Trailair Tri-Glide hitch failure

[ATCguy]

Originally Posted by ATCguy

…So I’m sure that, eventually, I’ll end up replacing it. I may give Lippert a call tomorrow to see if, at some point, I can order just the lower jaw assembly of the Long-Tow FlexAir pin box… and mount that to the upper box that I already have. I don’t see it listed on their site anywhere, but unless there’s something different about the upper portion of the pin box, I don’t need that part of it.

But either way… buying just the lower jaw, or an entirely new pin box… it would be a logistical nightmare. Unless I could by some stroke of good luck find one in stock someplace on my current travel schedule… I’ll have to find out how long it would take for them to ship it from Elkhart to wherever I’ll be in the west, and then figure out a place where I can be there long enough in case it gets delayed in shipping. Oh… and then find someone to install it for me without a 2 or 3 week delay to get on their work schedule.

So bottom line… we’ll see.

Well, now that I’m back home in Cody, and beginning to get settled into the house I’ve rented… figured it was about time to follow up on this.

I contacted Lippert last Monday, and was lucky enough to get back in touch with the same tech rep that I spoke with back in May when the failure occurred. Told him I was done for the summer, now in one place… yada, yada, yada.

So he set up a case file for me, and requested more details of the rig (VIN, production date, etc), and some photos. He told me it’d be a few days, but I’d hear back from the warranty dept soon.

He also told me that it’d probably be replaced with the Air Ride pin box… at which point I inquired about the getting Flex Air instead. Reiterated that I only needed the lower jaw. He said since it was a warranty issue, that they’d be sending out an entirely new pin box assembly… and if I wanted to upgrade to the Flex Air, to simply call back after getting the reply from Warranty, and ask about just paying the difference in cost.

Well, sure enough, I received the following email Friday morning:



So, I did as previously instructed, and called back to inquire about the Flex. After getting passed around between departments a few times, the lady in sales said it’d be no problem… told me the difference in price (just under $300), and I placed the order.

So I’ll be getting a whole new pin box “soon”, I guess. I’m having it shipped to the local shop here, but God only knows how long it’ll take to arrive. Luckily I’m now in no hurry for it, but… all in all, now that I’m in a fixed location, the process is going pretty smoothly so far. I’ll come back & update again once I get it installed.

[donzinger]

Had another failure over the past weekend. These Lippert hitches are NOT safe. This is my third failure

[franktafl]

maybe they should be reported to the DMV folks and investigated and possibly recalled!

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallprocess.cfm

[donzinger]

I plan to file a complaint. As I said, third time on this fifth wheel

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by donzinger

I plan to file a complaint. As I said, third time on this fifth wheel

apparently you are not the only person having issues.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by franktafl

apparently you are not the only person having issues.

You are correct there. Have been several. Imagine how many across all of the other forums out there

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by donzinger

You are correct there. Have been several. Imagine how many across all of the other forums out there

The NTHSA is probably the best place for a complaint. They are the ones that issue recalls.

[azdryheat]

My understanding is this hitch isn't being manufactured any longer.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by azdryheat

My understanding is this hitch isn't being manufactured any longer.

Technically correct. The tri-glide is not. But the non-tri-glade is the same upper jaw. My upper has cracked twice now in under a year

[ATCguy]

Originally Posted by donzinger

Technically correct. The tri-glide is not. But the non-tri-glade is the same upper jaw. My upper has cracked twice now in under a year

Don, just a thought but… considering where your breakages are occurring, do you think there’s a possibility that the wide mount of those extra shocks you added may be causing excess stress in that area under load, or heavy g-forces during braking?

A possible load stress on either one side or the other at the widest point… which, after multiple flexes, may be causing the metal to weaken, and then split. Like bending a thin piece of metal back & forth, causing it to eventually break in two.

Reason I ask is that I don’t recall any other failures in that area. I’m sure you’ve researched it more than I, but I just don’t remember any others.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by ATCguy

Don, just a thought but… considering where your breakages are occurring, do you think there’s a possibility that the wide mount of those extra shocks you added may be causing excess stress in that area under load, or heavy g-forces during braking?

Reason I ask is that I don’t recall any other failures in that area. I’m sure you’ve researched it more than I, but I just don’t remember any others.

I’ve thought about that as well but the broken metal is bending towards the shocks and the metal behind the shocks is bent to then point it is now touching the airbag. I would think the shocks would force the bend the other direction. The extras will be removed to see what happens after this repair. Bottom line is given Michigan’s ****ty roads I don’t trust this hitch any longer. We are also not towing heavy like we used to. We’ve taken the golf cart once over the past year and that’s the only thing that’s been in the garage lately. Thanks for the thought though!

[donzinger]

Called Lippert yesterday - they have opened a case number for me. We'll see...

I also had to tell the gentlemen not to sound so surprised about a failure as there were several reported lately just one this forum alone. He sounded a little more sincere after that.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by franktafl

maybe they should be reported to the DMV folks and investigated and possibly recalled!

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallprocess.cfm

Tried this but the website but it returns the following when I enter my VIN.
Sorry, we could not find information for the submitted VIN: 47CFVTV32EC665163.

It wants to call a number to enter complaint. I might but just don't feel like arguing with a robot menu system today.

[franktafl]

I tried looking up your vin also and got nothing which is strange because they usually show up when they are registered (by the manufacturer) properly. Are you certain about the accuracy of the number?

Ps: they have a place where you can enter a complaint and actually enter details with pictures.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

The more of you folks that enter this issue, the more they will pay attention that it is not just a one-off issue.

[ATCguy]

Strictly my opinion here… but speaking as a retired US Dept of Transportation employee (albeit, on the aviation side)…

Since there have been no catastrophic failures of the hitch (by that I mean, only cracked & broken so far, no highway failures causing accident or death)… and since LCI has not only discontinued selling the hitch in question, but has been agreeing to replace any broken hitches to date (haven’t read about anyone being turned down)… it’s not likely that NTSB would issue a systemic recall for it.

[donzinger]

Agree with your statements. I am hoping the agree to replace mine after three failures.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by franktafl

I tried looking up your vin also and got nothing which is strange because they usually show up when they are registered (by the manufacturer) properly. Are you certain about the accuracy of the number?

Ps: they have a place where you can enter a complaint and actually enter details with pictures.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

The more of you folks that enter this issue, the more they will pay attention that it is not just a one-off issue.

Verified VIN and tried again - same result...

[donzinger]

Called Lippert this morning to follow up on my hitch. They are sending a new hitch at no charge. They offered to pay for install, but I declined for two reasons. I don’t trust the hitch on Michigan’s poor roads putting others at risk and I don’t trust General RV to install it properly. I have a tractor with front forks that will make easy work of this.

[ATCguy]

Originally Posted by donzinger

Called Lippert this morning to follow up on my hitch. They are sending a new hitch at no charge. They offered to pay for install, but I declined for two reasons. I don’t trust the hitch on Michigan’s poor roads putting others at risk and I don’t trust General RV to install it properly. I have a tractor with front forks that will make easy work of this.

Good to hear they’re gonna cover & replace it. That’s fantastic.

I gotta admit that I was kinda worried that they might deny it, since you did that modification to the shock mount… but glad it wasn’t an issue.

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by ATCguy

Good to hear they’re gonna cover & replace it. That’s fantastic.

I gotta admit that I was kinda worried that they might deny it, since you did that modification to the shock mount… but glad it wasn’t an issue.

I think given the number of problems associated with this hitch, they are more inclined to keep this as quiet as they can