Broken Spring Hanger

[jimmoore13]

My Jay Feather X-213 has a broken spring hanger.
May be under warranty, but the rig can't travel. I've located a portable welder to come and fix it and reinforce all the hangars.

Any tips or experience with this kind of repair? I have time to get info for the welder about the best options. He is experienced with these repairs, but if you have suggestions, I'm all ears.

I'll contact the dealer tomorrow and try to get "pre-approved" for the fix under warranty, but I need to fix it one way or the other.

Thanks,

[mokurt]

Can you post a pic?

There are upgrade kits available like the Dexter E-Z Flex.

[Marcm157]

Here is a thread about the same problem - Lots of good info...

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ger-64237.html

[Jagiven]

Depending on the issue, he may weld in the old hanger or install new. I would make sure he adds a gusset plate, to reinforce things. On a 2020, I suspect it was poor workmanship by the frame manufacture.

Take pictures and contact your local dealer. I reality if I was going to have the work done myself, I would be contacting Jayco directly to get a pre approval. Jayco does not like to pay for repairs after the fact. Make sure to you have your vin number.

[jimmoore13]

I'm in touch with Jayco. Sent photos. Told them the rig is not mobile and must be fixed in place. The dealer is 45 miles away, so I can't imagine they'd save money by sending their own welder. I'll keep you posted on how this goes with the warranty dept.

Thanks for the link to the other forum. Will check it out.

Planning on having the welder reinforce all hangars.

It's the rear hangar on the driver's side. Surprising because it's last to take the hit from a road shock. My rig rides level, so there's not an abnormal load on the rear axle. Considering that the steel in the hanger actually broke...not the welds...I'm thinking that the factory welds penetrated too deeply and weakened the 1/4" steel plate used to form the hangar.

I won't be surprised if the welder grinds off the remaining mess and makes a new hanger out of 1/4" mild steel plate.

P.S. you'll see a bit of conduit up on the wheel well. I ran #8 wire from the batteries back to the bed area, and I installed a small inverter to run our electric blanket for about 15 or 20 minutes to take the chill off the bed. I have 2 x 6-volt golf cart batteries and 400 watts of solar, so the 10 or 15 AH this consumes is a trivial amount of the usable 115 AH in the battery bank. The conduit keeps the wire out of harm's way. The rest of the run is through grommeted holes in the outriggers on the frame, but I didn't wan't to take a chance of the wire getting tangled in the turning tires if they picked up a stick or something.

Photos included.

[Jagiven]

My rear wheels really scrub hard, as I back into my driveway. Good chance it is from side loading from sharp turns.

I am no welding expert, does not look to be the best welds that broke.

[Colorado]

I had a Forest River Wildcat, the welds were atrocious!!!! I wonder if the welder would have done a better job if they put his name, picture and contact information on a card that followed the camper?! I spent 3 days cleaning and rewelding every one I could get too. I re-enforced the welds on my current rig.

[Bullitt6283]

I've seen other posts with spring hanger failure like this. IMO it's just a bad design. The hanger metal is too thin, and it's welded to the frame where the hanger is bent, forming a hinge point in the weakened metal.


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[jimmoore13]

I've contacted Jayco and Norco (makers of the BAL frame). They have all the info plus my request for rapid turnaround. I have a welder scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. If I cancel my planned trip this weekend, the cost will be about the same as waiting for warranty approval.

We shall see.

[mokurt]

I was thinking it was the shackle.

[curver900]

How can this not be a recall item... yikes.. if that was on a car/truck etc.. they would all be recalled and told not to drive them till they had been inspected... I guess I would put a note into the NHTSA... When the brakes on my 14 truck quit working I had GM fix it and then reported it... I had to pay but after the recall (because enough good folks turned it in) I got my money back. Yours is a bit different but there should be a recall what if that failed at 70mph on the freeway?



https://www.nhtsa.gov/

[Bullitt6283]

Yes, definitely this needs to be reported to the NHTSA.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/


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[jimmoore13]

Ryan, the Norco BAL rep for the frames called me this morning and stood behind the product. They will pay to replace BOTH rear-most spring hangers.

He gave me a full rundown on any issues the welder should be aware of, approved my suggestion for gusseting, said they would pay the welder, and most importantly said he would bring this up with their engineering dept.

So far so good.

Thanks to all for suggestions on gusseting. I'll run these by my welder, and then let him choose an option that makes the most sense.
My inclination is that, since the "saddles" holding the hangers are offset slightly to direct vertical thrust directly up through the frame's vertical "web", I suggested a gusset from about halfway down the "inside" of the spring hanger to the folded corner of the inside of the main frame member. The frame is a kind of Z-folded channel, and this reinforcement is to the "unsupported" side of the channel, but he felt that would add substantial rigidity in both directions.

HE WARNED NOT TO WELD ACROSS THE BOTTOM OF THE ACTUAL MAIN FRAME MEMBER, BECAUSE THAT WELD COULD WEAKEN THE FRAME AT THAT POINT. Good advice. And that explains the "saddles" to mount the hanger bracket.

Fingers crossed that the repair goes as well as the conversation with Ryan.