larrybessette
Senior Member
The last time I wrote about this was November.
DW and I went on a 3 month trip out to Utah starting in late August and ending early November.
Outbound I noticed the camper (2019 Montana high Country 330RL) listing to the left. Upon inspection I discovered a bent left side frame rail. Additionally I discovered that the welds that attach the joists between the frame rails had failed and the welds attaching the brackets on the outside of the left frame rail had failed. The failure of these welds are what is causing the left side to drop. As we continued our journey the condition worsened until the exterior wall on the left was making contact with the tires. At that point I jury rigged some repairs so we could continue the trip. We were in Utah and beginning the return leg of the trip so there was really no advantage to shortening the trip.
We are home and I finally have time to begin repairs.
I have begun looking at the situation and things are worse than I expected. I dropped the underbelly and as expected some of the joists have broken free. Additionally the right frame rail is bent and the frame supporting one of the holding tanks has broken welds and is bent.
My plan is to level the frame front to back and left to right. Then I am going to install 4" square steel tube to the inside of the frame rails, straighten the rails and weld the tubing in place. Then I will weld plates onto the end of the joists to correct the damage and restore them to the correct length and weld them in place. Then I will raise the left side and weld new brackets in place so that the exterior wall is in the correct position. But there is a problem. My plan was to use the right side frame rail as a reference and match the left side to it so that the frame rails would be parallel. Now, with the right frame rail bent I have lost that reference point. Leveling the frame I have discovered that there is a 2-1/2"downward deflection in the right rail. I don't know how much deflection, if any there should be. I realize that I could do considerable damage attempting to straighten the rails beyond what the manufacturer planned.
As always any comments, ideas or information will be appreciated.
Larry

Bent left side frame rail

Broken and bent joist
DW and I went on a 3 month trip out to Utah starting in late August and ending early November.
Outbound I noticed the camper (2019 Montana high Country 330RL) listing to the left. Upon inspection I discovered a bent left side frame rail. Additionally I discovered that the welds that attach the joists between the frame rails had failed and the welds attaching the brackets on the outside of the left frame rail had failed. The failure of these welds are what is causing the left side to drop. As we continued our journey the condition worsened until the exterior wall on the left was making contact with the tires. At that point I jury rigged some repairs so we could continue the trip. We were in Utah and beginning the return leg of the trip so there was really no advantage to shortening the trip.
We are home and I finally have time to begin repairs.
I have begun looking at the situation and things are worse than I expected. I dropped the underbelly and as expected some of the joists have broken free. Additionally the right frame rail is bent and the frame supporting one of the holding tanks has broken welds and is bent.
My plan is to level the frame front to back and left to right. Then I am going to install 4" square steel tube to the inside of the frame rails, straighten the rails and weld the tubing in place. Then I will weld plates onto the end of the joists to correct the damage and restore them to the correct length and weld them in place. Then I will raise the left side and weld new brackets in place so that the exterior wall is in the correct position. But there is a problem. My plan was to use the right side frame rail as a reference and match the left side to it so that the frame rails would be parallel. Now, with the right frame rail bent I have lost that reference point. Leveling the frame I have discovered that there is a 2-1/2"downward deflection in the right rail. I don't know how much deflection, if any there should be. I realize that I could do considerable damage attempting to straighten the rails beyond what the manufacturer planned.
As always any comments, ideas or information will be appreciated.
Larry

Bent left side frame rail

Broken and bent joist