Has anyone asked GD to buy their 5th wheel back? The frame flexing is happening on ours, and the warranty is still in effect. But they should not be selling these if they know it is happening, and they obviously do,
All frames flex, they have to. Even heavy-duty pickup trucks have frames that twist and flex!
Grand design has had major issues with frames flexing beyond normal tolerances resulting in cracks in the fiberglass walls as well as breaking some of the welds. The frames are designed and built by Lippert and not in house. It's known issue. I have no idea what Winnebago will do about it. From what I can tell, as per the usual with some of these manufacturers, it's a fight to the death to get them to deal with it and buy backs are pretty rare and involve an NDA so you never hear about them. Yes, there should be a recall, but that never really happens in the Rv industry. There is no control or oversight. It's you against the manufacturer. Shame, you spend so much money on something and it's really one of the only industries that cannot be forced to stand behind their product even for safety reasons. Winnebago used to be one of the best in the industry, Now I'd put them in the running with Thor. I have heard so many issues lately with Winnie products.
Follow up question - what are “normal tolerances” and who decided what value they should be? And how do you measure frame flex as your driving down the road to know that your rig has exceeded “normal tolerances”? Asking for a friend.
Not to be argumentative, but you say it’s a “known issue”, but when I do a search on this forum the only thing that pops up is this thread, a thread about a tow vehicle, and everything else is more than 10 years old. Not at all supportive of a “known issue” claim. I have had some experience with structural issues and frame issues simultaneously. But connecting the dots and assigning and affixing blame may not be as straightforward as you allude it to be. Just my own experience.
As an example, I would point out that you can bend a frame (or flex it inappropriately) by jacking up the trailer to change a tire at the wrong place.
a few different manufactures had this issue. everyone is quick to blame lippert, the manufacture of the frame, but I would suspect in the race to lighten up 5th wheels they under spec'ed the frames resulting in more flex than what you would normally see which is very minimum. if you think about the way the 5th wheel is constructed and with the 1 piece fiberglass bonded wall you don't want any flex. at best it would pull screws loose at worst it cracks the fiberglass and maybe welds let go. Keystone had this issue also and most likely a couple other brands.
Am I missing something? It seems to me you would want your frame to flex to some extent. After all, it’s like a miniature earthquake every mile going down the road.
it isn't that bad, the suspension is what is supposed to take up any vibration, flex of the frame should be at an absolute minimum or your going to break things the way most rv's are constructed by bolting/screwing directly to the frame.
