Bent front frame cross-member on '07 Solaris T-2499

[kathyh]

Thanks Henry. We will still keep a keen eye on the frame though just in case.

KathyH

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by kanyonkitty

Just me again

I have also pondered not using my weight distributing hitch once (if) Sunny gets fixed, and just use two friction sway controls. I think my truck is heavy enuff to do that, but I KNOW it IS NOT the safe way to do things.

Sorry to ramble, just upset,

Kitty

Kitty I feel your pain and others too. I will add my 2 cents about your statement above about not using WD. Even on yours and my F350, I would not recommend towing a TT down the road with our kind of tongue weights with no WD. Even with your water tanks drained. Here is where I’m coming frorm on this.

First look here at the rating sticker off my F350 receiver. It was because of that sticker that I changed out my F350 SRW drive truck receiver. Not because the truck could not handle the weight. See it says Weight Carrying 500#. That means that is all the dead load weight the receiver is rated for with no WD engaged. It also states the max pull rating is 5,000#. You will trip both limits. While towing without WD engaged would help the existing TT frame header in it’s present day situation, the truck receiver now has issues.


And once we get past the receiver there is the lack of WD on the front end of the F350. It will get soggier in the truck front axle. The steering geometry wears different, the towing stability is different and hard braking is different, then there is the sway controls. The DC is light years ahead of the friction sway bar in effectiveness and you already have it.

My new Tow Beast receiver I added on the F350 was for the T310SR, heaver weight carrying ability, and it could handle my T2499 with no WD, but I myself would not tow down the high way that way due to the other issues. Your truck now tows your trailer very well in all aspects, I know, I used the T2499 this July 4th going back to NY with it for the holiday. Now I know how you must feel towing yours. It’s nice.



We need to help you get your TT all fixed up and then use the hitch the way it is suppose to and put this chapter behind us.

Hope this helps

John

[JohnB]

Hi Folks

Gee, this has been an active day. It is great to see everyone come together here. That Sunline spirit lives on even though we have a thunder cloud looming over a few of us.

And more good news is, more info is coming and this helps greatly. I can now see different forces acting in different directions from the breaks/bends and cracks and the evolution of the changes Sunline made. Each bend, crack and lack of tells a story. We need a few more stories yet to help put together the cause. And we need to know where it is not. Tweety’s frame does not have a lot of difference yet we have no reports, yet, of a problem on their model. Something is different. I saw Pam put a post up on frame issues in the Community section. This will help to define where else it is or is not.

So far all who have posted to date with the 1st and 2nd generation 2005 T2499 newer frame style have a level of bending. KathyH with the latest style and it may be like Emans’ after we get confirmation on the lower and upper flange sizes and thickness. And Pat and Cindy are out test case. BUT theirs is also different.

Pat, I thought you had 2 angle iron members with end pieces welded on the top of the A frame from the beginning for your batteries. They can act as tension and compression tie members if they are welded to the A frame. How thick and what leg size are those angles? And yes please confirm the frame header size.

KathyH, those 2 pics you had, can you give us a link with higher resolution/size so I can zoom in on them? There are areas that are welded and not welded and it could be on purpose as welding can at times bring along weak points and part of the fix may have been to “not” weld that extra support plate to the lower flange.

I’m out of time tonight but I will put together a picture post with arrows on what I see so far in which direction the forces may have came in to cause those breaks. The new pics from today’s replies adds a lot.

Please keep the discussion going and anyone else with a T2499 of any year please post any bends or lack of bends. I know my 2004 model had a heavy tongue, 1,200# when it was loaded for allmost all of it’s towing life and next Wednesday when I’m home I will investigate and report back with pics.

I’m not a TT frame expert by any stretch, but it is clear in my mind that the frame header is indeed a structural member IMHO. And that is all this is, an opinion. With out the header the entire A frame will tear off the TT. The header beam strength ( in the 6” web direction) has to be high enough to support the TT dead weight on it, the imposed WD loads into the main frame rails and shock loads from towing down a highway and back country roads. The header also has to have enough rigidity ( in the upper and lower leg direction) to not buckle under loads that come at it in all directions and the A frame has to penetrate thru it and not compromise either beam support strength or buckling resistance. Each evolution Sunline did is adding up to address these factors.

We need more data on the causes before a fix is considered to be complete. I hope Lippert comes thru to help here with at least a design fix and ideally an answer to why what is there will fail and how. If they where indeed in a subcontractor manufacturing role with no design intent, the failiure responsibly generally ends up with the firm who designed it and incorporated into there system if the frame was made to spec.

For me the jury is still on the exact cause or multiple causes of failure and until the cause is known, there is no “fix”.

John

[kanyonkitty]

Thanks for the kind words JohnB. I wrote about not using the WD setup out of worry/fustration. There is NO WAY in the world that I would actually tow without my complete hitch setup.

Looks like I'll be calling Chuck Bell again on monday, HAHA they will get tired of me calling them. I'll also try to catch up with Lee at 9 when he arrives at work (which is only about 7 hours from now)

I just can't sleep tonight

Kitty

[kathyh]

JohhB - Here are my 2 pix in higher resolution.


The extra plate is welded to the top flange, to the A frame, and to the 6" portion of the I beam. It is not welded to the bottom flange; in fact there is a little space between the plate and the bottom flange.




KathyH[/i]

[Hematite]

Originally Posted by bink68

Just for the record. My frame has a 3/4" bottom flange and the top is right about 2".

In Tweety's pictures, notice that the bottom flange is welded to the "A" frame and that the flange bends up in that area - that's what I noticed on my cross member that I thought was a little odd before it bent. I can't be sure but I think the "up" bend got a little greater over time.

I think that this IS a very significant observation. It seems the lack of support below the crosspiece is critical but also the lack of support above may contribute to the problem. Note that in the later improved versions, there is support from a large flange below, almost like what an addition of an angle iron support would provide, but there is that upright welded piece. I would think that the way it is attached that, among other things, it would provide additional vertical support. Is it possible that the upper flange and 12 gauge sheet metal aren't carrying the vertical A frame forces well enough and contributing to the problem? That MAY be another reason for the vertical bar. It will be interesting to see what an engineers take is on this problem.

Kitty, like you I was pretty upset about this. The problem IS fixable, though, and at this point I'm just resigned to finding and applying the fix. I believe that with all the support we're getting from other Sunline owners and hopefully some engineering expertise and support from Lippert Components that we will very successfully overcome this problem.

PS I just looked back and, thanks to Henry, I see in a photo of Larrys frame that he has the upright bar but the frame still broke. Apparently, Sunline tried the upright bar first before changing the crosspiece to put more steel under the A frame.

[henryj]

I found Clark's post of flange sizes so that pretty much completes the big picture for me. There are some small holes left and we still need a fix, but here's a blow by blow account of what happened. Thanks to JohnB, Bink68, and Larry for getting us started and thanks to Pat, Kathy and Jon for filling in the final pieces. This is my summary of the facts gleaned from this long thread.

1. There have not been any problems on 04 and earlier 2499s. For 05, Sunline strengthened the main frame to a 6" I-frame. At the same time, inexplicably, they dummied down the A-frame to 4" from 5" and the front cross member or header from 10 gauge to 12. They might have gotten away with one or the other, but the two together were a disastrous combination.

This frame was used through the entire 05 and 06 model run. Failures were not instantaneous; Kitty's is perhaps the best example we have here of that. And my 05 sat on a dealer's lot for 1 1/2 years before I bought it as well. But sometime in the 06 model run Sunline started seeing failures and no doubt repaired a number of customers' frames. I sure would like to hear from a couple of those people or someone who worked at Sunline at that time.

2. By the beginning of the 07 model run--early spring 06--Sunline knew they had a big problem. They attempted to address this by welding a 2" X 6" piece of steel against each leg of the A-frame behind the header, apparently to stiffen the A-frame and reduce its flex. Larry has an early 07 and, as shown by his photos, this fix was completely ineffective. Larry's frame only failed after 10,000 mi., but Sunline found out long before that this fix was not the one as they must have repaired some of these early 07s as well.

3. By the time Pat's 07 was built, Sunline appears to have been panicking and abandoned the piecemeal fix throwing what is probably a completely over-engineered, over-kill solution onto the frame. The end result was a 10 gauge cross member again, with a 1 9/16" bottom flange and the A-frame passed through the center of the cross member to avoid cutting it right at the bottom flange. They also retained the first fix, the 2" X 6" piece of steel, but on not sleeping on it overnight, I doubt that this added anything extra. The other three changes, however, were huge and even one of those, like 10 gauge steel, might have been enough. Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know what Lippert's role was in all this. They surely knew what Sunline was dealing with and it is inconceivable to me that they would not get involved--maybe that's where the final fix came from.

4. Sunline was a small company on the RV stage, but provided good work for good people and a reasonable return, at least for the original owners. I agree with Jon that these frames would have bankrupted them. It's quite possible shrewd new owners saw it coming and took their money and ran. Sad that this all happened over a 12 gauge piece of steel that was probably one of the least expensive items in the trailer.

5. Owners of 04 and earlier 2499s, or any other Sunline coach that we know of, have not had this frame problem. All 05 to early 07 2499s have a major problem whether they are already bent or not and all need to be strengthened. Check the photos and look under the front of the trailer to see which frame you have.

6. Sunline used this same frame design on other models, like Pam and Steve's 06 2753--quite possibly any 7000 lb. GVW trailer (2499, 2553, 2570, 2753). We are not aware that any of these lighter TW coaches have had problems, but I would caution to not overload and frequently check the battery supports and front header for any sign of bending. It would be helpful to know if other late 07s, like the 2753, also got the frame fix seen in Pat's and Kathy's 2499s as that would indicate that Sunline saw some problems here as well.

Henry

[Bobo]

Been off line for awhile and I come back to find this beauty of a problem. I checked my 2006 T-2499 and found my header just starting to bow. No cracked welds or battery crossmember warpage. If Lippert does not offer a solution soon, I will pay to have my mechanic to reenforce the crossmember and shore up the A frame. We only have about a thousand miles on the coach and plan on keeping it for a long time. It is an investment we made into our lives and the best thing that has ever happened to us in our new marriage.

Best of luck to all of us and hope Lippert comes through.

Bobo

[precorguy]

WOW -- i can't believe it --- this is a very bad situation an my heart goes out to anyone in this position.

i just finished - couple of weekends ago - painting the frame --- i didn't notice anything unusual - and i also had the batteries off for painting and nothing strange

we have a 07 2553 and hope that we are not going to experience the same issues --- we have towed to florida twice and all over ontario, ohio, michigan & new york state - i would say we are getting close to the 10,000 mile mark now or surpassing this coming summer trip anyway

next time the trailer is home i am going to use these pics to double check the frame for abnormalities - hopefully we are good.

will be watching this post closely for what the outcome is!

[clarkldc]

Hi Folks,

This is the third time I tried to post this update explaining the first 10,000 miles I used our 2499. I'll retype the saga.

My wife and I started going to RV shows several years ago trying to find the right TT for us to buy just before I would retire. We saw the 2499 at the first show and fell in love with it. It seemed like the perfect floorplan, size, and weight for us. Each subsequent year we would return to the RV shows, but we could not find anything we liked more than the 2499. Then, when we found out in January 2007 that Sunline had gone out of business, we decided to purchase before there were no other 2499's available. We bought ours from Brooks Ramsey RV of White Marsh, Maryland on January 15, 2007. We had no place to store it at that time so the dealer offered to store it on their storage lot until we could find suitable storage at a reasonable price. We picked it up mid-April 2007 and took it on a maiden trip of about 200 miles. No problems except for the long tow vehicle made backing into a small site difficult. Then at the end of May we took it on another trip of about 500 miles. The only problem we encountered was we bottomed out while making a U-turn and slightly bent the skid bar on the right side. Not an uncommon occurance.

Our fall trip was to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. While driving to our first campsite on PEI we encountered many rough roads and when I checked the TT at a refuelling stop, I noticed that the batteries had nearly fallen through the battery brackets to the road. The rear bracket was bent upward some and this caused the batteries to drop down out of the front battery bracket, but not all the way to the road. I pushed the rear battery bracket back down and reset the batteries into place. We continued to our campsite and setup that evening. The next day I went to a local hardware store and bought some 1/4" threaded rod, nuts, washers, and lock washers to perform a field repair of the battery box. I drilled four 1/4" holes in each bracket, inserted the treaded rod and fastened the top flanges with the nuts, washers, and lock washers. This kept the brackets spaced properly and tied the rear bracket to the front bracket. Problem solved??? At this point we had about 2,000 miles on the unit. We continued on our trip without experiencing any further difficulties. When we arrived back home we cleaned the sunny up, winterized it, and put her into storage. She now had about 4,000 mile on her.

Mid-April 2008 we bought the unit back home to prepare it for a trip to Arizona. I made another battery tie-down with a piece of 1"x1"aluminum box channel -- one across the top of the battery boxes and one below the C-channel of the tungue attaching them with threaded rod. While doing this I noticed the header had a small bend near the right side and some of the paint was gone. Had there not been any rust I probably would not have noticed this bend. This must have been the Omen of things to come, but we started on our trip as scheduled. While trying to level the trailer at a campsite in central Arizona I notice that the header now is cracked and the other side shows some bending. Both tails of the header outside of the tongue frame were starting to sag at the outer end, thus placing more twisting forces on the tongue C-channel and the thin header C-channel between the tongue C-channels. We contemplate whether or not to have the repair made while we were on the road and opted to continue with the trip and get it repaired when we returned home. At this point we had about 7,000 miles on the TT.

By the time we got home we had about 10,000 miles on the unit and from my pictures you can see the extent of the damage now. I towed it to a local welding shop that works on mobile home frames and some RVs to get an estimate for the repair. The owner loked at it and gave me a verbal estimate of $1,000 (about an 8 hour job). He said that the header was way to thin and he would have to cut it out and replace it with much heavier C-channel. He cautioned me that the underbelly plastic water barrier was extremely flamable and was afraid the welding could catch it on fire. I decided to take it to another shop for a second opinion, as the first guy seemed like hed did not want to work on it and he gave me only a verbal estimate. This second shop did body repair on autos and RVs. He also had the means to straighten and align the frame. His estimate was for $1,441 to repair/reinforce/replace the header, and replace/reinforce the battery box. He was planing to straighten the header to its original position and reinforce it by welding a heavier 6" C-channel to the front face of the header and weld it to the tongue A-frame as well. He would replace the battery brackets with 2"x2" angle and weld a diamond plate steel floor in the box. This plate was to be welded to the brackets and to the tongue C-channel lower flange to stiffen this area and make a real battery tray. Then I returned the unit to the storage yard and decided to check the web to see if others have had similar problems with this frame on the 2499. So I joined the Open Roads Forum on RV.NET website and the Sunlineclub Forum.

And NOW you have the 10,000 mile long story of our first 10,000 miles using our Sunline Solaris T-2499. Wheeew!! What a tale-- probably more than you ever wanted to know.

PS: I may get to the RV storage lot tomorrow to measure the thickness of the header using a micrometer. I'll report my findings. By the By, we have no warranty on this trailer what-so-ever, only the appliance and sub-system warranties. I am realllllly depressed by this situation!

[Tweety]

We went to the RV lot at stoltzfus last night after it cooled down to look at what other manufacturers are doing wrt the tongue and header. We only looked at nonslide trailers that were about the size of the Sunlines in question here. What we found is that they all have the cheap thin headers. The difference is in the tongue. They are using 5", and mostly box beams, welded all the way around. This makes me think that the bending of the header is a symptom of the real problem which is the twisting of the 4" tongue.

[JohnB]

Hi Folks

I keep staring at these pics trying to put the puzzle pieces back together of what went first and in want direction. The more info we have coming thru helps to put the puzzle partly back together. Larry’s (Clareldc) event log sparked this thought process. Thank you Larry.

If these folks below can fill in some of the missing info the best they can, it will help.

The battery box and the header tell us about the way the system failed. Once you know the way it failed it is easier to figure out what is not strong enough. I have a “thought” and right now that is all it is, that there is a compression of the A frame going on from the side forces possible from the WD bars in a turn and the weight of the trailer on top of it. And naturally this all get’s aggravated with roads hazards such as pot holes etc etc. Right now the only way I can see the battery box which is made from formed angle being bent is if the A frame has compressed inward or at least one side of it. The same goes for the header buckle.

We have battery boxes that are both bent up and down. And it “appears” the rear angle is the one most compressing. When it is compressed on the ends welded to the channel A frame, the formed angle will buckle upward as it’s easiest way to deform. But we also have Kitty’s bent down. So things are going in 2 directions. It is harder for that shape the way it is made and mounted to bend downward. It is closer to the header and would be affected first as opposed to the front angle as the amount of compression will be more the further out the A frame we go from the tow ball.

What I do not know, did it bend before or after the header started to compress. Once the header goes it would not take much for it to bend. But we have stages of the bending. And there may be 2 or 3 things going on to cause the same end result.

Here goes the quiz for more info

Hematite is there any deformation on your battery angle ? May have to lay a straight edge along it in 2 directions to find out. Your header is further deformed then Henrys. And while you are out measuring, measure the amount of header deformed distance from being straight in the furthest deformed spot.

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HenryJ your header is bowed but is there any deformation on your battery angle? And while you are out measuring, measure the amount of header deformed distance from being straight in the furthest deformed spot.

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Now to Kittys. She has both, a bowed down battery angle and a buckled foward header. H'mm, down and foward, that's different. Kitty can your try to measure the amount of header deflection from straight? And the amount of battery box bow?


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Clarkldc, and here is Larrys. Battery box bent up.



This left side bend is shouting signs of compression.


This right side is showing signs of tension




OK Larry now to you. You so very nicely created a chronological sequence of events.

Cut and pasting your words.

“Our fall trip was to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. While driving to our first campsite on PEI we encountered many rough roads and when I checked the TT at a refuelling stop, I noticed that the batteries had nearly fallen through the battery brackets to the road. The rear bracket was bent upward some and this caused the batteries to drop down out of the front battery bracket, but not all the way to the road. I pushed the rear battery bracket back down and reset the batteries into place. We continued to our campsite and setup that evening. The next day I went to a local hardware store and bought some 1/4" threaded rod, nuts, washers, and lock washers to perform a field repair of the battery box. I drilled four 1/4" holes in each bracket, inserted the treaded rod and fastened the top flanges with the nuts, washers, and lock washers. This kept the brackets spaced properly and tied the rear bracket to the front bracket. Problem solved??? At this point we had about 2,000 miles on the unit.”

The way the battery box is made that there is not a whole lot of grip under the case of a group 24 battery and a group 27 will not fit in there. I noticed this on my 2004, T2499. In fact there is so little engagement that I put a piece of treated plywood under mine as I thought it would have a chance to fall out if the anlge ever bent even a little. I guess you proved my though process. See here.


So if your rear battery angle bent up it most likely twisted some too to make the opening larger. Since there is so little engagement to the battery case when it is not bent, I suspect the angle may have bent 1/8 to 3/16” open to allow the battery to slide down thru partly.

Do you have any idea if the header may have been bent then? Did you notice the battery disconnect switch at a slight angle?

Then advancing in time. Again another cut and paste.
“Mid-April 2008 we bought the unit back home to prepare it for a trip to Arizona. I made another battery tie-down with a piece of 1"x1"aluminum box channel -- one across the top of the battery boxes and one below the C-channel of the tungue attaching them with threaded rod. While doing this I noticed the header had a small bend near the right side and some of the paint was gone. Had there not been any rust I probably would not have noticed this bend. This must have been the Omen of things to come, but we started on our trip as scheduled.”

OK now you saw a bend coming in the header at the right side. Also confrim passenger side of the truck is right the way we are looking at this. TT RV'ers generally make shaper left turn in most campgrounds, generally that is backing into a site. It is just easier to back up that way on the drivers side.

Did you notice and bending at the center of the header?

Was the battery rear angle bent again?

The small bend on the right side and the paint cracking, Was the bend at the bottom of the header near the edge of the channel iron or in the middle of the channel?
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Bobo, on yours.

“Been off line for awhile and I come back to find this beauty of a problem. I checked my 2006 T-2499 and found my header just starting to bow. No cracked welds or battery crossmember warpage.”

Can you take a few pics and do some measuring. Measure the amount of header deformed distance from being straight in the furthest deformed spot. It seems your battery box is still straight. Sort of maybe like Henery’s
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Bink68

Bink has a bowed up battery holder


He also have tension tears on the ends of the header.



The place that fixed Bink’s added a tie tube between the A frame rails behind the header. This acts as a high tension strap and give some good compression resistance in the A Frame.

Bink, did they weld the header to the 1 x 2 tube after they straightened it?

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EMAN, our endurance test case….. Pat your camper needs to go on a diet .... LOL

Pat in this pic of that added battery holder, while you are out there confirming the lower flange size for us can you measure up the extra battery holder for us on size of angle and thickness? Some pics too.



You have given us a level of field testing thru some really rough going and 60K miles worth. You also appear to have the latest Sunline fix like KathyH

The thought is pending how well made the added battery holder is, yours in effect may have created an A frame tie plate system to keep it for compressing and extending. It does not help with the header lower flange buckling, but to does add strength in the A frame itself. Question is does it mean anything? Good question but you have a heavy tongue and have many miles, more then any of us hands down.

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I see Tweety has been doing some other brand investigating. I have as well yesterday. I’ll get some better pics today. These light weight trailers really do not have a lot in the header frame. I was looking at 7,000# GVWR TT’s, some rear living layout and they too have 6” thin headers with a lower flange of not much. I’ll get dimensions too. Some also use 4” A frame rails with the 6” header. Some 5” A frame.

Tweety’s comment about using rectangular tube in place of channel I also observed. But on some the tube was made up of a C shaped formed rail with a plate in the inside of it to make a box tube. And it was thin. The point of is Channel stronger or weaker then box tubing lies in the thickness and the way it is made. Structural Channel has very rigid top and bottom flanges rolled with a wedged taper to the web and a level of thickness to the web width. The web thickness varies by type. After seeing some of the other brands box tubing, standard C channel might win in the strength department. This will have to play out by the numbers.

However I did see a difference in the way the A frame comes out of the header. It is in the middle not favored to the bottom like Sunline does/did. That method of the A Frame thru the header may have been a common way for them and what may have started a large amount of all the issues. While the difference in 10 gage and 12 gage metal is some, it is not a lot but pending how close to the edge the setup was from failing, it could be however a factor on why the older ones worked OK it they where indeed 10 gage.

Let’s flip to a larger 2005 Sunline.

This fellow Sunline owner has a 1,200# tongue range camper but it is on a large frame size TT. See the way the A frame comes thru. If you can guess by the watch who’s left hand that is you win a prize. If not the moccasin is a dead give away…




This is 10” I beam frame with 6” channel A frame


You can see here the lower flange is a lot larger. The flange is 1 5/8 to 1 ¾ and the thickness is around 1/8” Do not know if it is 10 or 12 gage.


This structure is by far heavier with a 1,200# tongue then the T2499 with similar tongue weights. However the A frame comes thru the header in the same concept.

If any one wants more clues on the prize or the left hand ask Hutch. I'm sure there is a fund raiser idea in here somewhere for the next M & G. Guess that left hand.... Sorry, Hutch I could not resist.... Thanks for taking the extra time to run out to the storage lot and get this info for us. It helps. I'm assuming my 2004 T310SR is similar to your 2005 T280SR

I will not know my 2004 TT’s until next Wednesday. Do not know if Sunline always built them that way or is was a shift in the 2005 line up. Anyone have a pre 2005 camper and ever looked at the A frame construction?

Right now these are all still puzzle pieces with only a few fitting together.

Hope this helps. Keep the good thoughts coming.

John

[clarkldc]

John,

Your comment about the bending and twisting of the rear battery box angle bracket IMHO isw dead on -- the batteries have very little to rest on and it does not take much for them to slip through the space between the brackets.

The rear battery bracket still had a some upward bend to it as I noticed that the batteries tilted slightly forward when resting on the bottom of the rear bracket. When I would tighten down my aluminum box channel the batteries would still tilt slightly forward. The header bend may have been very slight and at the bottom center at this time (mid-April). But to the best of my recollection, the bend near the weld on the right (curb side) was near the bottom of the header. I'm a little odd, when I back into a campsite first I choose a site on the outside of a loop, so that my big living room window faces into the woods rather than into someone elses campsite. This may explain why my right side shows more damage as it probably results from more flexes of the right side tongue A-frame C-channel.

It looks to me that Eman's battery sits on top of the frame, is made of heavier angle steel, and it may have a welded bottom. I might be wrong, but all of these things may add more rigidity to the tongue A-frame. Also, if his A-frame C-channel runs through the center of the header with additional support from above and below the passage through the header, this may explain why his header is not bent. I don't know if he has any angle steel running across the A-frame at the bottom flange.

Just some additional thoughts.

[bink68]

My frame was orginally fixed by a body shop who used a frame alignment jig to pull it back into position (including the rear battery box support).

When it bent the second time (but didn't break), the moble welding team used a heavy duty chain come-a-long and a little hammering to bend it back into place. He couldn't get it all the way straight but, except for a small section behind the circuit breaker box, it is pretty darn good. He then welded the 1" x 2" box channel to the lower flange and "A" frame members.

Note that adding the 1" x 2" member now creats 1" of metal below the "A" frame and makes the flange 2 3/4" in width - which sounds very close to the "final" 2007 Sunline configuration.

As I believe I've stated before, I had a noticeable difference between the effort needed to set the spring bars prior to the addition of this reinforcement. Now the effort is nearly equal.

The up bend of the battery support happened concurrently with the frame fracture. What I can't explain is why only the back battery support bent - the front was as straight as an arrow. I actually noticed the battery support bend first and I thought it had been caused by the force of the up / down highway dip on I-78.

[henryj]

John,
The battery fuse box hangs below the header and is in the way of laying a straight edge right across the bent part... and my bifocals don't focus so well when I'm lying on the ground... but I could measure 1/4" of bending up to the fuse box and if I could have laid a straight edge across the bent part maybe 3/8" of bending at most. The battery support steel brackets are perfectly straight and I can see no other signs of stress, not counting myself, anywhere else except possibly these flange dimples...read on.

I noticed in your picture of Hutch's 280SR, the bottom flange of the header appears almost perfectly flat and Hutch can't put his metal yard stick between the A-frame and the flange. My bottom flange is bent up at both legs of the A-frame like somebody beat on it with a hammer. I noticed that in a couple of others that were focused in that area. Is that part of the puzzle?


I found it a little odd that Larry said his batteries nearly fell out on the road without mentioning that the plywood got torn up. This is mine complete with factory plywood painted black and all. The box is bolted to the plywood and the tie down webbing goes right around the steel and through two tabs screwed to the bottom of the plywood. Maybe they ran out of plywood from time to time or didn't use it when the plywood guy called in sick.


Henry

[kanyonkitty]

I have contacted the moderator at RV.Net asking permission to post a link to our site to the post regarding our bent frame issues. I did not want them to think I was "advertising" our site, as previously thought, but that I was just wanting to inform 2499 owners of a potential frame problem.


Kitty

[Hematite]

JohnB:

In answer to your questions:

When I first got my unit it was used. The rear battery bracket (very thin angle), was bent upward somewhat. I noticed because the battery was tipped froward. I saw that the bracket looked as though it wasn't welded correctly. I bent the bracket down at the welds so that the battery carried level. At this moment, amazingly, the bracket appears to be still flat, possibly even a bit lower. This unit never had a plywood piece and does seem a sloppy fit for a group 24 battery box.

I tried to measure the bend, as best I could. It's not super accurate, but it is about a 2" deflection back.

[kanyonkitty]

I have a post running in RV.Net alerting 2499 owners to check this post to see the frame issues.

[Sunline Fan]

I got a bunch of pics of my frame today, which is no different than earlier slide models. Anyone's welcome to see them, just let me know. They really don't add anything, so I'm not going to post them to fill up space in this rapidly-growing topic.

The good news is I don't have any type of damage...yet!

Jon

[kanyonkitty]

John,

The more I looked at my battery rails, the more I remember the rear one being bent up during the winter(without battery). Then this spring when I got Sunny road ready, I put the battery back on (Well, I didn't "put" it back on, I remember dropping it onto the rails), so that is probably why my rail is bent downward. I only have the rails to support the battery, but once all this bent frame crap is fixed, I will put a tray on the battery rails like others have done.

Kitty