Dealer installed Dual Cams wrong! Need fix opinions.

CampingN.C. wrote:
Update:
Just spoke to the service manager at the dealership. I've taken pictures and sent them to him. He basically said they take full responsibility for it and wants me to bring it back for them to fix correctly.
He owned up to the fact that a new employee did the install without any supervision from an experience tech, being it was done on a Saturday and he was the only one there.
He's been at this dealership for 32 years and is very knowledgeable of the DC and assured me they'd fix it correctly by bolting through the frame with a backer plate and bushings. He's going to bolt the snap brackets as well.

Opinions ?......

Since this is a new camper, your recourse is better at the dealer if an issue arises later. Odds are higher Jayco would respond to a claim better if the dealer was the one who made the error.

That said, I myself would totally question them in exactly how they are going to fix it. You have a level of upper hand right now "before" they start the work. If you sense they are going astray in a sound method, you have a chance to ward off problems before they begin. If they explain exactly what they are going to do and it adds up, then your risk is greatly reduced.

Not all dealers are bad at this, but some goof and some are clueless. The issue is sorting them out. Your dealer sounds sincere and now that they recognize it is their issue at hand, they are trying to make it right. How a dealer stands behind their work is what makes a good dealership or not.

Before you take it in, photo document the heck out of what you have, ideally with date stamps. And try hard to get the radius of the tube in relation to the drilled hole if at all possible. Then do it again right after you get it back home with the fix in place. If you want to take this to the next level, write a nice letter to Jacyo with the pic’s included and have them add it to your VIN warranty file. May even want to send it to the dealership. If an issue arises, you have pre-declared the problem, they saw it and you have a better leg to stand on if a problem arises.

I have seen Jayco do the right thing for a friend of mine on his Eagle. He had the documentation “before” the warranty ran out. The amount of the damage came up after the warranty expired but since he had good documentation with Jayco, they stood behind it. Don’t go in guns blazing, odds are high you will get shut down quick. Be sincere and rationale, you only want fair. Odds are higher you will get more cooperation.

Good luck and let us know how this comes out.

Here's the pics...

CampingN.C. wrote:
Update:
Just spoke to the service manager at the dealership. I've taken pictures and sent them to him. He basically said they take full responsibility for it and wants me to bring it back for them to fix correctly.
He owned up to the fact that a new employee did the install without any supervision from an experience tech, being it was done on a Saturday and he was the only one there.
He's been at this dealership for 32 years and is very knowledgeable of the DC and assured me they'd fix it correctly by bolting through the frame with a backer plate and bushings. He's going to bolt the snap brackets as well.

Opinions ?......

Only if I was able to watch them every step of the way, and had the install instructions in my hand to ensure compliance to same.

The service manager would have to agree if anything is done that is not in compliance and their second chance is over, that second.

It does sound like they want to make it right.

Update:
Just spoke to the service manager at the dealership. I've taken pictures and sent them to him. He basically said they take full responsibility for it and wants me to bring it back for them to fix correctly.
He owned up to the fact that a new employee did the install without any supervision from an experience tech, being it was done on a Saturday and he was the only one there.
He's been at this dealership for 32 years and is very knowledgeable of the DC and assured me they'd fix it correctly by bolting through the frame with a backer plate and bushings. He's going to bolt the snap brackets as well.

Opinions ?......

On our first trailer the dealer mis-mounted one of the DC brackets. I gas-welded the frame holes shut, ground them flat and painted them, and re-drilled new holes.

myredracer wrote:
Sorry to hear of something like this. Unfortunately, it's an example of why not to let a dealer near any WDH.

I've seen a lot of the BAL/Norco Ultraframes on Jaycos now. I don't know if they've totally switched right over to them now or if they are using a "traditional" style of frame on some of their models. If it is the Ultraframe, that would change things. There are things you can and can't do with them, and welding in particular is a no-no. I also seem to recall something about a limitation on the rating of a WDH that can be used. If it does happen to be a BAL/Norco frame, I would suggest contacting them.

Could the OP not just flip the cam arm brackets left to right and drill new holes? Then use a regular bolt and washer to plug exposed holes along with sealant?

A pic from the OP would be nice if possible.

I'm working on getting pictures. I've been going from dark to dark lately and haven't had a chance.
I'm pretty sure the frame isn't made by Bal. I will have to say the frame is very very stout. I'm not sure of the gauge but I'd bet that had something to do with the guy not running one of the bolts all the way in. It's thick.
Thinking of flipping and drilling new holes, and just running another bolt back in the "extra" exposed hole.
I'm still on the fence with the shim approach, unless the holes are closer to the bend radius like JBarca was talking about.

What a bunch of asshats - it just amazes me the level of incompetence that wanders around some RV dealerships.

I learned long ago don't let the dealership do your hitch setup. I once let them take a crack at an EQ that I bought with one of my trailers because they said install was included. After the PDI I looked at the hitch hooked up and the EQ bars were bending upwards (uncomfortably) towards the L-brackets. So I said to "Tim the Tool Man"......"it doesn't look right". He looked at me like a dumb ass customer and said he builds hundreds of these a year and insisted it was right.

My drive home was short so once home I opened the EQ manual and sure enough, as most EQ owners know, there are 2 different ways to arrange your L brackets depending on your coupler type. Mr. Super-Tech had my L-brackets set for a top-mount coupler whereas my coupler was an under mount.......so the L brackets were a few inches too high resulting in the severe bend in my bars. It was very clear in the manual.....a document I'm sure Mr. Super-Tech hasn't looked at in years if ever.

And of course since the dealership torques by "feel" :R once I checked the shank bolts with a suitable torque wrench borrowed from my buddy, they were under torqued as was the ball :S

You know the old saying......if you want a job done right.........

Sorry to hear of something like this. Unfortunately, it's an example of why not to let a dealer near any WDH.

I've seen a lot of the BAL/Norco Ultraframes on Jaycos now. I don't know if they've totally switched right over to them now or if they are using a "traditional" style of frame on some of their models. If it is the Ultraframe, that would change things. There are things you can and can't do with them, and welding in particular is a no-no. I also seem to recall something about a limitation on the rating of a WDH that can be used. If it does happen to be a BAL/Norco frame, I would suggest contacting them.

Could the OP not just flip the cam arm brackets left to right and drill new holes? Then use a regular bolt and washer to plug exposed holes along with sealant?

A pic from the OP would be nice if possible.

Hi CampingNC,

I'm making an assumption your camper has a rectangular tubing A Frame? If it has channel iron, please let us know as this response will be a little different.

You already connected with Reese, good. They do not want any kind of gap between that frame plate bracket and the bottom of the A frame rail. Do not be doing a lot of DC towing with it like that. Take the cams off and just use the WD part of the hitch to move the camper and go cautious as you have no anti sway.

If there is a gap, over time you will strip out the self tapping screws from the bracket flexing which odds are high is why the dealer tacked them on possibly not understanding the root cause of why they tear out.

If the bracket is in the correct spot location wise front to back, then I would suggest this.

1. Measure the gap as accurately as you can, both the front and rear of the frame bracket, both left and right.

2. Find a local weld shop and request sheet metal thicknesses that will fill that gap as close as they can. Odds are high the bracket is not parallel to the frame and the front and back are different thickness. The shim pack will be all 1 thickness, so pick the middle of the front and rear gap as your target. They can shear sheet to fit that shape of the DC bracket (take it with you) and "not" bind on the radius of the bracket. Also very important.

3. Grind the tack welds off and take the bolts out. The shim stack needs to be secured in place. Do not let them sit in there unsecured. Either drill and tap for a # 8 or 10 flat head screw or have them tack welded to the bracket. You do not want one of them vibrating out as a gap comes back and havoc starts

You need to clamp the bracket tight with the shims in place


The holes in the frame plate bracket are about 9/16" for a 1/2" bolt. So odds exist there is some float in the screw holes to be dead tight to the frame and still have the holes line up.

The shim does not want to sit on this bracket radius. Here is the 2003 vintage


Here is the 2010 vintage


Here is the 2013 vintage next to the 2010 vintage


Now to the bolts. If you have a tube A frame and a heavy TW camper, "now" is the time to deal with the snap up's and if you are going to do something with the DC self tapping screws. I see Reese gave you the heads up already on the snap ups they need to be bolted on. The next area is the DC. The tube A frame can crush from through bolts when tightening. Backer plates deal with the crush.

The Jayco's have not yet been found to have the really thin A frames, (a good thing) however others have still through bolted the DC and the Snap up with backer plates.

see here for a older Eagle

And here for the thinner A frames Thiner tube frame

Since your brackets may be drilled low, I myself would look where they drilled the hole in relation to the tube radius corner. If they drilled into the radius, that one is more concerning than if the hole is above the corner radius. Pending how far into the tube radius gets the more concern. Picking up that too low a hole and through drilling now adds the problem radius issue on both the inside and out side of the tube. In this case, I would stop and think first before through drilling.

And if they cut very far into that radius, I would take pics, contact Jayco and get it in writing this is not an issue. Having a hole through a tube structure is not a problem pending where the hole is. I would not want a lot of the radius removed in a high fatigue area. Above the radius and the concerns go down quick.

Hope this helps and good luck.

John

Wow, this sure happens a lot. I keep reading of more and more people whose Dual Cam installs were done wrong. It must be rocket science!