RV FRAME FLEX! GRAND DESIGN finally RESPONSES!
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Grand Designs Response
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"FRAME WARRANTY EXTENDED TO 5 YEARS"
Dear Valued Customers,
Since Grand Design’s founding, we have had the mission to build a better RV and a better RV company. During this 11-year journey, our most important commitment has always been and always will be to our customers.
Rumors and misinformation have been swirling online regarding excessive frame flex across the industry including a small percentage of our large Solitude and Momentum fifth-wheel products. In each case, we have performed a thorough review and are working directly with our customers to resolve concerns.
We have also been working directly with our frame supplier, a third-party structural engineering firm, and industry experts to ensure that our products and processes meet and exceed industry standards. Our commitment to our customers is absolute and we continue to stand behind every product we build.
To show our commitment, effective immediately, our frame warranty is extended to 5 years on all Grand Design products. In addition, the 5-year frame warranty will be honored retroactively, from the date of retail purchase, starting with the 2020 model year. We continue to be confident in the products we make and want our customers to know that they will always receive top notch support including the best warranties in the industry.
At Grand Design, we are guided by our key principles and values: Do the right thing, put people first and be the best. These values always have and always will guide our decisions and focus our actions.
For details on the new warranty or any questions or concerns, please visit our website at www.granddesignrv.com or call our customer service team at 1-855-879-4746.
Thank you for being a Grand Design customer.
Regards,
Image
Don Clark
CEO & President, Grand Design RV
Well if true, this sounds promising.
This is simply to appease their stockholders, they are still disingenuous with their repairs thus far
This applies to subsequent owners. If you bought a recent slightly used GD you still have the 5year frame warranty. If you call they advise you to take it to a dealer.
That response from Grand Designs sounded like a corporate side step to me. The company hasn’t been the same since they were acquired by Winnebago.
Bingo! Just like Lippert, they listed several reasons why frame flex isn't their fault. They even went as far as to blame the tow vehicles being used.
And I suppose you believe that if they were still independent they would just take them all back go whoops and just go bankrupt? 🤔 nope.
@vtmkb anytime you start with an inaccurate assumption you will surely end up with the wrong conclusion
Confuses says lol😅
You're spot on ! I bought a Minnie Winnie 5th wheel first year they came out. 11 months later I was trading it on a grand design. The reason the Winnie had a broken frame. The dealer did the negotiating with winnebago. I had a 5 year registration on the Winnie and just recently received a registration renewal which proves to me that the rig was a salvage item. Long story short grand design adopted some Winnie engineers I would guess
I appreciate all your energy that you have put into this issue.
Your content is very informative and needed. The more information out there Leeds to change in the industry. You are apart of change and I and many of your viewers appreciate you.
How about we are replacing all the broken framed RVs! That should be the only response!
You brought up Grand Design. We have a Keystone product and they have been very responsive to us with our wall crack. We have a couple of different friends that have had the same issue and they have had good service as well. Just our 2 cents worth. Thanks JD for taking the time to put forth this effort to explain these issues.
@coddiwompletravers what Make and Model do you have? I have a 2022 Montana 3855 BR that developed a crack on the drivers side right under the Master Bedroom slide. It developed on our way home to Florida from Montana. So it only had about 4000 miles on it. It took awhile to find the right repair facility once we got home but Keystone fixed it. Just frustrating that it even had to happen. Seems like a design flaw to me.
I too had an upper deck wall separation / wall stud weld issue with my Keystone product (Montana) and they stepped up and repaired it, but it took a while to jump through a lot of hoops between dealer and Keystone. It sounds like GD isn't stepping up like Keystone does.
@@davidwestfall9949 we have a 2021 3791RL our crack was under the bedroom slide on the drivers side. I am of the opinion that it is fault welds in the wall that caused our problems. The frame flexes like it should but the wall doesn’t
@@gcslade sound like the same thing we had. A weld in the wall broke and was faulty
I have a 2021 Fuzion 419 44’ toy hauler. With the frame crack that was already repaired. I’m wondering the same? Any Keystone issues? Thanks for all the info !!
There should be an immediate emergency recall with inspection on all GD solitudes and momentums before somebody gets killed imho.
Would you really trust the local RV dealer to make a correct determination in any potential recall? I sure wouldn't. This isn't the auto industry.
@@ajg617 absolutely not, would need to be a certified 3rd party inspector.
RV dealership services already take way too long. They'd never get a trailer back on the road if this happened.
I have a large Solitude and I don’t want a recall.
J.D., I’ve never RV’d before. I use your channels as part of my research. I appreciate what you do. Keep up the good work.
What I would like to know , is grand design going to fix Kevin’s momentum, since their channel is no longer about the camping life and they don’t talk about it anymore. I really hope they step up and make it right
Yes Grand Design would like them to take it to them to get fixed. He said they were going to charge them and it would take months before getting it in. I'm not sure that would be their response if he contacted them today. I firmly believe GD does not want the filming and publicity of it. They want to done quietly.
JD, like you Kevin from Paving New Paths is honest in everything he posts on his RUclips channel. It’s sad Grand Design let this go for so long unaddressed, leaving Kevin and his entire family hanging. I’m quite sure Grand Design watched the Paving New Paths video where Kevin said their life on the road in their GD Momentum was over. Yet Grand Design never once made any attempt to reach out. This is nothing more than GD scrambling to reduce the damage on Social Media. Grand Design needs to publicly apologize to Kevin and family for putting them needlessly through this horrible situation.
@@BigTruckBigRVI watched your videos Lippert. It was very interesting however, it appeared to me they wanted to get out in front of this mess to reflect guilt. Not sure if they need to deflect it or not.
@@BigTruckBigRVThe fact they want it done "quietly" speaks volumes to me. GD obviously has something they want to hide.
@@BigTruckBigRV I think that is about what they initially asked the to do. They were also asked to take it to an authorized service center. Kevin did not want to do that.
You are doing a great job JD. You truly have done a great job doing and gathering all the information you can and passing it along. You tell it how it is, non filtered, and all the facts as you get them. Transparent and factual is all I have ever heard out of the hundreds of videos you have done. I personally do not own a 5th wheel but I have gained a ton of knowledge on many of the topics you covered. I just wanted to take a moment and let you know how much all your hard work is appreciated. 👍🏻
Not only do you provide information to help them make the best informed decision, but you also provide safety reasons for your recommendations. Mainly for your advice on which truck to tow a certain trailer with. Your time and effort to create this content is very much appreciated! Even all the way up here in Ontario 🇨🇦
JD I'm so glad that you got involved in this situation. I think you've made a difference.
Thanks for being an agent of change, JD. Grand Design & Lippert's official responses (as well as other mfgs experiencing similar issues) may be a small step in the right direction, but only if GDRV (or other mfgs) buyers are willingly taken care of in full will Grand Design (or other mfgs) & Lippert retain a good, but tarnished, reputation.
As someone who has been RV,ing for over 50 years and have owned multiple rvs two of which were Teton 5th. wheels. There has definitely been changes in the industry that have led to this problem. they have built larger units which have required them to find places to cut weight. When i purchased my first 36 ft. Teton in 2003 the stated gvwr was 16200 lbs. But upon weighing the unit it was already heavier then that before being loaded and i was shocked. But i still put thousands of miles on this unit with no structural problems. I still own this unit and use it as a guest home on my property. The unit is still structurally sound. Yes i have had to reseal the roof and the siding is faded. I even dropped thi unit on the bed of my truck one time which destroyed the bed sides of my truck but no damage to the trailer. After watching your videos of Lippert they talk about flex a lot and it is built into the frame. Then you take the trailer unit which is much more rigid and it makes me wonder if they are working against each other. When i look at the frame and structure of my tetons verses the frames in your videos. they are much more ridged. Just food for thought
My take away on all that I have watched the past three years, your Lippert encounter videos, talking to people who have had issues is this…….A large percentage of “frame failure” is in Grand Design 5th wheels, though there are other manufacturers where this has happened and some are in travel trailers, but I’m convinced that manufacturers, Grand Design being the big one, are spec’ing their frames from Lippert at the bare minimum requirements to save money. Lippert isn’t totally without fault though, they have had frame failures also like bad welds. I will say also, the quality of the RV’s over the years has become disappointing. It’s to the point now that some members of congress are hearing complaints from their constituents back home. I believe we will see government involvement in the RV industry as it is now in the automotive industry. This will be a good thing because it’s evident the RV industry can’t police itself and these poor construction practices will lead to someone getting hurt or killed.
Bingo Bean counter engineering.
My experience with Grand Design has been mixed. Most issues were addressed. Just one confusing item, I was told by Grand Design, that things that break during the warranty period are not covered by warranty. I had always believed that was what the warranty was for??
I want to see everyone who is affected have their RV situation made right but until I see or hear Grand Design make it right with Paving New Paths I wont believe a word from them.
Grand Design and Boeing are evidently joined at the hip.
Thank you for taking the time to educate all of us on this topic.
The R and D on these frames are done assuming the welds are to their specs, the assembly line attaches all the proper hardware, and the companies supplying said parts are also adhering to certain specs. One of these variables are done out of spec and we see the results.
Completely agree and if it was actually a design flaw then it would happen to ALL of them and clearly it is not.
Good informative videos. Glad that you spoke to Kevin i thought about messaging him to express some thoughts of what may have contributed to their issue and those thought are just pure love for him and his family. Watch him for years and just wanted to mention what was loaded on the front passenger side of the rv where issue appears to be 1)washer/dryer 2) pit boss pellet grill 3)22” blackstone 4) Lectric e-bike thinking maybe some of these items could have contributed to the issue and again I mean no harm. I am glad that Grand Design is stepping up as I think they are a great company and we love our Grand Design.
Thank you for providing a comprehensive look at the causes of 'frame flex' (far more than I have seen anywhere else)! As a Grand Design owner, I have been quite concerned with this issue. My guess is, that with you and other folks like you calling so much attention to this issue, Grand Design and Lippert felt enough pressure to actually start becoming more responsive on this major problem. Ultimately, I think more people will be helped to get their problems resolved as a result of your video series than otherwise would have been, so thanks again! Personally, I find it hard to believe that Grand Design is 100% at fault here, since they seem to have almost zero problems with their Reflection series with 'frame flex', and I am guessing that they use the same attachment techniques on the Solitude/Momentum to attach the body to the frame as they do on the Reflection series, and yet virtually no 'frame flex' that I have heard of on the Reflection.
Excellent - thank you for taking this head-on and providing a thorough education on this hot topic. It gives me more confidence in providing information when asked about this subject in particular. 😎 And I'm glad you got to talk to Kevin. Been watching his situation closely as well and hope he and his family are able to find resolution.
You rocked - You and These Companies did great responding in my opinion!
Thank You!
Some people want court room drama and arm chair qtr back 😂
That has not been my experience. Great camper and customer service… so far
I have owned two Grand Design RV’s. Both of my brothers own Grand Design RV’s. We agree that our experiences have been very good as well.
My experience has been amazing too. Show them respect, be civilized have a conversation and they will bend over backwards to help.
Funny how that works.
Thank you for the update
Iam happy that you and paving new paths finely talked and maybe you should talk him into a interview with him
I'll ask him if I can share the information we discussed on our call.
Grand Design could learn a huge lesson from the makers of Lagoon 450 catamarans. Once a famous RUclips influencer channel, Parlay Revival, shared their issues with bulkhead flex and damage, other owners of that brand discovered they also had the same defect. It took a while for the company to acknowledge the issue and then respond to not only owners with the issue on fixing it, but then to all owners on a modification to prevent the issue. I'd suggest Grand Design study the Lagoon Catamaran 450 bulkhead issue, timeline of what Lagoon did or didn't do when, and learn from it...
Thank you, J.D.
Great job covering this issue. Thanks. We just bought a Brinkley Z3100. Knowledge is power.
Did you know Brinkley is owned by the same crew that started Grand Design? Makes me REALLY question Brinkley as a brand. Just my opinion. Oh and have an independent RV tech check out the plumbing to ensure water lines are properly plumbed. Brinkley has been known to have poor plumbing...maybe they have fixed that issue but last tech that looked at a Brinkley, the issue was still present. Good Luck!
Mark, thank you for offering what I assume you meant as good advice. I must have misunderstood it as negative comments. What problem free 5th wheel would you buy new?
Thank you very much for your work
Thank you, JD for all your work on these issues!! Even flying to visit the manufacturing sites...going into "the belly of the beast...awesome effort on your part!!
Thank you for all of your work on this. Your efforts to gather all of this information are wonderful!
So, let me understand this, if you install helper bags to keep your truck from sagging under the load of the trailer , they are saying that fights the trailer in a negative way even though they designed to pulled level 🤔
Good on you JD. Your integrity and willingness to go above and beyond to help resolve a possible large issue is commendable.
JD, thank you for all of your recent videos tackling this very serious issue in the RV industry. I dont think any other channel has gone as deep as you into this subject. From what I've learned from you and other channels, this issue is not just a GDRV issue. I have seen videos of DRVs suffering not only frame flex but frame failure as well. The common denominator in them all is they all had Lippert frames. For reasons unknown to me and well above my pay-grade, there are more videos and shorts of Grand Designs having these issues than any other brand by far. Later today, Im heading to a local RV show. Grand Designs used to be on our short list of rigs to consider. After all this, regrettably they are no longer on that list. I have a feeling I am not the only one either... I hope their response is true to what they say and they make it right to all the RVrs already affected by frame flex and frame failure! Again, thank you for this video and all your videos! Love your channel!
The issue with DRV is to a much lower degree, but DRV responded much quicker. The DRV frame is significantly overbuilt (as many would say) the big difference is that it's asked to carry MUCH more weight. Most DRVs weight as much empty as a Momentum weighs fully loaded.
Ok yall listen to this.
I bought a new 2010 cyclone 3950. After 7 years , the frame broke where it rolls down from the 5th wheel to belly.
I contacted heartland, and after a few months fighting with them. I told them I would let my attorney handle it. Then they got real serious. I ended up taking it back to factory, and lipert came and tore it apart to repair frame. For free. Gave me a lifetime warranty as long as I owned it. Still have it.
I like the way you are approaching this, trying to keep an unbiased, even keel. Some folks expect you to be aggressive. and throw out abrasive assumptions, which would get you nowhere and cause you to lose your relationship with both companies involved with these problematic RV's.
Good job JD. I’m one of those that felt you were protecting the manufacturers. Thanks for proving me wrong. Hope they do the right thing
Thanks my friend. I am putting quite a bit of behind the scenes effort in to improve the industry
@Adrian-mf2pi - I never thought JD was protecting the manufacturers or Lippert in any of this. If you have been following his channel for a while, you will learn JD gives you the facts/specs (on everything he reviews) in a truthful and informative way. I think he has done a marvelous job in getting to the bottom of this debacle and doing the RV industry a huge service to deep dive into this issue they otherwise may have continued to sidestep.
Thank you for the updates! It is so appreciated!
They were very slow to respond to the problem.
They only responded because their back is up against the wall! I’m pretty confident that if the lipert video had never been posted they would have said absolutely nothing
Best videos on frame flex I’ve see and the manufacturer tour and discussions knocked it out of the park. Hope Grand Design steps up to the plate and takes care of these people including Kevin from Paving new paths.
I think you've done a great job with this whole topic. Getting a response from Grand Design is amazing. That would be the first time they publicly acknowledged that frame flex was actually an issue.
Lippert was so transparent I'm sure that your videos with them pushed Grand Designer into doing the right thing.
Your channel has always been a great source of information and I truly appreciate it. What's even more important is that your channel has always been a public service to the RV community and now more than ever. I believe your channel influenced this change and that's a great thing.
I do hope they fix Kevin's fifth wheel because those folks are good people and they deserve better than this. Honestly I want to see them back on the road anyway because I'm getting tired of the farm videos LOL.
Well done again JD
When loads exceed strength, parts fail. The RV industry needs better design standards, stronger regulation and an attitude adjustment.
My only question is did they reach out to you to do the visit or did you reach out to the company?
I've reached out to them, but never heard a response. This response came after my interview and the videos were published with Lippert
Thank you for vid and info, great chnl content Sir
@@BigTruckBigRVJD, so Grand Design published this on their web site but not directly to you? As always GREAT job!
@@ptcclatlptcclatl1683correct
@@BigTruckBigRV , thanks for clearing that up for me. I think with everyone pushing from all sideds this will finally be addressed.
JD,
Me and my husband watch your videos on RUclips regularly. We have found them very informative and helpful to us and our RV. But your last few videos with Lippert and your relationship with Etrailer makes us very nervous about what information you are sharing. We feel that GD needs to step up and get affected customers fixed and recall all of their products that have not yet been sold to customers……. 😊
I don't disagree at all. Not sure how etrailer factors into this though. They are an extremely ethical company.
So why is this Frame Flex only an issue on Grand Design Solitude and Momentum trailers. I have a Reflection Series 150 and don’t have the issue. Keystone, Jayco and Forest River do not have any reports or do they? I can’t find any complaints. This sounds like a design issue on those trailers.
I watch your shows and you put a lot of information out there for everyone the wife and I are looking to get a camper when we retire or just before we retire and start travelling thank you for the information
really great series. some of the best work you have done.
Lag bolts will do nothing for a under engineered pin box frame. Don’t let them fool you. A hodge podge patch job will not fix the problem. The only fix is to reengineer the entire front end.
Yeah! Because the 1,000,000 plus units not having any issues are just poorly designed!
So you're saying GD has built over 1,000,000 Momentums and Solitudes.
JD first let me say, You're honesty and hard work is appreciated. Thank you for covering the sensitive RV topic known as frame flex. . Be well
Symptoms for Frame Failure
Note: Measurements alone do not verify whether you have frame failure or not. Do not let a dealership or Grand Design try to tell you any different.
- Sawdust on/in furniture in nose of RV
- Furniture rubbing wall or moving up and down or forward and back
- Broken furniture in nose of RV
- Lag bolts unscrewing and/or loose in upper deck
- Missing lag bolts
- Bent lag bolts
- Popping, grinding, or creaking of walls when lowering and raising trailer on/off truck
- Trim pieces on front exterior moving when hitched vs. unhitched
- 5th Wheel pinbox "sinking up" into RV when lowering onto truck
- Roof membrane separating at front cap
- Nose cap separating from roof membrane
- Stress fractures in fiberglass on cap of RV
- Pinch molding coming loose from underside of 5th wheel skin or filon
- Screws backing out and/or breaking on slide in upper deck
- Broken/stuck/creaking slides
- Filon coming loose
- Squeaky floors
- Visible cracks to Lippert main frame
- Exterior cargo or entry doors come open while traveling
For better and truthful information where you will not be harassed, badgered, censored, or banned like many of the Grand Design affiliated Facebook sites, go to @GrandDesignRVMajorIssues on Facebook. Can also contact GDRVMajorIssues@gmail.com
By the way, we are seeing Reflections being affected as well as GD travel trailers (cracks in I-Beams). Funny how that happens when you bring Grand Design RV owners to one location and discover just how m,any of the rigs are actually affected with frame issues, as well as other major issues. This industry will never change until it is federally regulated.
Now, hopefully, they will also change the way they do the plumbing.
Love the channel and some these interviews of late absolutely knocking it out of the park but this is going to be a deflect( case numbers are low) and let’s all share the blame together its not just us the manufacturer… end of day they need to be built better no doubt about it would love to see these chassis regulated to a more extent than is current practice across the board
I’m so glad I came across these videos. I would never buy that junk. I feel so bad for Grand Designs owners.
my lag bolts were backing out after 7,500 miles of towing....that's where this crap begins. I have a 2023 410THR that will likely be a problem to sell, because of all these "frame flex" videos. I also had the ubolt recall on the same unit. Window with condensation in it. All these videos tell me is to not spend a ton of money on an RV, because its not necessarily better.
I think this will end up being a multi-vendor issue...from the frame manufacturer to the camper company and a few in between to solve this issue. But thanks for all the information you're sharing with us.
It's been an issue since 2011. That's when I started Rv'ing and reading brand forums. It simply boils down to poor engineering between both parties. It cost money to build in safeguards so don't expect things to change.
Also the response from the manufacturers that road abuse or overload is the cause is hogwash. Bridges are built to a 3x capacity as a standard. So should fifth wheels. Within reason, you shouldn’t be able to overload or overuse a fifth wheel.
I'm sorry, maybe I didn't read that correctly. You said "you shouldn't be able to overload an RV"..........
@@BigTruckBigRV I said it shouldn’t be there excuse. These units have limited storage so unless they are putting lead weights the weight capacities are ultra conservative.
Great Job JD but I think that the correct thing for G.D. to do would be to cover the cost of parts and split the cost on the labor for Kevin from Paving New Paths. You really have shed some light on this subject I myself have a 39 ft Class A motorhome and haven't experienced anything like this probably because it's a 2012 but that's beside the point you really stepped up to help. Thank you for your support.
One reason I did not buy a grand design. Scary!
Brinkley is doing what all of the other manufacturers need to do; leading the way for the future of high quality manufacturing in the RV towable industry.
Key words for this channel! Honesty & Integrity!
Thanks JD. You did a great job providing good information about this issue. It is now up to the manufacturers to resolve this issue and regain the confidence of the RV community. We all know that there needs to be change in the RV industry as quality has gone done while prices have gone way up. I personally will not be buying new, but will buy a older unit as it just does not make sense to spend that kind of money on something that is not going to hold up and rapidly will depreciate. Again you have stayed true to your platform and I appreciate what you do. You have educated me and I will continue to look forward to your content. God Bless.
You’re doing good work on this issue JD and you’re truly moving the needle in the right direction. Keep fighting the fight to inform customers and make RVs better.
To the extent you can I would continue to press the parties involved on what they are going to do to prevent this problem in the future.
Thanks! That is the goal...the ultimate goal
Thanks JD!
Thank you for keeping on top of these issues!
And all of your RV and towing related content.
Your information really helped me to make an informed decision on the right tow vehicle for the RV we wanted to buy.
I stumbled across your channel very early on and I can't imagine not having this information available for my research, its been invaluable.
I probably would have bought a 1/2 Ton Truck to tow our 10,000 GVWR Rockwood Travel Trailer because its "1/2 Ton towable".
Thanks!
Very positive
Gotta say,on tractor trailers you are correct.the sidewalls are structural.rv sidewalls are not.if a big truck trailer was designed like rv's they would not make it out of the parking lot empty.
Yes and no. Yes RV sidewalls are indeed structural BUT not to the extend of Dry Van trailers. The frames on RVs are able to carry far more of the weight without the need of the walls to assist as much. They are more designed to stiffen up the entire box.
Can we attack plumbing after frame flex?
I agree.
I will agree with that too. GD does need some plumbing correction.
Good Job!!!!
I'm here to read the comments.
Comments can be more informative (also funny) than the video content.
Thanks JD for everything you are trying to do!!!
JD, if they take care of Kevin and the broken frames they may still make it!
Here we go, get ready for some softball questions and legal department answers.
What other option does he have? getting booted off there property? just getting a "no comment dont come back" response?
Same end result.
Honestly though he just read the response from GDs website so we aren't even going to get softball questions answered.
Yep, at least I was able to get some answers directly from the frame company.
You have done an excellent explanation. Here is another viewpoint. It seems 3 things can cause this problem.
Engineering, manufacturing, and/or user abuse in any form or fashion.
I don't think the RV user has changed dramatically over the years. I'm pretty sure they travelled many miles, went boondocking anywhere and everywhere, and even overloaded their rigs in years past. Yet this problem has only surfaced in greater numbers recently.
In my opinion, wouldn't that remove pointing the finger at the "user"? Since I'm pretty sure the average user hasn't changed how they use their rigs.
Too Big - Too Complex ? Industry Wide Problem ! At least G/D is addressing it head on 🤔
Thank you! You have done a fantastic job on this issue. Thanks for all you do.
Semitruck trailers don't typically have a raised section for the kingpin and don't have a FRAME as does an RV. The semi trailer is of monocoque construction like an airplane. the skin of the trailer carries the load. If it's compromised, i.e. torn open, the structure can no longer support the weight. RV walls aren't load bearing in this instance and rely on the frame to carry ALL the loads. Most RVs are a box on a frame and depend on that frame for support. An RV built with a semi trailer design couldn't support slide outs, depending on the skin to support the weight and not flex. It would have to be built on a "no shit " flat-bed frame that can handle the weight.
I’m betting people would love to see you collaborate with Brinkley RV! I would surely like to see long term review using one of their rigs, kind of like you did a few years ago now before you got the custom Brookstone.
these aren't built no where near as tuff as farm trailers or big truck trailers
Great job on this series of videos. Very informative and helpful. New RVers need more education on do’s and don’ts before they purchase and use an RV. Firsthand experience buying an RV from new RVers. They had no idea what they were doing. When you don’t know what you’re doing, and you have a home on wheels, you will do things to compromise the RV. Hopefully this will improve the Rv industry and the way claims are dealt with.
Thank you for the video. You need to watch “my Bucket List Day” video on his momentum fix by Grand design. I am now convinced this is a frame failure. It very well may be a combined design failure but I believe it starts at the pin box. And no matter what you put in your rig , if your pin box has any sub quality welds in or around that pin box, you will have frame failure.
Got a momentum 381 with a 3/4 inch gap on drivers side of front cap trim that runs down the side filled it with silicone screws holding molding are not loose I added stainless steel screw to tight it together did not help at all waiting for appointment with lazy days for inspection
And thank you very much for everything your doing expanding above the frames because i knew all about the frame fex because i was a over the road truck driver pulling a flatbed trailer and if you really look at them there not straight
Well done on your half! Now for those whose don’t have issues with overloading, water issues or wrong pin boxes let’s just see how well things get fixed. But still I’ve lost total faith in both of those companies. Nor would I recommend buying anything that either one manufacturers and distributes, appliances, steps, hand rails and all the likes of that. If I do not see improvements on social media from customers with said grand design units they’ve specified I will be paying for a full fledged article in Chicago newspapers with all the evidence that has been put forth. Then we will see what happens. It’s called first amendment rights and freedom of press.
I’m curious as to what years this issue has been more prevalent and were all the responses as general?
Since Grand Design doesn’t believe in upgraded components this is no surprise or shock. I have heard this at two different rallies..The smoke and mirrors with customer support is a joke there. The best day in owning our Solitude is when we got rid of it.
Great Job As Always JD!
I think over the years I've spent about 23 hours staring at your RV's while you talk. 😂
Better than staring at my ugly face.
@@BigTruckBigRV Haha no! Regardless of what we look at during the videos, your content and commitment to the RV lifestyle is second to none and invaluable to us. THAT is what matters and why we love you and your content. 🙏🏼
Thank you!
The major problem in this whole deal is that when someone sets their mind about what's happening and you present facts that dispute the ideas they have convinced themselves are true, then you are a shell for the industry a shell for the manufacturer because people want to believe what they want to believe and will not listen to facts. It's like I am a retired teacher I taught for 36 years parents cannot be objective about their children, same thing here when people decide what is going on they cannot be convinced otherwise
Better informed decision...stay away from any Grand Design 5th wheel.
Is 2018 379fls grand design have the flex issue? I want to buy one
Thank for all the information that you have been able to give.
A view from the UK. I refer to their response you read regarding frame flex at 1.30mins onwards. They are being disingenuous with you at best. 1, to refer a trailer to a bridge is laughable, the dynamics are not compatible at all. How many structural bridge engineers work at Grand Design Trailers?. 2, "it's designed to flex". No, nobody in their right mind designs 'Flex' INTO anything. Flex is a consequence of design. 3, Repeated flex is the genesis of fatigue which is the road to failure. Flex is what you DON'T want. I refer you to the trucking industry. When making a trailer fit to carry great loads, guess what the primary concern is to the designer. Yup, you got it, the prevention of flexing. The excuse i have heard is the caravan manufacturers want to save weight is purely an excuse. Why can a tractor/trailer haul 40tons with 500hp, yet a caravan struggles to carry no more than a 8tons and fail. You RV'ers are being taken for a ride. (Excuse the pun). If you ever stop at a truck stop and see an empty flat bed, go and have a look at the size of the chassis steels which make up the spine of it. Remember, these bad boys CANNOT fail and need to be capable of hundreds of thousands of miles. This is a better analogy. What i would have done is try to organise a group of concerned RV'ers and crowd fund professional engineers to do the math on the chassis themselves and do proper laboratory stress and strain tests. Here in the UK there are university mechanical engineering labs that would love to do it. From what is see and read it seems that the chassis always fail in the same place and that is at the 90degree bend under the upper deck which holds the hitch - ALL OF THEM - then you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out why. Why is this such a problem to solve?
Hello,
Well, I agree and disagree with many of your comments. Flex is a natural result, and at span increases flex. Also, the tpe of trailer tou need to compare to is a Dry Van not a flat bed
I am shocked that a class action law suit hasn't been filed against Grand Design, Lippert and the dealerships that are selling these dangerous RV's. Some lawyer would love to take on this case
The manufacturers, suppliers, dealers and regulators are all in cahoots, and they are all barely scraping by. If the auto industry behaved this way, we would all be driving chevy corvairs with asbestos brake liners on leaded gasoline.
Going through this now with GD and I will say, so far, they have been fairly receptive and easy to deal with. I’m hoping they stay that way!
We have 1.5” of frame flex/failure up front, in our 2021 Solitude 382.
I'd love to know the outcome. Keep us informed please
@@BigTruckBigRV will do!
I will have to check mine .
Thanks, JD, for your good job
It should be a lifetime warranty, when you have inexperienced people building your rv. What do you think is going to happen.
Looking at your pin box I am waiting for lipperts new pin box looks like what I have been waiting for.
Did Grand Design really list every possible excuse to not take care of their customers? They even went as far as to blame the tow vehicle. Trailer frames and their bodies need to be designed to work in conjunction with the tow vehicles being used. I've suspected as such from the beginning, with Lippert practically validating it, and Grand Design basically saying it, these frames are built to the lowest quality spec possible to minimize cost and maximize profit. This is where I've been most critical of BTBR in its involvement with this matter. The tough questions aren't being asked. No answers to questions are still answers in the business world. When it comes to luxury items, such as RV's, the phrase when working with suppliers should never be "sharpen your pencils." Lippert's accountability is vested in capturing as much dollar as possible and never telling Grand Design, "the frames won't hold up because the gauge of metal is too thin," or "there needs to be more/better welding." The frame won't flex as much if it has more thickness, even marginally. Furthermore, the excuse about commercial semi truck trailers fails to take into consideration that the floor surface is curved/bowed upward like a bridge's trusses. 5th wheels with bowed floors are looked at as defective products, and therefore must present themselves as flat. Bridges and semi trailers carry much more weight than 5th wheel RVs. There are so many other points I could bring up that demonstrate what a BS response this was, but I'd probably end up writing a novel. I'll let the lawyers handle this. I smell a class action being filed soon. Government regulation is coming down the pipeline. If it isn't coming from DC it'll be coming at the state level. Just look at what California has been doing. Both Lippert and Grand Design are blaming excessive movement. It has wheels. It is expected to move. Build it so it can handle being moved. That's what it's suppose to do.