Mor/ryde - Bent frame - Montana Owners Club

dsprik · 08-14-2009, 05:43 AM

I was torquing my U bolts on my axles yesterday afternoon and I discovered that the left side (street side) Mor/ryde assembly was bent outward about 5-10 degrees. The frame was bent - not the assembly itself.

I have no idea how long it has been that way, as glancing at the suspension from the outside it is very difficult, if not impossible to notice it, because there is no front to back distortion. Unless you actually look up at the frame you you would never notice it from the side. You have to look at it right along the springs. You would not notice it from any other angle - even under the belly on the other side.

The rubber inside the assembly is not damaged and seems to be compensating when the spring attachment travels up and down in that slot. The frame lip that the small reinforcing bar is welded to is bent. The main I-beam itself is not bent upward - only the lips on each side. The welds are intact.

Now, obviously, my first thought goes to the shop that replaced my gray tanks this spring. I assume they will deny knowledge of this damage, but I will talk to them. I imagine I will need a frame and axle shop to straighten this out.

I apparently drove 200 miles round trip to the Mackinaw Rally like this...

Anyone have this happen to them? Any input?

View 1 from front

View 2 from front

View from the side

View from rear 1

View from rear 2

NCFischers · 08-14-2009, 06:28 AM

Dave,
That's a pretty severe bend. Keep us posted on what you find and how it gets repaired.

Crossthread · 08-14-2009, 06:31 AM

David, I'd contact Gary Wheeler at Mor/ryde (574-293-1581 Ext. 222)and talk to him. I've seen crosstubes with plates in the ends that bolt to the inside of the Mor/ryde mounts. Bill

bob · 08-14-2009, 06:46 AM

Dave moryde makes a kit to prevent that they also make a kit for the spring hangers if you want call me at 2696654167 Richard Bob Fry

richfaa · 08-14-2009, 07:54 AM

Oh boy Dave..You hit something really hard. I agree call Wheeler and send them the pictures. The view from the side shows it best. Is the frame actually bent or is it just the lip. Can't believe that you could hit something hard enough to bow the frame. Our Mo Ryde assembly was bent
at a angle not nearly as bad as yours and they corrected it

Dave I went out and looked at mine. Run your hand up behind the Mor Ryde assembly. It appears there is a cut out for the assembly to fit and it may be that flange that is bent..not the frame. Holy cow to hit somehing hard enough to bow the main frame would have broken your back????

Art-n-Marge · 08-14-2009, 08:38 AM

Is it possible that the tank place jacked up that side then the rig fell off the stands, or was pushed off (Many years ago, I actually saw a guy do this on his own car because he was too impatient to use a jack)? The distance of the damage is quite long. Does the other side show anything? If the tank place uses a bay that the trailer is driven over then that is probably not the problem (unless the missed one side).

Hitting something hard would usually show the damage in one area not both areas, especially that far apart. That is some serious damage and looks like it will require some serious repair work.

Please let us know how this gets fixed.

David and Jo-Anna · 08-14-2009, 09:29 AM

Dave--

It appears that you have a mild case of the damage we suffered coming back from Alaska last summer--only our equalizer bent inward, not outward.

I would recommend contacting Keystone and seeing if they can help out with the cost of your frame repairs--they helped out in our case last year. You can contact MOR/ryde, but I suspect their position will be that it was the frame that gave way, not the equalizer. Even if your frame is still under warranty with Lippert, don't expect them to show any interest--their position when we called last year is that they just followed Keystone's specs.

After you have the equalizer straigthened, you may want to have a metal fabricating shop add some reinforcement to the frame in that area since that's a weak spot that could use some extra reinforcement. MOR/ryde does have a bracket/kit that you should get that consists of a bar/brace connecting the two equalizers--that way, if one equalizer sees a heavy lateral load, the bracket transfers part of that load to the other equalizer and helps prevent or reduce any further damage in the future.

Let me know if you'd like more details on what we did to fix our problem. Good luck!!!

swanny · 08-14-2009, 11:01 AM

only a guess. IF a floor jack was used and placed on the piece that is attached to the frame and jacked up. As the floor jack raises the jack will want to travel inward (away from you) the wheels will roll. Now IF the wheels can't roll inward as the jack rises it will PULL on the piece your jacking up. A floor jack needs to be able to move. If it can't it will put a tremendous amount of pressure laterally on the piece. (pull it back to you). I have a blacktop driveway and when it's hot i got to be careful because the wheels will sink into the blacktop and not roll. if it doesn't roll it tries to slip off the frame or pull the car sideways.

hard to explain but that's how it works

swanny

HamRad · 08-14-2009, 11:05 AM

Dave,
I see that you still have the OEM shackles. I thought you'd changed them to the HD ones!

That is a serious looking bow in the I beam and the outward bend looks really scary.

Good luck and let us know what you find out about what caused the problem(s).

Dennis

KTManiac · 08-14-2009, 11:15 AM

What I suspect is that someone used the equalizer as a jack point to lift your 5er. No excuse for that at all! Good luck with getting anyone to fess up to the damage though. That has to be seriously affecting your alignment and tire wear.

You would think that Lippert would add some strength by boxing in the I-beam where the hangers and equalizers are by welding steel plate to it.

harleyf250 · 08-14-2009, 12:17 PM

iHAVE PUT THAT MOR-RYDE KIT ON MY 08 3400RL ABOUT 6 WEEKS AGO ..BEST MONEY SPENT.. WHEN INSTALLING MINE I DID NOTICE THAT THE CENTER HANGER WAS ALSO BENT MAKING IT HARD TO CONNECT THE LEFT WITH THE RIGHT .. HAD TO USE A COMEALONG TO PULL FRAME RAIL IN AND THEN BOLTED THEM TOGEATHER. MY RIG ONLY HAS 5000-6000 MILES ON IT

dsprik · 08-14-2009, 12:35 PM

Well I'm back from Traverse City. As I suspected, the repair shop was genuinely surprised. He said that jacking that up would not even bend the frame like that. I tended to agree. But I am now totally baffled. I called a truck frame and repair shop about 3 blocks away from the dealership. They sent a tech over and he also told me that there is no way jacking that from frame up would ever bend that frame. He asked my if I had recently put any undue stress on the Montana lately.

OK, here's where I have to admit something I did not post on the forum (actually I took pics, just never got around to getting them posted). When I got back home from the Mackinaw Rally, I pulled the Montana forward to reposition it and I got blindsided on my passenger side as I was pulling forward - cab turned just enough to where I lost my wheels in my side mirror - I was watching my car on one side and my boat on the other. Well, I was 2 ft further over than I thought and my passenger side wheel dropped into my ditch in my front yard. When the wheels dropped - it's a gradual slope - the right rear corner of the Montana laid down in the driveway and crushed that rear panel and twisted the rear stabilizer jack on that side. The bottom corner of the fiberglass cap acted like a plow and dug a trench into the driveway, then down into the ditch until the wheels started coming up the other side. Luckily my ladder held. Soft dirt being plowed up by the cap helped.

The truck frame tech said that would probably do it. I was at first skeptical as I could not understand how something stressing that right side could have applied that much force to the left side Mor/ryde system (I was pulling almost straight ahead). He convinced me that that had to be the cause.

I called my insurance agent when the damage first happened and told him that I was not going to file a claim as I priced out the parts and for $110 I could put the parts back on myself.

However, NOW I have 6 hrs+ of reworking the frame and welding a bigger 2"x2" tubular steel bar where Keystone's 1"x1"x6" bar is above the Mor/ryde. I called my ins agent back this afternoon and told him I changed my mind about filing a claim...

Still hard to picture in my mind how that frame could have bent. I was moving very slowly and I even stopped when rear corner hit the ground, but I determined I could not back up - then I probably would have ripped off the ladder. So I slowly pulled forward until the wheels started coming up the opposite bank.

Damage to the right side before I realized the left Mor/ryde had been damaged.

dsprik · 08-14-2009, 02:39 PM

Dennis, I have just researched prices on the HD shackles that I need and I am getting ready to order. My tech said he would put on for a VERY reasonable price. I may have to tip him...

*On Edit~ My truck frame guy is going to reinforce the lip of that frame with a 24" 2x2 tubular steel. I thought he meant he was going to weld it to that lip, replacing the meager attempt that was made by the 6 inch long 1x1 tube that is there now? Maybe he was going to fabricate something similar to the Mor/ryde brace? I will have to wait til Mon now to call both Mor/ryde and the truck frame place...

richfaa · 08-14-2009, 02:58 PM

Dave it could be because that 3400 weighs about 13K or so.Think of the stress applied dropping 13K a foot or so...... And you a Science teacher...

Countryfolks · 08-15-2009, 04:07 AM

It seems to me that both sides would be bent if the backing incident were the cause unless the spring pack slipped on the axle. If it did, I would think there would be some kind of scrape/scratch marks around there. If it didn't slip then it was assembled that way.

simonsrf · 08-15-2009, 05:18 AM

Dave,

Make sure you look into replacing any worn parts that come off during the repair. Most of the parts aren't expensive compared to the initial labor costs. Might as well pay for it once.

Good luck, and please keep us informed.

SlickWillie · 08-15-2009, 05:39 AM

Undoubtedly, some engineer at Lippert or Keystone felt that beam flange was not adequate without additional bracing, thus the attempt with the flimsy 1" square tubing. Looks to me like the frame needs boxed. JMHO

richfaa · 08-15-2009, 06:29 AM

I am no expert but it looks like the flange was cut out to fit the Mor Ryde RE system in then the 'Support flange" was added to compensate for the cut out. Mor Ryde did install a cross brace on mine last week.I think that under normal use and regular maint and inspection we would be OK.... I for one do not use this thing in a normal manner..We use ours hard.Many miles many bad roads.

dsprik · 08-15-2009, 12:45 PM

I was pulling forward turning slightly to the right. I did stop almost immediately. The drop is more like 20-24 inches - gradual slope. When I realized I could not back up, I slowly (4x4 low) pulled it about 12-16 inches before the wheels started coming up the other side. There was no sudden drop or any sudden trauma to the frame - very slow and gradual pressure on the frame - then back off again.

Can't believe that something else didn't bend/break. I will have truck shop carefully check the axles and my total suspension. I did have to SLIGHTLY tighten one U bolt - probably was near 40-50# just guessing. This was after my incident with the ditch.

I will also have them check those bolts going through the springs...

sreigle · 08-17-2009, 02:18 PM

Now I need to crawl under ours and see if we have a similar problem. Ever since we broke the spring hanger we've been low on that side. I can measure the difference at the bedrails and we now have to use boards under those tires everywhere we go. We're currently in a site we've used several times before and never had to use boards until after the spring hanger broke. I did some measuring of the new spring hanger and everything matches the others as far as height. Now I'm wondering if there's a problem with the mor/ryde suspension or the frame. When this blasted rain stops (predicted for all week) I'll crawl under and look. Good luck with yours, Dave, and thanks for the headsup.

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