bedpan wrote:
Hey Lynnmor. This in the end sounds like what I will need to happen. I am hoping that Lippert/Heartland will pay for the bulk of the repair through. I guess tracking down one of these shops is the next hurdle to figure out. Thoughts on what to look for and how to find a competent shop?
Regarding the X-Factor crossmembers... The little reading I did on them seem to be positive for re-enforcing the shackles. It sounds though like they may in fact put more stress on the frame. This is where it would be nice to have a good shop to provide some direction.
If you look at the frame rails from the end, imagine what happens on a curve. The two upright I-beams will tilt forming a sort of parallelogram, continued flexing like this will fatigue the metal and cause the failure you see.
Here is my crude example to illustrate the problem:
I------I
I------I
