Hey Guys,I spent most of yesterday cleaning the inside and outside of the trailer and getting it ready for our big annual family camping trip coming up next week when I came across this unfortunate surprise:Basically there is a tear forming in the outer wall of the A-frame as it passes through the front crossmember. I crawled under the trailer and inspected the welds where the A-frame connects to the trailer frame I-beams and they look great. The left side of the A-frame is also still perfect with no perceptible damage. My only thought is the original weld on the right side of the A-frame as it passes through the crossmember was bad and compromised the outer wall for the tongue on that side.I inspect the trailer regularly and when I washed it a few weeks ago there was no visible damage to the diamond plating. I have since taken it out twice and put on about 800 miles, which isn't much for as often as it goes out. What this tells me is that the tear is progressively getting worse and I'm at the point I don't think I can safely tow it until I get this fixed.Any thoughts? My initial thought is the entire A-frame is going to have to be replaced, but I'm hoping I can at least get it temporarily patched up so I'm not tent camping it the last big trip of the summer. Of course I noticed this damage right as the dealer's service department closed yesterday, so I'm going to call them first thing Monday morning and hope they can squeeze me in to at least patch it up and make it roadworthy.I don't even want to know what the final bill will be. It's kind of ironic my biggest worry has always been water intrusion, dry rot, and delamination, but instead the trailer frame decides to give up.Thanks!

find a welding shop to fix it up

Good catch! Prior to welding have them stop drill the cracks and then weld. Don't forget to paint after the job is done.

Chances are its a Lippert Frame which have a reputation for this. I have seen several. Make sure they sandblast the area first and get it re-welded and inspect the rest of it closely while you are at it. I would have them weld a 45 degree cross strut across that gap as well since this is obviously a stress point, and I would have them weld a plate across that crack. It will be stronger than just welding it shut. Do both sides. Do it before you drive it anywhereNext time buy a Northwood, they make their own frames and they are stronger. Lance also does not use Lippert Frames, most other manufacturers do.

Tequila wrote:Chances are its a Lippert Frame which have a reputation for this. I have seen several. Make sure they sandblast the area first and get it re-welded and inspect the rest of it closely while you are at it. I would have them weld a 45 degree cross strut across that gap as well since this is obviously a stress point, and I would have them weld a plate across that crack. It will be stronger than just welding it shut. Do both sides. Do it before you drive it anywhereNext time buy a Northwood, they make their own frames and they are stronger. Lance also does not use Lippert Frames, most other manufacturers do.You are correct that it's a Lippert frame. I'm assuming what warranty the frame may have had has long since passed. I've heard about their poor reputation and I guess now I get to experience it firsthand. Based on everyone's responses, it sounds like this is a pretty common repair and I at least have a chance of getting it back on the road by next Friday. I have several places lined up to call first thing tomorrow morning. The dealer will be first, but there's a local RV collision repair place, commercial trailer frame repair shop, and even a Camping World should I get real desperate.I was just stating last night to a friend of mine that I guess I should have got a Northwood product, although no manufacturer is immune to problems; look at the delam issues on older Arctic Foxes or the current camper tie down issues on their Wolf Creek campers. That same friend has a Lance trailer and he has several issues with it and says that he would probably choose something different if he had to do it over again.Thanks for all the responses everyone! I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

I wouldn't take it to the dealer. They will probably subcontract it to a welding shop, anyway. Find a good truck/trailer repair shop or a welding shop local to you and have it welded with a gusset for peace of mind.If you were closer, you could back into my driveway and I'd have you back on the road within an hour. That is a simple repair.

A-Frame Damage | Good Sam Community

icanon
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
Thanks for the follow-up, too.
spoon059
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
Sorry about the troubles you are having, good job catching it before it became catastrophic though! Sounds like your welder has a good handle on it and I hope you are satisfied with the results. How much does a job like that cost?
djsamuel
Nomad
Aug 11, 2015
myredracer wrote:

Yes, if in the market, buy any Northwood product or one with a BAL frame like Lance. There's a few other makes/models out there with the BAL frame like the Jayco Whitehawk.

Camplite makes their own frames as well. Reading messages like this makes me glad I made the purchase I did, and also reinforces what I hear about the quality of Northwood products as well as Lance and Jayco.
djsamuel
Nomad
Aug 11, 2015
OBSPowerstroke wrote:
Here's an update for you all:

I had to call several places yesterday morning, but found a shop that was willing to work with me on such a short time frame. The benefit of this place is they are close by and happen to specialize in RV collision repair, so I'm guessing they're going to make sure they do the job right.

They didn't want the liability of simply patching it up and risking it coming apart on the road and causing a major accident, so they are going to completely rebuild the A-frame with thicker wall tubing. It is not going to be cheap by any means, but it sounds pretty involved, as they said they are going to have to unbolt and lift the box from the frame about a 1/2" in the front so they have enough clearance to weld without catching anything on fire. They said they'd have it done by Friday, will give everything a nice paint job, and it should look like it's never been touched. Another benefit is the thicker wall tubing should mean I'll never have to worry about the tongue again.

To think this all started simply because I was going to respray the front of the frame to cover up the rock chips. Talk about an expensive paint job! I still feel lucky that I caught it, as I can't imagine the potential disaster had that side of the A-frame completely torn apart at 65 mph on the freeway.

Thanks for following up. Sounds like the best approach to me; fixing it right the first time. Best of luck.
OBSPowerstroke
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
Here's an update for you all:

I had to call several places yesterday morning, but found a shop that was willing to work with me on such a short time frame. The benefit of this place is they are close by and happen to specialize in RV collision repair, so I'm guessing they're going to make sure they do the job right.

They didn't want the liability of simply patching it up and risking it coming apart on the road and causing a major accident, so they are going to completely rebuild the A-frame with thicker wall tubing. It is not going to be cheap by any means, but it sounds pretty involved, as they said they are going to have to unbolt and lift the box from the frame about a 1/2" in the front so they have enough clearance to weld without catching anything on fire. They said they'd have it done by Friday, will give everything a nice paint job, and it should look like it's never been touched. Another benefit is the thicker wall tubing should mean I'll never have to worry about the tongue again.

To think this all started simply because I was going to respray the front of the frame to cover up the rock chips. Talk about an expensive paint job! I still feel lucky that I caught it, as I can't imagine the potential disaster had that side of the A-frame completely torn apart at 65 mph on the freeway.
OBSPowerstroke
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
hohenwald48 wrote:
Is that actually a butt weld? I thought the OP said the A frame passes thru the cross member. Hard to tell from a pic.

The A-frame is a solid piece that passes through the crossmember, which is why it's surprising that the tear is forming where it is, and is also why I think they fatigued the tubing with a bad weld from the factory on that side.

69 Avion wrote:
My bet is that what you are seeing is .125 wall thickness tubing instead of .1875 thickness. I would start with rewelding it. Also, as someone mentioned earlier, check the tension on the WDH bars. It appears to be an inherently weak frame by the way the metal is fatigued.

I was surprised, too, by how thin the A-frame walls were when taking a closer look at it and so was the shop that's repairing it (see my next post for a status update).

I was very careful setting up the WDH bars, and, if anything, I have actually lightened the load I carry in the truck and trailer since I bought it 5 years ago. Since I have a F250, I don't have to torque on the bars to get the truck back within spec with the trailer loaded. In fact, I towed to the shop yesterday without bars to avoid putting any additional strain on the cracked weld and the truck handled the weight just fine with minimal squat; my friend's Raptor sags more hooked up to his Lance 1575 with weight distribution bars installed. The real scary part is my trailer was advertised as 1/2 ton towable, and with a 1,000 pound tongue weight loaded and ready to camp, the WDH bars on a 1/2 ton would have to be tensioned substantially more to level out the truck, not to mention the fact that the tongue weight alone would max out most half ton GVWRs.
myredracer
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
Take it to a frame and axle shop. They will know exactly what to do and if anything else needs attention.

The real problem with frames is that there are no design/construction standards/codes for them. Lippert can and does build them however they want and don't have to answer to anyone. You might consider sending photos to Lippert just for the record and telling them they build terrible frames. They will likely tell you it's your fault for overloading it tho.

We have our own horror story with a Lippert frame and can't talk about it.

Yes, if in the market, buy any Northwood product or one with a BAL frame like Lance. There's a few other makes/models out there with the BAL frame like the Jayco Whitehawk.
69_Avion
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
My bet is that what you are seeing is .125 wall thickness tubing instead of .1875 thickness. I would start with rewelding it. Also, as someone mentioned earlier, check the tension on the WDH bars. It appears to be an inherently weak frame by the way the metal is fatigued.
hohenwald48
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
MM49 wrote:
The problem is the weld design! butt welds are weak. You will need to change the weld design by using fish plates.
mm49

Is that actually a butt weld? I thought the OP said the A frame passes thru the cross member. Hard to tell from a pic.
MM49
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
The problem is the weld design! butt welds are weak. You will need to change the weld design by using fish plates.
mm49

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