Buyer beware Eclipse trailers

[shockwave714]

Anybody with a eclipse trailer you better check your frame. I know Of multiple people that have stress cracks above the leaf spring hangers. this is a known problem if you do a search on the Internet .

 

[RitcheyRch]

Eclipse RV or Aluminum trailers?

http://www.eclipservmfg.com/

http://www.eclipsealuminumtrailers.com/

 

[shockwave714]

Eclipse rv stellar attitude. I have pictures but can't upload them.
A friend at work has the same problem with a pull behind toy box.

 

[shockwave714]

Mine cracked where the support goes from I-beam to I-beam in the center of the two water tanks. Lippert The manufacture of the frame said it was from towing my trailer with water in the tanks WTF. Most people are having problems above the leaf spring hangers.

 

[Meaney77]

Mine cracked where the support goes from I-beam to I-beam in the center of the two water tanks. Lippert The manufacture of the frame said it was from towing my trailer with water in the tanks WTF. Most people are having problems above the leaf spring hangers.

So typical... I guess your trailer wasnt designed to be towed with water in the tanks. Always seems like when issues like these come up its always the owners fault and problem. Then even when you buy the extended warranty- the dealer sells you on how the warranty covers pretty much everything and then when you really need something fixed it becomes excluded. Are they going to help you out with repairs at all?

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Good to know for future reference. Also, I think my brother has an Eclipse.

Edit: scratch that, his is a Stealth made by Forest River. The Stellar is made by Eclipse.

 

[shockwave714]

So typical... I guess your trailer wasnt designed to be towed with water in the tanks. Always seems like when issues like these come up its always the owners fault and problem. Then even when you buy the extended warranty- the dealer sells you on how the warranty covers pretty much everything and then when you really need something fixed it becomes excluded. Are they going to help you out with repairs at all?

No Lippert denied any help I can't even get Eclipse rv to return my phone call.

 

[shockwave714]

So typical... I guess your trailer wasnt designed to be towed with water in the tanks. Always seems like when issues like these come up its always the owners fault and problem. Then even when you buy the extended warranty- the dealer sells you on how the warranty covers pretty much everything and then when you really need something fixed it becomes excluded. Are they going to help you out with repairs at all?

I called eclipse first they said it was the frame manufactures problem the frame manufacture pointed the finger at eclipse for cutting corners on the frame to save cost.

 

[rivrrts429]

Lippert is the largest trailer manufacture. Google them and you will read the horror stories. Most any RV is on their frame.

When I bought my 5th wheel it was on a Lippert. Had it inspected before I wrote the check to make sure prior owner had the reinforcements done. It had already been done by a third party thankfully.

Lippert is known for not helping...

 

[guest hs]

Sounds like a class action law suit coming their way!

 

[guest hs]

Lippert=Zieman / Extreme

 

[Victory32]

Holy Crap! Now you got me scared! My 32 Victory is sitting on a Zieman trailer. Should I be worried now? I've not experienced any problems, but that's all I need is for an axle to come loose.

 

[Meaney77]

No Lippert denied any help I can't even get Eclipse rv to return my phone call.

I called eclipse first they said it was the frame manufactures problem the frame manufacture pointed the finger at eclipse for cutting corners on the frame to save cost.

If you haven't already, you may want to go over to Glamis Dunes forums and do some research. There are several threads over there about issues similar to these and companies people have used to fix.

On a side note- I had issues with one of the 1st toy haulers I purchased from Forrest River- it was a 26' bumper tow. On the way home from a trip the floor buckled because some of the frame supports were messed up. I put my wife the pit bull on the attack and she called and got the run around. She called again and got in touch with someone and kept calling until she ended up speaking to some one high up and eventually the problem was fixed on their dime. My point- be the squeaky wheel and be persistent, dont take no for an answer and dont get off the phone until you speak to someone. Get their last name and employee ID or whatever so they know you mean business.

Good Luck

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Lippert=Zieman / Extreme

Lippert owns Zieman and Extreme? If I recall correctly Zieman was the manufacturer of the Warrior frames when shit hit the fan there and there were all kinds of failures.

 

[guest hs]

We have sold hundreds of Zieman boat trailers over the years and never had a failure with one.

 

[Pivot]

here we goooooooooo.....good luck by the way. Document document document

 

[grumpy88]

How do you know who built the trailer frame on a toy hauler ?

 

[Meaney77]

I was just on Glamis Dunes and came across this thread. Sounds like the same problem as you, the poster mentions a name, maybe its worthwhile to get a hold of this guy about fixing.

http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=347386&hl=eclipse+trailer+issues

 

[Waterjunky]

Part of the deal why some are junk and other, non travel trailers, are great is primarily driven by the trailer manufacture being the lead and carefully specifying trailer design. They demand light weight trailers on the cheap. You can guess how that ends. It is not just any random chassis that the box is mounted on, the manufacture is very specific on all details of the design. This probably has something to do with why they are hard to work with and on one of their name brand trailers they are easy. They didn't design it and want no responsibility in it. Its not right but kind of how it works.

 

[rivrrts429]

How do you know who built the trailer frame on a toy hauler ?

It's stamped with a trailer I.D.

On my 5th wheel it's on the front passenger side in the slide-out hydraulic motor compartment. It's a plate riveted onto the frame with a serial/vin # and date code.

 

[Meaney77]

Part of the deal why some are junk and other, non travel trailers, are great is primarily driven by the trailer manufacture being the lead and carefully specifying trailer design. They demand light weight trailers on the cheap. You can guess how that ends. It is not just any random chassis that the box is mounted on, the manufacture is very specific on all details of the design. This probably has something to do with why they are hard to work with and on one of their name brand trailers they are easy. They didn't design it and want no responsibility in it. Its not right but kind of how it works.

I am convinced they are all junk and they all appear to have been put together by a bunch of lackeys on Friday afternoons...No manufacture is easy to work with, most of the time they dont return call because they dont want to deal with the issues. I have had 4 different Forest River models and all of them have had some sort of an issue or another. In the end they were good trailers however they all have issues. I have had several friends who have owned Warriors and they all had issues. I have 2 friends now that have Heartlands and they have had issues as well. Most recently 1 buddy with a Heartland had an issue with a leaky water tank. The trailer is only 2 years old and one of the tanks cracked. Thinking it would be covered under his warranty he called only to find out the the warranty starts the day the trailer leaves their facility not the day the owner picks it up. So his trailer sat on a lot for awhile before he purchased it and the warrnty was expired. He ended up spending about $1k on a new tank and a someone to complete the install.

 

[milkmoney]

It's stamped with a trailer I.D.

On my 5th wheel it's on the front passenger side in the slide-out hydraulic motor compartment. It's a plate riveted onto the frame with a serial/vin # and date code.

Baller [emoji41][emoji202]

 

[renodaytona]

Good friend of ours is going through a number of issues with his Grey Wolf which is manufactured by Forest River. Brand new off the lot first trip out was a cluster. Got the trailer set up and leveled door would open, they got stuck inside once had to ram from the inside to get it working. Drawer fell into pieces upon opening it. Huge bubble in the side below one of the windows causing it not to be able to open or close. Blind on the same window broken on the trip home. This all happened on the 4th of July weekend and they are still fighting with Forest River and the dealer.

 

[rivrrts429]

Baller [emoji41][emoji202]

Pull yore pants up stranger [emoji2]

Hope you and the family are well, MM. Good to see you posting [emoji106]

 

[PVHCA]

I am convinced they are all junk and they all appear to have been put together by a bunch of lackeys on Friday afternoons...No manufacture is easy to work with, most of the time they dont return call because they dont want to deal with the issues. I have had 4 different Forest River models and all of them have had some sort of an issue or another. In the end they were good trailers however they all have issues. I have had several friends who have owned Warriors and they all had issues. I have 2 friends now that have Heartlands and they have had issues as well. Most recently 1 buddy with a Heartland had an issue with a leaky water tank. The trailer is only 2 years old and one of the tanks cracked. Thinking it would be covered under his warranty he called only to find out the the warranty starts the day the trailer leaves their facility not the day the owner picks it up. So his trailer sat on a lot for awhile before he purchased it and the warrnty was expired. He ended up spending about $1k on a new tank and a someone to complete the install.

He bought this from a dealer with a manufacturer warranty and this is what he was told? Or did he buy it used?

 

[Meaney77]

He bought this from a dealer with a manufacturer warranty and this is what he was told? Or did he buy it used?

Purchased new from a dealer in the 909, called Heartland and this is what they informed him.

 

[grumpy88]

Our Ragen was a pile of shit too . Besides going back to the dealer several times it went to the manufacturer twice . The last time was to stop me from trying to Lemon law the thing . Luckily for me we got it back days before the bank locked the gates on weekend warrior .

 

[Mandelon]

I look at RV's like houses. Something always needs to get fixed. There are a jillion different systems made by dozens of different manufacturers. Most are from the value oriented suppliers so the manufacturer can keep the costs down.

Cracked frame? Weld on some supporting gussets at the weak spots. If we plan ahead, we can do this before the frame cracks.

I would definitely suggest buying lightly used RV's, so that some of the bugs have been worked out and what's left are more obvious.

None of these things are hard to work on... you can imagine the geniuses they have that assemble them...

 

[PVHCA]

Purchased new from a dealer in the 909, called Heartland and this is what they informed him.

That seems like total horse shit, I assume he read the fine print and had no reason to pursue legal action cause that just sounds fucked.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

Well, this thread has sent me sideways....

Shockwave when you can go add "See FBT"s story and Pics" to you your thread title. And please send everyone you know with Eclipse problems to this thread to see my experience with them...and tell them to check their walls....

I am in the middle of a battle with the people at Eclipse RV as well.
I have a 2014 Eclipse Attitude 32 AK 5th wheel, towed less than 4k miles. Bought new. Last fall we were enroute home from Oregon on I-5 and got into some rain.
It was late October, when we got home I cleaned waxed and covered the coach for winter. It had never seen rain before...

Last Spring when pulling the cover we found this.





I had a trusted and experienced RV Tech come down to the house and take a look at it.
Delamination running down from the window, and up from the wheel well.

I am anal about maintaining my stuff, this coach ahs been sealed and maintained per manufacter timelines or better since we bought it. We bought a 7 yr. bumper to bumper warranty as well.

RV Tech removed window from inside and found this.






The Tech was amazed.
The hole for the window was made too large. The light you see coming in is the from the sun. The sealant he uses is the best available in the industry, but there has to be something there to seal.

I sent these photos to Danny Z. at Eclipse and he said ""get an estimate"
I did, for $2500 from my guy.
The said, "too much"

To make a 5 month old war with them short, they said bring it here, I said 1500 miles round trip not likely, I am disabled.
Finally they offered to have a guy come get it and bring it back....to which I started to agree...
Then they said even though I wouldn't be there to sign for the work they do, they wouldn't warranty the repairs they were going to do.
:yikes
Are you kidding me?
Nope, no warranty.
They are willing to spend what it takes to have some clown drive up here and haul my rig round trip 1500 miles but not cut a check for $2500?

Extended warranty people look at it and say "manufacturer defect call them, their responsibility"

Insurance....SAA

So, they finally agree to supply the decals that will be removed to do repairs. That was on 722/16.
As of 3 weeks ago no decals and they don't respond to my emails.

The coach is up at RV repair facility and tech calls me. He is incredulous.

The underside of the wheelhouse was not sealed from water intrusion.



The corners of the floor and wall, open to water, are easy to see...but look towards the right of the picture and you can see the exposed edge of the wall of the coach, also completely unsealed....

Running the entire length of the coach.
On both sides.
And, under the trim piece, more exposed untreated wood..



Just like this...

SO I send these photos along to the fine folks at Eclipse. I ask them if after reviewing the clear failures of common sense in construction they would like to reconsider helping with the repairs. No response.
then the decals finally arrive.
Wrong ones.
They do respond to my email on that issue, but say they gave me the right ones and also two substitutes for decals that they no longer make...
I don't think they wanted my guy to work on it knowing he would find what he found. I am not pleased with them and would strongly suggest anyone shopping for an RV consider the fact that they are of questionable build and their integrity as a company is, as demonstrated with my problems and the frame issues mentioned, as questionable as their builds...and I will monitor those threads to see if a class action suit is considered I will certainly consider joining.

RVs come in two classes...junk, and expensive junk...but remember, short of Prevost or Featherlight Vanguard or one or two others they are all JUNK.

I don't wanna go look at my frame...:grumble:

 

[guest hs]

Im a firm believer you get what you pay for I have a Jayco Recon ZX and have has zero issues except the Onan generator.

 

[Meaney77]

Im a firm believer you get what you pay for I have a Jayco Recon ZX and have has zero issues except the Onan generator.

I totally agree with you but in these cases we have all spent a pretty large amount of money on our toys expecting that we are getting what we paid for-only to get let down. I know new loaded toy haulers are selling in the $60-90K range for that kind of money you should also have zero issues.

 

[Pivot]

I successfully lemon lawed my 2007 weekend warrior 5th wheel. 6 months after I was handed a check as I watched it getting hooked to a transport truck Ww was gone.
Document. Pictures. Logs. Calls. Emails. More documents. It's doable but a complete nightmare.

 

[77charger]

And people out their always said carson/titans are pile of shits.

Mine is 12 years old and only issues i had was a broken leaf spring and the water tank fitting cracked from age so i had a new one plastic welded on from manxman on the boards think it was 30 bucks it was a while ago cant remember the exact price but was definitely worth it and is the strongest part on the tank.

IMO any trailer you buy these days you gotta look them over very good seems like alot of issues and they just get pushed out the door and issues fixed once owners figure them out.

 

[Cray Paper]

I have had the horrible experience of tackling a rotted out 3 year old Tahoe TT "project". My wife bought it for "us" from her uncle as a surprise. She took the money out of my union vacation account with out telling me, so when it became obvious on our first camping trip that it had issues I dove in to try and fix them. That experience has still impacted our marriage to this day.

In order to "fix" all of the leaks I had to peel the roof off and the windows and siding. The entire structure had to be lifted off of the trailer, scrapped all of the doug fir untreated "floor joists" and replaced with PT 2x6, entire floor re-sheathed with 3/4" marine grade plywood as it had rotted away from leaks and "someone" pulled the rotted shit out and through scraps of wood in and covered with particle board. Then put carpet over it. the only holding the floor up was the black vinyl screening under the trailer frame. I pulled the 1/8" interior paneling and replaced the rotted out studs in the front, back and area behind the shower then walls back down on the floor sheathing, just like the MFG had. The roof had to have slope built it to it so the water wouldn't collect at the joint where the siding rolled over the top edge of the walls and transitioned to the rubber roof. The MFG created a low spot there that caused the leak. Same thing at the back and the sides. When I finished fixing that POS I knew that it was solid as a rock and would provide decades of reliability to someone. But not me. I spent two full weeks (my vacation time for the year) fixing it. As soon as I was done with it I sold it. It was either that or divorce my wife, I was so pissed off.

RV trailers are poorly built, by unskilled labor and the kicker is, poorly engineered. They look cool when they are sitting on the lot, and they have plush materials on the interior, but if you ever take one apart you would be amazed at how poorly they are built. It would make you think twice about hooking one up to your hitch.

 

[shockwave714]

Cracked frame thanks eclipse

 

[shockwave714]

Pic

 

[Kailuaboy89]

I have a dump trailer for my bobcat/cleanup business made my Carson, and it works great, my toybox is a 2003 and seems ok as well, no issues yet. its a Thor wanderer wagon. I have seen the newer trailers, and RVs as well, and its disappointing what they get away with...so cheap and so poorly put together, if I was a manufacturer i would be embarrassed to put my name on these products..

 

[NicPaus]

I have a dump trailer for my bobcat/cleanup business made my Carson, and it works great, my toybox is a 2003 and seems ok as well, no issues yet. its a Thor wanderer wagon. I have seen the newer trailers, and RVs as well, and its disappointing what they get away with...so cheap and so poorly put together, if I was a manufacturer i would be embarrassed to put my name on these products..

I have a 03 Carson Dump I bought new. There toyboxs were never fancy so the sales are minimal but they are a solid trailer manufacturer. I have owned a bunch of trailers. Might order another new dump soon to ad to the fleet.

I bought a new Fleetwood toyhauler and same deal had to bring it back 20 times and they never fixed the issues. Easier to just fix them yourself although trailer is brand new. Going to buy a weekend warrior tomorrow has a few issues from sitting but probably less than a brand new one. Have not towed with a 6.7 Ford yet friend is going to let me use his brand new 2016 to see how it does.

 

[Willie B]

... Requirements for being an RV assembler ...be able to work for minimum-wage... If an illegal be able to work for less...

 

[Kailuaboy89]

I have a 03 Carson Dump I bought new. There toyboxs were never fancy so the sales are minimal but they are a solid trailer manufacturer. I have owned a bunch of trailers. Might order another new dump soon to ad to the fleet.

I bought a new Fleetwood toyhauler and same deal had to bring it back 20 times and they never fixed the issues. Easier to just fix them yourself although trailer is brand new. Going to buy a weekend warrior tomorrow has a few issues from sitting but probably less than a brand new one. Have not towed with a 6.7 Ford yet friend is going to let me use his brand new 2016 to see how it does.

Yep, ive tried like hell to kill that dump trailer, and it still keeps kicking ass! think I bought mine in 05'

 

[NicPaus]

Yep, ive tried like hell to kill that dump trailer, and it still keeps kicking ass! think I bought mine in 05'

Best thing I ever bought as far as making me money. I used to fill it with 7-8 tons before the weight police showed up with my old dually and f450. Blew out both axles over the years from overloading it but Carson trailer is right down the street and same guy works there that sold me the trailer and takes care of me. Instead of doing a brake job axles come with new brakes and leaf springs so now it has fresh axles and brakes. I have never been able to fill it enough where it would not dump even when digging a basement right down the street from Chandler land fill. Now I haul it at legal loads just got rolled for the first time ever by CHP last week leaving Loveco at a check point. Was empty but had no clue you need CA numbers for any truck over 10k GVWR when used for work. Have a 26 sticker but said I need a company name and CA numbers and motor carrier permit.

 

[77charger]

l. Now I haul it at legal loads just got rolled for the first time ever by CHP last week leaving Loveco at a check point. Was empty but had no clue you need CA numbers for any truck over 10k GVWR when used for work. Have a 26 sticker but said I need a company name and CA numbers and motor carrier permit.

Yeh they get picky with all that stuff our hot mop trucks the dually flat beds need a name and ca number on them along with the weight sticker.The 2 2500hd flatbed single wheel trucks dont need any of that BUT better not be over 9999 pounds or the fine can be hefty the chp guy told me.

My truck weighs about 8700 with a regular load on it for the day and i have probably pushed 10k a couple of times but at that point there aint much room left on truck.

 

[Waterjunky]

I have an Arctic Fox cab over. I had one or two minor issues that were taken care of under warrantee like the door latch didn't easily latch after about a year and the little stubby propane hose that goes from the tank to the regulator weeped directly through the rubber just enough propane that when you opened the locker you would get a whiff occasionally. We have a fair amount of nights in it and it is still great. The two remaining issues are the total junk mattress they installed (its a premium brand name also), and the fridge is difficult to start sometimes. I have friends that are surprised at how much the cab-over cost but other friends have cheaper units and are into the issues like mentioned above.

I would agree, you get what you pay for. Unfortunately this is not an absolute though because if you need the bling trailer you will still get junk and pay a premium.

If you really wanted a premium trailer it would be build using components from the high end RV market or the marine market. The issue would be when the tag said $200,000 for your 28' 5er..........

 

[NicPaus]

Yeh they get picky with all that stuff our hot mop trucks the dually flat beds need a name and ca number on them along with the weight sticker.The 2 2500hd flatbed single wheel trucks dont need any of that BUT better not be over 9999 pounds or the fine can be hefty the chp guy told me.

My truck weighs about 8700 with a regular load on it for the day and i have probably pushed 10k a couple of times but at that point there aint much room left on truck.

Do you have to stop at the scales? Want to drive work truck to the river but with 3 scales would take 3-5 more hours than normal.

 

[bilz]

Just checked my 07 Attitude 22fk .No frame cracks...knock on wood. Is this mostly a fifth wheel problem or should I still be concerned.

 

[pkrrvr619]

And people out their always said carson/titans are pile of shits.

Mine is 12 years old and only issues i had was a broken leaf spring and the water tank fitting cracked from age so i had a new one plastic welded on from manxman on the boards think it was 30 bucks it was a while ago cant remember the exact price but was definitely worth it and is the strongest part on the tank.

IMO any trailer you buy these days you gotta look them over very good seems like alot of issues and they just get pushed out the door and issues fixed once owners figure them out.

I took my forest river stealth in for routine maintenance this year and i asks the service center manager what he thought was the best toy hauler out there. He said hands down the Carson fun runners. Built like a tank and everything is easily accessible so you can most likely fix it in the field...

 

[shockwave714]

Just checked my 07 Attitude 22fk .No frame cracks...knock on wood. Is this mostly a fifth wheel problem or should I still be concerned.

No not just fifth wheels my friend has a 27 foot pull behind and his is cracked

 

[77charger]

Do you have to stop at the scales? Want to drive work truck to the river but with 3 scales would take 3-5 more hours than normal.

Yeh any bed other than the original you gotta stop but i usually dont.Only one i have seen go after small trucks(3500s and under with different beds)is the san onofre.I have driven to indio and brawley for work and never stopped at them there.

 

[Icky]

Dammit, we were trailer shopping today and I remembered this thread. Unfortunately she fell in love with the 35gsg+3 attitude, now I'm nervous.

Also looked at Genesis Supreme, same frame MFG :grumble: