Frame???? '10 Laredo 316RL

mguay · 10-06-2012, 01:10 PM

All summer long I have been chasing a creak in the bedroom floor. I thought it might be the broken screws between the plywood and upper deck floor. I have re-screwed the entire upper deck. Then I thought it might be broken screws where the upper deck bolts to the side wall.....nope. Then while getting ready for the weekend, after hooking up, I walked into the bedroom and...no more creaking! All jacks and stabilizers were up with all weight on pin and wheels. When we got to CG and started to unhook, I had DW drive truck out from under pin and it looked like it moved 2 1/2". I have measured my deflection before and it was close to an inch....but this looked excessive. It was dark and I didn't have a tape to measure it. Then this am....floor creaks are back! When we get home I'll measure pin deflection properly, then I might have to remove the chin to have a look.

Ron · 10-06-2012, 04:32 PM

Does sound like you have frame flex problems going on, I think before I would tear into it, i would contact Keystone and get there thoughts, and even if it is a 2 year old trailer, I have heard of them taking care of the problem.....Good Luck..........Ron

therink · 10-06-2012, 04:53 PM

I had a similar problem with my 2010 Sydney fiver (when it was new). For me it turned out to be loose frame/side wall fasteners/bolts from the factory. There was some deflection in the pinbox and considerable creaking when lowering the fiver onto the truck hitch. I was afraid I had cracked frame but turned out to be just the poorly installed fasteners, which was repaired. It was very obvious to see once the chin cover was removed.
You should still call keystone, but if it were me, I would opening myself, find the problem, take photos then contact keystone. Since you are out of warranty, keystone may be more receptive to making repairs if you tell them exactly what the problem is with photos.
Good luck.
Steve

mguay · 10-07-2012, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by therink

I had a similar problem with my 2010 Sydney fiver (when it was new). For me it turned out to be loose frame/side wall fasteners/bolts from the factory. There was some deflection in the pinbox and considerable creaking when lowering the fiver onto the truck hitch. I was afraid I had cracked frame but turned out to be just the poorly installed fasteners, which was repaired. It was very obvious to see once the chin cover was removed.
You should still call keystone, but if it were me, I would opening myself, find the problem, take photos then contact keystone. Since you are out of warranty, keystone may be more receptive to making repairs if you tell them exactly what the problem is with photos.
Good luck.
Steve

That's what's got me concerned the most! I remember when you went through it! The big difference is that mine doesn't creak when setting down on the hitch.

I found a tape measure and am gonna check the deflection today when we leave the CG. Then like you said... I'm gonna tear into it and take some pics before I call Keystone.

therink · 10-07-2012, 04:53 AM

Let's hope you don't have anything serious going on in there. Please keep us posted and post the photos if you find anything. Steve

mguay · 10-07-2012, 02:37 PM

Here's the quick skinny.
I measured while still on the tripod and all stabilizers and landing gear, then got rid of everything and measured while just sitting on the LG and wheels. I measured a 1/4" deflection.
Then set it on the hitch with LG up I measured 3/4" deflection.
Drove the 75 miles of two lane road home and measured 1" after taking it off the truck.
So essentially that means,
1/4" while on tripod and stabilizers.
3/4" from relaxed to hitched.
1" after travel.

Does this sound excessive?
I will mention that it makes NO groaning when put on the hitch.

I can't make up my mind about opening up the chin!

Festus2 · 10-07-2012, 03:09 PM

mguay -
If this were my RV and concerned about the flexing of the 5th wheel overhang (deflection??), I would try this:-

1) hitch the truck up and measure the distance from the ground to a point on the bottom of the overhang that is farthest out and still flat. There should be no weight on the landing jacks - the weight should be on the hitch. In this situation, the 5th wheel overhang will be under some load. Make a note of how level the 5th wheel sits while on the truck.
2) unhitch the truck and use the landing jacks to make the 5th wheel sit at the same level as it was while on the truck. In this scenario, there will be no load on the hitch pin or the overhang of the 5th wheel.
3) Now measure the distance from the ground to that same point in 1) above.
4) Compare the 2 measures. If there is a significant difference, then it would seem that there is significant flexing or deflection happening.

I don't understand the 1/4in deflection when the RV was unhitched and resting on the front landing jacks? How did you determine it was 1/4" ?
If it is 1/4" unhitched and you put it on the truck and it is now 3/4", that is a difference of 1/2".

mguay · 10-07-2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Festus2

mguay -
If this were my RV and concerned about the flexing of the 5th wheel overhang (deflection??), I would try this:-

1) hitch the truck up and measure the distance from the ground to a point on the bottom of the overhang that is farthest out and still flat. There should be no weight on the landing jacks - the weight should be on the hitch. In this situation, the 5th wheel overhang will be under some load. Make a note of how level the 5th wheel sits while on the truck.
2) unhitch the truck and use the landing jacks to make the 5th wheel sit at the same level as it was while on the truck. In this scenario, there will be no load on the hitch pin or the overhang of the 5th wheel.
3) Now measure the distance from the ground to that same point in 1) above.
4) Compare the 2 measures. If there is a significant difference, then it would seem that there is significant flexing or deflection happening.

I don't understand the 1/4in deflection when the RV was unhitched and resting on the front landing jacks? How did you determine it was 1/4" ?
If it is 1/4" unhitched and you put it on the truck and it is now 3/4", that is a difference of 1/2".

I measured from a fixed point on the front cap to the pin box. Good idea on the measure from the ground...I'll try it tomorrow. My tri-pod is rated at 2500# and on the scale I have 1900 so I might be able to use it as a fixed point and then measure to the chin.

I started out with all stabilizers down including the Landing Gear and king pin tri pod installed. Then raised stabilizers and removed tri pod and the measurement was 1/4" longer with no weight on the pin. then I put it on the hitch with the landing gear up and the measurement was 3/4" shorter. Then after travel, I re-measured and the distance got yet another 1/4" shorter.

Festus2 · 10-07-2012, 06:14 PM

I'm not sure whether or not using the tripod in this situation is a good thing when you are trying to determine flexing. Tripods are used to stablilize the front of the 5th wheel not for supporting a lot of weight. They should be used AFTER your front jacks are down and only to reduce the amount of movement within the 5th wheel. I don't think it would be wise to lower the pin box pin of the 5th wheel onto a tripod.

mguay · 10-08-2012, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Festus2

I'm not sure whether or not using the tripod in this situation is a good thing when you are trying to determine flexing. Tripods are used to stablilize the front of the 5th wheel not for supporting a lot of weight. They should be used AFTER your front jacks are down and only to reduce the amount of movement within the 5th wheel. I don't think it would be wise to lower the pin box pin of the 5th wheel onto a tripod.

I am on the fence about that one too!

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