Exterior Skin Sagging Under Gooseneck Area By Hitch

[RVerFulltime]

Model - 2010 3600RL

I have noticed since the one year warranty is up that the fiberglass skin towards the driver's side (left side) is sagging. The entire skin under the gooseneck area (under the closet area) has no screws to keep the skin from sagging except for the two screws for the bracket which holds the front storage door open. The skin is sagging about one inch and increasing each month. I have ran a magnet across the entire underneath and cannot find steel cross members to screw the skin to.

I see NO cracking or other issues which would make me think I have a frame with broken welds. The fiberglass skin sagging around the hitch area is the only problem I see.

Because everything is white (corner molding, side fiberglass and underneath skin), taking pictures is worthless. Since there are no actual screws holding the skin in place, gravity is taking over. Since I cannot find steel cross members, just screwing self-tapping screws all over the underneath would not work. Once I drive over a few bumps on the road, without screwing into steel, the screws would just pop out.

I need to find the steel cross members to screw the skin to. Does anyone have pictures or locations of the steel frame under the gooseneck area by the hitch?

 

[jnbhobe]

If I am not mistaken I can sit in the front compartment and look up toward the hitch area. I know I fished backup light wires thru that area. Try looking with a good light.

 

[cookie]

You have a gooseneck hitch? Hope not. If you take the plastic trim from around the pinbox you will see where a couple of screws hold the skin up. On my 08 Bighorn the screws pulled through the skin and I had sag. I removed those screws and reinstalled them with fender washers to prevent them from pulling through again.
Let us know what you find.

Peace
Dave

 

[RVerFulltime]

NO... I do not have a gooseneck hitch. I was trying to describe the location. The sagging area is more to the middle (a foot or more from the hitch) and to the left (driver's side). I need to find the steel framing in that area to screw to.

 

[Moose]

I have the same issues within one month of buying my 2011 3410RE in September 2010.

My unit is in storage now for the winter but I will be taking it for warranty repairs in the spring.

My question is . . . ."Why do poor designs/workmanship result in RV owners taking the wrap". You wouldn't accept this from any other industry so why accept it from RV industry?

 

[JohnDar]

NO... I do not have a gooseneck hitch. I was trying to describe the location. The sagging area is more to the middle (a foot or more from the hitch) and to the left (driver's side). I need to find the steel framing in that area to screw to.

Hmmm. You say the sag is on the driver's side of the pin under the overhang and your front compartment latch is over on the passenger (door side) of the area. On my rig, the latch is on the left (driver's side), attached to a frame member and the right side has a slight sag. But, if I press it up, I can tell there is a frame member under there. Perhaps, if you explore the area on the driver's side, using your latch position to relate to where it might have gone on that side, you may find the support.

Rather than a magnet, try using an electronic stud finder.

If I recall correctly from posts past, that sag is pretty common.

 

[SmokeyBare]

Might want to look closely at the caulking that keeps water from leaking in that area. If water does leak past the caulking it could start to pool on the flat surface, the weight will push down or cause it to sag.

 

[Crumgater]

Might not help in the location you need, but I noticed on a frosty morning that the framing showed up in the frost pattern on all the sides...

 

[mountainlovers76]

Might want to look closely at the caulking that keeps water from leaking in that area. If water does leak past the caulking it could start to pool on the flat surface, the weight will push down or cause it to sag.

Mine did the same thing and continued to get worse until I discovered it was leaking around the caulked joints. I tried recaulking time and time again but could not stop the leaks. Turns out the front frame around the front storage bay is nothing but soft aluminum held in place by 4 small #10 sheet metal screws. The weight of the frame and the fiberglass broke three of the screws and stripped the fourth and kept pulling the caulked seams apart. By the time I found the cause of the problem it was to late. Water had pooled up on top of the fiberglass underhang and had delaminated the fiberglass from the pressed board backing. It was totally ruined. Very poor design and construction in that area. Took a lot of cost and labor on my part to repair it.

 

[lwmcguir]

I have the same issues within one month of buying my 2011 3410RE in September 2010.

My unit is in storage now for the winter but I will be taking it for warranty repairs in the spring.

My question is . . . ."Why do poor designs/workmanship result in RV owners taking the wrap". You wouldn't accept this from any other industry so why accept it from RV industry?

Great Point, the more folks take them back under warranty maybe the better QA will get

 

[Gary521]

The same thing happened to mine. The fiberglass panel, that is sagging, is held by the edges and a couple of screws by the pin box. I took a different approach to fix the issue.
The frame above the panel is 16" on center spacing. If you look up in the front compartment, you can see the edge of the frame system. I bought automotive type sheet metal screws that have the washer attached. The screws and washers are chrome. You can get them at ACE hardware or just about any automotive store. I drilled small holes thru the panel and into the frame and used these screws to hold up the panel. They don't look bad at all. The clip that holds the front panel door open is screwed into this same frame system.
The frame does not appear to go all the way to the front seam, so, if you do this, stay back about a foot from the seam.
On another issue and as previously stated, the sheet metal bottom panel on the botom of the front compartment is attached to the front aluminum frame with a few small sheet metal screws. All of mine had fallen out. This is a poor attachment method. I used 1/4" lag screws to attach the panel to the front frame using the same holes.

 

[bigbird272]

It is funny when you read the material from Heartland about all the testing they do on the trailers at the factory yet the majority of us have similar issues and leaky taps and hoses. I just keep my fingers crossed as I can not afford to buy another 5th wheel.

Rick

 

[lwmcguir]

There is absolutely no doubt that the QA has been very lax and almost non existent in some areas of the Coaches. Some steps of the assembly seem to be quite on target with consistent results. Plumbing was one that the inspector apparently wasn't on the job.

Overall they build a good product and it is priced in line with what you get.

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

Mine has done the same thing again for the, lost count, time. Caulking, putting new screws in etc seems to be only a band aid fix and comes apart after being on the road.

 

[jmgratz]

It seems like caulking is a constant issue for RVers. For some reasons no matter how many tubes of caulk we use it seems to never be enough. I guess the caulk evaporates or the outside skin "eats it" as it just seems to disappear. There has to be a better way to keep the seams sealed for more than a week. The wrinkling of the kingpin area seems to be an ongoing problem for 5ers.

 

[boatdoc]

Don't count us out on all the above problems. I'm getting real good at caulking those seams aound the front cap/sidewall, must be the caulking I've used. I'm just real happy it's going on where nothing can get screwed up. They have done a real good job on the roof as I check that very often and it has held up very good, knock on wood.

 

[slmayor]

Check closer where your seams are breaking open. My trailer is broken. The underhang part was sagging. When we had the trim off, you could see about 1/2" of movement up and down at the expansion joint under the bedroom slide, which was why the bottom seam would not stay caulked. We thought it was just some loose screws and have attempted a few fixes. Both HL and Lippert are stumped. It's not the frame, that's fine, it's not the front sidewall, that's fine too. It took quite a bit of time to diagnose exactly where the movement was.
It's at the shop now, we tore it apart and the sidewall of the bedroom is loose and apparently broken at the bottom attachment. More than we can do, so it's going to have to go to a bigger service center to remove the front cap. We've done a temporary fix that may or may not hold, we'll know next week, after everything is buttoned back up, and I'll post the results and process if it works. We have some smart techs, so that helps.

While we had it apart, we applied an insulating barrier film under the overhang, and the skin is glued back up, so we'll see how that works. There are dangers in being employed by a parts and service center. My battery was dead, so now we have a couple AGM 6 volts installed, and the front jacks quit, so the Rieco Titan ground control is being shipped. Will work for RV Parts...
Ray retired yesterday, so I am grateful to have a job to run away to.
Deb

 

[laurenmbird]

Mine did the same thing and continued to get worse until I discovered it was leaking around the caulked joints. I tried recaulking time and time again but could not stop the leaks. Turns out the front frame around the front storage bay is nothing but soft aluminum held in place by 4 small #10 sheet metal screws. The weight of the frame and the fiberglass broke three of the screws and stripped the fourth and kept pulling the caulked seams apart. By the time I found the cause of the problem it was to late. Water had pooled up on top of the fiberglass underhang and had delaminated the fiberglass from the pressed board backing. It was totally ruined. Very poor design and construction in that area. Took a lot of cost and labor on my part to repair it.

Curious what you used to repair. We are having the same issue and trying to find material to replace it. Ours was sagging as badly as you describe and the pressed backing was trash.