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, Friday morning I dropped the Motorhome off at Holbert trailers, they set to work on it. Basically, removed the receiver, straightened out the frame, then welded on a very substantial 'sleeve', about 2 feet long, to the end of each frame rail. Then, of course, put the receiver back on with new, much more stout bolts. It looks VERY solid, the metal sleeves are a thicker steel, substantially thicker, than even the original frame rails.
I took some pictures; They don't show very well how thick, solid this is, but here goes:
Looking from the outside of each frame rail:
..From inside:
I was a little nervous about the wiring back there, as I know I had kind of a mess back there. I had once wired up a 6 round plug that we used with the van that had the Remco lube pump. Then later, wired in a 2nd 6 round plug for the Fusion. They had to take the receiver off, and take all that wiring loose, and re-do all of it.
Not only did they put it all back exactly as it was (already verified that wiring works perfectly with the toad), but they actually cleaned it up, made it look much better than I had it!
He (Raleigh Jr, the owner) showed me pictures of his Motorhome, and the quads he pulls on a flat trailer behind it (he is into hard core off-roading from what I can tell, cool stuff). He fixed this same issue with his Motorhome the same way he did mine, and he pulls stuff MUUCH heavier than I do. I believe him, when he says I'll never have a problem with this, ever again. :)
Anyway, I am very happy, impressed with the work they did. Very professional, friendly, family run business, and they did a great job, and I highly recommend them (Holbert Trailers to anyone in the Charlotte, NC area that needs any work like this done. Was not cheap, but well worth it, to have the work done by someone that clearly knew exactly what they were doing and had considerable experience at it.
Now, next thing I'm going to do, is contact Forest River like discussed earlier, point them to this thread, so at least they know about this issue. Like said before, if my somewhat convervative use of the trailer hitch caused this, I bet there are LOT of Motorhomes out there with twisted frames in the back, that owners may or may not know about.
Thanks again to all, for your comments, suggestions on this. :)
I took some pictures; They don't show very well how thick, solid this is, but here goes:
Looking from the outside of each frame rail:
..From inside:
I was a little nervous about the wiring back there, as I know I had kind of a mess back there. I had once wired up a 6 round plug that we used with the van that had the Remco lube pump. Then later, wired in a 2nd 6 round plug for the Fusion. They had to take the receiver off, and take all that wiring loose, and re-do all of it.
Not only did they put it all back exactly as it was (already verified that wiring works perfectly with the toad), but they actually cleaned it up, made it look much better than I had it!
He (Raleigh Jr, the owner) showed me pictures of his Motorhome, and the quads he pulls on a flat trailer behind it (he is into hard core off-roading from what I can tell, cool stuff). He fixed this same issue with his Motorhome the same way he did mine, and he pulls stuff MUUCH heavier than I do. I believe him, when he says I'll never have a problem with this, ever again. :)
Anyway, I am very happy, impressed with the work they did. Very professional, friendly, family run business, and they did a great job, and I highly recommend them (Holbert Trailers to anyone in the Charlotte, NC area that needs any work like this done. Was not cheap, but well worth it, to have the work done by someone that clearly knew exactly what they were doing and had considerable experience at it.
Now, next thing I'm going to do, is contact Forest River like discussed earlier, point them to this thread, so at least they know about this issue. Like said before, if my somewhat convervative use of the trailer hitch caused this, I bet there are LOT of Motorhomes out there with twisted frames in the back, that owners may or may not know about.
Thanks again to all, for your comments, suggestions on this. :)
