Cracked Frame

Started by hwagley, November 01, 2018, 12:59:11 PM

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hwagley

Help!
I have a 2013 16' BH model- owned for 2 years.  We noticed this summer that the aluminum frame is crackingwhere the tongue meets the body of the trailer... all the way across.  Any thoughts?   This seems very dangerous and we are not going to use the trailer until we can get it repaired. We haven't overloaded it & weight is distributed throughout-Anyone else with this issue?

DavidM

That does look serious and you are right to not use it until it is fixed. It is vary strange that the cracks start at the top of the aluminum member. I would have thought that the tensile forces would be at the bottom. I see that you have a WDH. What is the rating of the torsion bars. They need to be low, no more than 600 lbs for that trailer.

When you weld it up, I would put a 1/8" doubler plate on top about 6" long to help carry the load and reinforce the member where it crosses under the house.

David

klaker

Does the 16BH even need a WD hitch? could probably get by with some anti-sway bars only. That is the wrong type of WD hitch to use with that camper even with 600 lb or lower bars.

After the fix is done I would get rid of that WD hitch and use the Anderson. As DavidM mentioned definitely add additional support to the frame and make sure the welder knows what he is doing.

djsamuel

Those frame pieces look significantly smaller than the ones used on my 2013 21BHS.  I realize the 16DB was lighter, but there does seem to be a big difference.
2013 Camplite 21BHS

hwagley

Thank you for the replies.  Hmmm- I am not sure about the torsion bar rating.  We were pulling with a 4runner & it was fairly wobbly even on flat/straight FL roads, so we went to harbor freight & just got a standard WD hitch.  Now we are in TN with lots of twists and hills/grades.  Maybe we could get by with sway bars only.  We have since gotten a Tundra. 

klaker

Probably 1,000 pounds, you might want to stop using that hitch.

The Anderson hitch is more than enough for my 21BHS. It excels at controlling sway although doesn't transfer much weight it is more then enough for our trailers.