Cracked Frame

[Leslie & Nick]

Thanks UtahSue for picture. I had heard about frame cracks, and now I know what to look for. That certainly does not look good, but I'm glad that you found it before going out in trailer again. We have a swing-away hitch on our TM and I will pay closer attention to it from now on. I wonder if the swing away design inherently puts more stress on the frame ???

Nick

Originally Posted by Freedom

Maybe swing-away hitches aren't all they're "cracked" up to be.

I think you're right. And what is really funny is that I don't even need one - I just ordered it for resale value and just in case I moved to a different house where I would need it. I have never even pulled the pins, let alone swung the hitch.

I did some research about the rust because I am wondering how old this crack is and it sounds like pristine, uncoated metal such as this crack can rust within hours - does anyone know if that is right? It has been 100 - 110 degrees with afternoon thunderstorns since we returned form the Jubilee, so there has been plenty of moisture, even though I live in the desert. When I saw the rust I thought the crack had to be older than I thought, but maybe not.

Anyway, we're bummed out because we were supposed to go to Wyoming tomorrow to get out of the heat and now we are stuck here waiting for a repair. We may even go camping in a tent (gasp!) .

I do not have a WD hitch. That was the first thing the engineer at the factory asked me this morning when he saw the photos. He is familiar with this issue, but says that our crack is the worst of all and we are the first who did not have a WD hitch.

[RockyMtnRay]

Thanks for posting this. After reading your post, I just now took a look at mine. There's a full crack along the rear side of the lower bracket and the paint has peeled off the rear side of the upper bracket which would indicate there's been some flexing there as well. The crack on the lower side of the rear bracket has extended partway across the bottom of the frame. The trailer's probably still safely towable across town to a welding shop but sure wouldn't take it any further.

Last time I checked (around a month ago) there were no signs of cracking. I'll be calling TM tomorrow...though since the trailer is now 4 years old I may/may not get much warranty support. I was, repeat was, going camping this weekend. That is definitely not going to happen now.

In case anyone's wondering, I do use a WDH.

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by Texas_Camper

RockyMtnRay
Could you please post a follow-up about the factory's response? My TM is a 2002 model. I checked the frame today and everything looked good. I will make it a monthly check item....
Thank you, Utah Sue, for the post and the photo...

I will most definitely keep everyone informed.

Ray, sorry to hear that, but I'm also glad that my post may have prevented you from having a worse problem. Even though you may not be under warranty anymore, given that this is probably a safety issue brought about by a poor design, it seems that they should take care of you. It may not hurt to mention that this is being discussed in the forum. I haven't heard back from the factory, so I'll be calling in the morning, too. Good luck!

PM me if you want the names of the guys I am talking to (Ed is out of town) or a place to post photos for them to look at - they already have my photo page bookmarked.

Originally Posted by utahsue

I do not have a WD hitch. That was the first thing the engineer at the factory asked me this morning when he saw the photos. He is familiar with this issue, but says that our crack is the worst of all and we are the first who did not have a WD hitch.

I don't believe this to be accurate. I do not have a WD hitch and my crack was three quarters of the way around the frame. I will admit that your crack seems to have separated more than mine did, therefore being a worse crack, not necessarily a longer crack.

I spoke directly with the TM factory regarding my 2005 TM 2720 earlier this year. See the beginning of this thread for details. I started this thread.

I do not use a WD hitch, and never have. A year ago I was advised directly by the factory that I would not need a WD hitch as my TV is large enough to not require it. They actually recommended against it. It was never off of a paved road, other than dirt roads in the campground loops at low speed. I reported this to the factory in a conversation. Maybe they did not take notes.

My TM was still under warranty. The factory wanted me to locate a local company with a portable welder to come to my house to fix it. After 2 weeks of trying I was unable to find a welding company. It is very tedious to go through the yellow pages calling them one at a time hoping to get lucky and find one. I found one, waited a week, and then they flaked out of it. I had to start all over.

My dealer, Dinuba RV, came to my house, over 100 miles, to take it back to their shop on a transport trailer. I don't know if my dealer ate the cost of transport or if they got reimbursed by the factory. They had a local welding shop that they have used before perform the repair. I towed it home after the repair was complete.

The repair consisted of cleaning out the crack, twisting the frame back to the normal position if necessary and then welding the crack closed. After that a piece of strap is welded on the bottom of the box tubing to add additional strength.

Some engineers at a Navy stress analysis lab looked at my photos and strongly suspect that the crack originated at the weld for the bracket that is the hinge point for the swing tongue. But this was based on looking at the photos, not looking at the actual trailer. My brother in law, a certified welder, suspects that the weld got a little too hot and there was too much penetration. He is now legally blind and was unable to inspect the weld. His opinion is based on my description of the failure.

I was disappointed that the factory was not very interested in having their engineers examine the failure in an attempt to understand the cause. The factory told me that I was the first reported case of a cracked frame at the weld of the swing away tongue.

In my opinion, there ought to be a modification to the current design as 3 failures is too many. This is not a random event. There is an underlying problem that ought to be addressed.

I don't recommend NOT getting the swing away tongue if you have a need for it. However, I check mine every time I stop. I still don't fully trust it. Maybe in a few years I'll feel better.

I check all welds I can get my head in to look at once a year. This requires climbing under the TM with a flashlight. It makes me nervous that there is a significant safety related failure with no known cause, that has now occurred at least 3 times in less than one year. If the factory could determine what the cause was, and correct the problem, then I wouldn't have to perform an annual inspection. Until such time as I am notified that there is an engineering change I'll just get a little dirty crawling around under the TM once a year. I'll sleep better that way.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

I don't believe this to be accurate. I do not have a WD hitch and my crack was three quarters of the way around the frame. I will admit that your crack seems to have separated more than mine did, therefore being a worse crack, not necessarily a longer crack.

I wondered if what the engineer at the factory told me was accurate. I don't know if there is more than one engineer, but it sure seems that they would have some record of this, especially given that yours happened so recently. I just left a voice mail for him, as he did seem quite concerned and they are supposedly going to locate a welder for me. My closest dealer is more than 400 miles away.

First let me state that I have never sued anyone in my life and am not waiting for my chance in life to do so. That said, there are alot of TM owners who do not participate or read this forum. IF I were one of them and I had a unit with a swing hitch, and someone I cared deeply for (myself included) were seriously injured due to this failure I would ask the obvious question "Why did this happen?"

I think I would be very upset if I were to find out that this was a "known" problem and one that a visual inspection could have easily discovered and allowed for corrective action BEFORE it failed. I might be mad enough (or if I were unable to work due to my injuries) to look for compensation. Texas Camper makes a good point that our sharing on this forum has lead many to safer travels and simplified maintainance, better ways to do things, lessons not to learn the hard way etc. etc. etc.

To date TrailManor has been very responsive and loyal to it's customers and I am willing to give them the benefit of doubt or at least some patience. I do have certain expectations though:

1. Develop a solution

2. Inform all potentially affected owners as quickly as possible. It is great if they can identify the problem and offer a solution at the same time but they should not delay too long to let folks know while developing the solution.

3. Cover the repairs at the factory or authorized dealers

4. Be willing to negotiate assistance if done by a third party shop following plans developed and forwarded by TrailManor.

No one intentionally develops a process or procedure to fail and cause harm and damage. I am hopefull that we will see a quick and decisive response from TrailManor in the very near term. I expect nothing less. It would please me know end to be posting by the end of next week that this issue and the way it was handled are another example of why I love my trailmanor and the company that makes it.

Good luck to all of you who have found cracks and if you have a swing hitch please check for cracks as soon as you can and before you start out on your next adventure. I would hate to see it be an unpleasant adventure.
Bill

Very well said Bill. I am sure most all TM owners will agree with you. Even one life lost or one injury is one too many. TrailManor or you listening?
Jerry