Possible frame rail, hitch receiver issue..
..Was under the Motorhome a few weeks ago, looking at some things, and noticed at the back, where the hitch receiver bolts to the frame, that the frame rails seem to have bent, twisted slightly. I kn...
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Update: Well, looks like this is getting fixed tomorrow (Friday).
Met with Raleigh, from Holbert Trailers. Really, really impressed with this group. Family owned operation, been in business for 30 years, nothing but glowing reviews from everyone thats ever dealt with them. Talked with the guy about it for a good hour or two, sent him the photos, etc. He knows this problem very well - He owns a Class A Motorhome himself, had same issue and had to fix it on his. Has been doing welding, truck frame repairs on big rigs for a looooong time, very obviously knows what he is doing. Even offered to come pick up the Motorhome from our house, take it to his shop, and return it after repairs were done, for no extra charge (although we ain't going to let him do that, I got too many trust issues to allow that, haha).
Anyway, he is basically going to take off the receiver/hitch, straighten out the C channel, weld in a piece to basically box in the frame for last few feet and make it muuuuch stronger, then bolt the eceiver back on. He guaranteed we will never, ever have this problem again after he finishes with it.
I've decided to go with Holbert Trailers, due to fact they are considerably closer to us, and because he has done this exact repair on his own Motorhome, he knows Motorhomes. That alone makes me feel much better about him doing this work. The looooong standing reputation they have for quality work in the community and being a great, family run operation, went a long way, too.
Sooo, tomorrow, I bringing it to him early in the morning, and he promises to have it done by the end of the day. Am really glad to be getting this taken care of, and doing so before we tow anything again. We have two more trips planned for this 'season', and glad they'll both be with this frame issue fixed. :)
On another note: Thinking back some, I think we know how this happened, and it may well have had nothing to do with scraping when backing in the driveway. Some time ago, we were coming home from Myrtle Beach, There is one particular bump/hump on route 151 in McBee, SC, that I had forgot about, and hit the wrong way. I had slowed down drastically for it, but apparently not enough. That hump shook and rocked the Motorhome soooo HARD, felt like entire MH almost got airborn. Came down and bottomed out soo hard, Angie (DW) swore it felt like entire coach had hit the ground. Jerked and snapped the toad around sooo bad, the 4 bikes we were carrying on the back of toad on a hitch mounted bike rack, jerked so hard it warped and bent up the trunk (bike rack had straps attached to lip of trunk). Ended up having to have the trunk lid replaced (fortunately insurance covered that one). As a result of that incident, we now carry bikes on a roof rack on top of the toad. Would not surprise me at all if that massive bump/jolt, jerked the toad, hitch receiver soo hard, it caused the (weak, poorly designed) frame rail to bend, twist where the hitch receiver attaches to it.
Anyway, will try and post some pictures of this after the repairs are done tomorrow, so everyone will know how this one ends. Thanks for all the responses, suggestions, etc. :)
Will
Met with Raleigh, from Holbert Trailers. Really, really impressed with this group. Family owned operation, been in business for 30 years, nothing but glowing reviews from everyone thats ever dealt with them. Talked with the guy about it for a good hour or two, sent him the photos, etc. He knows this problem very well - He owns a Class A Motorhome himself, had same issue and had to fix it on his. Has been doing welding, truck frame repairs on big rigs for a looooong time, very obviously knows what he is doing. Even offered to come pick up the Motorhome from our house, take it to his shop, and return it after repairs were done, for no extra charge (although we ain't going to let him do that, I got too many trust issues to allow that, haha).
Anyway, he is basically going to take off the receiver/hitch, straighten out the C channel, weld in a piece to basically box in the frame for last few feet and make it muuuuch stronger, then bolt the eceiver back on. He guaranteed we will never, ever have this problem again after he finishes with it.
I've decided to go with Holbert Trailers, due to fact they are considerably closer to us, and because he has done this exact repair on his own Motorhome, he knows Motorhomes. That alone makes me feel much better about him doing this work. The looooong standing reputation they have for quality work in the community and being a great, family run operation, went a long way, too.
Sooo, tomorrow, I bringing it to him early in the morning, and he promises to have it done by the end of the day. Am really glad to be getting this taken care of, and doing so before we tow anything again. We have two more trips planned for this 'season', and glad they'll both be with this frame issue fixed. :)
On another note: Thinking back some, I think we know how this happened, and it may well have had nothing to do with scraping when backing in the driveway. Some time ago, we were coming home from Myrtle Beach, There is one particular bump/hump on route 151 in McBee, SC, that I had forgot about, and hit the wrong way. I had slowed down drastically for it, but apparently not enough. That hump shook and rocked the Motorhome soooo HARD, felt like entire MH almost got airborn. Came down and bottomed out soo hard, Angie (DW) swore it felt like entire coach had hit the ground. Jerked and snapped the toad around sooo bad, the 4 bikes we were carrying on the back of toad on a hitch mounted bike rack, jerked so hard it warped and bent up the trunk (bike rack had straps attached to lip of trunk). Ended up having to have the trunk lid replaced (fortunately insurance covered that one). As a result of that incident, we now carry bikes on a roof rack on top of the toad. Would not surprise me at all if that massive bump/jolt, jerked the toad, hitch receiver soo hard, it caused the (weak, poorly designed) frame rail to bend, twist where the hitch receiver attaches to it.
Anyway, will try and post some pictures of this after the repairs are done tomorrow, so everyone will know how this one ends. Thanks for all the responses, suggestions, etc. :)
Will
