Leave it to me to be posting about a new type damage mechanism. I read 17 pages of suspension problems posts and this is a new one! We headed to Orlando last week from Tennessee on our first out of state trip in our new 2021 Solitude 310GK-R (standard 7K axles). I noticed at a rest stop north of Atlanta the RV was listing slightly to the curb side. Investigation found the center spring hanger bent inboard about 20 degrees. I crawled under and removed sealant around the coroplast and was suprised to find no cracked welds; the lower I beam flange was actually bent! I wont bore you with the long sad story of what we did, but the short version is we had a Truck/RV Repair Shop try to straighten it, were marginally successful, and continued our trip without further movement of the bent frame.
Obviously the V braces added by Lippert solved the hanger cracking issue, but moved the weak point to the frame itself. The odd part is I do not know what caused it; obviously a large pothole or too hard a turn or ??. The only thing that looks odd on the design is there is no gusset between the I beam flange and web on the inside like there is on the outside. I will be stripping the springs and rocker off in the next few days and see what I can do to correct the bent flange and web. I am so disappointed at this point with the design I am seriously considering the Morryde IS. If not, I will definitely be reinforcing the frame and adding cross braces to all 3 hangers. And BTW, I did open a claim with GD just in case and I did weigh the rig the next day to ensure not overloaded. Comments welcome.
Obviously the V braces added by Lippert solved the hanger cracking issue, but moved the weak point to the frame itself. The odd part is I do not know what caused it; obviously a large pothole or too hard a turn or ??. The only thing that looks odd on the design is there is no gusset between the I beam flange and web on the inside like there is on the outside. I will be stripping the springs and rocker off in the next few days and see what I can do to correct the bent flange and web. I am so disappointed at this point with the design I am seriously considering the Morryde IS. If not, I will definitely be reinforcing the frame and adding cross braces to all 3 hangers. And BTW, I did open a claim with GD just in case and I did weigh the rig the next day to ensure not overloaded. Comments welcome.
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