..Was under the Motorhome a few weeks ago, looking at some things, and noticed at the back, where the hitch receiver bolts to the frame, that the frame rails seem to have bent, twisted slightly. I know a discussion like this is worthless without pictures, so I snapped a few pictures, and uploaded them. Here are some pictures of it (hope this works):
..Facing toward the back of RV, driver side frame rail (this one isn't as bad):
..passenger side frame rail:
First off, a few clarifications, to prevent unnecessary 'ranting' posts, or other unnecessary discussion:
Motorhome is a 2012 Georgetown (see signature), built of course, on the Ford V10 F53 chassis. Have owned since brand new, it handles, drives great, same as it did the day we first bought it (have around 15k miles on it now). Have had zero chassis issues, only minor stuff with the coach, that they all have from time to time.
We have towed just two different vehicles with it - Most of the time (and presently), a Ford Fusion, and briefly before that, a Kia Sedona van. Both were towed 4 down (van was towed very briefly at first with a dolly), and both were well under the 5k limit of the hitch receiver. Neither did either bring us even remotely close to the 26k GCWR limit of the Motohrhome. At last weigh-in, Motorhome even fully loaded was a good 1,000 lbs under its 20,500 lb GVWR. Also, a supplemental braking system (Readybrake) was/is always used with both.
After seeing this, I examined the hitch receiver very closely. It is NOT at all unlevel, and seems rock solid. The hitch receiver itself is not what has bent. I have no problem towing with it, and will continue to.
Now, for some questions I have:
Does this look like something I should even be concerned about, something that needs addressing somehow? Or, is this typical, and I just need to not worry about it and move on?
If this is something that needs to be addressed, I'm guessing it'd need to be done by a truck frame shop that can handle welding, etc. Can anyone recommend a good place that could handle such work, around Charlottee, NC area?
Has anyone else seen anything like this, with an F53 chassis Motorhome?
..Facing toward the back of RV, driver side frame rail (this one isn't as bad):
..passenger side frame rail:
First off, a few clarifications, to prevent unnecessary 'ranting' posts, or other unnecessary discussion:
Motorhome is a 2012 Georgetown (see signature), built of course, on the Ford V10 F53 chassis. Have owned since brand new, it handles, drives great, same as it did the day we first bought it (have around 15k miles on it now). Have had zero chassis issues, only minor stuff with the coach, that they all have from time to time.
We have towed just two different vehicles with it - Most of the time (and presently), a Ford Fusion, and briefly before that, a Kia Sedona van. Both were towed 4 down (van was towed very briefly at first with a dolly), and both were well under the 5k limit of the hitch receiver. Neither did either bring us even remotely close to the 26k GCWR limit of the Motohrhome. At last weigh-in, Motorhome even fully loaded was a good 1,000 lbs under its 20,500 lb GVWR. Also, a supplemental braking system (Readybrake) was/is always used with both.
After seeing this, I examined the hitch receiver very closely. It is NOT at all unlevel, and seems rock solid. The hitch receiver itself is not what has bent. I have no problem towing with it, and will continue to.
Now, for some questions I have:
Does this look like something I should even be concerned about, something that needs addressing somehow? Or, is this typical, and I just need to not worry about it and move on?
If this is something that needs to be addressed, I'm guessing it'd need to be done by a truck frame shop that can handle welding, etc. Can anyone recommend a good place that could handle such work, around Charlottee, NC area?
Has anyone else seen anything like this, with an F53 chassis Motorhome?
Update: Well, Friday morning I dropped the Motorhome off at Holbert trailers, they set to work on it. Basically, removed the receiver, straightened out the frame, then welded on a very substantial 'sleeve', about 2 feet long, to the end of each frame rail. Then, of course, put the receiver back on with new, much more stout bolts. It looks VERY solid, the metal sleeves are a thicker steel, substantially thicker, than even the original frame rails.
I took some pictures; They don't show very well how thick, solid this is, but here goes:
Looking from the outside of each frame rail:
..From inside:
I was a little nervous about the wiring back there, as I know I had kind of a mess back there. I had once wired up a 6 round plug that we used with the van that had the Remco lube pump. Then later, wired in a 2nd 6 round plug for the Fusion. They had to take the receiver off, and take all that wiring loose, and re-do all of it.
Not only did they put it all back exactly as it was (already verified that wiring works perfectly with the toad), but they actually cleaned it up, made it look much better than I had it!
He (Raleigh Jr, the owner) showed me pictures of his Motorhome, and the quads he pulls on a flat trailer behind it (he is into hard core off-roading from what I can tell, cool stuff). He fixed this same issue with his Motorhome the same way he did mine, and he pulls stuff MUUCH heavier than I do. I believe him, when he says I'll never have a problem with this, ever again. ๐
Anyway, I am very happy, impressed with the work they did. Very professional, friendly, family run business, and they did a great job, and I highly recommend them (Holbert Trailers to anyone in the Charlotte, NC area that needs any work like this done. Was not cheap, but well worth it, to have the work done by someone that clearly knew exactly what they were doing and had considerable experience at it.
Now, next thing I'm going to do, is contact Forest River like discussed earlier, point them to this thread, so at least they know about this issue. Like said before, if my somewhat convervative use of the trailer hitch caused this, I bet there are LOT of Motorhomes out there with twisted frames in the back, that owners may or may not know about.
Thanks again to all, for your comments, suggestions on this. ๐
I took some pictures; They don't show very well how thick, solid this is, but here goes:
Looking from the outside of each frame rail:
..From inside:
I was a little nervous about the wiring back there, as I know I had kind of a mess back there. I had once wired up a 6 round plug that we used with the van that had the Remco lube pump. Then later, wired in a 2nd 6 round plug for the Fusion. They had to take the receiver off, and take all that wiring loose, and re-do all of it.
Not only did they put it all back exactly as it was (already verified that wiring works perfectly with the toad), but they actually cleaned it up, made it look much better than I had it!
He (Raleigh Jr, the owner) showed me pictures of his Motorhome, and the quads he pulls on a flat trailer behind it (he is into hard core off-roading from what I can tell, cool stuff). He fixed this same issue with his Motorhome the same way he did mine, and he pulls stuff MUUCH heavier than I do. I believe him, when he says I'll never have a problem with this, ever again. ๐
Anyway, I am very happy, impressed with the work they did. Very professional, friendly, family run business, and they did a great job, and I highly recommend them (Holbert Trailers to anyone in the Charlotte, NC area that needs any work like this done. Was not cheap, but well worth it, to have the work done by someone that clearly knew exactly what they were doing and had considerable experience at it.
Now, next thing I'm going to do, is contact Forest River like discussed earlier, point them to this thread, so at least they know about this issue. Like said before, if my somewhat convervative use of the trailer hitch caused this, I bet there are LOT of Motorhomes out there with twisted frames in the back, that owners may or may not know about.
Thanks again to all, for your comments, suggestions on this. ๐
