New TT Sagging - broken spring hanger

Dave.H · 05-05-2018, 02:36 PM

This more of a PSA...

We bought our 2018 Whitehawk about 3-4 weeks ago. Ever since the start I noticed the passenger side sat a bit lower. Not too noticeable sitting there, but really noticeable in the mirror when driving. I finally decided to take some measurements to see how far it sags and see what I might be able to do about it.

It was down al most 1.5" on the passenger side. Upon inspection I found that the rear most spring hanger was failing.

Dropped it off for service as soon as I noticed this. It is what it is and it will get fixed so I am not too worried about it, but just wanted to put this out there in case anyone is searching for reasons their TT is sagging to one side or the other.

Jagiven · 05-05-2018, 04:47 PM

That's not good. But glad you found it before a complete failure.

mohok1 · 05-05-2018, 06:09 PM

Long story, short. Mine (right rear) broke completely off, tires rubbing together.
Was at the last stop light on NAS Jax Nav Base. Was able to pull into the PX Parking lot. A on base Construction Contractor saw our plight. Next thing I knew a 10 ton Forklift and a portable welding truck showed up and three guys made the repair in 10 minutes. Didn't charge me a dime. This was a few years ago and the weld is still holding, however, I take it to a truck rebuild shop for an alignment. All is well that ends well!!!

Scott_Trailer_Newbe · 05-05-2018, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave.H

This more of a PSA...

We bought our 2018 Whitehawk about 3-4 weeks ago. Ever since the start I noticed the passenger side sat a bit lower. Not too noticeable sitting there, but really noticeable in the mirror when driving. I finally decided to take some measurements to see how far it sags and see what I might be able to do about it.

It was down al most 1.5" on the passenger side. Upon inspection I found that the rear most spring hanger was failing.

Dropped it off for service as soon as I noticed this. It is what it is and it will get fixed so I am not too worried about it, but just wanted to put this out there in case anyone is searching for reasons their TT is sagging to one side or the other.

How many trips did you take before this happened? How rough were the roads? Asking because my 28RL has the exact same set up.

Thanks

Dave.H · 05-06-2018, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jagiven

That's not good. But glad you found it before a complete failure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mohok1

Long story, short. Mine (right rear) broke completely off, tires rubbing together.
Was at the last stop light on NAS Jax Nav Base. Was able to pull into the PX Parking lot. A on base Construction Contractor saw our plight. Next thing I knew a 10 ton Forklift and a portable welding truck showed up and three guys made the repair in 10 minutes. Didn't charge me a dime. This was a few years ago and the weld is still holding, however, I take it to a truck rebuild shop for an alignment. All is well that ends well!!!

I debated for a brief moment just fixing it myself and reinforcing it. But, we aren't going anywhere for 2-3 weeks and it has a warranty. If we were on the road or in a hurry it would have been a different story.

Sounds like yours worked out as well as it could possibly have worked out!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Trailer_Newbe

How many trips did you take before this happened? How rough were the roads? Asking because my 28RL has the exact same set up.

Thanks

I have maybe 800 miles on it. Two trips. But like I said, I saw it sagging from day one. I just had it home this weekend and when I was taking it back to storage I noticed it seemed like it was sitting lower than before on the pass side.

You can tell from the pics there are some rust spots showing that there was a crack in the forward weld probably since the trailer was built. The shiny is the new tears.

I cannot imagine mine is the only trailer with this issue but I also have to believe it's probably a 1 out of 1000 kind of issue. I don't think it's a great design but there are also many thousands of these out out on the road, working just fine.

Dave.H · 05-25-2018, 06:54 AM

BAL and Camping world got it all worked out. I still think it's a sub par design. There is a lot of leverage on that setup. But we will see how the new hanger holds up.

Might fab up some braces just in case.

CampNow · 05-25-2018, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave.H

BAL and Camping world got it all worked out. I still think it's a sub par design. There is a lot of leverage on that setup. But we will see how the new hanger holds up.

Might fab up some braces just in case.

Glad CW and Jayco stepped up and took care of you. Agree, may not be the ideal fix, but definitely much better than it was.

I see a local trailer fabricator reinforcing TT hangers all the time with something similar to what's in this pic:

Dave.H · 05-25-2018, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CampNow

Glad CW and Jayco stepped up and took care of you. Agree, may not be the ideal fix, but definitely much better than it was.

I see a local trailer fabricator reinforcing TT hangers all the time with something similar to what's in this pic:

That's quick and simple. I can see a few other ways to do it. I am going to pick up some square tube on the way home for the trailer hitch I am welding on this weekend. Maybe I'll pick up more and reinforce the hangers while I have the welder out since I don't enjoy metal work to begin with. Get it all over with

skids · 05-25-2018, 02:06 PM

That looks substantial.

Dave.H · 05-29-2018, 12:31 PM

Added some reinforcement this weekend when I was welding up the hitch. Added this to the front and rear hangers. Want to add to the middle hanger too. Had to do a little different (not much) based on drain pipes and such. Also going to have some gussets cut and brace them for fore and aft movement. I like to boondock down some crappy roads. I don't want to be out west and have something break.

Bullitt6283 · 11-07-2018, 02:30 PM

A worse situation is going around corners/maneuvering and scrubbing the tires sideways....
The triple-axle units can put much more side force on these cheesy brackets in that situation.

.

skids · 11-07-2018, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CampNow

Glad CW and Jayco stepped up and took care of you. Agree, may not be the ideal fix, but definitely much better than it was.

I see a local trailer fabricator reinforcing TT hangers all the time with something similar to what's in this pic:

Much better design!

Dave.H · 01-31-2019, 05:18 PM

Update!

First photo below is the other side, same axle.

Other two photos are the hanger and bracket that were replaced. Spring hangers themselves are solid. That crap mount they use is ****.

At this point it is either going to fabricator to build it up proper, or I'm taking a 3 hour drive up to MORryde and having them install their IS system.

If I didn't have money in other modifications I'd trade the damn thing in.

ALJO · 01-31-2019, 06:25 PM

No Pride There! Just poor quality design shame on the chassis manufacturer. Just to save a few bucks and a lot of times the customer pays for the cost and looses his valuable time.

**Crabman** · 01-31-2019, 06:32 PM

Wow not a pretty sight.

Dave.H · 02-01-2019, 06:57 AM

Yeah it sucks. Not sure what I am going to do yet. We have a 4,000 mile trip in 6 weeks that is planned and paid for. That doesn't leave a lot of time for options. I'm going to reach out to Jayco first.

Scott_Trailer_Newbe · 02-01-2019, 10:34 AM

Our 2018 White Hawk has that design as well. It's been on several trips, and we have encountered many bumpy roads along the way. I have looked at this attachment point very closely and so far it looks perfect.

I wonder if turning real sharp may have caused the issue? Many White Hawks have a wide gap between the wheels for better stability on the road, but as a result, there is more pressure on the axles when making sharp turns like jackknifing into a camping site or fuel pump.

Dave.H · 02-01-2019, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Trailer_Newbe

I wonder if turning real sharp may have caused the issue? Many White Hawks have a wide gap between the wheels for better stability on the road, but as a result, there is more pressure on the axles when making sharp turns like jackknifing into a camping site or fuel pump.

Regardless if that is the issue or not, shouldn't a trailer be expected to handle sharp turns under normal operation?

I suspect an alignment issue.

Bullitt6283 · 02-01-2019, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave.H

Regardless if that is the issue or not, shouldn't a trailer be expected to handle sharp turns under normal operation?

Absolutely.

Obviously a bad design.

Can you imagine a car or truck suffering such a problem?

.

Dave.H · 02-01-2019, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bullitt6283

Can you imagine a car or truck suffering such a problem?

Yes I can. I have worked in automotive for a long time, which is why I notice things like this BEFORE it's sitting on the side of the road.

Good news is, a design like this would NEVER pass reviews in the passenger car/truck world.

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