Lippert Frame? - Coachmen Apex
Through reading a number of topics here I find more people not a fan of Lippert frames than those that are. We narrowed down the RV to a Coachmen Apex and the sales rep stated they use a Lippert f...
Forum Discussion
I really don't know what all the fuss is about.
I have had 3 TTs. The first one had a very heavy metal. The welds were very bad looking... But it held up well with no problems.. No idea who made it< The axles were Dexter, so that may have been thr frame as well. My second TT was new. A 2001 Fleetwood Wilderness. The welds were better looking on this one, but it did need a couple of repairs over the years. No weld failures, but stress cracks and spring Hangers breaking off. Since I weld, I was able to make it better than new myself.
My present TT is a 2010 Palomoino Sabre. It has Lippert frame and axles. It is by far the best of the three. The welds look first class, and it has been absolutly trouble free.
There has been talk that the TT manufacturers spec the frame,,, and some will cut corners in the specs to make it cheaper. Perhaps that is why mine is so flawless..
Or maybe like anything else, people tend to complain about a problem when it crops up, but not say anything when it doesn't. I doubt that most people that haven't had an issue have any idea who made their frame. And since Lippert is the largest manufacturer by far, it stands to reason that their will be more problems...
The only thing I can advise is to look at the manufacturers for frame troubles on the units they make, rather than the manufacturer of the frame.. Some brands seem to have more issues than others.. That tends to point to the first scenario I mentioned as having some validity.
And generally speaking many frame problems are pretty easy to fix if you can weld. If not, then it can be fixed for a price.. There are many other problems that would cause me to lose sleep first.
I have had 3 TTs. The first one had a very heavy metal. The welds were very bad looking... But it held up well with no problems.. No idea who made it< The axles were Dexter, so that may have been thr frame as well. My second TT was new. A 2001 Fleetwood Wilderness. The welds were better looking on this one, but it did need a couple of repairs over the years. No weld failures, but stress cracks and spring Hangers breaking off. Since I weld, I was able to make it better than new myself.
My present TT is a 2010 Palomoino Sabre. It has Lippert frame and axles. It is by far the best of the three. The welds look first class, and it has been absolutly trouble free.
There has been talk that the TT manufacturers spec the frame,,, and some will cut corners in the specs to make it cheaper. Perhaps that is why mine is so flawless..
Or maybe like anything else, people tend to complain about a problem when it crops up, but not say anything when it doesn't. I doubt that most people that haven't had an issue have any idea who made their frame. And since Lippert is the largest manufacturer by far, it stands to reason that their will be more problems...
The only thing I can advise is to look at the manufacturers for frame troubles on the units they make, rather than the manufacturer of the frame.. Some brands seem to have more issues than others.. That tends to point to the first scenario I mentioned as having some validity.
And generally speaking many frame problems are pretty easy to fix if you can weld. If not, then it can be fixed for a price.. There are many other problems that would cause me to lose sleep first.
