2363 with possible frame trouble

[Deb B-SUN]

John,

Thanks so much for posting my pictures.

Deb

 

[MikeM-SUN]

Hi Deb

Have you contacted the frame manufacturer to see what they are going to do about it?

I have a 2007 2363 and am very concerned about this.

My wife and I really enjoy our trailer and it is the perfect floor plan for us.

Really ticks me off I am going to have to be worried about this trailer all the time when I use it.

Of course no Sunline around to make it right. The frame manufacturer should fix this.

I am using an Equalizer brand hitch with #1000 bars myself

mike





Mike

 

[Tweety]

What the heck?!! The 2363 has a light tongue, and you aren't loading it up in front. We plan to have some preventative things done to the Tweety. It will be interesting to see what comes of the NTSB investigation.

 

[Deb B-SUN]

Mike,

As of right now we have not contacted the frame manufacturer or our dealer. My husband is of the opinion to just get our guy who works on the cars to beef up the header for now. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to make things worse if there needs to be more than that done. I gave this guy the thread to the 2499 but haven't talked to him yet. He may have other ideas - just don't know.

We love the 2363 also. Such a great floorplan for 2 people. And light enough for our TV.

We have a trip to Pigeon Forge, Tn. coming up the first weekend in Sept. and I'm nervous about it. We will be pulling through the mountains, I know something will have to be done before then.

Have you seen anything on yours to suggest the beginnings of a problem?

Deb

 

[SteveC7010]

JohnB and I have started talking about this problem, and he has encouraged me to show everyone what a '99 5,000# A-Frame looks like. I have added captions to the pictures to point out some things that I think were done very well with this older frame.

The main frame rails and the A-Frame rails are all made from 4" C-Channel. Both the vertical web and the horizontal flanges are a tiny bit thicker than 1/4", although the top and bottom flanges are slightly tapered on the inside of the C.

Note the triangular plate directly below the coupler. The jack actually passes through the plate, but is not connected to it. I believe that this plate along with the coupler above it give the apex of the A-Frame great strength and rigidity:

 

[kanyonkitty]

Hi Deb

Have you contacted the frame manufacturer to see what they are going to do about it?

I have a 2007 2363 and am very concerned about this.

My wife and I really enjoy our trailer and it is the perfect floor plan for us.

Really ticks me off I am going to have to be worried about this trailer all the time when I use it.

Of course no Sunline around to make it right. The frame manufacturer should fix this.

I am using an Equalizer brand hitch with #1000 bars myself

mike





Mike

Hi Mike,
The Denver, PA plant for Lippert, the company that made the frames has been contacted, and the position on this problems is: "We built the frames to Sunline specs, so not our problem"
The Indiana plant has also been contacted, and no response so far from them.
There is a LOT of info & pics about this problem here:
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2123

NHTSB has also been notified.

Keep an eye on your frame

Kitty

 

[Tweety]

Deb, We have not seen any beginnings of a problem, but as the welder told us today at Lippert "it's alot easier to reinforce it before a problem." Our intention is to use our Tweety to full time at some point, so we had the preventitive piece put on today. You can see pictures on page 9 of the 2499 discussion. Better safe than sorry!

 

[Deb B-SUN]

Hey, Tweety looks good to go now. Hope this fix is the one we are all looking for. My husband thought it was all we'll need. He even thinks because ours is a small bow out it may be possible to straighten it before adding the new piece. I have all confidence in our car guy to handle this situation.

Thanks to the club and all you great people, we caught this early and already have a fix.

Thanks again, I feel much better now!
Deb

 

[luckyva]

The header of my 2363 seems to be bowed in (towards the coach) a slight bit. Is this normal? BTW - what IS normal!!

 

[Deb B-SUN]

Hi Paul,

You might want to consider doing a preventative fix now rather than waiting for a problem to occur. I assume you monitor the 2499 thread.

Now I'm not sure if we should go with the fix for the A frame as well as the header.

Good luck,
Deb

 

[luckyva]

Right now I can't really tell if it is just an optical illusion that it seems bent. Going out today to take pics and to put a level on the header. John offered to help me post my pics.

My header looks something like henryj's first picture that is in his 7/9/08 post, only the "bow" in the header is not as pronounced.

The A frame on mine does have the "extra" piece of steel welded on where the A frame goes through the header and it is intact.

I pulled the coach over 10,000 miles last year. From VA, USA to Banff, Alberta, CA and other points of interest. Lots of bumpy roads. There were lots of opportunites for major twisting to occur, so maybe I am just "imaging" the bow. Honestly, though, the header does not look straight. The battery holders appear to be flat, so no twisting there.

Will know more after I get out there this AM.

Thank you.

 

[luckyva]

OK - back from vacation and can report the header looks to be ok. what i percieved as a slight bow appears to be the way it was made.

Course, the roof started leaking while in Maine in the rain! Small drip in the corner by the door. Wondering if it is too far fetched for rain to come in through the frig roof vent. The drip was right under the vent.......