Wall movement

[Pierre&Deb]

Good morning everyone. I would like to know what woukd cause mivement of the exterior wall to the point of causing the wallpaper to move and bunch up. I do t really know where to start looking. Is this indicative of a more serious frame problem or is there a simpler starting point to start troubleshooting?

The picture is in the hallway outside wall

thank you

[Country Campers]

The exterior wall is mounted to the main floor. The steps are made and then put in to place and either fastened to the floor, and/or interior and exterior wall. What you are seeing may just be the steps moving against the wall. In the pass thru storage on the door side there is a panel that if removed will gain you access to the underneath of the steps.

Brian

[Cate&Rob]

We have some of those "wallpaper pulls" at the corners of cabinets . . . which seem to have been there since the trailer was built. I have not seen one "appear" along the edge of a panel like in your picture. It does look too large to have always been there without you noticing. Is there any indication, at the edge of the top step, that this section of floor is moving forward and back? This is not likely, since the this floor is part of the bedroom/bathroom floor. I will be interested to learn whether anyone else has a theory . . . .

Rob

[Jlawles2]

Being the unit is 4-5 years old (guessing you are the original owner), it is unlikely as Rob mentioned that you just noticed that.

Considering it's in the stair landing area and that is probably the most susceptible area to neck flex influence, I would suggest you inspect inside the front bay along the front walls where the frame upper horizontal meets the verticals and where the verticals meet the lower horizontal.

NOT A GD MODERATORS REMOVE IF IT VIOLATES THE RULES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ0kbkyKzt4 Not to single out any brand, but I saw this a while back. There are other indicators that helped a mobile tech pick up that there was an issue while at an event of some type.

Cate&Rob howson Please remove the link if it is unacceptable. I know it's not to another forum but public youtube video.

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Moderator note -- no problem with the link. (Howard)

[TucsonJim]

Jlawles2 - Joseph, your link to the video is fine.

Pierre&Deb - My 2014 Reflection FW had those all around the interior steps. My 2017 Reflection has them all over in the rig. The ceiling in one of the slides is particularly affected. I see no other signs of movement, and the wrinkles haven't changed in a few years. I simply cover them with some trim pieces and hide them.

Jim

[Beachcamper]

I also have one small place at the top corner of interior steps with same wrinkle which appeared a couple of weeks ago. I see no movement when hitched or unhitched as in video posted. Inspection inside bay shows no cracks etc. I would think with the traveling on these substandard highways lately through Oklahoma and Arkansas (I-35 and I-40) not surprised if there was any movement between steps and wall. Hopefully this is the case and I will keep an eye on this. For now, the trim idea sounds like a good solution.

[Pierre&Deb]

Thank you for the input.

I am hitting the road soon so i am trying to make sure everything is in working order. To clarify
1. This did not just appear. It has been there since day one, just getting slightly worst over time, with some smaller one appearing near the steps.
2. I am more concerned since i am noticing a lot of floor deflection (not water danage, just floor flex).
3. The only area i have notice seperation outside is at the top of the front cap (see pic) but i think this is due to applying sealant over the graphics. It looks worst than it is because i cut away some of the graphics and will reaseal with black sealant.

Having seen too many videos on frames breaking has me a little on the edge particularly with the road conditions i encountered last year.

I will Again inspect the framing as suggested here and then set up to hook on to see if i can detect or measure frame flex. I kmow some is to be expected. Ill keep you posted if i find anything interesting.

Thanks again.

[Beachcamper]

I have a question about sidewall construction. When floor is finished, how are the side walls supported/attached? Could the slide walls flex out a bit enough to allow something like the stairs from bouncing a bit? Is there anywhere to further investigate if they are detaching?

[Country Campers]

I have a question about sidewall construction. When floor is finished, how are the side walls supported/attached? Could the slide walls flex out a bit enough to allow something like the stairs from bouncing a bit? Is there anywhere to further investigate if they are detaching?

The main floor and the upper floor, on a fifth wheel, and all of the interior walls are installed before the exterior walls are put into place. The walls are set on top of the floor at the edge and attached to with long screws from underneath. I am not sure if there are any attachment points from under the steps to the exterior side wall. I did not look for any when I did some work under the steps. With that info I can see where there may be some movement between the steps and the exterior wall, along with other places, causing these "ripples" in the covering on the interior of the walls. I have not really looked under the edges of the floor to see any screws that attach the side walls, they may be covered.

Brian

[Beachcamper]

The main floor and the upper floor, on a fifth wheel, and all of the interior walls are installed before the exterior walls are put into place. The walls are set on top of the floor at the edge and attached to with long screws from underneath. I am not sure if there are any attachment points from under the steps to the exterior side wall. I did not look for any when I did some work under the steps. With that info I can see where there may be some movement between the steps and the exterior wall, along with other places, causing these "ripples" in the covering on the interior of the walls. I have not really looked under the edges of the floor to see any screws that attach the side walls, they may be covered.

Brian

Thanks Brian I will look and see if I can locate those bolts that I have never seen either. Trying to find GD construction videos to see how these are put together just for educational purposes.

But looking inside the baggage hold, I see aluminum beams that run front to back. The ones that press against the sidewalls have long screws into the sidewalls on driver and passenger sides. The passenger side screws are not tight and there is maybe a 1/8” separation between wall and aluminum beam. I tried to tighten the screws but they don’t budge just spin. Never noticed this so not sure if that could be an issue or even related to the wrinkled wallpaper. It’s the only other attachment to sidewall that I can find.

[Cate&Rob]

Pierre&Deb The best way to observe frame flex is with a pin tripod. This is more difficult to observe when hitching to the truck because of compression of the truck springs. But . . . how much is too much? When I use the pin tripod, I lift the landing gear about 1/4” after tightening up the tripod to more heavily load the tripod . . . this adds stability. I can see the pinbox flexing as I do this, so my curiosity led me to continue lifting the landing gear until all the weight was on the rigid tripod. (This is the same load transfer from landing gear to hitch that happens every time you hitch to the truck). I can lift the landing gear almost a full inch before all the weight is completely transferred to the hitch . This seems like a lot of flex . . . but, has been this way for years.

As a related observation . . . the Reflection 303 has a chronic problem with bathroom floor squeaks. There are various shimming strategies, but I can “adjust” this squeak by how much load I transfer from the landing gear to the pin tripod.

Even more than this amount of static flex in the frame of a 5th wheel, has to happen repeatedly when towing current highway conditions.

Rob

[Country Campers]

Beachcamper

Hi Vivian,

I went down to the RV and took this picture.


I have looked through all of my factory tour pictures and can not find any with wall attachment features. The bolt in the picture above holds the floor down to the frame or supports off of the side of the frame. This is the only thing that I see for attachment. I guess I am not quite sure how the walls are attached.

Brian

[Beachcamper]

Beachcamper

Hi Vivian,

I went down to the RV and took this picture.


I have looked through all of my factory tour pictures and can not find any with wall attachment features. The bolt in the picture above holds the floor down to the frame or supports off of the side of the frame. This is the only thing that I see for attachment. I guess I am not quite sure how the walls are attached.

Brian

Well thanks for looking. I haven’t been able to find any videos on exterior walls being attached. When I get back to Florida in a couple of weeks or if I score a concrete pad from here to there. Might be looking for bolts like those.

[SteveHal]

We had the wall separate about 1/4 inch from the floor across from the bathroom entry in our '21 337. It was very noticeable when I had the lower cargo hatch open and the sun was hitting the side. The glow was coming up from the storage area! (see picture). GD tech service said to take to dealer. They found that there were screws in the aluminum frame above the hatch door that had worked loose and one had snapped (you can see it in the sunlight picture). They added some foam weather stripping in the gap and 5 new screws all along the aluminum frame over the hatch door from the inside to snug the wall up. (see pictures with yellow arrows)

[Country Campers]

SteveHal

Thanks for the post. I just looked in at mine, never noticed those screws before but will keep an eye on them.

Brian