Forum Discussion

Reng8d's avatar
Reng8d
Explorer
Sep 16, 2016

Frame Failure

Over the Labor Day weekend, we traveled to Colorado and when we arrived at our site and was setting up, my DW went to move the living area slide out and we heard this awful pop, I looked at how we were parked and thought we may be twisted a bit due to the pad being totally unlevel so I hooked back up an adjusted our level. She went to let the slide out and there was that awful pop and jerking of the slide. I looked underneath again and saw our frame was totally tweaked. Our 2015 FR WIldcat 344QB is at the dealership now (yes we made it home and to the dealer), so we are waiting to see what the next step is. The frame on this FR is a NXG from BAL (Nordic Manufacturing I believe).


  • WTP-GC's avatar
    WTP-GC
    Explorer
    Sep 16, 2016
    2 many 2 wrote:
    Building one correctly wouldn't cost that much more!!


    X2

    Exactly. Building ONE correctly wouldn't cost much more. But building thousands correctly cumulatively adds up to a lot, and God forbid they charge $20 more per unit to do something right. :(
  • tinner12002's avatar
    tinner12002
    Explorer
    Sep 16, 2016
    Adding a tube under the main frame rail whether it be by an individual or from the factory should have had a crossmember at least on the front and rear to tie both sides together. Even a vertical support up to the top of the main frame rail could have prevented that, but like others have said, its all about saving money and making them as cheap as possible. Building one correctly wouldn't cost that much more!! That looks like a quick and sloppy fix to fit the newer higher trucks!
  • WNYBob's avatar
    WNYBob
    Explorer
    Sep 16, 2016
    This is an example of bad or non-existent engineering!
    Putting a suspension on spacers is asking for issues like this, what is needed is a suspension sub-frame.
  • TXiceman's avatar
    TXiceman
    Explorer II
    Sep 16, 2016
    filrupmark wrote:
    It's sad that we spend our hard earned money on flimsy **** like this while corporate America gets rich. I realize trailers need to be light but look at the horsepower and torque trucks have these days.Manufacturer's should at least build frames strong enough so the frames don't buckle while backing and twisting.



    You can get a stronger frame, but you do not get it on a Forest River product. Stronger frames mean more steel and a heavier RV and more $$$$.

    Out HH Champagne is on a 14" high frame, but we are heavy.

    Ken
  • filrupmark's avatar
    filrupmark
    Explorer
    Sep 16, 2016
    It's sad that we spend our hard earned money on flimsy **** like this while corporate America gets rich. I realize trailers need to be light but look at the horsepower and torque trucks have these days.Manufacturer's should at least build frames strong enough so the frames don't buckle while backing and twisting.
  • wing_zealot's avatar
    wing_zealot
    Explorer
    Sep 16, 2016
    Just curious, did you have the stabilizers down and setup before you put the slide out?
  • Diesel_Camper's avatar
    Diesel_Camper
    Explorer
    Sep 16, 2016
    It's hard to tell if it's just the spring mount, but either way no good. Sorry that happened, hopefully it's not as bad as it looks and is all warranty work!

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