Anyone else had their chassis snap on a 2004 Journey?

Slowdragon · 09-27-2005, 09:32 AM

Hi all

I did a search and couldn't find any details so I wanted to know if anyone else has suffered a chassis problem.

I have a 2004 Journey 39K and about 6 weeks ago we were parked at a racetrack and I had just levelled the rig when there was an almighty bang and the whole rig shook. I looked at the back to see what happened and thought that perhaps the level jack had compressed, causing the rig to rock.

I drove the 40 miles home the following day and then took the rig to the local Freightliner place (Golden Gate Trucks in Oakland, CA) for a routine oil change. They called me back the next day to tell me that the chassis had snapped along with a suspension unit.

The rig has been with them for over 6 weeks while they waited for replacement parts, then last week it had to go to another place for alignment and they had to wait FIVE DAYS for the right washers to come. All in all it has been a disaster and they're now having trouble aligning the chassis to spec.

Has anyone heard of anything similar to this or have any advice on what to do? It seems like Freightliner are stepping up to the work under warranty but I'm about to miss my 7th weekend of usage and there's still no end in sight.

Help!!

Slowdragon · 09-27-2005, 09:32 AM

Hi all

I did a search and couldn't find any details so I wanted to know if anyone else has suffered a chassis problem.

I have a 2004 Journey 39K and about 6 weeks ago we were parked at a racetrack and I had just levelled the rig when there was an almighty bang and the whole rig shook. I looked at the back to see what happened and thought that perhaps the level jack had compressed, causing the rig to rock.

I drove the 40 miles home the following day and then took the rig to the local Freightliner place (Golden Gate Trucks in Oakland, CA) for a routine oil change. They called me back the next day to tell me that the chassis had snapped along with a suspension unit.

The rig has been with them for over 6 weeks while they waited for replacement parts, then last week it had to go to another place for alignment and they had to wait FIVE DAYS for the right washers to come. All in all it has been a disaster and they're now having trouble aligning the chassis to spec.

Has anyone heard of anything similar to this or have any advice on what to do? It seems like Freightliner are stepping up to the work under warranty but I'm about to miss my 7th weekend of usage and there's still no end in sight.

Help!!

Radarr · 09-27-2005, 10:02 AM

Your topic caught my attention, this is the first time I have every heard of such a problem. You have to be 1 in a 100,000. I know the time way from camping is a pain, but your in good hands. Freightliner is an excellent company and they stand behind their products.

Radarr

CalTex · 09-27-2005, 11:19 AM

Slowdragon,

That's an interesting situtation, could you give more details of what broke?

Captain Bud · 09-27-2005, 11:31 AM

Could you provide more info and details..

Rich Bock · 09-27-2005, 12:00 PM

This is most interesting. Did you have your slides out before levelling? Did you deflate the air bags first? Was the break before or after the rear wheels. Was it a main frame rail or one of the outriggers? Did the repair facility venture a guess on the cause?

Kiwi · 09-27-2005, 12:51 PM

That had to be an abnormal faulty weld or something similar. There are too many Freightliner chassis out there for it to be a design flaw. I would call Freightliner and ask for a new rig. A lifelong alignment issue does not sound like something you knowingly purchased.

Walt

Slowdragon · 09-27-2005, 01:41 PM

Well, so far Freightliner seem to be taking care of the issue but the length of time waiting for chassis parts seems to be inordinately long given the number of FL chassis that are out there.

The rig has been in the shop since August 15th so I don't know the details of what broke or why it would break. All I have been told so far is that it involves two (steel?) beams and a shock absorber. It seems the break caused the whole chassis to shift so after 4 1/2 weeks of repairing the chassis (of which 4 weeks was waiting for parts) they rest of the time seems to have been waiting on 2 washers and getting the alignment correct.

As I learn more I'll certainly post the details and does anyone know how to start the process of requesting a new chassis? My main concern now is they fix it while it's under warranty and the same thing happens again or the alignment is never correct.

Oh, on top of that I just received a Winnebago recall notice stating that my rig may catch fire if I use the refridgerator!!

And things were going so well with this coach :-(

Slowdragon · 09-30-2005, 02:45 PM

Well, finally got the coach back last night along with an 8 page bill of parts and service that Freightliner are thankfully taking care of. It all seems to be in great order and everyone is puzzled why these beams went the way they did.

At least FTL stand behind their product and I'm just happy to be back on the road - except that diesel is now up to $ 3.30 a gallon

I guess not driving it for 7 weeks saved me quite a bit

Mike Lutz · 10-01-2005, 11:14 AM

Wow! It seems hard to believe that you could have that much of a problem . Look on the bright side, you could have suffered catastrophic damage and injury due to the break. I suspect most people would have gone balistic over such a dilemma. You seem to have your priorities in the right place. (Fuel price may or may not get better, but we are all in the same fix-we just adjust differently).