Upstairs floor falling out of 2013 Landmark

[David-and-Cheryl]

It seems that the floor of the upper deck of our 2013 Landmark San Antonio is slowly falling out of the trailer.

Viewed from the outside, the fiberglass covering the underside of the overhang is gradually being pushed away from the sidewalls. On the curb (door) side, it has pushed the edge trim far enough down that a gap is now visible between the sidewall and the trim, just aft of the front cap:



This is what that edge looks like from beneath the overhang:


And on the road (off-door) side, the underside is slipping out from under the edge trim, and a good-size screw has worked its way out and broken through the panel:


Inside the trailer, the bedroom cabinet has separated from the closet wall by about 1/4". (This is looking towards the front of the trailer; the closet is in the front cap.)



What is going on here?? I was thinking maybe water intrusion, but I've checked the joint between the roof and front cap, and it appears to be sealed tightly. We have not seen any indication of water inside the trailer.

And what do I need to do to get it fixed?

 

[cookie]

You have all the symptoms of the dreaded frame flex. The separation inside the front closet is the clincher for me.
I suggest that you call Heartland Customer Service and explain the situation.
574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

You have all the symptoms of the dreaded frame flex. The separation inside the front closet is the clincher for me.
I suggest that you call Heartland Customer Service and explain the situation.
574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

What is the “dreaded frame flex”? It doesn’t sound good.

If that’s what it is, is it repairable?


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[carl.swoyer]

You have all the symptoms of the dreaded frame flex. The separation inside the front closet is the clincher for me.
I suggest that you call Heartland Customer Service and explain the situation.
574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

I agree frame flex. There's a process in determining how much flex you have.
Legs on the ground and measure from the pin box to the chassis. Then hook up and raise the legs off the ground. Repeat the measurements from the same locations as the first measurement. This will tell you how much fle x you have.

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[sengli]

I am currently experiencing a similar thing. Had lippert come out and look at the frame while the front end was torn off while troubleshooting this issue. They told me my steel frame was fine, no cracks or broken welds and not the issue. But there is a an aluminum stud in the front the sidewall that has broken loose from its internal welds. It is attached to the front frame work at the bottom. As you know the lippert frames do flex when they are loaded and unloaded. So every time I hook up the gap on the one side closes and looks normal. When un-hitched the gap opens up by about 3/4 of an inch. And yes my phylon under deck covering was loosened by all this flexing too.

Now my rig is used and older, and I am lucky its only happening on one side. But its a whole nother story to have this type of thing fixed. Yours might be a bit more serious, and just so you know lippert wont tear anything apart. It has to be done before they show up. And they do have a repair facility in Goshen, Indiana for these types of issues. I called heartland they absolutely wanted nothing to do with this. Google frame flex on fifth wheels, it is a larger issue than one would expect.

 

[cookie]

What is the “dreaded frame flex”? It doesn’t sound good.

If that’s what it is, is it repairable?


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It could bee the steel frame has cracked welds or as mentioned it could be broken weld in the aluminum sidewall frame.
It is repairable and the only place I know of for repair is in Goshen, IN. There could be others but I'm not aware.
Call Customer Service they will guide you.

Peace
Dave

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

It is repairable and the only place I know of for repair is in Goshen, IN.

Dave, do you happen to know the name of that repair shop? We will be up in northern Indiana in just a couple of weeks. I'd like to contact them to see if I can get an appointment. Thanks!

 

[sengli]

Two places to check are affinity RV repair in goshen, and the other of course is lippert....call them direct at 574-218-6973

 

[cookie]

Call Heartland Customer Service. They have all the information on who to contact for the repairs. As mentioned, AffinityRV does a lot of work but they might have another. And they do book up far in advance.
Customer Service, 574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

 

[david-steph2018]

Dave, do you happen to know the name of that repair shop? We will be up in northern Indiana in just a couple of weeks. I'd like to contact them to see if I can get an appointment. Thanks!

David, here is another number to Affinity RV Group:
574-971-5543.
The two in the office is April or Jonna. The boss man is Rod. They do fill up fast on appointments, so call right away.

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

Call Heartland Customer Service. They have all the information on who to contact for the repairs. As mentioned, AffinityRV does a lot of work but they might have another. And they do book up far in advance.
Customer Service, 574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

I just talked to Dianne Williams at Heartland Customer Service. I'm sending her the photos and she's going to have their service department look at them to see what they think. Should hear back from her tomorrow.

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

Update: still waiting to hear back from Heartland. Meanwhile, I talked with Jonna and Rod at Affinity RV Group - both super nice folks. Based on the photos, Rod thinks it's frame flex that they can probably fix just by dropping the FRP under the overhang...but of course they won't know for sure until they tear into it. I have an appointment to drop off the trailer in mid-June and leave it with them for a couple of weeks while we're traveling overseas. Fingers crossed that it's not too difficult a fix.