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06-27-2010, 06:30 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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2010 Outback 5er- frame creaking when lowering onto hitch
Hi
Silly question, but thought this would be a good place to ask. When lowering my 2010 Outback 329fbh onto the truck hitch, there is a considerable amount of creaking and crackling coming from the frame just aft of the pin box about 3 or 4 feet aft (I notice it mostly near the exterior wall expansion joint below the front bunk house slide) I read somewhere that this expansion joint was added in later models equipped with upper/front slides because of sidewall cracking issues from frame stress. There are no visible cracks on my walls or joints, and I realize 2000 lbs is a lot of weight, but the stress crackling noise has me wondering how much settling/ frame noise is considered normal when hitching?
Thanks
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06-28-2010, 04:54 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Oswego Il
Posts: 820
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My wife has notice this also on our 318SAB Cougar too. Our Cougar is a 2010unit, with the frame manufactured in Jan or early Feb of 2010. What is the manufacturing date on your frame? The date is located in the pin box area, at least it is on mine.
We just got back from a two week trip and I have not had a chance to look in to the pin box area yet, to see if this area is under stress. I am a retired engineer from Caterpillar and I know what to look for in weld stress.
I am replacing the Lippert 1621 pin box on the unit with a TrailAir pin box to help eliminate the chucking and bouncing we got on this last trip. This could also help with frame stress, as this provides a fluid coupling joint instead of a solid pin joint between the truck and 5er.
Jim
__________________
Jim & Jill
2010 318SAB Cougar
2008 Dodge 6.7LCummins the original 6.7L engine, w/68RFE Auto
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06-28-2010, 01:21 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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Lippert manu. date 9/9/09. Any one else want to chime in?
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07-04-2010, 04:23 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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While hitching up for the holiday weekend, I paid extra attention to thw noises. I think most of the sound is actually from the sidewalls. It is more of a crackling sound than a metal stress type noise; nontheless nerve racking. I would love to hear if anyone else has experienced this in a late model unit. From what I have read, Keystone put the sidewall expansion joint below the front lower corner of the upper bedroom slide to avoid stress cracking in this area.
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