274DBH owners - Have you noticed these things?

[MILover]

Two trips down in our new 274DBH. So far, we love it. We have noticed a couple of things though, and I wonder if other owners can chime in?

1) When walking on the floor, our oven creaks and vibrates. Constantly. This is especially annoying at night, when kids are in bed, and DH and I are trying to sneak out to the campfire. Yes, the camper is level, and we even have x-chocks. No difference. We tried to isolate the noise, and it seems to be the entire oven/stovetop unit. I think the slight flexing of the floor is enough to create movement around the oven, and the metal creaks.

2) When towing home, we noticed that wind pushing against the front of the trailer sometimes depressed the thin aluminum. This occurred right over the wolf emblem area; it would pop in and out. Is this normal? I worry it will cause problems around seams in the area.

Any suggestions?

[JustB_Rad]

I can only answer #1 for you because I've never noticed #2 on our 26DBH.

It's not the floors that are creaking, its the suspension of the unit. There are lots of ways to try to remedy the situation, but the only real fix I found after trying X-chocks and a couple other things was to put a pair of stabilizer jacks just in front of the front tires. This takes ALL the movement out of the TT when used with the other 4. I got a set off of E-trailer for like $75....the only complaint I have with them is that they're reverse thread, but it's not a huge deal.

[MILover]

Oh, the sound is definitely coming from the oven/stovetop. It's not the flooring or the suspension. I can stand in front of the oven and apply pressure to the oven frame and replicate the sound.

[JustB_Rad]

Originally Posted by MILover

Oh, the sound is definitely coming from the oven/stovetop. It's not the flooring or the suspension. I can stand in front of the oven and apply pressure to the oven frame and replicate the sound.

The stove top lifts up just like a home range....pop it up and see if something is loose? If you still have any movement in the unit, its from the suspension. Stop that movement, and your other problems are solved as well. Before I installed our extra jacks, our 15 lb wiener dog would make the camper bounce as she walked across it.....now neither she or the 70lb goldendoodle make it move at all.

[MILover]

I did lift the top. Nothing is loose. The sound is coming from the entire oven/stove unit. Like the slight flexing in the cabinetry around it (likely from the flex/vibration of walking on the floor) causes the oven to creak.

Are you suggesting that the extra jacks will eliminate the floor flex/movement, and thereby stop the oven noise? We really don't notice excess movement in the camper - even when the kids are jumping around.

[JustB_Rad]

Originally Posted by MILover

I did lift the top. Nothing is loose. The sound is coming from the entire oven/stove unit. Like the slight flexing in the cabinetry around it (likely from the flex/vibration of walking on the floor) causes the oven to creak.

Are you suggesting that the extra jacks will eliminate the floor flex/movement, and thereby stop the oven noise? We really don't notice excess movement in the camper - even when the kids are jumping around.

I'm sure everything is flexing. It's very minimal construction (didn't believe how minimal until I had to dig in to fix a few things). The reality is, that stove/oven is supported by very little. The top is held down to the base unit by the clip in the front, and a couple tabs in slots in the back, so there is possible movement there.

That's why I suggested the extra jacks...by eliminating the suspension movement, you are taking all the flex out of the unit. Being the stove is right over the wheels, even a little movement is magnified by just a small vibration or movement. If you think about it, when you're over the wheels, you're standing over 8" that's being taken up by air and springs, which are all designed to flex and absorb shock when driving down the road. We noticed the movement in our wood blinds...if ANYTHING moved in the unit, the blinds would start to slap the wall. It drove me nuts until I added the jacks.

[MILover]

Originally Posted by JustB_Rad

I'm sure everything is flexing. It's very minimal construction (didn't believe how minimal until I had to dig in to fix a few things). The reality is, that stove/oven is supported by very little. The top is held down to the base unit by the clip in the front, and a couple tabs in slots in the back, so there is possible movement there.

That's why I suggested the extra jacks...by eliminating the suspension movement, you are taking all the flex out of the unit. Being the stove is right over the wheels, even a little movement is magnified by just a small vibration or movement. If you think about it, when you're over the wheels, you're standing over 8" that's being taken up by air and springs, which are all designed to flex and absorb shock when driving down the road. We noticed the movement in our wood blinds...if ANYTHING moved in the unit, the blinds would start to slap the wall. It drove me nuts until I added the jacks.

Got it. Sorry if I sounded dense. Just wanted to be sure we were talking about the same thing!

[JustB_Rad]

Originally Posted by MILover

Got it. Sorry if I sounded dense. Just wanted to be sure we were talking about the same thing!

No worries!

[ProCharger]

While I can not say your issue is due to your suspension I can say I use these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000760FWU..._OZElzb2NAN613 on my 26DBH. One each side just in front of the front axle and one behind each axle. Helps stabilize the steps as well. I also use x-chocks.

[Jack Larson]

Just returned from a weekend trip 2017 27DBH, my stove is quite. The first few times out I was going crazy over all the movement. I read lots of different posts about what different people do about. Some like one way, others like something else. You can sure spend some money on all that stuff. I started with the four more jacks in front and back of the tires. Still had some movement, next I went and got some "cargo bars" at Harbor Freight. They have two versions, I bought the better ones and used them "ala" JT Strongarms style. More improvement. I saw too many mixed opinions on the x-chocks, so I never went there. After all that fooling around, I just don't think it is worth the effort of crawling around underneath the trailer. So now I just use bigger/more blocks under the jacks so I have to lower them very little, and crank them a little bit more than I did at first. For my first big block I use some old Ford C-4 bell housings. They are lightweight, provide a good footprint and weight less than a stack of wood that tall. As far as the front getting pushed in while driving, I guess That depends on how fast you go. The fastest I'm been is maybe 70MPH, and did not notice any thing out of the ordinary. I say try what has bee suggested, and see what works for you. I have found some sound advise from some clever people on this forum. Read a lot, and see what works for you.

[MILover]

Originally Posted by Jack Larson

Just returned from a weekend trip 2017 27DBH, my stove is quite. The first few times out I was going crazy over all the movement. I read lots of different posts about what different people do about. Some like one way, others like something else. You can sure spend some money on all that stuff. I started with the four more jacks in front and back of the tires. Still had some movement, next I went and got some "cargo bars" at Harbor Freight. They have two versions, I bought the better ones and used them "ala" JT Strongarms style. More improvement. I saw too many mixed opinions on the x-chocks, so I never went there. After all that fooling around, I just don't think it is worth the effort of crawling around underneath the trailer. So now I just use bigger/more blocks under the jacks so I have to lower them very little, and crank them a little bit more than I did at first. For my first big block I use some old Ford C-4 bell housings. They are lightweight, provide a good footprint and weight less than a stack of wood that tall. As far as the front getting pushed in while driving, I guess That depends on how fast you go. The fastest I'm been is maybe 70MPH, and did not notice any thing out of the ordinary. I say try what has bee suggested, and see what works for you. I have found some sound advise from some clever people on this forum. Read a lot, and see what works for you.

We were only driving 65 mph. Nothing outrageous. I just worry that the flexing of the aluminum in the front is due to under-engineering and will eventually cause problems if it does that on every outing. I'm curious if others have had this issue and done anything about it, and if it's something we need to address with our dealer while under warranty.

Sounds like our only way to fix the oven noise is to eliminate flex in the floor. Aside from that though, we've not had issues with excessive movement.

[MILover]

Bump. Can anyone provide feedback on #2 in my original post? It concerns us the most. While we can always ask the dealer about it after camping season, I'd like to find out if others are experiencing the same issue (wind-induced flex in the aluminum front over the decal area).

[Skocan]

This probably won't help but, no, haven't seen any flex in out 2017 274DBH. So far, have had no real structural issues. Doors needed adjusting though. Have to put on a few more kms.

[MILover]

Originally Posted by Skocan

This probably won't help but, no, haven't seen any flex in out 2017 274DBH. So far, have had no real structural issues. Doors needed adjusting though. Have to put on a few more kms.

Thank you. We only noticed when traveling on the freeway during a lot of wind. But, if we reach up to that area, it's easy to depress the aluminum by hand too. Makes me wonder if there is sub-par backing in that area.

[JustB_Rad]

Originally Posted by MILover

Thank you. We only noticed when traveling on the freeway during a lot of wind. But, if we reach up to that area, it's easy to depress the aluminum by hand too. Makes me wonder if there is sub-par backing in that area.

I would say it's likely there's NO backing there at all.

[MILover]

Originally Posted by JustB_Rad

I would say it's likely there's NO backing there at all.

But there should be, right? Something? May sound like a stupid question, but this is our first TT. Does your 26DBH flex easily in that location?

[klrobert]

After reading your post, I made it a point to watch for the front cap pushing in on our last trip, and it did not occur on our trailer. We were towing in some pretty stiff headwind (20 -30 mph) on the interstate (68 mph). One more thing to be paranoid about.

[MILover]

Originally Posted by klrobert

After reading your post, I made it a point to watch for the front cap pushing in on our last trip, and it did not occur on our trailer. We were towing in some pretty stiff headwind (20 -30 mph) on the interstate (68 mph). One more thing to be paranoid about.

Sorry to add to your paranoia! Thank you though, for observing and following up. We'll definitely mention this to the dealer, but are going to try and get through our summer camping first. Last thing I want is for the trailer to be out of commission at the dealer all summer...