2010 Montana 5th wheel frame problems
I purchased a 2010 Montana 3400RL new. I have towed it less than 3000 miles. I have experianced many major problems with it since I purchased it. Now I found that the frame has a major problem. The wa...
Forum Discussion
Welcome to the world of very thin flexing Lippert RV Frames. Flexing fatigues metal and the thinner the faster it will crack or break free! Engineering and physics 101! I'm a retired mechanical engineer and many decade automotive engineering business owner and it's so blatantly obvious to me why they crack and break. Thousands upon thousands of Lippert frame RV's have your same cracking/fatigue type issues or total frame structure failure and those that haven't, it's only a question of when!
Notice nearly all the cracking propagates from where the weld bead ends along it's sides or ends. The welding high heat process stresses and weakens the metal right next to a weld and you see the results of having such thin metal used in and for RV frames which are constantly flexing when driven on normal roads. Bumpy type roads etc will fatigue such thin metal very quickly. In general, Lippert frames hold up well if the RV is only kept in a CG and supported reasonably well by the spring suspension and 4 corner jacks.
Yes, even Mobile Suites Lippert frames crack and break as there's a 2009 36' RL 3 slides purchased new not more than a quarter mile from our home that is torn apart and being fixed presently by adding a lot of 3/16" plates and 2 X 3 X 3/16" angle. The bottom skin will be 3/16' lower but that's no problem.
The reason I know the facts as we know the owners personally and he asked me how to fix it properly as he needed help with acheiving structural integrity. He had to basically strip the interior in the bedroom area and remove all the floor screws he could get to (many were snapped off) and use some rented big draw clamps and a sledge on a 4 X 4 to close the frame break gaps. Will need new floor attachment screw holes anyway. What a junky weak frame for such a heavy RV! The RV is long out of warranty so I helped him with how to reinforce it properly by welding the cracks and then layering a type of eal frame over the existing thin junk. Fortunately, he has a Hobart 210MVP 220V flux core wire feed welder in his garage and knows how to weld as he was a machine repairman before his 2010 car accident which put him on disability with a screwed up back with a rod down it. He has the Mobile Suites parked in his driveway about 15'-18' from the door, front first. Made a 6 ga 220V extension cord 35' long so he can plug in to his 50 amp garage outlet and reach the RV with the welder. Most RV owners don't have this/these options or ability to fix theirs.
haha, Even Ray Charles could weld better than some of the Lippert bird droppings welds I've seen! Don't even need any eyesight to realize missing welds as Ray Charles could still feel their absence.
Until Lippert builds a truely capable RV frame, we'll never buy an RV with one of their frames under it!
Notice nearly all the cracking propagates from where the weld bead ends along it's sides or ends. The welding high heat process stresses and weakens the metal right next to a weld and you see the results of having such thin metal used in and for RV frames which are constantly flexing when driven on normal roads. Bumpy type roads etc will fatigue such thin metal very quickly. In general, Lippert frames hold up well if the RV is only kept in a CG and supported reasonably well by the spring suspension and 4 corner jacks.
Yes, even Mobile Suites Lippert frames crack and break as there's a 2009 36' RL 3 slides purchased new not more than a quarter mile from our home that is torn apart and being fixed presently by adding a lot of 3/16" plates and 2 X 3 X 3/16" angle. The bottom skin will be 3/16' lower but that's no problem.
The reason I know the facts as we know the owners personally and he asked me how to fix it properly as he needed help with acheiving structural integrity. He had to basically strip the interior in the bedroom area and remove all the floor screws he could get to (many were snapped off) and use some rented big draw clamps and a sledge on a 4 X 4 to close the frame break gaps. Will need new floor attachment screw holes anyway. What a junky weak frame for such a heavy RV! The RV is long out of warranty so I helped him with how to reinforce it properly by welding the cracks and then layering a type of eal frame over the existing thin junk. Fortunately, he has a Hobart 210MVP 220V flux core wire feed welder in his garage and knows how to weld as he was a machine repairman before his 2010 car accident which put him on disability with a screwed up back with a rod down it. He has the Mobile Suites parked in his driveway about 15'-18' from the door, front first. Made a 6 ga 220V extension cord 35' long so he can plug in to his 50 amp garage outlet and reach the RV with the welder. Most RV owners don't have this/these options or ability to fix theirs.
haha, Even Ray Charles could weld better than some of the Lippert bird droppings welds I've seen! Don't even need any eyesight to realize missing welds as Ray Charles could still feel their absence.
Until Lippert builds a truely capable RV frame, we'll never buy an RV with one of their frames under it!
