This sucks

[MGreer]

Towed to Ashville KOA West today. Truck pulled like a freight train with 4. 11. If anybody has entered this campground, you can understand the stress put on the frame of the trailer. Pulled into driveway and went to second gear to creep up the hill.

Let clutch out and gave a little fuel, felt like I side swiped a tree. Stopped the truck immediatley. Looked in the pass mirror and looked like a broken axle. Walked down the driver side, no second axle.

The driver side shackle,leaf, and shocks rolled around under the camper. The driver side tire came to rest under the support for the slide out,that was the only thing thing that kept the rear of the camper off the ground.

Called a local wrecker service in which they could not help. This sucked.

I ended up getting the camper movible with a lot of help from the campground staff.

The thing that was great about it was once I got the trailer to a camp site,the owner of the campground asked me if I had a tuner. I replied with it's a smarty, and it's made for Dodge's only.

My repairs are supposed to happen Monday,so I still plan on Myrtle beach this week.

The camper is a 06 Cardinal model 34.

 

[PLevesque]

Any clues what broke? Many spring mounts I have seen do not seem stout enough. They look too long and slender. My last 5th wheel had a recall on just that. They had to weld in gussets.

 

[DonTX]

If it is like mine, the bracket probably came loose from the frame. I have noticed that weld seems more like a tack weld than a fastener, and have worried about just that happening. Either a sharp turn or an obstruction in the road would rip it off.

 

[MGreer]

The shackle that connects the front and rear leaf springs broke in half just in front of where the rear leaf bolts up. The leafs on both sides broke in half at the center bolt hole. The leaf mounts didn't move except for one on the passenger side which bent the lip on the frame a little.

 

[MoparDave]

I have nightmares about this type of stuff happening. I had a axle tube crack once and the tire/hub pushed up into the floor on the trailer. I did not catch it in time and from the tire rubbing the floor it started on fire. I did how ever see the smoke.

 

[Grizzly]

Isn't a Cardinal 5th wheel, Forest Rivers finest? Sounds like a quality control issue.

 

[MGreer]

After peicing the leafs together it looks like the center pin hole is a little out of round. When I was first looking under the camper at the damage I saw a peice of leaf on the ground and it had 1 inch white letters on it that said CHINA. That might explain how both leaf packs snapped like pretzels and the mounts didnt move,except for the one that bent the frame.

 

[proflow]

I wonder if EZ-FLEX might help out your situation. This is what I used when doing a major suspention conversion on mine. I have a tripple axle, but looks to me you may be @ even more of an advantage than myself. I'm thinking too much stress on one hanger , twist l, twist r, up, down , etc... my 2-C -----Proflow

 

[MGreer]

I will look into the EZ-Fex, what is really bad is the warranty expired about 12 days before ths happened. Forest River will be getting some phone calls today.

 

[231jasonS]

Good luck on the warranty, The dealer helped me out on my last forrest river trailer that had a wall seperate in the front. (not enough screws)



The dealer told me they paid for the repairs out of pocket because the warranty had expired 45 days prior. The only thing that saved me was the dealer had attempted a half arsed repair while it was still under warranty.



i would take this problem and turn it into an upgrade... . dont go back to the cheap shackles and mickmouse set up..... look in to the better suspension setup out there. (EZ flex, Trailair)

 

[MGreer]

The repair man showed up yesterday and the axle is bent. The new axle will be here Wednesday so I should be on the road in a day or two. When I get back home there will definitely be some upgrades. I checked out and will probably go with the ez lift.

The repair man said something was broken or loose on one side for a long time. I will start with the forest river dealer first.

 

[231jasonS]

good luck and keed up updated. If you could get some pics of the damged parts that might help some members know what to look out for.

 

[Grizzly]

MGreer, I wish you the best of luck with warranty and I support the idea of inspecting and upgrading the entire running gear. It'll be money worth spent.

 

[DValentine]

I have a Forest River Wildcat. Couldn't believe the way the hangers were "tacked" onto the frame. The dealer didn't do much about it after I showed them. So I welded myself. Peved. Paid more money for the trailer than I have for any of my trucks. GO Get THEM.

Dave

 

[AABEN]

MGreer do you belong to trailer life? If so right to there RV action line they will try to help you out. If you are a good sam club member they will try to help you out. TELL forest river you are going to call national highway traffic safty administration's about that. Ther phone # is 888-327-4263 or www,safercar.gov this might help you out. It did me on a brake problen on my fithwell. GOOD LUCK---BEN

 

[MGreer]

I dont belong to trailer life, but I am a sam's club member. Thanks for the information. When the repair is over I will get some pictures and try to post them.

The owners manual says to check and retighten axle mounting bolts every 6 months to 145 to 155 ft/lbs. I couldn't get my torque wrench on the bolts of the other axle because of the position it's in with one axle missing. I was able to get a regular wrench on a bolt or two, I was able to turn the bolt's without a lot of effort. When the repair is complete I'm going over all the bolts myself.

 

[MGreer]

Blackbear





I read it wrong, I don't belong to good sam.

 

[MGreer]

Hope I got the attachment right. First time trying to post pictures.

 

[proflow]

looks like they all broke @ the center pin, twisting the welded mount. Not trying to be a dick, but it seems the wheel took the hit & then tranferred.



i dunno---Proflow

 

[MGreer]

The side thats all twisted up is the passenger side. The drivers side is the one that let loose. The driver side tire and axle ended up under the support for the slide out. Yes, the leafs broke at the center hole. I could only find one of the center pins, I think the other one was missing for some time. When this happened I was only going 5 to 10 mph.