2020 GRAND DESIGN MOMENTUM Unknown Or Other Problems

The frame of my trailer sustained damage due to flexing from poor design. I was lucky and noticed some loud noises when transitioning weight to the king pin on the truck. A lot of creaking and groaning. Because of all of these noises and what I had read online, I had the trailer inspected. The inspection found the frame moving within the structure when the weight transitions from the stabilizers to the king pin. Additional damage was a crack in the structure that holds the wall to the frame and many bent gussets that are designed to give the structure strength. This design is substandard. I understand the whole thing is designed to work as a whole to provide strength, but there are weak areas in this design. First is the use of lag bolts into a soft wood as a method of connecting the frame to the wall structure. This needs to be into metal or aluminum allowing the use of bolts and a thread locking compound to prevent loosening. Lag bolts into wood on a structure designed to withstand dynamic movement of towing is inadequate. This will always loosen over time transferring the load to other areas of the structure and the damage many are seeing. My trailer has been repaired, but I'm not sure if the new gussets and additional lag bolts will be enough because they are still using wood as a structural component. My trailer is a 2020 and the 5 year warranty will expire in September. I'm not sure where I will be after that when the next repair comes. I don't have a lot of pictures because I was out of town when they did the inspection. You can see the break in the wall support showing that the wall was moving after is separated from the frame. The pictures show how this bent the gussets that are designed to give the structure support. Like I said, I saw this problem online and asked for in inspection before I had real problems. If I had waited, the damage would've been much worse.

Frame issues with the gooseneck area of the RV. We've got lots of movement with the RV in these areas where it connects with the towing vehicle. We have had lots of movement in the front nose area of the RV causing substantial movement evidenced by interior and exterior cracks and noises when pulling. We have taken the RV to a repair facility and the manufacturer has denied making repairs to make the RV safe.

Roof Membrane separating from nose cap, nose cap separating from roof membrane. 5th wheel pin box sinking up into rv upper deck when lowering onto the truck. Cargo and main doors open during transport. Sawdust on dresser in nose of the RV. Lag Screws unscrewing and/or loose in the upper deck. Stress fractures in fiberglass on the cap of RV. Pinch molding coming loose from underside of 5th Wheel skin. Screws backing out and/or breaking underneath the upper deck nose cap. Insulation underneath the front of the RV is falling off. Back Patio bubbling. Rear axle leaf springs bolt and bushings coming out during transport. Screws on top of the upper deck by rain gutters keep coming loose.

2020 Grand Design 395M I am writing this with concerns over possible Frame or Structure issues in our unit, the following is a list of objects of concern. 1.Screws attaching underside of nose cap to upper deck breaking 2.Wall next to stairs entering the upper deck showing signs of movement and wearing on wallpaper. 3.Support uprights on left and right side between night stands and upper cabinets are moving and wearing on wall. 4.After a day of travel sawdust is appearing on tops of nightstands. 5.Wallpaper and wall wear on right side of bedroom floor behind entry door near carpet that covers lag screws. 6.Excessive creaking coming from bedroom slide wall when coupling and uncoupling from tow vehicle. 7.Exterior entrance door will not stay closed unless deadbolted (including cargo door) doors have opened during travel. 8.Interior door jams are widening. 9.Pin box is sinking into frame when put in load position on vehicle (suspect frame failure)

We have been living full time in our RV since Nov, 2022. We just brought our Grand Design Momentum M-381 in for the front cap replacement as there was frame flex over the past several months that we didn't realize was happening and there were cracks in the top of our cap. Let me explain, we saw evidence of "something" happening like the bedside tables rubbing against the wall and saw dust, the outside cap moldings/weatherstripping flapping in the breeze as we drove down the road, squeaking of our bedroom floor and eventually a separation of the wall at the floor by our bedroom door. We youtubed these issues and came up with several videos and realized we needed to remove the carpeting and see if we had the lag bolt issues and boy did we! We had 2 that were rusted and half way out, one that was sheared off and one that was hanging loosely. We took it into a dealership in LA where they did the frame flex evaluation for Grand Design and it was determined to change out the lag bolts for 1/2 inch ones on both sides of the superstructure. Long story short, the lag bolts worked their way out after one short trip and we were told to bring it into the dealership where they were told by Grand Design to epoxy the lag bolts in, that was in July 2024. At the same time we ended up with cracking in the front cap by the roof and that was scheduled to be replaced. When we brought the RV in for the cap replacement on Nov 7th we mentioned one lag bolt was working back out and Grand Design asked for another frame evaluation and that's when they found out that the lag bolts they epoxied in just 3 months ago were tearing through and the frame. After further testing and removal of the under cap area there was evidence of complete crack of the superstructure frame on the drivers side and evidence of welds in other areas of the superstructure that had cracks in the steel and aluminum. We're waiting to hear back from Grand Design how we are to move forward.

Frame failure issues diagnosed on the camper in 2023. We were not apprised of how serious the frame failure was or provided photos of the issues, so we are not sure how extensive the issue was. Repairs were performed by a Grand Design dealer prior to the Technical Service Bulletin being released by Grand Design. The repairs being performed prior to the TSB leaves us somewhat skeptical that they were performed according to Grand Design engineer specifications. Post repairs, we have had some of the same symptoms recurring again (sawdust after every trip, furniture movement, garage wall separation, front cap filon separation, door opening during travel (previously reported to NHTSA), indicating that perhaps the frame issues are persisting or recurring.

Back door of RV came opened while driving down the road. The door is always locked (dead bolt included) and the entry-assist arm folded over the door during travel. Upon parking for the evening, it was noted that the back door of the RV had popped open during travel.

11/15/2023: Kitchen slide of the RV partially opened while traveling down the road. My husband does have video of this occurring as we have a camera system installed on our RV. 6/25/2024: Kitchen slide of RV "raised up" and landed on an island drawer pull while traveling down the road. The slide could not be "lifted off" of the drawer pull and we were forced to activate the slide and allow it to travel out, causing damage to the drawer pull and drawer rails.

We noticed our pin box on our GD started moving when we hitch up. The wall inside the bedroom is showing wear from movement, the trim around the upper deck came apart multiple times, the flooring inside the bedroom had a hole in it from the bed gouging into it. When hitching up the wall is bulging out on driver side just off of the slide corner. Our slide stopped working and there are Gibs inside the wall of the slide that had sheared off rivets.

We are experiencing frame damage on our Fifth wheel portion of the RV! The welds are cracking, and causing the front of the RV to shift and sag when hitched to the truck! We reached out to the manufacturer for help and they confirmed that we do have what they call "Frame Flex" They consider this a warranty item and we are out of warranty so we are on the hook for a $16000 plus repair bill! We have been in contact with 100's of others who have had this issue, sometimes the frame is repaired by the manufacture under warranty, and other times they get the insurance to pay for the repair! We have been contacted by several individuals who want to pursue a class action lawsuit over this matter! We feel that you should step in and determine if they are selling the correct frame that is fit for the RV they are building and allowing us to drive on the roads in the USA. Since this is not an isolated event there are so many of these RV's on the road with frames that are not built to properly hold the GVWR of the RV! These RV's are currently being towed down the highways and if a complete failure happens while towing the RV could buckle and fall apart on the road! We fell you should investigate and determine if the Manufacturer is in fact using a DOT approved frame for the RV's they are selling! If they are not a recall should be issues and all of the owners should have their units fixed to make the safe for use on the highway!

I was informed that I have a broken frame upfront in the Kingpin area. I sent this to Grand Design and they denied any responsibility Grand Design Please find attached the pictures that were taken today (will Attach when sending final) and an email below to Blue Dog RV in Pasco show that I was very concerned about the front cabinets rubbing and asked to have them follow up with you. As you can see that email is dated Sept 7 2022 and is clearly still within the Warranty period for this frame problem. I have tried numerous times calling Blue Dog and left messages but no return calls. I had given them my cell number to call since I was traveling out of state. I did call Grand Design and complained that the Dealer network that they have is terrible and how am I supposed to get things fixed and the nice lady told me to go ahead and find a “local little dealer”. I was able to get it into A’s Parts & Repair that was booked out until June. A's Parts & Repair looked in to it and found the King Pin box has over an 1” of movement and then I was contacted by A's Parts & Repair asking to pull the front lower section by king pin box then to have Micah's custom works to evaluate the damage & then Micah took a look at it said the frame has multiple brakes & not sure how to brace the frame & declined to even attempt it & recommend to return for repair or replacing frame for the toy hauler back to the factory. Manufacturer Broken welds and under reinforced thus causing the cabinet issues. I have included the updated pics of the welds and they feel the whole front cap is moving and their local welding specialist says he cannot fix it due to the extent of the failures. The frame up front in the King Pin area is broken and have broken welds due to flaw in design. I contacted my ins company and Progressive Ins denied claim and states that it is clearly a manufacture design flaw .

BROKEN WELDS IN THE FRAME IN 5 DIFFERENT PLACES. The dealership in Grand Junction Colorado has told us the rig is to unsafe to tow it off their lot. The dealership in Grand Junction Colorado are the ones that diagnosed the broken welds in the frame. The RV has not been inspected by the manufacturer. Manufacturer has only asked more questions and asked for additional photos. We walked into the RV and noticed that the cabinets had moved and the trim was hanging down. We first noticed this on June 5th. Called the dealership on June 7th to make an appointment to have them inspect it. The appointment was made for June 16th. That is when they told us we couldn't use it.

We used the gas water heater on our Rig. Come to find out, it blew the cover off the water heater, burned the wires and melted the case. We are very lucky our rig did not catch fire.