Did I screw up my frame?

[Sgould]

New to the forum and would like some advice. I recently purchased a fleetwood wilderness 295bhds 32' fifth wheel. I absolutely love the camper, so much so I had the slides out as soon as she was home (in the rain). We are getting snow soon so I wanted to bring the slides in to avoid that whole mess. I wanted to clear the water from the top so I decided to use the front gear to lift her up a tad to make the water run off the slides, controversial I know. So I did so. The only problem is that I forgot to raise the rear stabilizer jacks. When the camper was almost all the way extended it made a loud pop/bang noise. It was hard to tell if it was from the axels, front jack, or somewhere else. I immediately remembered the rear jacks and brought them up. I went on and got another loud crack/ pop this time not as loud. At this point the trailer is not crazy high in the front or anything. The water ran off and I pulled the slides in without issue. No noticeable cracks on the xterior or interior. Also did a quick sweep of the fram pe and it looks ok. I then had to run to work. Needless to say my mind is running wild. I fear that I have damaged the frame or something major. I am hoping it was just a slide adjustment or leaf spring noise? I have no clue really. Do you think I did any real damage? Thx for any help.

Steve G

[SDcampowneroper]

Take a look at the spring shackles, its possible the front axle shackles 'dropped' on the equalizer and a then flipped back up when you raised the rear stabs. no harm.

[I_am_still_wayn]

You are OK! RELAX! You obviously put some strain on some component and it was talking back! All is well I am sure.

[copeland343]

Been there done that. Probably just rear stabilizers making noise run them up and down a few times to check them.

[lakeside013104]

I would sooner think that the rear stabilizers were "talking" to you due to the excessive strain that you were applying to them by raising your front landing gear while the rears were extended down. Check to see if the rears extend and retract without binding and or making any kind of weird noises.

This is the first lesson of many you will have as an RVer. No problem, we have all had many types of booboo experiences and there will be others to come. Learn by your mistakes and be sure to ask and tell of your experiences on this RV.net forum.

Probably in the future it would be just as easy for you to retract your slides normally and let the slide seals sweep any excess water off. That is what they are designed for. In case of “solid’ debris, pine needles, branches, leaves, or pine cones, it would be best to manually sweep these off with a broom before retracting your slides. Happy camping to you.

Lakeside

[ScottG]

You didn't damaged the frame - so relax (some) 😉
The popping could have been from the landing gear, the leaf spring or less likely, the rear jacks or ?
Does everything still work fine? Landing gear extends and retracts?