Broken front beam on the pin box mounts, the path to repair.

[sourdo]

There is so little good intel on this issue, I decided to start this thread, to help anyone in this situation to know it can be fixed!

I have a 2009 Sierra FR 255 RL 5th wheel Rv. We bought it used two winters ago, and my wife and I live in this full time. Like any Rv, new or used, they need TLC and work. And I have repaired many deficiencies to date, and so far we have really put on the miles, and enjoyed it.

A few days ago, I noticed the frame flex when hitching up, seemed to be increasing. The next night at a BLM campground, I left the RV on the hitch. My wife as we were getting into bed, pointed out the bowed paneling near the bed.

Uh oh.

The next morning I grabbed a flashlight for a look/see inside the pin box, Uh oh... I saw cracks. On high alert, and driving 55 mph, we had 450 miles to go to our destination, our winter home for some brief Doctor visits and for to see my Mom, in summer, near the Salton Sea California. It's like being on the face of the sun. And we made it in two days safe and sound.

You can only work for a few hours in the very early crack of dawn morning, but in 4 hours in the morning, I had the front pulled apart where I could see what was going on. The front beam, cheezy cheap very thin 2x5 inch tube, was busted in half. I measured it, not even 1/8 inch.

I quickly found out this is a common problem with Lippert frames from that time. The fix? Weld it up and move on.

Now to find a welder dude was my first action. When we got to our winter RV park home, we pay for year around access, the owner came up to say high. I told him my problem. He knows of no mobile welder dudes, but he does have a Miller welding on a trailer! Since I'm a retired welder fabricator, this was like sweet music.

In the heat I've been hacking out that piece with cutting disc's(no torch wanted, fire is bad), but it's a slow go when you only have a little time each day because of the heat.

So the steps were, pull the under panel off. I had just made a new underpanel with Filon and Luan plywood, another story, last winter. I saw no cracks then, 'cest la vie.

I then removed the bedroom cabinets and such from the front end, unscrewed the bed, and slid it out of the way as I had to remove a part of the floor. Welding and wood don't mix.

Then I removed the screws holding the fiberglass nose, finding two very long screws to hold the top on, but loose. Then I pulled the nose open like a clam, exposing the damaged beam.

Now I can start to hack out the bad piece. I didn't want to use a torch. Have you ever seen one of these burn? Nuff said.

So with thin grinding discs, I'm still working on getting things cleaned up. Any welding job, it is the prep work that takes the longest.

I bought a 10 foot piece of 2x5 tube today, only $113, and a real 3/16 inch. This will not break.

Here are some pictures so far. I learn so much from pictures, I hope this can help someone else. I'll add as I get things done, shouldn't take to long, but for this infernal heat.

The first picture is what I first saw the other night. I was worried of complete failure, but in all, it held up.

The rest of the pictures is where I'm currently at. I'll post more as I finish.