neal10a wrote:
Here is something to consider
https://4radicalroadschoolersandafatcat.com/2018/08/20/the-day-our-heartland-rv-left-us-homeless/
Holy Sheep, what a mess! Would not want to speculate on the frame failure causing the sidewall failure on the opposite side however that could very well be the case.
It is a Lippert frame, no different to any other Lippert frame used by so many RV builders. I see they put a totally inadequate gusset above the center spring hangers instead of proper reinforcement in the area that gets the most stress. Lippert built it but Heartland approved it as an OK standard for them. Bet they went cheap on the spring pack as well & only used a 6 leaf pack.
I would not be a bit surprised if what they put ontop of the inadequate frame & springs was near max safe capacity before the customer even began to put his 2000# worth of stuff inside.
The owner is all packed up for a long trip, hits a few nasty bumps or potholes & this is the result of an inadequate frame & running gear.
My 2007 Alpenlite has a very similar frame. I saw the weaknesses & had the areas around the spring hangers totally re engineered & boxed. In addition the springs were replaced from a 6 stack to a 7 stack. It also gets frequent inspections when we are on long trips.
Many of us are running the high risk of the same damage occuring & are totally unaware. What happens underneath is difficult to inspect so it gets neglected until the damage is done. Upgrading the spring hanger areas is a whole lot cheaper than fixing when it eventually goes bad.
