Cracks in wall

[sau4u]

Hello. I have a 2018 BHTR 39MB. On my last trip I found 2 cracks near the rear on the rv. Crack either side. Both same spots either side. Reply 8-12” long going from top of the slide out towards the top of the roof. Roughly 46 deg angle. Both sides look identical. Anyone ever deal with something like this. What may of caused it and possible fixes. Pics attached. Thanks for any info

 

[centerline]

i have the same issue with my bighorn 3355RL.... on the big slide-out unit.... what causes it and what is the fix?, as I can only imagine that it will get worse....

 

[wdk450]

Usually caused by broken welds in the metal framing of the slideouts.

 

[sau4u]

Thanks wdk450. Assumed as much. Thoughts on cause of broken welds? Poor construction? Loading up stuff on bike carrier putting extra strain? Dealer ship is being good so far. Dealing with heartland for me. I’m thinking massive job for repair.

 

[wdk450]

I just used the Search function with the search word "cracks" and found a number of interesting old threads. Suggest you check that out.

 

[sau4u]

Ahh thanks

 

[david-steph2018]

We had a sidewall crack like the one you are showing. Heartland sent us the Affinity RV Group in Goshen for repairs. The issue was broken welds inside the wall, they had to cut out the outside of the wall to get to the broken welds. They had a welder come in and reweld the broken spots. He also installed a brace over the area and welded that in as well.
Also look at the braces, outriggers, under your slide to see if these are bent or broken weld on the outriggers.

 

[sau4u]

Thankyou. After your initial repair. Have you had any more issues. I’m concerned if it happened once. Will it happen again. Maybe not same spot but still cracks. Thankyou for your info

 

[david-steph2018]

The fiberglass spider webbed crack. The paint shop that did the repair came and looked at it, they said it was bad fiberglass work. A young guy just starting did our repair job, his first job by himself. So, Affinity got somebody else this time and it was at no charge.

 

[david-steph2018]

Thankyou. After your initial repair. Have you had any more issues. I’m concerned if it happened once. Will it happen again. Maybe not same spot but still cracks. Thankyou for your info

I have seen some rigs with the front end off for frame flex repair. The welds only have 1 bead ran at each joint, instead of doing 3 or 4 sides. It just does not make sense to run only 1 bead instead of doing at least 3 beads for the welding. When our wall was opened, it was the same issue, 1 bead instead of more. I would think welding 2-3 joints would be stronger.