Frame issues?

[Hotrodjohn]

I know this is all over the internet. Terms like “frame flex” in reality it appears to be frame failure due to bad attachment of the super structure to the frame. I was just wondering of any Paradigm owners have been affected? Here’s a video talking about it and it appears that Grand Design is taking the brunt of this. One note is usually it’s on units over 40’ and over 17k lbs. well this guy has a 35’😮

 

[dwcfish]

I cannot speak to the Paradigm line of rigs as I have an Avenue. On my 32RLS I did discover that there were only 2 lags installed on the door side of the rig - and one of these was walking its way out. In talking with Alliance, at least for my rig, the standard is to have lag bolts in all holes with a minimum of 4 bolts. I went ahead and installed bolts in all holes and had to put a 1/2 bolt in one of the holes as it was stripped out. Even after doing this, I had problems with the bolts working their way out. I removed all the bolts and reinstalled them with starlock washers and this seems to have solved the issue. On the non-door side of the rig, under the bed slide, all of the holes had bolts. Just as a check on the door side of the rig outside I pulled the trim to look under the rig where the pinbox is and it appeared that all of the screws were in place there. I think it is worth checking to see that all of the lags are in place - takes a bit of work but is a good thing to check.

 

[Hotrodjohn]

Thank you very much for the input

 

[Hotrodjohn]

You wouldn’t happen to have pictures?

 

[Mike in North Wales]

The "frame flex" issue is a design/engineering issue. The RV manufacturer is responsible for the engineering and design. Lippert builds the frames to the manufacturer's specs. Therefore, most issues will be in rigs where the engineering is, well, faulty. That is why you are seeing the problem is a limited number of manufacturer's products.

I've spoken to several people at Alliance. They are quite confident that Alliance frames are over-engineered and should not experience problems like flex.

 

[Hotrodjohn]

That makes me happy

 

[darrell]

Just a quick matter of terminology. All frames flex and are designed to do so within a specification. It is when design allows flex to occur outside of spec that this creates a problem. Ever been high up in a skyscraper and felt it move? Same thing here.

 

[Hotrodjohn]

Just a quick matter of terminology. All frames flex and are designed to do so within a specification. It is when design allows flex to occur outside of spec that this creates a problem. Ever been high up in a skyscraper and felt it move? Same thing here.

Bend don’t break 😎

 

[dwcfish]

Follow up to my previous comments related to lag bolts. I happened to recheck all my bolts today. All of the bolts that I had the starlock washers on were in good shape. However I had one bolt under the bed slide that was coming out. What a pain to get to. The bolt was stripped out. Could have been this way along. I installed a larger lag bolt with a starlock washer, will see if it stays. As I said before I think it is a good idea to say least periodically check all lag bolts on the upper deck of a rig.

 

[Hotrodjohn]

Follow up to my previous comments related to lag bolts. I happened to recheck all my bolts today. All of the bolts that I had the starlock washers on were in good shape. However I had one bolt under the bed slide that was coming out. What a pain to get to. The bolt was stripped out. Could have been this way along. I installed a larger lag bolt with a starlock washer, will see if it stays. As I said before I think it is a good idea to say least periodically check all lag bolts on the upper deck of a rig.

Do you have to take the closet apart? How do you access said bolts? Thanks

 

[dwcfish]

Access will depend on the rig, in my case I accessed then by pulling the trim off under the bed slide or under the dresser.

 

[RockDr896]

This is why I am cutting my underbelly into easily removable sections. I am almost done. This will make inspections and making emergency repairs a lot easier, I am hoping anyways.

 

[dwcfish]

The lag bolts can only be inspected and tightened from inside the coach..... Sorry, no way tho access from under the rig.....

 

[Mazboy]

To bring this thread back to 'frame flexing' the answer is yes. We had it on our 340 and at the company there was another one there also.
When at the rally, just a random check I found at least 2 Alliances with frame flex.
Yes, it is out there. The company will repair it in Goshen but it has to be within the 3 year warranty.

 

[fireman0175]

Access will depend on the rig, in my case I accessed then by pulling the trim off under the bed slide or under the dresser.

wow, how the heck did you get to those bolts under the slide or dresser? did you remove the dresser? any pics for reference? I too would like to check mine.

 

[dwcfish]

The bolts under the dresser I accessed by removing the drawers. The ones under the bed slide require you to practice your yoga moves - I had to pull the bed slide in a part of the way and then crawl under/reach under to access them.

As a note the star washers did not stop the bolts from wanting to come loose. I ended up using JB Weld as described in the video above and that seems to have finally solved the problem.