Axle Hanger Falling off and welds cracking

[rdufek]

I have a 2015 BigHorn 3750FL and am having a problem with the door side rear axle hanger breaking off. My question is how many people are having a problem with axle hangers tearing off the frame.

To give you a little background into my issue. My unit went through a recall right after delivery in 2015. My axles were 3 feet, yes 3 feet, too far forward, obviously giving me no pin weight. This recall affected approximately 125 units. The resolve was my dealer had to remove the front axle hangers and attach new ones to the rear. Yes J wrap was recut for the wheel openings and some other cosmetic details taken care of. If full body paint was on rigs, they were taken back to Heartland for repairs.

Now to my present problem, in June, upon headed home from the National Rally, my door side axle hanger began to tear off, photo attached.



Of course being on the road my only recourse on a Sunday was to call a mobile mechanic to come out and weld the axle hanger which they did.

In September, while on the road again, the same axle hanger completely tore off. See pictures



I again contacted a mobile mechanic as my only option and repairs were made.

I have contacted Heartland, Lippert and my Dealer in hopes to get some assistance. My dealer has been very good to work with and tried to get me help but being so far from my home my only option is to have a local repair shop make things good again.

Judging from what I have learned, the welds might not have been sufficient when the recall was done. I'm not a welder so I am not positive. I now have another axle hanger with a cracked weld and another hanger is starting to bow inward on the opposite side.

Is this a common problem???? What have others done to reinforce their axles. I understand Dexter offers a reinforce cross member kit which I am having installed.

I am not overweight as I had my unit weighed in Goshen at the rally and I have not run my unit over curbs or other that should cause a catastrophic failure. My only downfall is I have put miles on my rig, but even at that not a ton 10,000 or less over 3 camping seasons.

 

[rhodies1]

I have not read a lot on this web site in regard to your issue.Looking at your pics it does not look like the weld job was done properly.Are your shackle brackets being welded direct to the bottom of the frame.In one of the pics it looks like it tore metal away with the bracket,if a bracket separates from the frame it should not be able to tear your frame.Your frame is a 12 inch steel I beam.I trust you have forwarded these pics to Heartland,somebody is not repairing this correctly.I have been RVing for 40 plus years and have seen the odd shackle break on a rig but not as many as you are having with your unit.I think Heartland needs to be more involved here especially where your axles where re positioned from new.

 

[rdufek]

They were welded to the bottom of the frame and it did tear the I-beam. I'm certainly getting a consensus that the weld was bad. Heartland does have the pictures and agree they should be more involved.

 

[rhodies1]

If it’s tearing the frame you have weak spots,it should certainly not tear the frame,the frame should and is the strongest part of the suspension.Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

['Lil Guy']

Everyone with that recall should be under their rig and inspecting this issue. I'm sure HL will get involved with you on this. This is a serious liability issue. Someone could get killed. Hopefully you just had a bad welder on a bad day and this didn't happen to the other rigs recalled. Definitely keep us posted here as to the repairs. I'd be looking for another welder this time.

 

[BigGuy82]

I have a 2015 BigHorn 3750FL and am having a problem with the door side rear axle hanger breaking off. My question is how many people are having a problem with axle hangers tearing off the frame.

To give you a little background into my issue. My unit went through a recall right after delivery in 2015. My axles were 3 feet, yes 3 feet, too far forward, obviously giving me no pin weight. This recall affected approximately 125 units. The resolve was my dealer had to remove the front axle hangers and attach new ones to the rear. Yes J wrap was recut for the wheel openings and some other cosmetic details taken care of. If full body paint was on rigs, they were taken back to Heartland for repairs.

Now to my present problem, in June, upon headed home from the National Rally, my door side axle hanger began to tear off, photo attached.

View attachment 55669

Of course being on the road my only recourse on a Sunday was to call a mobile mechanic to come out and weld the axle hanger which they did.

In September, while on the road again, the same axle hanger completely tore off. See pictures

View attachment 55670View attachment 55671

I again contacted a mobile mechanic as my only option and repairs were made.

I have contacted Heartland, Lippert and my Dealer in hopes to get some assistance. My dealer has been very good to work with and tried to get me help but being so far from my home my only option is to have a local repair shop make things good again.

Judging from what I have learned, the welds might not have been sufficient when the recall was done. I'm not a welder so I am not positive. I now have another axle hanger with a cracked weld and another hanger is starting to bow inward on the opposite side.

Is this a common problem???? What have others done to reinforce their axles. I understand Dexter offers a reinforce cross member kit which I am having installed.

I am not overweight as I had my unit weighed in Goshen at the rally and I have not run my unit over curbs or other that should cause a catastrophic failure. My only downfall is I have put miles on my rig, but even at that not a ton 10,000 or less over 3 camping seasons.

A proper weld should hold that bracket without problems. How likely is it that it was incorrectly welded twice? It may seem like an obvious question, but are the axles square in relationship to the frame? Has anyone checked the alignment? Something may be putting some twisting stress on that bracket.


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[porthole]

I think the only way to fix your problem is to get someone under there that knows what they are doing, and add some steel for reinforcement. You can't keep welding garbage on top of garbage. Sooner or later clean steel needs to go on the frame.

Or - head to MOR/ryde.

Even if you didn't put IS on the trailer at least MOR/ryde could rebuild the frame and give it some strength.

 

[travelin2]

I’d take it to a truck trailer repair/alignment shop. Even though your dealer is on your side in the attempt to correct the issue, it very well be out of the scope of expertise.


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[Dawnnira]

I have a 2015 BigHorn 3750FL and am having a problem with the door side rear axle hanger breaking off. My question is how many people are having a problem with axle hangers tearing off the frame.

To give you a little background into my issue. My unit went through a recall right after delivery in 2015. My axles were 3 feet, yes 3 feet, too far forward, obviously giving me no pin weight. This recall affected approximately 125 units. The resolve was my dealer had to remove the front axle hangers and attach new ones to the rear. Yes J wrap was recut for the wheel openings and some other cosmetic details taken care of. If full body paint was on rigs, they were taken back to Heartland for repairs.

Now to my present problem, in June, upon headed home from the National Rally, my door side axle hanger began to tear off, photo attached.

View attachment 55669

Of course being on the road my only recourse on a Sunday was to call a mobile mechanic to come out and weld the axle hanger which they did.

In September, while on the road again, the same axle hanger completely tore off. See pictures

View attachment 55670View attachment 55671

I again contacted a mobile mechanic as my only option and repairs were made.

I have contacted Heartland, Lippert and my Dealer in hopes to get some assistance. My dealer has been very good to work with and tried to get me help but being so far from my home my only option is to have a local repair shop make things good again.

Judging from what I have learned, the welds might not have been sufficient when the recall was done. I'm not a welder so I am not positive. I now have another axle hanger with a cracked weld and another hanger is starting to bow inward on the opposite side.

Is this a common problem???? What have others done to reinforce their axles. I understand Dexter offers a reinforce cross member kit which I am having installed.

I am not overweight as I had my unit weighed in Goshen at the rally and I have not run my unit over curbs or other that should cause a catastrophic failure. My only downfall is I have put miles on my rig, but even at that not a ton 10,000 or less over 3 camping seasons.

Sure hope Heartland or your dealer step up to resolve...keep safe on the road should always be job one

 

[rdufek]

A proper weld should hold that bracket without problems. How likely is it that it was incorrectly welded twice? It may seem like an obvious question, but are the axles square in relationship to the frame? Has anyone checked the alignment? Something may be putting some twisting stress on that bracket.


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Yea, I'm definitely thinking I got bad welds. I never got an alignment but that is in the works as part of the repair coming up. There is certainly twisting stress going on by some other things I am seeing which I didn't get into.

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I think the only way to fix your problem is to get someone under there that knows what they are doing, and add some steel for reinforcement. You can't keep welding garbage on top of garbage. Sooner or later clean steel needs to go on the frame.

Or - head to MOR/ryde.

Even if you didn't put IS on the trailer at least MOR/ryde could rebuild the frame and give it some strength.

I agree with you Duane, I am getting reinforcement done but I will have to see what it looks like after it is done. I am really considering More/ryde, it really is a shame that Heartland does not offer More/ryde IS as an option on the GigHorn, it would reinforce the frame a lot.

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I’d take it to a truck trailer repair/alignment shop. Even though your dealer is on your side in the attempt to correct the issue, it very well be out of the scope of expertise.


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I have that as an option too, my biggest fear is if the shops around here are able to do this correctly, and certainly once this is done Heartland will never step in for sure if things continue to go wrong.

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Sure hope Heartland or your dealer step up to resolve...keep safe on the road should always be job one

Thank You, I do too. Safe travels is what we all want, right now I'm afraid to take it down the road in fear of what might happen next.

 

[hoefler]

I am a welder fabricator, the welds had little to no penitration. The tear in the frame is the only place they had decent penitration. If it had been welded correctly, the hange and/or the frame would be torn appart. Absolutely weld failure.

 

[wdk450]

I would defer to the PROFESSIONAL on this (Hoefler - welder) on this. Having experienced severe I-beam twisting, I would also highly recommend welded tubular steel cross bracing between the spring hangar points on each I-beam. I would wonder if the light angle steel V shaped rod bracing factory installed was moved to be above the new spring hangar points when they were moved with the recall modification. I would also prefer to do the hangar re-attachment with at least new steel hangars, and maybe even a new steel plate for attachment secured to the I-beams. I would start to get nervous with the heat of welding done 3 times at the same spot on the I-beams. Metal experts can speak to changes in the metal crystalline structure due to the repeated welding heating in one spot.

MorRyde creates a tubular steel box for their IS solution, and removes springs, spring hangars, equalizers and bushings in their suspension upgrade, replaced with 1 rubber spring block on a steel axle arm.

 

[porthole]

Google MOR/ryde X Factor


Start at 2:10 in this video

Also look at Bill's post from 3 years

https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/48295-Badly-Bent-Frame-A-Trend

Frame reinforcement

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24016085/print/true/single/true.cfm

 

[Bob&Patty]

X2 on what Bill said. Had a hanger break off. Had a new one welded on. Then had steel tube welded between all the hangers and steel straps welded to the back side of the rear hangers and welded to the front of the front hangers. Been 5 years now with no issues.

 

[BigGuy82]

I wrote a reply that basically says check the alignment and have a professional look at it. Then I revisited this thread and it occurred to me (I’m a bit dense) that 125 of these things left the factory with axles 3 FEET too far forward! Without stating the obvious problem, what did Heartland say? I know the warranty is one year but the cause of this problem is so obvious I would think Heartland would want to step up and resolve this.


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[rdufek]

I wrote a reply that basically says check the alignment and have a professional look at it. Then I revisited this thread and it occurred to me (I’m a bit dense) that 125 of these things left the factory with axles 3 FEET too far forward! Without stating the obvious problem, what did Heartland say? I know the warranty is one year but the cause of this problem is so obvious I would think Heartland would want to step up and resolve this.


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Heartland wants to wash their hands of it cause

1) they paid the dealer to make a proper repair - which part of me gets but they are an arm of the manufacturer who made the horrible mistake and should of brought every single rig back to Elhart or had Lippert come out and repair all the units to what is suppose to be proper

2) in June, when I broke down on the road, picture #1 in post 1, and had no other option but to have a mobile mechanic come a weld the bracket into place, I did not contact Heartland immediately. My problem is not knowing any better, I know probably not an excuse but these things are a live and learn, the mobile mechanic said his weld was good and I should have no further problem so I did not pursue any further action. I do have my picture though of what should have never happened in the 1st place.

3) it is far enough beyond warranty that they feel they are not responsible any more.

I contacted Lippert, Heartland and my dealer immediately after the 2nd incident. Lippert nor Heartland would supply any resolve and when asked if this had been a problem with the recalled units I could not get an answer to that. My dealer was the only one willing to talk to me and recontacted Heartland in an attempt to get this covered and brought in. I had an appointment for my dealer to inspect and send pictures and measurements to Heartland but a week before my unit was suppose to go in, and upon my return from a trip, I noticed the hanger was on the verge of falling off again in addition to another hanger having a cracked weld now and the center hanger on the opposite side starting to bow inward. Being 200 miles from my dealer it is not safe nor practical for me to attempt to get it to my dealer. I was trying to get authorization at the independent shop which is a half mile from my house but I can not get that because of the reasons stated above.


I want to thank everyone who has put input in so far. It definitely reinforces what I have been told that the original weld was never done right. I have an appointment December 11 for my rig to go in and get repaired at an independent repair shop who will realign everything, weld in new bracket, and add support.

- - - Updated - - -

Google MOR/ryde X Factor


Start at 2:10 in this video

Also look at Bill's post from 3 years

https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/48295-Badly-Bent-Frame-A-Trend

Frame reinforcement

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24016085/print/true/single/true.cfm

Thank You Duane, I did see Bill's post from 3 years ago and read through it in its entirety. Very interesting read. I like the mor/ryde. Depending on my repairs I am definitely considering taking my rig there.

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I am a welder fabricator, the welds had little to no penitration. The tear in the frame is the only place they had decent penitration. If it had been welded correctly, the hange and/or the frame would be torn appart. Absolutely weld failure.

Thank You, that's what I was starting to hear so this reinforces that. Thanks again

- - - Updated - - -

I would defer to the PROFESSIONAL on this (Hoefler - welder) on this. Having experienced severe I-beam twisting, I would also highly recommend welded tubular steel cross bracing between the spring hangar points on each I-beam. I would wonder if the light angle steel V shaped rod bracing factory installed was moved to be above the new spring hangar points when they were moved with the recall modification. I would also prefer to do the hangar re-attachment with at least new steel hangars, and maybe even a new steel plate for attachment secured to the I-beams. I would start to get nervous with the heat of welding done 3 times at the same spot on the I-beams. Metal experts can speak to changes in the metal crystalline structure due to the repeated welding heating in one spot.

MorRyde creates a tubular steel box for their IS solution, and removes springs, spring hangars, equalizers and bushings in their suspension upgrade, replaced with 1 rubber spring block on a steel axle arm.

Sorry for the problems you had. Like you previously stated in your post from 3 years ago I could kick myself for not pursuing the IS suspension and disk brakes at Mor/Ryde when I was out there for the national rally.

 

[travelin2]

As I replied earlier, I was thinking HL, even though you wanted them to stay in the game, would at some point walk away. Personally I would want piece of mind traveling down the road knowing the welds holding the suspension had integrity.
Therefore my response regarding a truck trailer repair shop.
It appears that’s the route you’ve selected. Hopefully their repairs will be acceptable.


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[rdufek]

As I replied earlier, I was thinking HL, even though you wanted them to stay in the game, would at some point walk away. Personally I would want piece of mind traveling down the road knowing the welds holding the suspension had integrity.
Therefore my response regarding a truck trailer repair shop.
It appears that’s the route you’ve selected. Hopefully their repairs will be acceptable.


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Thank You Lyle, that is certainly what I want, piece of mind that all will be ok traveling down the road. Right now I have been white knuckling it while driving down the road which is not what I want to do. I will be posting pictures after it's done.

 

[travelin2]

Thank You Lyle, that is certainly what I want, piece of mind that all will be ok traveling down the road. Right now I have been white knuckling it while driving down the road which is not what I want to do. I will be posting pictures after it's done.

Keep us posted, Bob...


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[TravelTiger]

Just to clarify, no dealer is an arm of Heartland. They are completely independent of each other. The dealer is the actual customer of Heartland. Heartland sells RV's to a dealer, who in turn sells them to end users.

It's great to hear the dealer has stuck by you to try and help you out, this shows they truly care about the customer and that they acknowledge they performed substandard work.

I know it's not the path you want to be on, but glad you are getting it fixed and will hopefully continue to enjoy your coach.


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