Does this look right to you??

[rustyshakelford]

As many of yall have read, we got home from picking up our cyclone on saturday the 5th. I noticed a tire had bled down a bit and took the trailer to discount tire to be repaired. When they removed the wheel, I was completely taken back by the condition of the trailers suspension.

Does this look acceptable for a trailer that is 3 weeks old? We didnt drive thru any water or even rain on the way home? I called lippert this morning and they would like pictures, then i called my dealer so they would be in the loop. I was referred to heartlands customer service who basically told me they do not cover any rust and that the dealer should have washed the trailer when they recieved it. Heartland was of no help. However, they did ask for me to let them know what happens...

I beleive this issue will only get worse and is not something a 3 weeks old trailer should have. I have owned this for a week monday and I sure shouldnt have to deal with this headache already!

Is this normal and I have nothing to worry about or should I be taking more pics to send to lippert in the morning?

thanks

brett

This is the passenger side of the trailer

This is the front side of the spring on the rear axle

This is the rear of the spring

 

[Bob&Patty]

Brett, looks like road salt rust. How is the rest of the frame?? I doubt if the springs or frame will ever rust thru. Yes, someone should have washed down the frame and suspension. If you have a pressure washer.......just wash everything real well and spray a good coat of good paint on it. You could spray the frame and none moving parts with 3M undercoating in a rattle can. But spray some paint on it 1st. I use this stuff alot....works great. BTW, most springs will rust no matter what.

 

[Chuck Richard]

This does look like allot of rust and more than I have in three years of use, I hope Lippert will take care of you. I would also ask the dealer about the underbelly attachment, mine is tight front to back ane from the oicture your looks to have big gaps already.

 

[branson4020]

Brent, looks like road salt rust. How is the rest of the frame?? I doubt if the springs or frame will ever rust thru. Yes, someone should have washed down the frame and suspention. If you have a pressure washer.......just wash everything real well and spray a good coat of good paint on it. You could spray the frame and none moving parts with 3M undercoating in a rattle can. But spray some paint on 1st. I use this stuff alot....works great. BTW, most springs will rust no matter what.

Yup, looks like salt corrosion. Its purely cosmetic, and if it were mine, I wouldn't give it another thought.

 

[cookie]

You can call Lippert and complain, but one small problem may arise. It looks like a Dexter setup.
And since they don't use salt in TX you may not be familliar with what it does to vehicle frames and such. That doesnt look too bad to me.

Peace
Dave

 

[Bob and Chris]

I second Bob&Patty's recommendation re the undercoating spray; I've cleaned and sprayed both frame rails on our Augusta to remove and prevent the rust. It's been on one whole season and still looks good. I got lucky and hit a sale @ Menards and stocked up!

 

[SJH]

Looks like ours did when it was delivered!

Spayed mine with THIS Works really well!

 

[ChopperBill]

The first BH we had I drove it threw about 5 miles of calcium chloride that the state put down on the highway. It looks like your under body after that. I thought the old building brochure said they were powder coated. Dont think so or it might have not done that. Our new one still looks like new close to a year old but so far we have not hit any "chemically enhanced" roads.

 

[lwmcguir]

We spray with the undercoating in a can to minimize rust. We have never drove on salted roads but still get some rust.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Brett, on edit...the 3M undercoating is the paintable type. It has a fine matte finish...not like the old undercoating. It used to be about $4.00 a can.

 

[rustyshakelford]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I am not very familar with the damage salted roads can cause. I am disappointed in how poorly the coating on the suspension has held up thus far. I will do thru lippert in the morning and let everyone know what happens. My concern is that if left alone with would get progressively worse. I honestly dont think that I should have to clean and undercoat the trailer that is only 3 weeks old though. I understand that this might be cosmetic to some, but I like to keep my things is pristine shape and having a trailers rusted out would not be good for my OCD!

It does have dexter alxes under it. So does lippert make the frame and dexter supplys the axles and suspension?

Love everything else, but I hope this wont give me a sour taste already!

thanks

brett

 

[Ernie & Lettie]

Rusty, here what you are saying but spray it off and paint it. It will be less of a hassle than trying to get lippert to do anything. In the 3rd pics the underbelly cover will let in bugs and unwanted guest, I would be worried about that more. Should get thay sealed. Later Ernie & Lettie

 

[irvin56]

I still say it is the QUALITY of the steel made now-a-days. My 76 Prowler (owned for 17 yrs of campin) (and now as a storage unit), has been through rivers, rig roads, drug through mud. And there is still not as much rust on it as my 2009 North Trail trailer. I was floored when I picked mine up from dealer. looked worse then your pics. I just sprayed it down with rustoleen paint primer and sprayed with black. I had posted earlier about this problem when first bought mine and was told it is normal, as I was told. I quess it depends on how long frame setup was sitting bare around lippert yards. where they got it and how it was made.
NOTE* when I worked the rigs 24+ yrs ago, our raw steel was shipped over seas to be made into pipe and tempered flat steel, and then shipped back. It was cheaper, Go fiquer that out ??*
so where does it come from today ??
As my boss calls it "MiddleEast crappy steel"
matter of fact I was given a hard time from posting on here, 3 PM's to me, about me complaining about the rust problems, on propane lines and frame. They did not think it was right that I blamed heartland for the problem, Which I never did as they never made the frames.

 

[SJH]

I understand that this might be cosmetic to some, but I like to keep my things is pristine shape and having a trailers rusted out would not be good for my OCD!

I totally understand and that's why before our 3450 was month old I cleaned, primed, and repainted the entire frame. I noticed that some of the rust has returned after this winter. Time to do it all over again.

 

[ultrafarmer]

Look for paint that says equipment enamel. It is what they paint wagons, tractors and all farm stuff with. It takes about a day to dry but then it is tough stuff. Look in farm and home store's.

 

[rustyshakelford]

As my boss calls it "MiddleEast crappy steel"
matter of fact I was given a hard time on here and by 3 PM's about complaining about the rust problems.

Thats a heck of a deal. I guess not being exposed to rust makes me sensative to it. I do know that when driving around elkhart most of the trucks were rusted thru. to some it might not be a big deal, but to each, their own. I very well might be making a mountain out of a mole, but I expect a higher a certail quality of product when I am expecting a higher end fifth wheel

I totally understand and that's why before our 3450 was month old I cleaned, primed, and repainted the entire frame. I noticed that some of the rust has returned after this winter. Time to do it all over again.

I might be going down this road then! Just got off the phone with dexter too and they were helpful. I didnt have my axle info with so, so she asked that I email them some pics to check out

Look for paint that says equipment enamel. It is what they paint wagons, tractors and all farm stuff with. It takes about a day to dry but then it is tough stuff. Look in farm and home store's.

Sounds like some pretty good stuff! Might have to check it out too

 

[porthole]

http://www.por15.com/

 

[SJH]

http://www.por15.com/

I visited the link and it looks like a great product. I did notice that the Por15 paint is listed as UV sensative and requires a top coat. Not that I think frame parts will get a lot of sun exposure but still a consideration.

 

[TandT]

Mine was pulled out of Indiana in Feb. Although it's not as bad as yours, i had a lot of road salt all over my undercarriage, along with spots of rust and corrosion. I would think that should have been part of "dealer prep" to at least hose off the bottom of the unit. I wiped it as best I could and used a can of black Rustoleum on many of the bad spots.

 

[ParkIt]

Newbie so this might not work on a continuous 'bed' underside...having 2 Jeeps that see a lot of mud, water and all sorts of elements there is a product you can spray or roll on with a roller (comes as a kit) called Monstaliner. Jeepsters use it to protect all our leaf springs, brackets, disco bars, underside & even the floor inside. If you google it you might not think it would work but it does act as a full rust protector as well as the elements including road salts, chemicals and dirt. You would have to clean the rust off with rustoleum first then apply Monstaliner as thick as you want, it doesn't crack with flex at all and is 100% UV impervious.
There are some really old Jeeps out there that have no rust at all from using this that see plenty of on and off road gunk so it might be worth looking into, I plan on it myself once we get our unit!