We traded in our 5th wheel for a class C motorhome awhile back. One reason for the change is our 5th wheel suffered damage on a road trip 3 years ago in which the frame was bent. No other vehicle was involved, and the only thing we could conclude was that we hit a pot hole in a street. We just heard a loud bang from the 5th wheel and when we got it home we saw the damage. The process of getting it fixed was a nightmare, and even though the frame was straightened, we could tell things like the slide and the rear wall were off a little. In short, we didn't feel like we could trust the unit. This has caused me to wonder about the durability of frames in 5th wheels. Any opinions or similar experiences?

stargirl96 wrote:We traded in our 5th wheel for a class C motorhome awhile back. One reason for the change is our 5th wheel suffered damage on a road trip 3 years ago in which the frame was bent. No other vehicle was involved, and the only thing we could conclude was that we hit a pot hole in a street. We just heard a loud bang from the 5th wheel and when we got it home we saw the damage. The process of getting it fixed was a nightmare, and even though the frame was straightened, we could tell things like the slide and the rear wall were off a little. In short, we didn't feel like we could trust the unit. This has caused me to wonder about the durability of frames in 5th wheels. Any opinions or similar experiences?What FW did you have? Odds on, it was a Lippert framed one.FWIW, I passed a 40+', triple axle FW (non-TH) today, parked in a friend's neighborhood. New to the guy towing, since it had temporary plates on it and a faded front cap. Driving past, slowly so as to check it out, I noticed the tail seemed to be sagging a bit. You could even see that the left-rear slide was no longer square to the cutout for it, behind the rear axle. Can't remember the name, though it started with an "A", and not familiar to me. Hope the guy knows what he's in for, or got a deal too good to pass up.Lyle

Not many things can be described as "durable." A sledge hammer??? Once any kind of vehicle is in an accident, odds are it may very well have issues down the road. I expect something other than hitting a pot hole caused your fifth wheel frame to bend, but stranger things have happened.

I know the light weight 5th wheels can have 6" Ibeams. Some of these can be 30' or longer. In my opinion they should have a much more substantial frame. Our first 5th wheel frame would flex quite badly on rough roads.

My question was prompted by the TV show, RV Nation, in which couples look at RVs (in this case 5th wheels) and try to decide which one to buy. Of course all they paid attention to were the cosmetic features, never asking how the units were made.

Without more details like make, model, year and what actually happen to your trailer it is hard to answer your question. We had a issue with our 2005 Cardinal 5th wheel with cracks in the I-Beams in four places. Lippert had a service bulletin on how to repair and reinforce the area of the I-Beams, and to install square tubes between the spring hangers. It was better than new after the repair.Chris

5th wheel durability | Good Sam Community

laknox
Nomad
May 31, 2016
stargirl96 wrote:
We traded in our 5th wheel for a class C motorhome awhile back. One reason for the change is our 5th wheel suffered damage on a road trip 3 years ago in which the frame was bent. No other vehicle was involved, and the only thing we could conclude was that we hit a pot hole in a street. We just heard a loud bang from the 5th wheel and when we got it home we saw the damage. The process of getting it fixed was a nightmare, and even though the frame was straightened, we could tell things like the slide and the rear wall were off a little. In short, we didn't feel like we could trust the unit. This has caused me to wonder about the durability of frames in 5th wheels. Any opinions or similar experiences?

What FW did you have? Odds on, it was a Lippert framed one.

FWIW, I passed a 40+', triple axle FW (non-TH) today, parked in a friend's neighborhood. New to the guy towing, since it had temporary plates on it and a faded front cap. Driving past, slowly so as to check it out, I noticed the tail seemed to be sagging a bit. You could even see that the left-rear slide was no longer square to the cutout for it, behind the rear axle. Can't remember the name, though it started with an "A", and not familiar to me. Hope the guy knows what he's in for, or got a deal too good to pass up.

Lyle
1ofmany
Explorer
May 31, 2016
Not many things can be described as "durable." A sledge hammer??? Once any kind of vehicle is in an accident, odds are it may very well have issues down the road. I expect something other than hitting a pot hole caused your fifth wheel frame to bend, but stranger things have happened.
grampscamper
Explorer
May 31, 2016
I know the light weight 5th wheels can have 6" Ibeams. Some of these can be 30' or longer. In my opinion they should have a much more substantial frame. Our first 5th wheel frame would flex quite badly on rough roads.
stargirl96
Explorer
May 31, 2016
My question was prompted by the TV show, RV Nation, in which couples look at RVs (in this case 5th wheels) and try to decide which one to buy. Of course all they paid attention to were the cosmetic features, never asking how the units were made.
Me_Again
Explorer III
May 31, 2016
Without more details like make, model, year and what actually happen to your trailer it is hard to answer your question. We had a issue with our 2005 Cardinal 5th wheel with cracks in the I-Beams in four places. Lippert had a service bulletin on how to repair and reinforce the area of the I-Beams, and to install square tubes between the spring hangers. It was better than new after the repair.

Chris
stargirl96
Explorer
May 31, 2016
The 5th wheel was a '04 Starcraft Homestead, 29-30' in length. A truck repair place straightened the frame. They couldn't give us any answers why it happened. They did say it was on a Lippert frame and that in general they didn't think most 5th wheels had an adequate frame. Insurance paid most of the costs, but we paid extra to have a steel crossmember installed to add strength and stability.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
May 31, 2016
Some trailer frames of that era suffered from not using heavy enough I beams/C channels and even steel tubing. Manufacturers were cutting corners in the mfg process to keep costs low which bit them and the customer in the butz down the road.

The truck repair place most likely had the best idea although a trailer frame engineer could do the RR and tell you what was wrong and why it happened.

However not all trailer frames were made the same.....then and now.
rhagfo
Explorer III
May 31, 2016
This is a really strange tail, I would think any pot hole in the road the TV would have also hit. We hit a road buckle on 101 just south of Seaside, and I swear the 5er left the ground, we also got a decent jolt, but the Bilstein's I had just installed smoothed it a good bit. The only damage was it broke three of the door shelves in the refer that had beer and soda in them.
stargirl96
Explorer
May 31, 2016
Definitely a strange story. I wouldn't have believe it if it hadn't happened to us. When it happened we heard a large bang. I wish we had pulled over to look at it but we were tired and wanted to continue on. The 5th wheel pulled fine all the way, and we didn't suspect anything was wrong until we arrived home. The inside looked like a bomb had gone off. Chairs were turned over and cabinet doors open with stuff scattered. The slide was misaligned and the rear bumper was pushed up.
Oaklevel
Explorer
May 31, 2016
Strange occurrence but nothing is impossible............ but 5th wheels, travel trailers and motor homes are all built very similar......

But pulling any trailer is like a major earthquake going on inside major reason why not to ride in one.

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