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.

[RockyMtnRay]

When I called TM this morning I found that Ed was out (vacation?) but was connected to Adam (represented himself as another Customer Service Rep). Only took a minute or two of explanation and I was put right through to Michael Hulsey. For those who aren't up to speed on who's who at TM...the founder and President is Bill Hulsey (himself a PhD engineer). Michael is his son and the company's chief engineer (probably also a VP)). Michael was out but I left a detailed voice mail...including a mention of my role here at TMO.

Apparently the voice mail was persuasive...Michael called me within 20 minutes. He knew who I was (they do indeed monitor this website) and he also found I have substantial knowledge of engineering/metallurgical issues. So we had a rather long, technically deep (lots of talk about concepts such as embrittlement) and exceptionally fruitful discussion. FYI, Michael is the engineer that UtahSue has been talking to. Key points of the discussion:

• He was definitely concerned by two reports of frame cracking in two days. I reminded him there had been the earlier report from PopBeaver as well and pointed out that these were 3 cases that even I knew about and there was a good likelihood that there were more out there in TM land.
• I told him I believed the starting point of the fractures was at the bottom of the frame tube adjacent to the bottom corner of the lower ear of the swing hinge. He concurred and told me that he'd already ordered an immediate change to the construction of all TMs with swing hitches...namely a 2 inch wide, 4 inch long "gusset" to be welded along the bottom of the frame tubes. The purpose of this gusset is to increase the tensile strength of the bottom of the frame tube so these cracks don't get started.
• He asked me to email photos of the crack area on my TM...I sent him several very high resolution images taken with a macro lens (see below for lower res versions of 3 of these images).
• After reviewing these photos, he emailed back that he felt confident that a competent welder could clean up/reweld this relatively small crack and affix a gusset to prevent further cracking. The good news here is that I caught the cracking before it had become very severe.
• He indicated that although my trailer was now 4 years old, he'd give favorable consideration to reimbursing me for my expenses in having the crack properly fixed. Not a hard and firm commitment...and not really a financial biggie for me...but nice to know that at least TM will consider reimbursing me despite the trailer being way out of the warranty period.

As for actually implementing a fix, I'm blessed to have a 10 year casual friendship/business relationship with arguably the best welder in all of greater Colorado Springs. Jerry is a trained metallurgist, is FAA certified for repairing aircraft, and is an absolute artisan with all types of welding techniques. I was able to get ahold of him and after explaining the detail of this crack, he said he fully grasped what needed to be done and saw no problems in fixing it. Although he couldn't work me in before the weekend (did have to cancel my trip and participation in a RVSEF weigh-in ), he told me to bring the trailer down to his shop next Wednesday. His shop is only about 5 miles from my house...and Michael OK'd that short a trip with the proviso I not use my WDH spring bars. So, by next Wednesday afternoon, all should be just fine again. Actually better than now since I know that Jerry will be very meticulous in reinforcing the frame tube to preclude any further cracking.

Soooo....appears my problem will be fixed completely and permanently within a few days. AND it appears that new TMs will have reinforced frames to preclude this from happening to future owners. Not bad for a couple of hours of coordination if I say so myself.

Photos: The 1st photo shows an overall view of the side of the frame tube...note the crack is only along the weld for the lower hinge ear. Also note that the paint has cracked off along the weld of the upper ear...that tells me there has been some flexing but no visible cracking along this weld. The 2nd photo shows closeup detail of the crack in the side of frame tube. The 3rd photo shows a close up of the bottom of the frame tube...note that at this point, the crack has propagated (visibly at least) only about half way across the bottom of the frame tube. (NOTE: In case the scale of these photos is a bit unfamiliar/baffling...all 3 photos were taken using macro (aka extreme close up) mode...the lens was only about 4 inches away from the subject in each photo)

The reason I was so reluctant to tow my TM with the crack was because the crack covered the entire bottom, all the way up one side and halfway up the other. It was not safe to store the TM resting on the front wheel. Dinuba RV had to put the weight of the front on the front jacks when they transported it as it appeared that a single good strong bounce on the front wheel would have resulted in total collapse of the street side box tubing.

Originally Posted by Texas_Camper

As a follow-up on Michael Hulsey's talk at the Jubilee:
If I remember correctly everything he said, he did say that he (they, someone at the factory) monitored this forum. I don't think they spend a great amount of time on it, but they do listen.

That sounds right, Leon. I told Michael Hulsey that there was a forum thread on this subject that may interest him, so he probably took a look at it. (I don't like to talk about people behind their backs, so I wanted Michael to be fully-informed.) But as a general rule, I don't think that he reads it.

Anyway, the bottom line is that they seem genuinely concerned and helpful about the present problems and preventing future ones.

As for my situation, I have called all 16 welders in my town and every one of them is backlogged by three weeks to two months. I then found one from another town 45 miles away who sounds promising, so I am keeping my fingers crossed and waiting for a call. I'll post some photos of the repair when it is finally done.

[fcatwo]

I question whether this situation is as simple as some think. Tandem bicycles is our main thing and one of the best recumbent-tandem manufacturers no longer exists because of the injury-litigation resulting from a few failed bike frames. It's possible (likely?) that a Trailmanor with one of these faulty swing-frames will get loose on the highway and make a few lawyers wealthy.

Also, I'm not inclined to praise Trailmanor for giving lip-service to a faulty product that can kill people. I'm more inclined to fault them for selling them. IMO they should be doing something about all of them and not just those yet to be built. Remember Ford/Firestone, many of those were out of warranty as well. All the evidence a lawyer will need to prove their case when the time comes is on these pages. The ball is in Trailmanor's court and I hope they will do the right thing. Possibly a little more than just my $0.02.

I like Trail Manor, too, but if we all took that approach and deleted our posts on this topic, someone could die. Literally. There may be more people out there with cracked frames who really need to see these photos and have this called to their attention. After all, isn't it the original post by PopBeavers, our follow-ups, and the alarming photos that caused you to inspect your frame and discover the cracks before something horrible occurred?

I'm not advocating lawsuits and I would hate to see that happen, but if the product is faulty, then TM and the owners need to know so a proper analysis of the problem can be made and a solution found that will keep everyone safe. To hide it would be a disservice to both the owners and the factory.

[fcatwo]

Might want to delete that post as well. Maybe someone will delete the whole thread. I don't dislike Trailmanor either but I think their response to this problem is less than responsible. Three of the reported problems are on virtually new trailers and someone reported that one of their dealers has stopped ordering swing-tongues from TM and is converting them locally. Just because we like them doesn't mean they don't need to address the problem.

There are attorneys in the papers and on TV every day looking for litigation opportunites and it's likely one of them will pounce on an accident caused by something like this. We are part of a litigous society. That's not why TM needs to fix this however.

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

Boy, look what I started