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Old 11-10-2021, 02:17 AM   #1
RMcNeal
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Angry Spring Hangers in wrong place on LCI Frame from Factory

Well, after more than a year trying to get alignment and replacement of my rear axle, it turns out that the spring hangers were welded onto the frame in the wrong place.
According to Lippert, the center hole of middle spring hanger is supposed to be 230 1/4" from the front cross member and 30 1/2" between hangers, with only a 1/4" +/- tolerance. The middle and rear hangers on the right side are over 6" off from that measurement, causing the rear axle to be significantly out of alignment with the frame and front axle. This was discovered after 2 different replacement axles wouldn't fit and measurements were taken and compared to the LCI specs and diagrams.
Apparently, the hangers were welded onto the frame in the wrong place at the factory and the rear leaf springs were bent and modified to fit the wrong placement. They are now paying for a mobile welder to cut off the hangers and weld them on in the correct position.
If you are having excessive wear on the inside edge of your tires on one side, particularly on one axle, you might have the same problem. I had to replace tires near the end of the first year due to the wear on the inside edge was down to the belts. An easy way of determining if this could be the problem is to measure and compare the hangers on each side. In my case, the door side hangers were more than 6" shorter than the ODS (left) side hangers. This was at such an angle that it was also causing stress and separation of the leaf springs from being twisted in a bind.
According to LCI, this could have resulted in catastrophic failure of the suspension and the rear axle shearing off the trailer at highway speeds. Scary thought
 
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Old 11-10-2021, 05:37 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
...
According to Lippert, the center hole of middle spring hanger is supposed to be 230 1/4" from the front cross member and 30 1/2" between hangers, with only a 1/4" +/- tolerance. The middle and rear hangers on the right side are over 6" off from that measurement, causing the rear axle to be significantly out of alignment with the frame and front axle. This was discovered after 2 different replacement axles wouldn't fit and measurements were taken and compared to the LCI specs and diagrams.
...
WOW!!

Could you visibly see that it was off that far? 6" sounds like a LOT!, and that would have obviously put your axle in there at an angle.
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Old 11-10-2021, 06:29 AM   #3
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Honestly, I really couldn't see it with the wheels on the ground, but once they had the rig lifted and the wheels off, you could really tell it when looking from the rear.
Now that I know what to look for, it's obvious that the door side wheels were much closer together than the off door side. Sad part is that the tech simply ordered a new axle under warranty the first time and thought he had gotten the wrong one when it didn't line up and fit. They sent another one after confirming the numbers and it also didn't fit. That's when Lippert finally had them start taking measurements to confirm where the hangers were.
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Old 11-10-2021, 06:32 AM   #4
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I really find it very odd that someone at Lippert, when building the frame, put the hangers in the wrong place to start with. Apparently, the front hangers are in the right place, but the middle and rear hangers on the door side are way off. My only guess is that it must have been a Friday afternoon and someone really dropped the ball.
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Old 11-10-2021, 06:57 AM   #5
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That's way off. Someone must have worked hard to install the suspension. How could they not know there was a problem? I would say they owe you a set of tires as well. Make sure that a stiffener is welded on the flange above the new hanger position as shown on my SOB.
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Old 11-10-2021, 07:04 AM   #6
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We are working on getting the tires paid for now. Thanks for the advice on the stiffener/support. I'll make sure they get it right this time by my tape measure.
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Old 11-10-2021, 07:48 AM   #7
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maybe?

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Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
We are working on getting the tires paid for now. Thanks for the advice on the stiffener/support. I'll make sure they get it right this time by my tape measure.
I worked with a guy that could not find a 1/16 on a tape, he was the second carpenter behind the lead carpenter, for many years actually. The federal government at it`s best. So this dose not surprise me at all. The stories I could tell you about what happens with your tax money. But I think you already know. No, this is not a political post, just facts.
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Old 11-10-2021, 09:58 AM   #8
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Very familiar. Marine Corps and 28 yrs law enforcement.
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Old 11-10-2021, 10:03 AM   #9
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Wouldn’t 6 inches have shown up in the wheel well? I don’t think I could get mine off 6 inches.
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Old 11-10-2021, 10:08 AM   #10
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You would think so, but it really wasn't noticeable. The center hanger was off that much which threw the rear out of whack too. Once I found out, you can tell the tires are closer together on that side, but before that, I really didn't see it. The center of the tires weren't out by 6", only the hangers, so maybe the springs were pushing the tire back some?
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Old 11-17-2021, 03:00 PM   #11
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These kind of things never cease to amaze me!
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Old 11-17-2021, 03:17 PM   #12
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These kind of things never cease to amaze me!
I saw a video recently of SOB manufacturing side walls. They had a "jig" (that's a loose term), for where the wall studs were supposed to go. It would be very easy for someone to weld a stud in the wrong location. After a manufacturer has spent all that time and money building a wall, they are going to figure out a way to salvage that stuff. Not saying it's right, but I do understand how that happens. Sometimes salvaging means reworking it, though, and not just using it as is.

As someone who works in a manufacturing environment, I totally see how this could have happened, and I would suspect that the person that did it, wasn't even aware that they did it wrong. I would guess that at the Lippert frame factory, they have what we call a hand locator that puts these on in the "correct" location, but that hand locator in this case can be installed in several positions, and the operator chose the wrong one on one side for whatever reason.

I just can't believe that it didn't get caught at some point by QC in the factory. If you look at units all day long, it would be pretty easy to see that something wasn't right with one of the wheels on this unit.

Quality may be bad, but I hope that someone in the quality department didn't make a conscious decision to let it go if they knew about it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it is not going to work long term, IF ever!!
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Old 11-17-2021, 04:22 PM   #13
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I saw a video recently of SOB manufacturing side walls. They had a "jig" (that's a loose term), for where the wall studs were supposed to go. It would be very easy for someone to weld a stud in the wrong location. After a manufacturer has spent all that time and money building a wall, they are going to figure out a way to salvage that stuff. Not saying it's right, but I do understand how that happens. Sometimes salvaging means reworking it, though, and not just using it as is.

As someone who works in a manufacturing environment, I totally see how this could have happened, and I would suspect that the person that did it, wasn't even aware that they did it wrong. I would guess that at the Lippert frame factory, they have what we call a hand locator that puts these on in the "correct" location, but that hand locator in this case can be installed in several positions, and the operator chose the wrong one on one side for whatever reason.

I just can't believe that it didn't get caught at some point by QC in the factory. If you look at units all day long, it would be pretty easy to see that something wasn't right with one of the wheels on this unit.

Quality may be bad, but I hope that someone in the quality department didn't make a conscious decision to let it go if they knew about it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it is not going to work long term, IF ever!!

The part about the gig is what I was thinking. I wonder if they used the wrong gig on one side. If they used the right gig the wheels almost couldn’t be off six inches.
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Old 11-17-2021, 05:16 PM   #14
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Just got news today that Lippert is going to step up and compensate me for tires and lost travel expenses. The welder is supposed to cut off the hangers and weld them on in the correct placement next Tuesday, also at Lippert's expense.
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Old 11-17-2021, 05:32 PM   #15
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The part about the gig is what I was thinking. I wonder if they used the wrong gig on one side. If they used the right gig the wheels almost couldn’t be off six inches.
Lynwood
From the video I saw of them (whoever it was) building walls, it would be SUPER easy to get one side off of the other. I'm assuming that the frame is a somewhat similar type of arrangement, but we all know where that gets you too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the associate that did something like that should be punished, but I am saying, I bet that they never knew.

I geek out on making things bullet proof, since that's what I do at work. Edward Demming said, "Blame the process not the person."

I haven't seen the jig that built that frame, and I just about guarantee you that the JIG is the problem, not the person...
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Old 11-17-2021, 05:33 PM   #16
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Just got news today that Lippert is going to step up and compensate me for tires and lost travel expenses. The welder is supposed to cut off the hangers and weld them on in the correct placement next Tuesday, also at Lippert's expense.
Well, glad your journey has a positive ending, and there's light at the end of the tunnel...
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