Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Fifth-Wheels: Non-Lippert RV?


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Krusher

Texas

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Posted: 07/27/10 02:32pm

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Non of the Carriage products use any

john b

anywhere USA!

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Posted: 07/27/10 02:37pm

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I think that most fabricators build to customers specifications so who is to blame here?? I have pulled our rig many many miles without any frame problems & it is a lippert. I had the most problems with the Alko axles!!IMHO

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Duck

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Posted: 07/27/10 03:49pm

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john b wrote:

I am sure that Lippert would not build a frame for a RV manufacturer unless they are sure that the requested frame design is safe and meets minimum design requirements. They still have some liability even though someone else designed the frame.

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Ranger Smith

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Posted: 07/27/10 03:54pm

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Newmar makes their own frames also.

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fordsooperdooty

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Posted: 07/27/10 04:18pm

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Jayco uses Leland Engineering Inc. frames, which is now owned by Dexter Axles. Leland has the words "engineering" in their name for a reason. They actually build different frames for different specs provided by Jayco. Structural steel, welded by certified AWS welders, CAD engineered. Leland got their start many years ago by building goose neck "low boy" construction grade trailers, the kind they use for hauling heavy equipment like D-9 Caterpiller Bulldozers!

The ultra light Jayco Products sometimes use Norco Industry Frames, who make very light weight yet strong hi-tech huck-bolted frames, same technology used for years in the construction of railway cars.

That said, there was a flurry of RV Manufacturers that suffered some serious issues with Lippert frames, as they were "minimally engineered or even zero engineered as specs were generic as supplied by the RV Manufacturer..in other words they went for the inexpensive frames that were basically "off the shelf" frames not specifically made for a specific weigh class RV. And the welds were not up to AWS standards.

However the issues seem to have diminished the past few years. The main issues were that the Manufacturers did not want to pay the extra fees associated with Lippert designing and engineering specific frames for specific weights of RV's.

This led to a much cheaper product for the RV company, (they love to pinch pennies!) but at the expense of the frame strength, and causing broken welds and frame cracking.

So there were problems. It seems that someone learned a lesson, and you should not judge the newer Lippert frames by what happened in the past.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

bstark

Ontario, Canada

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Posted: 07/27/10 05:04pm

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Also; Lippert supplies any number of other stuff to the RV industry that has their name on it such as a system to support the hoses and electric lines under the slideout while it is being moved in or out.

I cannot condone the crappy welds openly visible on the frames I've looked at but then I simply walk over to one of the types of trailers not using a Lippert frame and see the same crappy welds so I'd be willing to indict the entire RV industry for not maintaining some kind of quality standards across the board. they all resort to cutting corners where they think it won't show or matter.

Today is just the tomorrow you worried about yesterday!

Ranger Smith

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Posted: 07/27/10 07:00pm

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I feel the manufacturer of the RV should be responsible for and do all the warranty issues for the RV along with supplying the warranty. If something breaks it should be corrected by the RV manufacturer or one of it's dealers.

Do you go to your Dodge dealer because of a problem with your Cummins motor and they tell you that is not our issue and you need to go to Cummins . . . I think not. These RV builders need to stop passing the buck to their supplier and stand behind what they build.

I had a 2006 Winnebago Journey with the Cat Diesel that I paid 210k for new and every time it went in for service it was . . . that is a freightliner issue or that is a cat warranty issue or that is a winnebago issue or we have to call dometic or whoever to see if they will warranty it etc etc etc and nothing ever got fixed without 3 or 4 trips to different dealers.