling - retired
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11-26-2020, 09:19 AM
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#12
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 65
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrapper
Most likely not since OP states in post above yours that it is a 2016 model and he joined the forum in October 2020.
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He says it is a 2016 that he bought a year ago, so he is not the original owner.
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11-26-2020, 10:06 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North Texas
Posts: 203
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We have another brand now, but we recently had some repair work done at the factory (not FR), upon arrival both rear spring hangers had broken, Lippert, the frame manufacturer was called in for the repairs and found 2 broken crossmembers besides the obvious spring hanger failure, they added 2” square tubing across the frame and welded it to the existing crossmembers and gusseted it to the frame rails, Dexter also has a Recommended Cross Frame Hanger Reinforcement where channel iron is added between the spring hangers to prevent flexing. I was planning to do this once I got our trailer back but Lippert also welded gussets to each spring hanger during the repair so I’m going to inspect them and see if I need to add anything going forward.
I post this so if you do get a welder you might consider adding additional support while they are at it.
Pics here
https://heartlandowners.org/showthre...ht=#post645369
Dexter info on page 1
https://www.dexteraxle.com/docs/defa...m.pdf?sfvrsn=4
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11-26-2020, 10:10 AM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrapper
Most likely not since OP states in post above yours that it is a 2016 model and he joined the forum in October 2020.
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Makes me wonder if the previous owner may have had a mishap with the unit.
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11-26-2020, 11:06 AM
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#15
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 3
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Thanks for all the advice everybody, and happy thanksgiving! Not sure if it was cracked when I bought it. But the odd tire wear seems recent. I did drive it across country 7k miles. The PO did transfer what’s left of the existing warranty,, I’ll see if this repair is covered or call lippert directly.
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11-26-2020, 11:56 AM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,397
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The cracked frame member is really a simple repair for a skilled welder, and have him thoroughly check the rest of the frame, too. Only issue I see is ensuring nothing is combustible around the welding area. As for the worn tire, it appears your axle or spindle is bent, so you do need an alignment. Your springs and shackles should be checked, too.
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11-26-2020, 12:27 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: Front Royal, VA
Posts: 478
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Dan
So you don’t see where that crossmember is torn all the way through that big round hole?
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Yes I sure do. But the other post was stating that it looked like more damage cause by something!!!
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11-26-2020, 03:32 PM
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#18
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,858
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianF
The PO did transfer what’s left of the existing warranty,, I’ll see if this repair is covered or call lippert directly.
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That has to be a 3rd party extended warranty and you need to read the fine print.
1. To make sure it's transferable.
2. To make sure it covers the frame.
Factory warranties are not transferable nor would be the Lippert original frame warranty.
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11-26-2020, 10:13 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Middle Ga
Posts: 426
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Whats the purpose of the hole in the cross member.
Doesn't seem like anything is passing through it.
Seems like the only thing it would do is weaken it.
Mike
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11-26-2020, 10:22 PM
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#20
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Akron, Ohio
Posts: 1,895
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianF
Crawled under my Forest river Grey Wolf, 22RR today. Noticed a cracked frame crossmember, looks like it holds a tank up. Maybe structural too. How bad is this?
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File complaint with NHTSA of this safety problem. Include the full VIN.
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.Write a blog on RV tire application RV Tire Safety. 48 years experience as tire design & forensic engineer. My RV Freelander 23QB on Chevy 4500 chassis. Giving seminars on RV Tire applications (not selling)@ FMCA Conventions. Mar 20-22 Tucson AZ
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