Possible frame problem. Warranty?

Thank for all the replies. I've been out of town on business and not able to keep up.

I will start embarrassing all the possible parties and see where I get.

I will get some pictures up soon.

That should be an insurance issue if warranty won't cover.

If you happened to hit some bad holes or areas that you felt might have compromised the fiver frame, talk to your insurance,in some cases they will cover it.

b_pilot wrote:
I had a similar problem with my Bighorn by Heartland. I had a crack in the same place that you are talking about. My dealer pulled the front cap back and found two broken weld joints. They called Heartland who said that it was Lippert's problem but Lippert said it was Heartland's problem. Heartland finally agreed to fix the problem even though my warranty was expired. Make sure you call and argue with anyone who could be at fault before you pay for your own repair. The only way to find out what is really wrong is to have the end cap pulled and the frame inspected.

I agree, 100%. Start with the mfr. and, if they balk, call the frame mfr. If they balk, toss it back to the RV mfr and tell them that you're not accepting shoddy workmanship, even if it =is= out of warranty. The frame was likely junk when it left Lippert and, IMO, it's up to the RV mfr to either fix the frame before the build or reject it outright. If they did neither, then they should fix it.

Lyle

Lippert frames again. I had the same problem on my 2004 Sabdpiper.

I had a similar problem with my Bighorn by Heartland. I had a crack in the same place that you are talking about. My dealer pulled the front cap back and found two broken weld joints. They called Heartland who said that it was Lippert's problem but Lippert said it was Heartland's problem. Heartland finally agreed to fix the problem even though my warranty was expired. Make sure you call and argue with anyone who could be at fault before you pay for your own repair. The only way to find out what is really wrong is to have the end cap pulled and the frame inspected.

If you get no where with the manufacturer and have to pay for the repair, take it to Kansas RV Center in Chanute, KS. Talk to Daryl Dennis in service. The facility is where the HitchHiker/NuWa was manufactured and they are fully equipped to make major structural repairs.

These guys are good and they are fair.

Ken

I agree the frame probably has a few broken welds in the overhang area. It likely needs some additional bracing too, since these rv trailer frames are built so light and thin.

I own and operate a welding shop. I've welded on many rv trailer frames, whenever the frame is exposed and accessible without tearing apart the trailer to get to it. For a welder, the welding and adding additional bracing of the frame, is the easy part of this job.

It's taking the whole front end apart in order to get to the frame, removing all the combustible materials around the damaged area, that will catch fire during the welding if not removed, then putting it all back together properly so it doesn't leak and looks like new, that is the hard part.

That's why I would take it to the dealer or manufacturer. Let them mess with tearing it apart and putting it back together properly.

As a properly certified welder, I can do a much better job of the welding and fabricating a better mousetrap that won't break again in the future. However, as a welding shop owner, not an RV repair shop owner, I wouldn't want anything to do with all the other non-welding-related, rv-specific work that goes with that job.

I think you'll find that most general welding shops won't want to mess with that part of the job either. As welders, the cosmetic rv exterior work is out of our area of expertise, we probably don't have the tools or materials to do all of it, and that opens us up to a nightmare of problems with the customer, if everything doesn't go back together properly. We don't want those kind of problems.

sounds like you have a broken weld ,IF so, take it to a good trailer shop or fabercating shop not CW they,ll just job it out to low bidder.

if the caulking is pulling loose you have a 'flexing' problem. somewhere in the inside something has broken.
get on it with your dealer and push to get it repaired through the manufacturer.

if you have an extended warranty read and reread to see if this is covered.

good luck.