Cracked frame! Help

[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?

[Kcoulter]

Pretty bad, but a decent welder can fix you right up.

[5picker]

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.

[Lins]

Serious but easily fixable. I'm more concerned with what's going on with the rest of the underside in the first pic.

[Scrapper]

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?

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.

[Fish N Farm]

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.

[Mandog]

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?

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....

[Mr. Dan]

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....

So you don’t see where that crossmember is torn all the way through that big round hole?

[BrianF]

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

[wet in washington]

After you get the frame fixed I'd check your axle alignment checked too. Are you the original owner?

[Scrapper]

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?

Most likely not since OP states in post above yours that it is a 2016 model and he joined the forum in October 2020.

[TxRockwood]

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.

He says it is a 2016 that he bought a year ago, so he is not the original owner.

[pjones1969]

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

[wet in washington]

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.

Makes me wonder if the previous owner may have had a mishap with the unit.

[BrianF]

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.

[phillyg]

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.

[Mandog]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

So you don’t see where that crossmember is torn all the way through that big round hole?

Yes I sure do. But the other post was stating that it looked like more damage cause by something!!!

[bikendan]

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.

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.

[walaby]

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

[Tireman9]

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?

File complaint with NHTSA of this safety problem. Include the full VIN.