Great rally---however is our BH falling apart??

[aatauses]

Hi everyone,
We had a great time in Winchester Bay----Thanks Kristy/Mark and everyone else who was involved. Since this was our first rally, we did not know what to expect and we surely were not disappointed. The presentations were great, good food, new friends, etc.
However, we noticed something when we went to hook up---When we were hooked up the caulking on the door side in the overhang was opened about 1/4--3/8 of an inch. It looked like that part of the overhang was falling down. We do not have a washer/dryer so no excessive weight--and the other side appears to be ok---any suggestions---what do I look to fix?? After we got to Prosser and unhooked the caulking went back to normal, although it is now cracked, but no large gap??
Pictures below are before hook up and after hook up (2 each)
thanks,
al

 

[SouthernNights]

There is a certain amount of flex built into any steel frame. If there wasn't, the frame would just snap under any stress.
Hard to say if you have a problem or not. I certainly hope you don;t.
You may just watch and a make few short trips with and document with pictures any other gaps or movement that shows up.
If there is more movement,I guess you would need to get a hold of HL.

May not be a bad idea and call and send these pics just for documentation. Without seeing any more signs than this I would guess that it is normal.

You do need to recaulk that seam so water does not intrude ito the crack.

 

[mrcomer]

You may want to see if this changes as you hook up to your truck. Weight on the king pin versus no weight on the kingpin. Document and maybe a call to Heartland customer service.

Mark

 

[kakampers]

From experience I can tell you, since this is on the door-side and not the off-door side under the bedroom slide...I doubt it's more than just a few screws backing out from the trim and the weight of the cover under the pinbox pulling it down, and breaking the caulk line in the process.

I'd get it checked when you can and keep an eye on the other side. But again, from experience, if it was a serious sidewall problem, the off-door side would have starting showing a problem first...

 

[Bob&Patty]

Mine is doing the same thing. Started about 6 months ago. It only has the gap when hooked up. Mine is a little farther back where the trim turns to go down. I have pulled all the trim off and checked the screws and none are loose. The ODS trim insert (plastic trim) pulls out of the trim retainer everytime I hook up. There must be alot of movement on the DS, it has the black aluminum rubbing type of residue where the claulking has seperated. It is kinda odd that it only happens on the DS. Will take some pix.

 

[Recovered from 25-May-2010]

Hi Al,
My 3055 does the exact same thing. Only on the left side though. I've been watching it for about 5 months now and it does not seem to be getting any worse. My only big weight item is a Onan 5500 generator up front. What got my attention to it was the fact that the decals on the slide were way out of alignment when hitched to the truck. I'm leaving next week on a 2 week trip and will be keeping an eye it.

 

[Delaine and Lindy]

Just a guess but its worth checking out. Its call frame flex, and could be some broken welds above the pin box. Good Luck. GBY...

 

[jayc]

Frame flex is something that Heartland is familiar with. Contact Jim Fenner at the factory and they can advise you of what to do. I just had mine done and they did an outstanding job.

 

[JohnDar]

Big problem or not, get it checked or at least put some fresh caulk on if it'll be a while before you get it serviced. Don't want any water getting underneath while it's separated like that. When it's in the "open" position, can you move the trim up/down back to where the caulk sections meet?

 

[ziggy]

Al,
I'm glad you enjoyed the rally and we appreciate your help with the slide kit. Too bad you are having this problem now. Hopefully you and HL can get it figured it soon so you can get back to having fun!
Kristy

 

[lwmcguir]

The roads are getting worse and that isn't going to change. Best options out there are air ride, air pin, CP and maybe an air hitch. Anything you can do to reduce the stress on the frame makes sense. Way to much of an investment to not be proactive.

 

[egnors]

i just noticed the same thing on our 2008 Sundance, on the door side right at the front cap.

 

[aatauses]

Thanks for everyone's response and support. John, I cannot move the trim when I have the gap, all the screws seem?? to be tight and again I only get this gap when hooked up. I did caulk everything again to stop any water entering when we are set up. We plan to be in Prosser, WA workcamping for the rest of the summer.
FYI---I did contact HL and they agreed to look at our unit IF we take it to IN, something we had not planned to do, but may have to. I ask about a local dealer looking at it here in WA, but HL would prefer it be done in IN.
al

 

[jayc]

I can say that the guys at the factory will take care of you. They certainly did for us!

 

[Crumgater]

We just saw the same thing happen to our ElkRidge this week - just after hooking up at the storage yard, we were pulling around a tight corner (zig-zagging through storage buildings) and heard a 'pop'... sort of like the hitch clunk, but not really... after getting to the house, we saw the front trim separations on both sides. Not sure if the 'pop' had anything to do with it or not. We don't have much in the front closet, maybe 120lbs total, so not overloaded by any means.

Sounds like we need to get this looked at.
We'll try our local WA dealer first.

Does HL really expect people to drive their rig to IN for service??