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Spare Tire Rack Failure - Third trip out with new RV.

whjco
Explorer
Explorer
Greetings friends,

I'm not posting this to rant as much as to make some of you aware of a potential safety issue. I took our new Cherokee 274rfk out this week for its third trip since we purchased it. I stopped for lunch and after lunch did my walk-around as I do at every stop and noticed that the spare tire was sitting at an angle and looked like it was ready to fall off.

The rectangular tubing in the center of the cargo rack is pretty thin and the spare tire bracket is welded to this piece of tubing in two places. The metal in the rack had failed and the upper weld had torn completely loose and the bottom weld was just about ready to let go. I removed the spare, then I moved the bracket up and down twice and the bottom weld also let go and the bracket came completely loose in my hand. I'm just thankful that it somehow held until I made my lunch stop

The tire size is a ST225/75 R15 load range E tire so the tire and wheel are pretty heavy. The tubing to which the spare tire bracket was welded just isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the spare tire as configured at the factory. That heavy wheel and tire would have been a serious safety hazard had it come loose. To a lesser extent, had it not hit anyone, I still would have lost an expensive wheel and brand-new tire. I sent pictures and a write-up to Forest River Customer Service this evening to make them aware of the problem.

I'm not going to try to repair the bracket as I don't trust the cargo tray to hold the spare. I've ordered a BAL 28217 spare tire carrier that mounts to the frame and carries the spare underneath the travel trailer.

I just wanted to pass this along. When doing the inspection of your travel trailer, be sure and check the condition of the bracket holding the spare tire. I had a really close call!

Update 7/7/19 Here's a picture of the spare tire rack failure (you may have to copy and paste these links into your browser to view the pictures):

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/65965887_10219229763593288_197844752207446016_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_oc=AQnV8KA9WkV6nuPwpleqG3IupZC4UaII83D-EDiHhaMhj8tEO9qlDeurCZBfzwQEAOY&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=c3e8172c327caf03ae2d3c53c735058a&oe=5DC1B2D1

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/66114529_10219230301606738_903535405385646080_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQkU105gB9U28HkSpWF3nHLGDuElKcVtKha9GM0De1kqn_DjQkdMfjQE-t_ZTT-2eq0&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=bbf46042b4db8230fad41f03d8bfaf2c&oe=5DBEDB4F

Bill J., Lexington, KY

Update 7/11 This morning we toured the Forest River Cherokee plant where our travel trailer was made. The spare tire bracket on all of the new units we saw had been changed to a new and better design. The kind of failure we experienced will not happen with the new design.
Bill J., Lexington, KY
2006 Starcraft 2500RKS 25' Travel Trailer
2015 Ram 2500 Big Horn 6.7 Cummins.
21 REPLIES 21

webwrangler
Explorer
Explorer
rbpru wrote:
I would be curious how many often that happens. I never have had an issue but I know others have.


It happened to me, only I wasn't lucky enough to spot any broken welds first. My walk-around in Cooke City, MT after going through a construction zone in Yellowstone revealed that my spare was someplace along the road in the park. This was on the FR in my sig.
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myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Pretty flimsy and poor looking design with welding to match. The rear of trailers bounce up and down like crazy and sometimes enough to fling things into orbit. I cringe when I see people with generators, dirt bikes and the like at the back, especially where you can't see it. Even going over speed bumps in a CG at low speed will make things want to jump off the rear.

Good call on the BAL hide-a-spare carrier. We have one and it has been great.

BillyBob_Jim
Explorer
Explorer
dodge guy wrote:
Looks like a terrible design for mounting the spare.and knowing how good their welding is I can see how that failed. A better design wouldโ€™ve been to put the bolt/rod through the tubing.


Yet another fine example of the top notch design and high quality fabrication of a Lippert component. I'd turn that in under the frame warranty. LCI will probably say your fault due to overloading ๐Ÿ˜‰

dodge_guy
Explorer
Explorer
Looks like a terrible design for mounting the spare.and knowing how good their welding is I can see how that failed. A better design wouldโ€™ve been to put the bolt/rod through the tubing.
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bigorange
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for sharing. I have same setup on my Cherokee 235b...one more thing to keep an eye on. I too don't really like the design due to clearance of the tire when the cargo shelf is down, but will be watching the bracket now too.
Not all those who wander are lost. - Tolkien

2018 Cherokee 235B 5W
2011 Ram 2500 CC SWB SLT 4WD 6.7 CTD 3.73
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Modit
Explorer
Explorer
I have a `19 Grey Wolf from Forest River with the same setup. I didn't like the tire under the tray when dropped. I was considering moving the tire, now I guess more so.

rbpru
Explorer
Explorer
I would be curious how many often that happens. I never have had an issue but I know others have.
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beemerphile1
Explorer
Explorer
I noticed that setup on some Forest River products when we were shopping and didn't like that spare mount. My concern was dragging the spare on step approaches.



The Keystone I bought has a similar cargo rack but the spare is under the trailer with the Bal mount.
Build a life you don't need a vacation from.

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naturist
Nomad
Nomad
Wow, that was a close call. Good on you for making that inspection walk after every stop, may it prove a waste of time forever after this. As the kind of lucky guy who'd have been coming up behind you just getting ready to swing left and pass, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving somebody's life today.

whjco
Explorer
Explorer
GrandpaKip wrote:
The spare is mounted on the cargo rack and is under the rack when the rack is lowered. My son has the same setup on his Pioneer. Iโ€™m going to tell him heโ€™s got one more thing to keep an eye on.


I had just traveled down I-840 to bypass Nashville. The roadbed has settled just before the bridge abutments and there are also a few construction areas making for a really rough transition between the bridge deck and the roadway surface. This definitely contributed to the failure of the rack. I didn't notice anything odd about the spare during the previous two walk-arounds that day but I also wasn't specifically inspecting the welds on the tire rack so I don't know if this was cumulative damage or just due to the rough condition of the I-840 bridges. This was only the third trip out with a brand-new RV so it's rather disappointing to have had the spare tire mount tear loose. It was due to metal failure of the tubing to which the rack was welded, not the weld itself.

I'm going to install a BAL 28217 spare tire carrier underneath the travel trailer and will not be attempting to repair the original spare tire rack.
Bill J., Lexington, KY
2006 Starcraft 2500RKS 25' Travel Trailer
2015 Ram 2500 Big Horn 6.7 Cummins.

whjco
Explorer
Explorer
Lynnmor wrote:
I believe he is talking about this type of spare tire carrier and not the typical bumper mounted one.


You are correct. My spare tire bracket is welded to the cargo tray and does not mount to the bumper. The bracket itself is welded to a rectangular steel tube that is one of the support members for the mesh of the tray. While the tube will support the tray cargo, the metal is too thin for the weld for the tire rack and mine tore loose from the tubing.

If you go to the page you referenced in your link and scroll through several pictures, there is a closeup view of the spare tire and how it's mounted on the cargo rack. This is the same setup as the one I had that failed.

Bill J., Lexington, KY
Bill J., Lexington, KY
2006 Starcraft 2500RKS 25' Travel Trailer
2015 Ram 2500 Big Horn 6.7 Cummins.

whjco
Explorer
Explorer
GrandpaKip wrote:
The spare is mounted on the cargo rack and is under the rack when the rack is lowered. My son has the same setup on his Pioneer. Iโ€™m going to tell him heโ€™s got one more thing to keep an eye on.


That is exactly the type of spare tire mount that I had that failed.

Bill J, Lexington, KY
Bill J., Lexington, KY
2006 Starcraft 2500RKS 25' Travel Trailer
2015 Ram 2500 Big Horn 6.7 Cummins.

GrandpaKip
Explorer
Explorer
The spare is mounted on the cargo rack and is under the rack when the rack is lowered. My son has the same setup on his Pioneer. Iโ€™m going to tell him heโ€™s got one more thing to keep an eye on.
Kip
2015 Skyline Dart 214RB
2018 Silverado Double Cab 4x4
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