Bent frame and suspension issue
Long story short... I have a Cyclone 5w Toy Hauler (1 year old and 11k mileage) that had a tire wear issue. Took it to the local authorized dealer/service shop for alignment who determined the susp...
Forum Discussion
Good to hear you eventually got a positive result, despite the arduous route.
We had an entire trailer replaced under warranty due to a bad frame. The spring hangers were significantly bent to one side and the frame had excessive flex in it. This was discovered the day after we got it new. The rear bobbed up and down like crazy when towing. The spring hangers swayed left-right like a pendulum in turns (I took a video of it). I even found a failed weld in the aluminum superstructure framing from the frame flex. Took a long time to get the replacement which came with a frame WAY stronger than the standard one. If there is ever a frame issue, a dealer contacts Lippert directly and not the RV manufacturer and you'll find yourself duking it out with Lippert. In our case Lippert came back and just blew us off (via dealer) by saying "it's within spec.". They typically blame the owner for overloading a trailer but in our case we only owned it a day so could not use that excuse on us.
We then went to a frame & axle shop that was a gov't certified facility. They said the frame was the worst they'd ever seen, and also that the welds were terrible and that there was no way it could be repaired/modified to make it like it should be in the first place. As a result of what they found, they condemned the frame. We submitted the report to the dealer, RV manufacturer AND Lippert. Shortly after that, the dealer told us we were getting a complete new unit.
Interestingly, nobody ever followed up with us to ask how it worked out and the manufacturer kept on using the same crappy frame on their trailers. I've since seen the same identical weak frame on a few other makes & models which makes me think it's simply a stock off the shelf frame and not a unique design by an RV manufacturer.
IMO, it's both Lippert's and the RV manufacturer's fault. The manufacturer does spec. the type of frame but Lippert as the builder is the expert on final design/engineering and constructing it. A contributing factor is that there are no industry standards like ANSI, SAE or similar and Lippert can build frames however they want and not have to answer to anyone.
If we were to ever buy another trailer, I'd only look at ones with a non-Lippert frame. LCI can talk all they want about quality assurance, certified welders or whatever but I don't think much will change. Unfortunately they have built a monopoly on frames. We've become hardened and cynical RV owners as a result of this and other issues we've been through.
We had an entire trailer replaced under warranty due to a bad frame. The spring hangers were significantly bent to one side and the frame had excessive flex in it. This was discovered the day after we got it new. The rear bobbed up and down like crazy when towing. The spring hangers swayed left-right like a pendulum in turns (I took a video of it). I even found a failed weld in the aluminum superstructure framing from the frame flex. Took a long time to get the replacement which came with a frame WAY stronger than the standard one. If there is ever a frame issue, a dealer contacts Lippert directly and not the RV manufacturer and you'll find yourself duking it out with Lippert. In our case Lippert came back and just blew us off (via dealer) by saying "it's within spec.". They typically blame the owner for overloading a trailer but in our case we only owned it a day so could not use that excuse on us.
We then went to a frame & axle shop that was a gov't certified facility. They said the frame was the worst they'd ever seen, and also that the welds were terrible and that there was no way it could be repaired/modified to make it like it should be in the first place. As a result of what they found, they condemned the frame. We submitted the report to the dealer, RV manufacturer AND Lippert. Shortly after that, the dealer told us we were getting a complete new unit.
Interestingly, nobody ever followed up with us to ask how it worked out and the manufacturer kept on using the same crappy frame on their trailers. I've since seen the same identical weak frame on a few other makes & models which makes me think it's simply a stock off the shelf frame and not a unique design by an RV manufacturer.
IMO, it's both Lippert's and the RV manufacturer's fault. The manufacturer does spec. the type of frame but Lippert as the builder is the expert on final design/engineering and constructing it. A contributing factor is that there are no industry standards like ANSI, SAE or similar and Lippert can build frames however they want and not have to answer to anyone.
If we were to ever buy another trailer, I'd only look at ones with a non-Lippert frame. LCI can talk all they want about quality assurance, certified welders or whatever but I don't think much will change. Unfortunately they have built a monopoly on frames. We've become hardened and cynical RV owners as a result of this and other issues we've been through.
