Cracked Frame

Thanks to Pop B for starting this thread and to BobWilson and Ray for their thoughtful and enlightening emails, not to mention the excellent photo's from a number of people. If anyone ever doubted the value of this forum here is proof it is worth $12 a year. Also, I too am willing to give a vote of confidence to TM and the good folks there that they will do what needs to be done to address current issues and manufacturing going forward.
Any discussion of litigation is premature and rather offensive and that comes from someone who works at a law firm.

Thanks for updating this thread. I bought a 2008 2720 just over a year ago and have been lurking here ever since ($12 bargain!). I happened to be reading through a few of the recent posts, and decided to take a close look at my factory swing away hitch. Imagine my surprise to find a failed weld seem parallel to the passenger side pin!
Anyone know of a good welder in the Lynnwood Washington area?

We should perhaps have a category or a sticky for service bulletins, such as I think this topic would fall under. Newbies could read just the service bulletins section in the beginning and gain some important knowledge quickly. Then go on to reading the rest.

Since February 2005, when I joined, I have read nearly every new post. Prior to that I read selected subjects.

I have gotten a lot of value from here. I hope i have provided some value to others along the way.

[Roy in Texas]

When I discovered my cracks I remember reading this thread and when back to it to see how my situation compared to the cracks ours had found. I thought it would be helpful to other to add to the old thread instead on starting a new one.

By the way I have completed my repairs and added a stiffener to the plate on the trailer side of the swing hitch. Can't figure how to add a picture from my iPad. The attachment button doesn't seem to work to find a file. We post later when I have access to a omputer.

[scrubjaysnest]

I finally inspected the swing hitch and yes it did what I was afraid of failed. The cross member pulled free from the inside frame weld. This is on the curb side. Our hitch pivots to the street side. The top weld and outside frame weld are still fine. The bottom weld at the inside of the frame broke. It appears the inside bead never adhered to the cross member. Attached pictures show rust behind the weld, the weld itself, the bent cross member, and the gap that was my original concern. The only way I know for early detection would be mag na flux or wire brush the welds then repaint.

[wbmiller3]

Scary, I never liked the idea.

[Brittany Dogs]

Scrub,

The pictures are nice and sharp but can you post one that is not so close up? I'm having a hard time getting a perspective of where this weld is. I'm concerned since I have a 2011 unit too.

The swing hitch is one of the best features of these trailers given that a 2720 would not fit in my garage without it.

I had a similar failure in spring 2006 with my 2005 TM 2720.

The box tube frame cracked 50 percent of the way around, starting at a weld for the fixed portion of the hinge for the swing tongue on the street side.

If interested it is still probably in the archives, including pictures.

I am certain that because of my failure they modified the design to include the addition of a strap welded across the bottom of the box tube near where the weld is.

The welder that repaired mine also moved the removable pin from behind the steel plate to a new location going through a hole in the box tube. This eliminate the noise from the slop as I changed speeds.

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by Brittany Dogs

Scrub,

The pictures are nice and sharp but can you post one that is not so close up? I'm having a hard time getting a perspective of where this weld is. I'm concerned since I have a 2011 unit too.

The swing hitch is one of the best features of these trailers given that a 2720 would not fit in my garage without it.

Ours swings open from the curb side, door, to the street side. If you put jack stands under the frame behind the swing part, towards the camper box, pull the pin and swing the tongue away it is the weld closest to the pin.

From the day we bought the TM the swing hitch feature has always scared the daylights out of me.

The fix popbeavers mentioned with the gusset we have. Our failure is similar to what happened with I think it was Big Bear had about a year and a half ago.

From my perspective everyone with a swing hitch should have all welds inspected.


link to Bigbear's failure http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...39&postcount=9

[Lesherp]

I inspected my welds yesterday and everything looks fine so far. However, I think it would be prudent to have some additional support added to the area where the weld is failing. I don’t think mine has the additional strap welded across the bottom of the box tube that PopBeaver said was added. I would like to see some pictures of anything that has be done to reinforce the hitch.