This sucks

[FParisi]

As I said the equalizer on my trailer broke without affecting the springs.

The plastic/nylon bushings wear out + then it's metal on metal with no lubrication. The bolt holes elongate until the equalizer breaks at the center.

I replaced the suspension hardware ( not the springs ) with heavy duty bronze, greasble fittings.

The only real way to tell how much wear is there is to take it apart.

I thought the Arctic Fox had Dexter axles.

Frank

 

[MGreer]

HBarlow,



Thats some good advice and I agree with you on the amount of leafs. Forest River has the camper now for repairs. Lippert reps were there yesterday when we dropped the camper off. They are going to make repairs and talked about some sort of upgrade. When I upgrade to better axle's I can do all the work myself, saving the cost of labor.

 

[MGreer]

231jasonS,



The driver's side spring broke first letting the axle twist under the camper. The twisting is what caused the center hanger to break on the passenger side. The holes in the leafs for the center pin are egg shaped telling me something could have been loose or broken(center pin)already. I never did find the center pin for the driver side, and I covered a large area for it.

At minimum I would check the center pin and tighten all the U bolts. I believe my owners manual calls for about 150 ft/lbs torque. I would seriously consider upgrading axles, springs and hardware as HBarlow described. I know any camper I buy will be upgraded very soon after purchase.

The way I look at it now is, if this happened on the highway there's a good chance I wouldn't be typing this right now.

Also, the way things are nowaday's companies are trying to save money to keep their profits up. It's scarey to think about the posibility of putting cheaper made suspension componets on the campers we buy.

 

[HBarlow]

MGreer,



It is frightening to consider what could have happened if that axle had separated from the trailer as you mentioned above while you were towing at 60mph on a two lane highway. The axle that separated would have swung around on one side possibly lifting the tires of the other axle enough to lose traction and the ability to keep the trailer traveling forward in a straight line. The axle that was loose would have swung the trailer either toward oncoming traffic or toward the shoulder pushing the hitch point the opposite direction and causing your truck to swing toward the shoulder or off into a ditch. The rig could have hit an oncoming car or jackknifed and run off the road, even overturned.



It was unfortunate that you experienced that catastrophic failure but very lucky it failed at low speed in a park instead of later when you returned to the highway.

 

[TAbbott]

I'm still not certain this trailer is really "fixed. " In the original photo's, the bottom flange of the frame rail is twisted or bent in an axial fashion where the spring perches attach. I've seen several similar photos on RV.net, and all of them have the same "feature" where the spring perch is atttached directly to the lower frame flange with welds on either side that are maybe 4 inches long or so, longitudinally.



The I-beams used in these light trailers are simply not strong enough to stand any kind of lateral force or "twist" on the flange alone when it is not supported by a much longer attachment such as a 2x2 box section running along the bottom flange to which the perch attaches. This then distributes the forces along the entire length of the I-beam rather than along just a few inches of the bottom flange.



Unless one wanted to raise this trailer, such a "fix" (installing the box section under the frame flange) wouldn't really work, but it seems like a couple pieces of angle iron "fish-plated" to the center section of the I-beam with the short side of the angle mating flush with the top of the lower flange on each side with a few gussets re-inforcing the angle would significantly stiffen the frame in the area above the axles, making this type of failure far less likely.



It appears that they've attempted to stiffen this general area though the use of some light angle iron cross members above and below the bottom flange slightly fore and aft of the perch area. I personally doubt this is enough given the shortness of the area of the frame flange that originally failed and the materials' apparent relative lack of strength.

 

[TAbbott]

On edit, I should add to the above post that many of the frame failures I've seen depicted on RV.net did not involve any broken springs or other suspension parts. The frames simply failed to withstand the stresses put on them, folding the bottom flange just as depicted in the original photo's of this post.

 

[HBarlow]

TAbbott:



Wow, I didn't notice how flimsy the suspension attachment to the frame is. I agree with you. Not a pretty sight.



Edit:



I went out on my backyard pad and looked under my HH. It has 8" or 10" C channel main frame rails of heavy gauge steel with a 6' section of heavy walled 2" by 2" box tubing stubbed along the bottom of the main frame rail to support the suspension. There are heavy straps welded on the outside edge along the side of the spring brackets up alongside the 2" tubing and then an inch or two up alongside the main frame rails to tie all three components together.

 

[TAbbott]

HBarlow: That's similar to the way my HR Nextlevel toyhauler is built as well. A 2x2 box section runs beneath the I-beam from the very back of the unit beneath the ramp door to approximately 3' forward of the forward axle center in the tridem setup. Then, beneath that, is another 2x2 box section that is essentially a sub frame to which the spring perches themselves are attached. That sub frame extends from about 3' forward of the front axle to about the same distance behind the the 3rd axle. That sub frame has it's own X-members of 2x2 stock fore and aft that would prevent it's box section structure from twisting axially off the bottom of the "stack. "



Basically, what both you and I are describing is a far more robust frame and running gear mounting system for a relatively light duty trailer than that utilized on the OP's trailer. It undoubtedly makes for a heavier unit that may be a little harder to pull, but it's also far less likely to experience the type of failure shown in the OP's pictures.

 

[BillGotthelf]

In looking at the angle of those shocks I doubt they were doing much of anything. I am anxious to hear what the frame manufacturer did.

 

[CEly]

HBarlow,



After your comment about Dexter axles being American made I took a close look at mine on my Jayco toyhauler and noticed the equalizers have "Dexter" cast into them on one side & CHINA cast on the other. I found this very disappointing. Since I own a machine shop, I think I will be making a much more robust set of these to replace the CHINA models. Suspension components are NOT the place to be cutting corners!! If I want something cheap and disposable, I'll go to Wal-Mart.

 

[HBarlow]

HBarlow,



After your comment about Dexter axles being American made I took a close look at mine on my Jayco toyhauler and noticed the equalizers have "Dexter" cast into them on one side & CHINA cast on the other. I found this very disappointing. Since I own a machine shop, I think I will be making a much more robust set of these to replace the CHINA models. Suspension components are NOT the place to be cutting corners!! If I want something cheap and disposable, I'll go to Wal-Mart.

CEly,



Thanks for setting me and the readers straight. I hope Dexter has not given up on quality, American made parts and begun replacing all of their products with Communist Chinese junk. Hopefully it is only cast parts like the equalizer.



About two years ago when I was transporting RVs I had my fiver parked in an old run down mobile home park in Ligonier, IN. My neighbors, every single family and individual, were illegal immigrants from MX and most, possibly all, had jobs in the secondary RV industry. They were working in small local plants manufacturing all the components that went into the RVs. One of the neighbors was better educated and a good family man who worked in the local Dexter plant assembling brake backing plates. He was paid by the piece and worked very hard to turn out a huge number of Dexter brake assemblies every day. I'm not sure where the components came from but the brake assembies were being assembled in the US.



If you are going to replace the equalizers I suggest you review Dexter's website. They offer a new equalizer that is designed to absorb the shock when your trailer runs over rough surfaces like a railroad crossing. The product is called EZ Flex and works very well. Here's a link: Dexter Axle - Trailer Axles and Running Gear Components - E-Z Flex Suspension



HitchHiker included them as standard equipment on '08 models so I had a set retrofitted to my '07 HH. They were surprisingly inexpensive and seem to actually work as well as claimed. Young's Frame, the company right down the street from NuWa (HitchHiker) that builds most of their frames sold and installe them for me. I paid something like $268, parts and labor, installed.

 

[CEly]

HBarlow,



Thanks for the link. Looks like a nice piece. Will look into them before I make my own!

 

[MGreer]

HBarlow,



When I got the camper stopped the passenger side tire on the front axle was off the ground. The driver side tire on the rear axle was in the middle of the camper with the lug nuts facing straight out the back of the camper. At highway speeds the camper would have left the ground a little or done as you described.



TAbbott,



The picture of the bent frame is of the passenger side. There wasn't much bending on the driver side. The passenger side stayed attached until enough twist broke it loose. Forest River still has the camper, Lippert talked about upgrades but I don't think it'll be anything to brag about.





CEly,



I thought the replacement leafs and equalizer were made in America. A closer look and the equalizer has China molded in it. I cant tell anything on the leafs. My point is if the equalizer says China then the leafs are probably China also.

The ez flex is what i'm planning on going with when my upgrades are complete.

 

[TAbbott]

MGreer: Here's a link to an older post on RV.net that involves a failure similar to yours, although as I recall, no broken springs were involved... just a frame and spring perch mounting failure.



Trailer Life Magazine Open Roads Forum: Toy Haulers: 06 Rampage/Freestyle/Trail Rider owners beware



You might find it interesting reading.

 

[HBarlow]

MGreer,



If you can persuade, or demand, that Lippert use 2" square tubing welded securely to the bottom of the frame rails to attach your new replacement suspension as in my trailer and the one in the photos above you could also have Lippert adjust your kingpin mount to compensate and return the trailer to level.



Then you should have a stronger frame and suspension that would restore your confidence in your trailer for years of use.

 

[MGreer]

That would be a great fix to the problem. They did mention the upgrade being running a tube from leaf mount to leaf mount. Maybe this is what they are talking about. I did notice the camper in trailer life has six leafs per spring.

 

[HBarlow]

If they'll give you a 2" square tubing subframe on each side and new six leaf springs you should be a "happy camper" again.

 

[MGreer]

Recieved news Friday the camper is ready to be picked up. We will be picking it up Thursday. Forest River told us we will be getting reimbursed all of the out of pocket cost, the check is coming from Lippert. Tried several times to contact Lippert with no response, seems like nobody wants to say anything. Forest River acts like they dont know what repairs Lippert did, they just say replaced both axles. I guess i'll see what they did when I get up there, and I will post pictures of what they did.

 

[rcgibson]

Just wondering how everything turned out.

 

[MGreer]

Got the camper back home last thursday. They basically cut all the leaf mounts off at the frame and replaced everything, including the axle we had to have put on. They welded 2x2 tubing from one side of the camper to the other. The tubing is welded to the inside of the leaf mounts with added angle welded for more support. It seems like it should be stronger than the tubing welded to the bottom of the frame and then the mounts welded to that.

I didn't get to take any pictures yet due to rain and a broken camera. I will get some pictues with my camera and if they are good enough to post I will. If not, i'll get a new camera. I'm anxious to see the opinions on the repair. Also, they are reimbursing us the full amount of out of pocket costs. That money is coming from Lippert, recieved check yesterday.