Cracked Frame

I had noticeable slop because the pin behind the plat was not snug.

This was resolved by moving the pin to a new hole drilled through the box tube.

Originally Posted by thewayneo

Most of my camping is at the end of long bumpy rough off-road trails. Ever since I read about owners finding cracks in the welds around the swing tongue, I've been thinking about that happening when I'm in remote places that don't have cell service. I can picture the tongue coming apart as I'm backing down a steep mountainside. I'm going on the theory that excessive play or slop in the pins might be a contributing shock factor. I ran this idea past a TM dealer. He mentioned that some owners can hear it slamming back and forth as they drive. I couldn't.

I took the weight off the tongue using the front trailer jacks, and there was indeed a good amount of play between the swing part and the frame. I drilled four 3/8” holes through the frame and right through the swing part. I put bolts through the frame, added two washers to take up the play between the two tongue parts, and tightened up the lock nuts. This made the pin so tight that I had to drive it in with a hammer. No more slop.

So this is one of those try-it-and-see things, maybe my welds would never crack, but I feel a little better about the situation! Now if I had a welder, I would certainly go that route of reinforcement.

wayne

Hi Wayne,

I like the idea of the bolts instead of the weld. This way when you get home you can take the bolts out and use the swing hitch for storage in the garage till the next trip. I need the swing hitch for the room it gives me. My welds look good also, but just knowing of this extra safety the bolts will provide is well worth the effort and a little extra time to put them back on for another trip, and feel safer. Thanks for the picture.

Dave

[scrubjaysnest]

Wayne did the same fix I had planned before I found the weld failure on ours.
The bolts would have kept the cross member from bending out at the bottom. They would not have prevented the weld failure since it was not done correctly to begin with.

We will have ours welded shut, stiffeners added to the cross member, and the street side pivot point removed since it interferes with the WDH spring bar at times.

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by Scottie Dogs

I agree on this, a picture would be wonderful, thanks.

Dave

This post; http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...&postcount=100 ;second pic shows the brackets I mentioned although they appear a little smaller then ours. I just figured this was standard. I went back to Roy in Texas original post on their failure and it has nothing to do with the brackets I mentioned. It appears their failure started as a bad weld. I also have a little cracking in the bottom weld, curb side but no where near as bad as Roy in Texas.

[Bill]

It seems there have been quite a few failures. We need to remember one thing. When the pin is pulled, and the swing tongue moved around (or not moved, for that matter), the hitch cannot take any weight. In other words, you can't pull the pin, open the tongue, swing it, and then crank the jack down onto (for example) a block, or the jack wheel. With only half of the swing tongue engaged, I think it is obvious that this will encourage a failure.

We first talked about this in Post#5 of this thread - but it was way back in Feb 2006, and things get forgotten ...

Bill

[Lesherp]

I had hoped to never revisit this thread, but I have joined the group of owners having this problem. From the rust around the welds I think it may have been this way for some time and only gotten bad enough for me to notice upon return from our latest trip. My neighbor works at a welding supply so I plan to see who he would recommend this evening. It looks like everyone has had success in getting this rectified so I am hoping to be as lucky. Utahsue’s explanation and pictures in post #64 of what she had done has given me a pretty good idea what will be required (I think). If someone has an update on this problem please post. Did TM ever come up with any suggestions as to how to repair this? Did anyone have further problems after their repair? I am very uneasy about this and would appreciate any and all feedback!

[Lesherp]

I posted here yesterday and am not seeing it in new posts.?? I am just trying to bump it into new posts hoping to get some feedback

[HoMiPa]

Originally Posted by Lesherp

I posted here yesterday and am not seeing it in new posts.?? I am just trying to bump it into new posts hoping to get some feedback

Having only glanced through all the old threads, it appears this is only a problem with those that have a swing hitch? I don't have a swing hitch, so a) I'm hoping this is the case, and b) I have nothing to add, other than that is a bummer, and hopefully you will find an easy solution.

I'm lucky in that my daughter can weld (her degree is in technical theater, so she can do just about anything required to build sets/props) - she's welded a few things for me in the past, like a bracket on my mower deck, etc. I'm assuming that welding plate(s) on is the most likely fix?

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by Lesherp

I had hoped to never revisit this thread, but I have joined the group of owners having this problem. From the rust around the welds I think it may have been this way for some time and only gotten bad enough for me to notice upon return from our latest trip. My neighbor works at a welding supply so I plan to see who he would recommend this evening. It looks like everyone has had success in getting this rectified so I am hoping to be as lucky. Utahsue’s explanation and pictures in post #64 of what she had done has given me a pretty good idea what will be required (I think). If someone has an update on this problem please post. Did TM ever come up with any suggestions as to how to repair this? Did anyone have further problems after their repair? I am very uneasy about this and would appreciate any and all feedback!

That looks almost exactly like the failure we had. In our case we got rid of the swing feature.

[gusgon1965]

First of all let me start by saying this is a great forum. I have learned alot,well worth the members fee.
Upon reading this, I went outside and look at my new ( new to meet) 2005 2619 trailmanor and look at the frame, and what do you know, I also have a crack frame on the same spot.when I purchased it I just did not pay attention to it. Thank God nothing happened when I towed it home , a two hour drive at 70 mph. I'm going to weld it my self. And add some reinforcement metal to it.