This sucks

[Grizzly]

Perhaps this is a good time for all of us to get under our 5th wheels and TT and do a thorough inspection of the running gear. Then make necessary repairs or reinforcements. If these sort of weaknesses are found in the running gear, we should write letters to the RV manufactures and urge a recall to correct them before some catastrophic mishaps such as MGreer's experience. MGreer was fortunate that this didn't happen while going down the Interstate at 65 mph.

 

[bigdaddydieseldan]

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.

Yeah that does suck sorry for the bad luck but at least it happened at the campground and not on the road #@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!

 

[Jumbo Jet]

I was at the tire shop having new Maxxis tires installed on my 5th wheel RV and noticed both leftside - inside Spring hangers broken on the equalizer. The end hangers were fine. There is no telling how many miles I traveled with them broken with no adverse effects.

Reason I was having new tires put on was to replace the Chinese May-Pops that had less than 3,000 miles on them.

I check those things now before every trip.

 

[Grizzly]

I was at the tire shop having new Maxxis tires installed on my 5th wheel RV and noticed both leftside - inside Spring hangers broken on the equalizer. The end hangers were fine. There is no telling how many miles I traveled with them broken with no adverse effects.

Reason I was having new tires put on was to replace the Chinese May-Pops that had less than 3,000 miles on them.

I check those things now before every trip.

I believe Maxxis are also made in China.

 

[MGreer]

The entrance to the campground is only about one mile or less from the highway exit. I feel real lucky this didn't happen on the highway. One thing I would check is the center pin, if you can see it. I never did find the center pin on the side that let loose.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

I believe Maxxis are also made in China.

Yes, but they have a good reputation from many on other RV forums.



I have also experienced the Goodyear Marathon issues on a previous 5th Wheel RV.



They also make a load range E 15" tire.

 

[JCasper]

I believe Maxxis are also made in China.

Nope, Thailand.

 

[JCasper]

Perhaps this is a good time for all of us to get under our 5th wheels and TT and do a thorough inspection of the running gear. Then make necessary repairs or reinforcements. If these sort of weaknesses are found in the running gear, we should write letters to the RV manufactures and urge a recall to correct them before some catastrophic mishaps such as MGreer's experience. MGreer was fortunate that this didn't happen while going down the Interstate at 65 mph.

I did right before this trip, mainly because I just had 2" blocks installed.



I will also do it again when I get home.

 

[Grizzly]

Nope, Thailand.

Which is in Southeast Asia.

 

[Grizzly]

The entrance to the campground is only about one mile or less from the highway exit. I feel real lucky this didn't happen on the highway. One thing I would check is the center pin, if you can see it. I never did find the center pin on the side that let loose.

I hope your 5er is fixed by now and your on your way to Myrtle Beach.

 

[MGreer]

The repair wasn't finished until the 24th, so we had to cancel the Myrtle part of the trip. We just extended the Pigeon Forge stay by two days. Talk about trying to get an axle delivered to the mountains. I could have drove to Florida and picked it up myself and been on the road in a couple days.

We had to send a letter to Forest River, so were waiting on their reply. I'm not expecting anything good, I have a few attorney friends that will handle the case real cheap if it goes that far. There's still a lot of repairs that need to be done to get the camper straightened out.

 

[MCummings]

I did right before this trip, mainly because I just had 2" blocks installed.



I will also do it again when I get home.

I'm thinking the 2" blocks may have added too much stress to the suspension... Just a thought.



Merrick

 

[FParisi]

The equalizer on my trailer broke in half - I saw the tires smoking as they rubbed - no damage. That is a wear item - replaced it with a heavy duty greasable unit.

A friend was having tire wear issues + found that the hanger on one side of the rear axle apparently had never been welded + flipped over!

It does pay to inspect under the trailer!

Frank

 

[MGreer]

I've been in contact with Forest River over the past few weeks. Were taking the camper up to Elkhart this Friday. They say they will fix everything else at no cost. They said when they look at the camper and if they dont determine any abuse they will reimburse us the out of pocket cost.

I talked to them today and they are going to have someone from Lippert there so we can go over it all with them also. Hopefully it turns out good.

 

[Midnight]

MGreer, I was at that campground on the 9th and left on the 10th. Must of just missed you. That is quite a sharp turn and steep climb. I was a little worried about coming down, but i left it in first and hardly had to touch the brakes. When nearing the bottom i pushed the clutch in and then the hole works wanted to take off.

 

[KBalzuweit]

I've been in contact with Forest River over the past few weeks. Were taking the camper up to Elkhart this Friday. They say they will fix everything else at no cost. They said when they look at the camper and if they dont determine any abuse they will reimburse us the out of pocket cost.

I talked to them today and they are going to have someone from Lippert there so we can go over it all with them also. Hopefully it turns out good.

Lippert just had some problems with spring perch failures on some frames they built for KZ.

 

[MGreer]

Midnight

We arrived at the campground just before 2pm on the 10th. We were at that same campground last year with no problem's. It wasn't very fun on the way out after the damage, especially with no shocks on the rear axle.







KBalzuweit

That's good info to know going up there. Forest River and Lippert both seem eager to check out this camper.



Thanks

 

[MGreer]

Decided to take a few pictures before hooking up. Wanted to see if there was a difference in the original springs vs. the replacements. The replacements are flattened out and the old springs are still curved. Camper is sitting level with the rear stabilizers up.

My question is since the shocks are missing on the rear axle, does the shock put enough down pressure to keep the spring curved. I dont see how it could but i'm not sure.

 

[231jasonS]

Do you think the spring broke first causinthe center hanger to snap or the other way around.



I have the exact same set up under my trailer. What do you think i should look for?

 

[HBarlow]

MGreer,



A shock absorber exerts no force, upward or downward, when the trailer is at rest. The shock resists extension and compression forces when the trailer bounces over uneven road surfaces.



Looking at your photos (which are excellent, BTW) I am surprised to see four leaf springs on a 34' fifth wheel. I would expect at least five leafs.



You may not like this advice but it is offered with good intentions:



Don't replace the equalizers with fancy products intended to soften the ride. That would be like putting a bandaid on a malignant cancer. Replace both axles, all four springs, all hardware, and all four brake backing plates with American made Dexter or other American products. Complete new axle assemblies are surprisingly inexpensive if you shop around at trailer parts suppliers like Southwest Wheel in TX or Redneck Trailer Supply. Both have excellent websites. They can also provide the changover labor at rates a fraction of those charged by the RV industry.



Dexter is a very old and experienced company building high quality trailer running gear. Dexter has an outstanding website.



Lippert, who builds frames and trailer components is reportedly a good company who stands behind their products when failures occur but Lippert uses cheap imported Communist Chinese components. Your experience is a testimony to the quality of ChiComm trailer running gear.



Best wishes on your repairs.



Afterthought on edit:



Shocks couldn't possibly do any good mounted at an angle closer to horizontal than vertical like your photos show yours are mounted. As you know, the trailer bounces up and down over bumps in the road. The purpose of the shocks is to dampen and reduce the bounce. Yours could only dampen fore and aft movement and that can't occur as long as the sprins are bolted to the end perches and equalizers.