Left for Florida last week Friday. At 1st. fuel stop, as I was fueling I looked at the left front corner of the trailer. I saw a long 1/4 wide stretch of silicon sealant along the molding that is between the bottom of the goose neck and the side wall, Upon closed inspection I also noticed the paint was cracking and separating along the vertical molding below the slide. After stopping for the night and unhooking I checked again and everything closed up. Next morning after hooking up everything looked like the day before, stretched open.
Where do I take it? My warranty ends on May 11th. We have less than 10,000 miles on the trailer. I have been trying to get in touch with Tiffen have gotten nowhere. No one seems to want to return a phone call. Does anyone have a contact at Tiffin that I can contact to get the repair started.
When you call Red Bay. there is now phone listing for warranty claims. I started with service as far as who talk to and it lead me know where. Finally got a hold of the operator who again sent me to service. Service gave the name and extension of a RIcky Scott. He ended up giving me the name and number for Brett Oliver, who does the scheduling. Ended up leaving a name and number for a return call.
When talking to service, they said to bring it in, we could just sit around and wait for service, or we could leave it, return home, and return when complete. That would require a 2000 mile round trip each time or about 4,000 miles. They said a lot of people leave the trailer and then return.
Anyway, anyone have a contact at Red Bay that I can contact? Or do I take it to Tishomingo for the repair.
Bob sorry to hear that you are going through this but good that it was caught before your warranty was up and there are good solid repairs for it. Sounds like you have a good contact at Redbay now with Brett Oliver. Brett managed the cabinet shop at the Vanleigh plant and prior to the plant shutting down was the Director of Warranty and Service. I have worked with Brett many times in the past few years - he is a good guy and will get you taken care of. You can also shoot Brett an email at brett.oliver@tiffinmotorhomes.com
The good news is that Tiffin has a good grasp on the flex issues. On our first issue with flex they weren’t sure how to correct it and unfortunately the repair didn’t last but a few hundred miles. Tish and Tiffin are now using very similar repairs and both have been holding strong.
Since you are in warranty you could likely choose if you preferred Tish over Redbay. That drive to the area is just over 2000 miles one way for me as well and I have preferred to stay with the unit each time. If you go to Redbay you could be in the queue for a bit and TIsh might not have any immediate openings. I know several owners in the past few months that had Tish make their repair because they have used Tish and comfortable with them.
Good luck and let us know how it works out. I am confident Brett will take care of you.
Thanks RyanB
I did send a request yesterday through the “contact us” on the Tiffin web site. I did receive a reply from Marion this morning with a case number and a request for pictures. In her e-mail, she said might be frame flex or having something to do with the wall.Not sure what that would mean. From what I could see with the silicon stretching, it got wider as it got closer to the seam just below the slide.
One thing that bothered me with talking with a tech in service, he said that instead opening up the complete wall around that area, they would just open the outside wall, move it back, and make the repair. If they have to do any welding, they will not be getting a complete weld that is needed.
Really didn’t need this right now but then again it’s better that it happened now. Had our trip planned out that I could get home and get started on my spring work started before Memorial Day. Sitting in a queue is really going to mess things up.
Maybe going to have to see who can get it completed the quickest.
I am hoping that they don’t give me any trouble getting this done under warranty.
What symptoms did you see when you first noticed the frame flex?
Here a a couple of pictures of what I see when I am hooked up. You can see that there is movement going on.
I could tell just by your description in your first post that you have the issue. It is pretty classic with the separation on hookup, separation at the expansion joint and it all closes up when off the truck. As it worsens it will impact your schwintek slides making them difficult to move in and out. I get pretty long winded when it comes to flex so get ready to read… sorry.
There were model years in Vanleigh that would start to get separation in the trim similar to your picture and was caused by the screws backing out of the aluminum frame or the lag bolts that hold the wall to the frame having nothing to bite into. Vanleigh started adding wood to the frame in late 2020 and that seemed to correct those issues. I tracked what is referred to as flex issues on Vanleigh for just over 2 years, although there were random issues of it in 19, increased a bit in 20 most of the flex symptoms occurred in 21 models forward. Flex is common in 5th wheels however this issue with internal wall structure failing due to flex broke out across brands. Grand Design had a different flavor of it involving the steel frame.
All of the repair centers do have a bit different approach to the solution. There are a few (including TIsh) that remove the whole outside piece of glass rather than pulling back as Tiffin described. Removing the glass really does not get them any more access for a better weld but opens up the option for gussets on the top of the vertical frame. Affinity RV in Indiana are known as the flex experts and most our using a similar or slightly altered version of their correction now. Tish adapted to it in March of last year using gussets both on top of the vertical support and the bottom and in addition adding a large plate to the bottom to secure it all up. This is a picture of a the first Tish repair using the plate in April of 2024:
Tiffin adapted to the Tish repair in late April 2024 doing a similar approach however without the gussets up top and is why they only pull back the glass. The largest issues with pulling back the glass is it can crack the gelcoat. They typically hold it open with a 2x4 or wedge. Correcting this involves small patches in the fiberglass and repainting that area. Tiffin has pretty much perfected pulling back the glass without causing that issue.
I would not hesitate having Tiffin correct it and they will not give you any issue in the process. They have been excellent in helping folks correct the flex even outside of warranty and now since it has become so common they have a good grasp on the repair. Tiffin has helped folks as of recent with 2019 units that had the original issue with no wood in the channel. That involves removing the cap and stuffing the channels with wood and then using longer screws. I am aware of a second owner with a 19 unit that Tiffin offered to repair in Redbay at no charge.
Going with who can get it done quicker may be the right choice. This video describes what is commonly referred to flex on the Vanleighs and the repair completed at Affinity RV.
Have you noticed that “Mid Life Detour” is gone. Looks like on the road life didn’t agree with them. I know that they had just got a new grand baby. All of their Youtube videos and all their social media links are gone.
Bob actually I am Ryan from Midlife Detour. We had pretty significant health issues inlcuding a cancer diagnosis and a growth the size of a lime in a brain area. We thought we were continuing our travel and our content a few months ago but unfortunately we are still working through issues. Surgery next week and hopefully we will be on the other side of this. Sounds like you were a subscriber of ours, Thanks for being a part of our channel!
It is very good to here from you. My wife and I are very sorry to here of the medical issues you have encountered in the past few years. We hope all works out for the best for you and your wife. My wife and I will say prayers for you.
Yes, we were subscribers of your channel. We always enjoyed your videos and adventures, especially seeing the Sammi’s sitting so stoically in the back seat as you traveled. M wife wants to know how are the dogs doing.
If all goes well and you do get back on the road,maybe we all can get together and have our own mini Vanleigh rally.
I have to apologize about mentioning your content being down. For some reason we couldn’t find you on Youtube and a search turned up nothing. My wife just did a search, your content was there, and found that we were unsubscribed
Thank you for the prayers gents - It is greatly appreciated.
Bob -
We did kind of fall off the radar quickly so I do understand how you ended up unsubscribed. We made a quick shift on our focus and the content unfortunately fell down the priority list.
Let your wife know our sammies (Hana and Isley) are doing fantastic! Those pups are the best and I currently have one sleeping on my foot as I type this.
Hopefully you heard from Tiffin today and you can get your flex issues corrected quickly. Keep us updated on how that goes.
Best of luck with the surgery… dealing with cancer is no fun, sounds like you have a good team which is the key… hopefully we’ll catch up after your surgery and recovery. All the best Jon
Got a call Brett Oliver on Friday afternoon. He had seen the pictures that I submitted believes it is not frame flex but wall movement. Said that I should schedule an appointment and bring it in. Sounds like it will be the typical repair as has been said, grinding the welds and re-welding, then adding gussets, a plate to the effected area, and repainting if necessary. The on thing that I am not crazy about is the grinding of aluminum welds. Part of the saving grace of an aluminum weld is from the additional weld bead material. Another thing is not flattening or polishing the grinder marks as can be see either pictures or the video that Ryan has previously posted. This will keep stress risers in play
Well now I need to schedule the appointment, via the website. Sounds like the repair shop is scheduling into June. Will have to check their dates vs our scheduled appointment in the middle of the month and still be home by the 4th of July, Sounds like they want you there several days prior to your date just in case they can start early. Sounds like this could be a 2-3 week trip in the end
I do know that the frame does flex front to back, but at what point does it stop. Found this out one day from a bathroom break, climbed in and found the bedroom door open, tried to close but it wouldn’t latch, Figured the wall may have shifted a little and the strike plate would need to be modified for the door to latch again. Later that day, once off the truck and leveled, the door closed as it should. This kind tells you that a little more re-enforcement might have been necessary around the goose neck area, on Lipperts end, as the jacks take the flex out once on the ground and leveled.
Thanks for the update! Calling it wall movement vs frame flex is an interesting response but sounds like the same symptoms with the same correction. I have never been a fan of the term “frame flex” as it can be many things with many symptoms all due to the flex of the frame. The industry labeled the welds breaking in the wall “frame flex” due to the flex of the frame causing the welds to break on the aluminum frame. Lippert will say that they allow a tolerance of flex and is up to the manufacturer to “firm up the house” with their aluminum structure.
Most often when this issue occurs (including my own) the angle iron on the side of the steel frame that supports the wall breaks. This is the support for the walls and with that broke the lags through the walls into the steel frame often sheer off. This would explain “wall movement” and possibly your door needing adjustment as the exterior wall is shifting.
When they make the correction nowadays they are welding on the sides and front of the vertical support tubes and then grind down the front to smooth it out to accept the large aluminum brace. Their brace is a large plate that has holes in it for tack points and covers the entire impacted area. If you scroll up at my response showing the side without glass on it you can see the plate with the holes I describe.
I understand and agree with what you are saying in that grinding down the welds removes some of the strength of the weld however with the addition of new weld points, gussets (if Tiffin is doing that), and large plate over the area - that has been extremely successful as a repair. It also all needs to be as flat as possible else it would print on the outer fiberglass or cause the trim pieces not to be flush. This is why when Danny designed the plate he left the holes like swiss cheese in it.
If the timeline at Tiffin doesn’t work you could still attempt to get into Tish. I can’t recall if you have been a customer of Tish prior but being a smaller shop the turn around time is quick. You would have to check with TIsh on their availably and then with Tiffin to make sure they will approve the repair there.
I had soooo much more to say here but tried to limit my response to a page in a book rather than a chapter.
Ryan, Was the damage to your trailer confined to the curb side or both sides or is the picture above a mirror image as it looks to be the curb side of the trailer.
My issue was all confined to the street side which (as with your unit) has the slide for the bedroom. The picture I posted was of a 377FL that was at Tish and was the first to get the new repair. It has slides on both sides in the front which of course increases the chance of those broken internals.
I kept an eye on my lag bolts on the street side to make sure they were not problematic. You can see most of those by pulling out your bottom drawers of the dressers. This exposes the upper deck of the frame and the lag bolts. I never had any issues there but I am aware of multiple owners that have had sheered lags on the curbside with absence of the slide.
Currently in the stand by queue, number 145. Looks like we will be in Red Bay around the middle of June. Only problem is that we have appointments June 17-18th.
