Spare Tire Rack Failure - Third trip out with new RV.
Greetings friends,
I'm not posting this to rant as much as to make some of you aware of a potential safety issue. I took our new Cherokee 274rfk out this week for its third trip since we purchased it. I stopped for lunch and after lunch did my walk-around as I do at every stop and noticed that the spare tire was sitting at an angle and looked like it was ready to fall off.
The rectangular tubing in the center of the cargo rack is pretty thin and the spare tire bracket is welded to this piece of tubing in two places. The metal in the rack had failed and the upper weld had torn completely loose and the bottom weld was just about ready to let go. I removed the spare, then I moved the bracket up and down twice and the bottom weld also let go and the bracket came completely loose in my hand. I'm just thankful that it somehow held until I made my lunch stop
The tire size is a ST225/75 R15 load range E tire so the tire and wheel are pretty heavy. The tubing to which the spare tire bracket was welded just isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the spare tire as configured at the factory. That heavy wheel and tire would have been a serious safety hazard had it come loose. To a lesser extent, had it not hit anyone, I still would have lost an expensive wheel and brand-new tire. I sent pictures and a write-up to Forest River Customer Service this evening to make them aware of the problem.
I'm not going to try to repair the bracket as I don't trust the cargo tray to hold the spare. I've ordered a BAL 28217 spare tire carrier that mounts to the frame and carries the spare underneath the travel trailer.
I just wanted to pass this along. When doing the inspection of your travel trailer, be sure and check the condition of the bracket holding the spare tire. I had a really close call!
Update 7/7/19 Here's a picture of the spare tire rack failure (you may have to copy and paste these links into your browser to view the pictures):
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/65965887_10219229763593288_197844752207446016_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_oc=AQnV8KA9WkV6nuPwpleqG3IupZC4UaII83D-EDiHhaMhj8tEO9qlDeurCZBfzwQEAOY&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=c3e8172c327caf03ae2d3c53c735058a&oe=5DC1B2D1
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/66114529_10219230301606738_903535405385646080_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQkU105gB9U28HkSpWF3nHLGDuElKcVtKha9GM0De1kqn_DjQkdMfjQE-t_ZTT-2eq0&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=bbf46042b4db8230fad41f03d8bfaf2c&oe=5DBEDB4F
Bill J., Lexington, KY
Update 7/11 This morning we toured the Forest River Cherokee plant where our travel trailer was made. The spare tire bracket on all of the new units we saw had been changed to a new and better design. The kind of failure we experienced will not happen with the new design.
I'm not posting this to rant as much as to make some of you aware of a potential safety issue. I took our new Cherokee 274rfk out this week for its third trip since we purchased it. I stopped for lunch and after lunch did my walk-around as I do at every stop and noticed that the spare tire was sitting at an angle and looked like it was ready to fall off.
The rectangular tubing in the center of the cargo rack is pretty thin and the spare tire bracket is welded to this piece of tubing in two places. The metal in the rack had failed and the upper weld had torn completely loose and the bottom weld was just about ready to let go. I removed the spare, then I moved the bracket up and down twice and the bottom weld also let go and the bracket came completely loose in my hand. I'm just thankful that it somehow held until I made my lunch stop
The tire size is a ST225/75 R15 load range E tire so the tire and wheel are pretty heavy. The tubing to which the spare tire bracket was welded just isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the spare tire as configured at the factory. That heavy wheel and tire would have been a serious safety hazard had it come loose. To a lesser extent, had it not hit anyone, I still would have lost an expensive wheel and brand-new tire. I sent pictures and a write-up to Forest River Customer Service this evening to make them aware of the problem.
I'm not going to try to repair the bracket as I don't trust the cargo tray to hold the spare. I've ordered a BAL 28217 spare tire carrier that mounts to the frame and carries the spare underneath the travel trailer.
I just wanted to pass this along. When doing the inspection of your travel trailer, be sure and check the condition of the bracket holding the spare tire. I had a really close call!
Update 7/7/19 Here's a picture of the spare tire rack failure (you may have to copy and paste these links into your browser to view the pictures):
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/65965887_10219229763593288_197844752207446016_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_oc=AQnV8KA9WkV6nuPwpleqG3IupZC4UaII83D-EDiHhaMhj8tEO9qlDeurCZBfzwQEAOY&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=c3e8172c327caf03ae2d3c53c735058a&oe=5DC1B2D1
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/66114529_10219230301606738_903535405385646080_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQkU105gB9U28HkSpWF3nHLGDuElKcVtKha9GM0De1kqn_DjQkdMfjQE-t_ZTT-2eq0&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=bbf46042b4db8230fad41f03d8bfaf2c&oe=5DBEDB4F
Bill J., Lexington, KY
Update 7/11 This morning we toured the Forest River Cherokee plant where our travel trailer was made. The spare tire bracket on all of the new units we saw had been changed to a new and better design. The kind of failure we experienced will not happen with the new design.
