2014 3110 Cyclone ,Lots of rust on chassis and components

[thirdtimeround]

Waiting for a response from Lippert on why so much chassis rust on my2014 3110 Cylone ? Anyone suffering from this and what have you done besides just spraying paint over rust. Seems there is also some sort of electrolysis on every piece of chrome hardware and ramp door hardware. Please advise, Mike

 

[jnbhobe]

was it towed from the factory on the salty roads and not washed off???

 

[thirdtimeround]

actually it was towed home with out any snow. It was pre- rusted from the factory. These chassis get towed about 50 miles from Lippert to Heartland factory I,m told. At that point they should be washed down and maybe a fresh coat of paint. I am going to post pictures.

 

[Bob&Patty]

I thought the Lippert factory was in Goshen but maybe not. I don't know how the frames are transported, but every picture I have seen at the HL plant shows the frames setting without wheels and tires on them. What dealer did you pick it up from??

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Bob is right, the Lippert facility is in Goshen. I've toured the plant several times and have never seen a rusty frame during the assembly process. So you're confident that the trip from Elkhart to your dealer was salt free?

 

[porthole]

The frames are stacked and transported on a flatbed (when I saw them). How much salt would actually get on the frames in the less then 10 mile trip? And after delivery they sit in the lot until needed.

 

[BobX2]

I know the springs and shackles on mine are rusty as all get out, and they look like they are 10 years old, instead of maybe 6 months old. Seems that they could and should do something about that. My truck is 5 years old, and there is no rust on the suspension components. I don't care how, or how far, these frames and/or completed units are transported, there should be zero rust on them when we take delivery of them.

 

[thirdtimeround]

Bob ,you're reply is correct. My new truck has been thru a **** of a winter and has none of this. I was looking on line last night on u-tube about rust removers. Some are acid based, some organic. I'd like to apply something to the chassis to remove or neutralize it and then spray the whole chassis with good quality paint and undercoat. Anybody done this ??? The big question is, why do we have to do this at our $$ and Time after spending Tens of thousands. Mike

 

[porthole]

You should what the underside of my truck looks like. It may not be the 10 year truck I was planning on it to be.

 

[BobX2]

You should what the underside of my truck looks like. It may not be the 10 year truck I was planning on it to be.

But I bet the underside of your truck didn't look like that when it was new, did it? This is not something we should have to deal with when we buy a brand new unit. It seems to be an industry wide problem. My Keystone toy hauler was rusty as well. You would think someone would want to stand out from all the rest by addressing some issues that seem to afflict all RV manufactures. Simple things that wouldn't cost much to solve, thus not a lot of cost to pass onto the consumers, and new owners wouldn't have to spend even more money and time on. Just simple things like tires that don't need replaced as soon as you get it home, coated frame and suspension components that aren't rusted when still brand new and plumbing that doesn't leak on your first trip out. I know it's just a dream, but it would be nice wouldn't it?

 

[thirdtimeround]

Bob ,BRAVO ! ,THX for your support and well said !!! Mike

 

[sbryan]

Just a thought on what to do to slow the rusting in the future. POR is a special paint made to stop rust in its tracks. It is expensive but it does a great job at stopping rust. That would be the paint route I would follow if I were painting-minded.

Another option is to use a product like FluidFilm, a lanolin based product that will stop the rust where it is. If you spray FluidFilm on the frame you won't be painting it because FluidFilm forms a grease-like seal over the metal. The advantage of FluidFilm is you can spray it and forget it - it will go on a lot faster than prepping and then painting with POR. It also stays tacky unlike the old undercoatings that would get brittle and chip, letting water and salt under the undercoating and holding it in.

I FluidFilm my truck and the RV every year. My last car had been done every year for 9 years in the Vermont salt and salt brine bath and had no rust even after the lousy treatment it got in our winter environment. FluidFilm does wear off and so should be considered an annual event but I find it doesn't take me much more than an hour to do the RV or the truck. And at $40 a gallon it is far cheaper than POR.

Good luck getting anyone to offer to "fix" the rust but you're right, we shouldn't have to deal with it on new rigs.

 

[thirdtimeround]

Thanks Shawn, You're right it's looking like POR and maybe something like you are speaking of over that? Every chemical I look up has some sort of side effect on paint , chrome, aluminum. The problem is most of these wash's work on bare metal, and don't like a mix of paint and metal. I think one more power wash and POR on a nice day. I'll have to cover the RV from over spray with plastic drop cloth. Fun Job I need, like I need " Use your imagination" ! Thanks for the advice, Mike

 

[Bob&Patty]

I agree 100%, but lets be real here. Cars and small trucks are transported by rail and trucks from the plants back east, not on salty roads. The other issue would be, all the RV plants back east could build but not transport them for delievery to dealers except for 3-4 months a year. I don't think that would work out very well. Some of the problem stems from dealers NOT pressure washing the running gear and frames when they arrive like they should. Then they might set for months on a lot. Rusty frames are UGLY....but I doubt in our life time that the frames would ever fail from the rust. Maybe we should ask HL, at an extra cost...to undercoat the frames. I would pay the cost. I was lucky, the Horn was built in July...so not much rust. I dont think that we can ever stop leaf springs from rusting.

 

[TravelTiger]

Gee, it just takes one trip on salty roads to do it... ?! I guess Blue Beacon didn't do a good undercarriage wash like we paid for.... We have rust due to a winter trip to Colorado. Ugly, yes. But the running gear still runs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MotoLynx27x]

I noticed a lot of rust on the bottom of my frame and suspension components on my new 2014 Prowler. Mine had to be ordered and it came down from Ohio and I do know it went through some snow, but I did not expect the frame and lead springs to look like they are 8 years old from driving through 100 miles of snow. The powder coat on the frame is shoddy to say the least. The gas line is completely coated in rust, and all of the support bars around the axles are coated in rust.

 

[thirdtimeround]

Its bad, but wish mine looked that good, Mike

 

[BobX2]

I don't care how they are transported. It could be in a sealed container and it would make no difference. They do not get this kind of rust from one trip from the factory to the dealer. My truck has been through 5 winters and does not have that much rust under it. This is from not protecting the components properly. When you leave unprotected steel sitting out in the yard for who knows how long, it will rust. It takes very little money or effort to prevent this. This is a "we don't care and people keep buying them anyway" problem.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Bob, you are correct. Your truck does not show any rust because all the sheet metal is galvanized. Hence the "rust through warranty from GM". The frame of your truck has been coated with sticky type underseal. All the HL frames say they are powder coated?? I have never ever seen a bare metal frame on their lot. Just how long does a coach and frame need to set on a lot covered with salt to get rusty. The snow covered roads I have been on, have both salt and sand on them. So driving on them would be like sandblasting them with salt. Like I stated in an earlier post. If HL wants to charge me for adding a good undercoating on a new coach....then I would pay it. OR, look under the coach you are buying, if off the lot and not ordering it, and see if it is rusty. If so , order one built in the summer time when the snow and salt is gone.

Anyway, sorry you have a rust issue.

 

[BobX2]

I'm definitely not here to argue about this, just saying it doesn't have to, and shouldn't be, like this. It's obvious there are ways to prevent it, as seen by the vehicles we buy, so it would be nice if our RV's would get the same treatment. As I said originally, it's an industry wide issue. It's funny, I was reading a SOB forum today, and someone there just started a thread about the exact same thing. Just seems that a person should be able to pull their RV whenever they want, not just on sunny, dry days? Anyhow, that's my .02 on the subject.