The last call you want to get is from the RV repair shop telling you they noticed your 5th wheel overhang moved about 2 ft when you unhitched your trailer and that’s not normal. What were they talking about? We haven’t had any problems…that we knew of. Next, they tell us the entire front cap needs to be removed to assess what’s wrong. The next call was much worse…the frame was cracked. We better call our insurance and see if it can be totaled. What? We brought our trailer to you because of a tire blow out and the side needed to be fixed, now our trailer is unrepairable.
We made the call to insurance, filed a claim and the repair shop sent pictures. This was not covered by insurance because this was not caused by an accident but from wear and tear over time. We have a 2014 Heartland Cyclone model 3110 we bought new. It started out as a 38 ft. dual axle trailer before we added a 2 1/2 ft. extension, placed to the back of the 10 ft garage, to accommodate our can am in 2020. We have over 100,000 miles on our 5th wheel, from traveling cross-country to local trips. We have upgraded the trailer to accommodate the extension; exchanged out the 7000-pound axles to 8000-pound axles, added a 4″ box frame, shocks, and H rated tires. The problem now lies with what we could not see”
To Fix or Sell
Do we sell the trailer “as is” and hopefully someone will buy it? Maybe they can stick it on a piece of property and live in it. Do we fix it? The trailer is almost 9 years old at this point (Nov 2022). Can we find someone to fix it? Is it even fixable? The repair shop that had our trailer called a welding shop to look at the frame. They said they may be able to weld the frame but someone else would have to remove all the siding to see the extent of the damage. The repair shop stated they could remove the siding, but the person was out sick so wasn’t sure when it would be done. We agreed to have the siding removed when they could. 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks go by and nothing. Finally, we received a call back from the repair shop just to find out the tech has now been fired because he is an alcoholic and there is nothing, they can do for us. Our trailer is 3 hours away from where we live with the front cap off, we need to figure this out quickly.
I started looking online- there has to be other people who have had this problem, we can’t be the only ones. I remember the insurance adjuster mentioning he sees cracked frames all the time, especially in Alaska due to the road conditions and we may want to try and find a welding shop. After researching, and crying and yelling and crying some more, we reached out to a mobile RV shop in Lake Havasu- Bryd’s mobile RV. “Yeah we do about 10-12 of these a year. I will have Dustin go pick up your trailer and bring it to the shop later this afternoon.” We felt a sigh of relief and had a little bit of hope.
Our 5th wheel made it to Bryd’s, and they tore it apart to assess all the damage. 1 week later we had the original estimate of $14,000 to fix our trailer. We had a decision to make; spend the money and make the trailer bullet proof or sell it and get what we can out of it. If we sell it, no more trailer. Buying a new one will cost well over $140,000, and there is no guarantee that we won’t end up with the same problems we have now. We have a lot of money in our 5th wheel already, we love our trailer, and we don’t want to give up the RV lifestyle. We also bought a 2022 dually in July 2022 specifically for traveling in our 5th wheel. So, we decided it was worth the money to fix it.
What is Frame Flex
Frame flex has become a common term in the RV world lately. You need to have some frame flex so your frame doesn’t snap, so we are actually talking about frame failure… frames flexing past the point that your RV is not supported the way it should be. It can happen in any RV, but it is most commonly seen in 40 plus foot 5th wheels and toy haulers; especially RV’s that are frequently moved.
Where Does Frame Failure Happen on a RV
In most cases frame failure shows up in the pin box, where the 5th wheel attaches into the hitch on your truck bed. Apparently, the pin box is not supposed to move independently from the RV when you are moving or hitching/unhitching your RV.
How Do You Know if a RV Has Frame Failure
A very clear sign is a crack or cracks in the fiberglass found around the slide(s) of your RV. This is where the highest amount of stress is on you RV.
Pin box movement as mentioned above. If compromised, the hitch moves upward when you lower the pin into it because the pix box structure isn’t flat and rigid like it should be to support your 5th wheel.
Bowing walls, warping floors, cabinetry and trim popping loose causing movement, and leaks around fixtures such as windows can all be other signs of frame failure.
How Much Damage Could There Be?
About once a week we would receive a call from Charlie at Bryd’s with a new problem they found. They warned us they may find other things as they got into it… and they were right. Some of the problems were from previous work we have had done. Essentially, we were ‘double’ paying for some of the shouty work that had to be corrected…crap welding, and cracks in fiberglass that were ultimately caused from frame separation but were told differently.
The Causes of RV Frame Failure
- Subpar materials- Bad steel, it does happen but more than likely not.
- Design Flaw- Inadequate engineering, poor cross bracing, and weak welds create points in the frame that are weak.
- Manufacturing Defects- Poor welding or improper assembly result in premature failure and weak points.
- Suspension Attachment Points- Cracks, and rust can occur in the suspension hangers or triangular supports that connect the suspension to the frame.
- Water Intrusion- Water damage can compromise the structural integrity of the frame and its connection to the walls.
- Frame Wall Integration- frame detachment from the walls of the rv.
- Overloaded RVs- An overloaded 5th wheel can get overstressed and stop working properly, especially when towed over multiple trips. It’s easy to overlook your camper’s weight over time as you slowly add items to your rv.
- Pin box- Swapping the factory approved pin box on your 5th wheel for one that is not approved for the rv chassis. Not all pin boxes are created the same. Find out from the manufacturer with your VIN# if the pin box you are looking to swap is approved.
- Tow Vehicle- “You can’t have too much truck” might not be true when towing a 5th wheel. Manufacturers build rv’s expecting it to be towed by something like a 1 ton dually, not a semi. The 5th wheel’s weight is engineered to activate the trucks suspension and reduce the impact the rv gets from bumps along the road. Suspension on a semi is built to handle more weight, so the suspension isn’t activated as easily, the impact goes to the rv instead of your truck.
- Frequent Trips- 5th wheels are not meant to be towed every 2-3 days all year long. Manufactures classify rv living differently than full-time RVing. Advertising suggests it’s possible, but 5th wheel overuse is a real problem.
- Fatigue- Repeated flexing of the frame overtime, rough roads, and potholes leads to weakness in the frame.
Prevention
- Inspect Regularly- Look for cracks, rust and damage around the frame and other common failure points.
- Water Damage- Look for leaks in roof, slides, water pipes and repair promptly to prevent further damage.
- Proper Weight Distribution- Avoid overloading the trailer. Distribute weight to not overload 5th wheels’ axles. Weigh your rv yearly to ensures it isn’t heavier than the frame can handle.
The Fix
Byrd’s Mobile RV rebuilt the front of our 5th wheel frame. Byrd’s had to take everything out of the bedroom and the bathroom, added slide supports, replaced the floorboards, reinforced the walls to the floor and replaced all the flooring. One bonus is we were able to get rid of the carpet in the bedroom area and go with vinyl flooring. Byrd’s repaired all the frame damage around the axles and slide racks and welded additional cross members to the frame for additional strength. The 4″ box frame placed after we added the extension looked like bird shit welding, so it had to be cleaned up, rewelded in spots with reinforcement plates added.
Byrds also found our water and waste tanks were being held by a strap and all the connections on top of the tanks were cracked. Byrds replaced all the tanks and plumbing which involved new cable pull waste valves.
Byrds had to replace the underpinning and actually attached it correctly with sheet metal screws for easy access in the future.
We also changed out the Anderson Ultimate hitch to the Reese 27K hitch and Reese air ride pin box. This is our fourth hitch we have had on this trailer. We replaced our original hitch when we first bought the 5th wheel with a B&W hitch. Great hitch but extremely heavy. At the time we were pulling our 5th wheel with a 2500 Chevrolet Silverado and had to take the hitch out every time after using the 5th wheel so we could use the truck bed. I hurt my rotator cuff and could hardly help move the hitch in and out of the truck bed, so we went to a two-piece curt hitch. Came apart in 2 pieces so easier to take out of the truck bed but still heavy. Our 3rd hitch was the Anderson Ultimate 5th wheel hitch because it was light and easy to take in and out of the truck bed… you can carry it with one hand. Hindsight, bad idea. The Anderson Ultimate can put excessive stress on the pin box which can accelerate wear and damage that ultimately leads to frame failure. I’m not by any means saying the Anderson caused our damage, but in my opinion, it didn’t help the situation. The Anderson Ultimate 5th wheel hitch is not approved by Heartland for use on their 5th wheel trailers and Lippert does not approve the use of the Anderson hitch as it is considered a gooseneck adapter. No, we did not check with Heartland or Lippert to see if this hitch was approved…our stupidity, still learning as we go.
Was it Worth it
This is one of the major reasons I started blogging because I don’t want people to have to go through the things we have gone through and waste tons of money and time if they can be prevented by learning from our mistakes. When you buy a trailer and accessories for your trailer, no one tells you you’re going to have these problems in the future. It sucks to be on the road and have problems and be stuck and ruin your vacation. It sucks to spend thousands of dollars on your home on wheels when it may have been prevented. It sucks being lied to or mislead by people who don’t know what the hell they are doing. Knowledge is protection. The more you educate yourself about your trailer, how to use it and how to prevent problems, the more money, time and frustration you will save.
All said and done, about $28,000 dollars to fix the trailer. Are we crazy… yes, we are. Was it worth it? Our trailer is better built and stronger than most 5th wheel trailers on the road today. We don’t worry that it is going to fall apart on us driving down the road. We could have gone and bought a cheap trailer that we really didn’t like or were not comfortable in for it to fall apart on us and have to put money into that. We do have over 100,000 miles on this trailer and intend on putting more miles on it. Our ultimate goal is to park it on a piece of property and live in it. So yes, it was worth $28,000 dollars for our peace of mind that our home on wheels is capable of many more miles on the road. With today’s trailer builds and the horror stories you hear, $28,000 dollars is well worth it. Rest assured this trailer will be buried with us.