2021 GRAND DESIGN MOMENTUM Suspension Problems

The contact owns a 2021 Grand Design Momentum. The contact stated that while the trailer was parked, the contact became aware that the axle on the trailer had become inoperable. The contact stated that the axle springs had detached, and the I-beam frame of the trailer was bent. The trailer was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the axle springs and the frame had failed and needed to be replaced. The trailer was not repaired. The dealer was contacted; however, the trailer was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 8,000.

Mileage: 8,000

I am experiencing symptoms, consistent with excessive frame movement and structural failure in my 42 foot fifth wheel toy hauler RV. We have been monitoring this for the time we have owned it just over six weeks and have noticed an increase and symptoms that research shows indicate there is a problem.. we are seeking professional inspection and guidance to establish the scope of it and hopefully catching it at the earlier side in order to hopefully deal with the issue easier than after a total failure. The symptoms include 1- the interior upper section horizontal lag bolts that hold the camper walls to the frame all had come loose completely. There were four on one side and five on the other. 2- the underside curved fillon panel by the pin box is ripple and curved, and shows movement 3- the left and right sides of the camper towards the front are becoming out of square with the rest of the camper and the seals around the doors are showing larger gaps and looking more out of square 4- interior doors and exterior doors of the camper are all experiencing difficulty latching and are becoming out of square to the original structure 5- there is a changing of the distance, measurements both in height, and in relation to the lower frame members from the pin box where the camper tows from. And what appears to be some twisting out of square. 6- front panel door is buckling in the center and will no longer close geometry of the opening has been compromised It is clear that we are experiencing frame structural failure between the area where the camper toast from in relation to the main frame of the camper

We purchased our 2021 Grand Design 395M Momentum new in early 2021. Over the past year we noticed cabinets on the passenger side bedroom separating from there wood frames. We initially repaired the cabinets ourselves thinking it was just poor workmanship. This last trip from Houston to Myrtle Beach the cabinets again separated. Someone in the campground at Myrtle Beach informed us about the issue with Grand Design's frames. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the bottom of the cap had separated approximately 1" and when you lower the unit onto the 5th wheel hitch the pin box sinks an additional 1.5". It appeared sever enough that we were uncomfortable towing the unit back to Houston. We secured an enclosed trailer (at our expense) for our items and left the unit in storage (at our expense) until we could contact Grand Design. We contacted Grand Design and are scheduling our unit to be towed to a local Myrtle Beach dealer for repair. In my opinion if we would have attempted to tow the trailer it could have broken loose and collapsed on to our truck or broke free entirely. At a minimum I do believe a letter notifying owners of the issues is warranted and what repairs/changes are being made. It is only a matter of time before there is a catastrophic event with sever injury or death.

I am experiencing upper deck frame flex which our manufacturer has unsuccessfully attempted to repair twice (Nov 2021 and Oct 2024). The manufacturer refuses to accept responsibility for our safety concerns and has ceased all remaining repair attempts which was communicated to us through emails. This excessive flex causes my cargo doors to open while traveling, damage to the supporting frame structures (frame cracks throughout), and the attaching king pin that no longer supports the weight of our RV as evidenced by the 1 inch drop when hooking our RV up to the tow vehicle. Multiple repair attempts have been made by the manufacture at the manufacturer's facilities however, each attempt has failed and is simply weakening the already weakened frame. The manufacturer has extended the warranty to its consumer base however, my contention is this is merely "optics" given their refusal to apply a "permanent" fix to our RV that IS currently under their extended warranty.

After a trip we noticed that when we had the rv connected to the truck, the front closet would not close. There was also cracking on the nose cover of the rv. We (my wife and I) had a problem with the cargo doors and entry doors coming open on other trips and lost stuff on the highway so we talked to the rv dealer to get a frame inspection. what was found was that the frame was broke in a few places and the door side wall of the camper was not attached. We have also had the rear spring hanger break the year before while driving almost pulling me out of the lane I was traveling in. The camper is sitting at the dealers now because it cannot be towed, and the dealer will not weld the frame due to liability. missing and broken bolts in the frame and body were also discovered.

The frame and suspension on our 2021 Grand Design is failing. The frame on the upper deck has broken welds and there is visible movement in the upper deck when hitching and unhitching. The furniture inside the main bedroom move when hitching and unhitching. The side walls have started to detach from the frame as evidenced by screws backing out or breaking. The suspension has bent components. The frame is also bending in the right front. The hitch visibly moves into the upper deck when hitching.

Our 2021 Grand Design 395ms has FRAME FAILURE. The upper body of the frame has multiple broken welds and has separated during road use. If the welds continue to fail I have been told the lower half of the 5th wheel will fall to the pavement. If this were to occur during travel it could be catastrophic. This issue was iniitally repaired in thermopolis by a mobile welder. This initial repair failed and we had to contact the manufacturer. They initially told us it would be a couple months before their SRT team could repair. After multiple days we were connected with another mobile repair man from Montana Mobile Repair (Shawn) who stated "This is the worst frame repair he has had to make". After many hours he added extra bracing and support. Grand Design stated we needed to get it home. Approx. 1700 miles back to Michigan and we would need to setup an appointment for service repair. We are concerned with the fact that they are requiring owners to drive such defective units so far and putting the owners and others in harms way. We had no choice but to make the drive. We were denied any other forms of help such as flying the family home or paying for the extended stay until SRT arrived on site for the repair. Our final communication says once we arrive in Michigan to contact Grand Design and they will send someone to pick up our rig and transport it Grand Design.

5th wheel with frame flex issues. Compartment doors and entry/exit doors open while traveling down the road. The underlying issue is frame flex.

Our frame is showing signs of excessive flex, when we hook up our trailer to the tow vehicle.

We are victims of frame failure. First sign was a creaky floor in the bedroom. Screws worked their way out of the wood flooring and pushed up underneath the linoleum. The movement of the nose cap pushed screws out of the trim and seal piece on the underside of the front cap. We reseated screws, upgraded screws, resealed this at least 5 times and now use gorilla tape to avoid water intrusion. The underbelly has fallen down while traveling so we had to reinforce this ourselves. Our driver side bay door will fly open when traveling. It locks but the locks will not hold it closed when the rig starts to flex. We now gorilla tape the door every time we travel to avoid objects flying out of our bay into traffic. The partition between the wet bay and the storage bay has bent. Our front driver side jack is not straight, it points outward. There is rubbing of the shelving and trim in the bedroom. The board that has the slide rollers under the main bed has failed. We have pinched decals on the exterior of the nose cap. The pin box sinks up into nose cap when hitched up. We have a toy hauler however we do not haul any vehicles or toys in our rig. We have had to replace both back leaf springs due to them failing. The main lighting panel has been damaged in transit so that the exterior accent lights will no longer turn off. This is an electrical hazard as well as an annoyance to anyone that camps near us. The roof seal that attaches the roof membrane to the front cap is elevated and not flush. When traveling from TX to Indiana for our frame failure appointment, the roof membrane completely shredded and fell back over the air conditioner. We had to gorilla tape the remaining roof to make it the rest of the way. Grand Design is not issuing a recall yet. Our rig is dangerous for us and anyone on the road with us. Our rig is in the shop right now and we have the highest hopes that it is properly fixed, and we do not have to return like so many others are.

There are hairline cracks in the frame / Axle hanger(s), throughout the entire inside floor there are drops / gaps when a level is put down of a minimum of 1/8" - showing symptoms of frame flex / failure. On the road, the trailer produces excessive sway, bounce, and movement at speeds of 45 mph and above to the point where control has almost been lost on the roadway. It has been towed and tested with 3 different vehicles (2019 F250 Diesel, 2022 F450 Dually Diesel, and 2023 F250 Gas). documentation, video proof, Multiple witnesses, and different drivers all with over 7+ Years up to 30+ years' experience have tested this and have come up with the same results. Upgrades were made to both tow vehicle(s), Hitch(es), and trailer as suggested by Grand Design RV. Grand Design has stated after investigation that the axles on this unit were installed 5" out of the normal manufacturing of a Momentum 31G and there is a 1/2" difference between the driver's side front axle hanger and rear passenger side axle hanger. Trailer has been weighed multiple times with various loading procedures to make sure everything was evenly distributed side to side and front to rear. The trailer has not been overloaded yet the leaf springs were flat before upgraded to heavier weights. Tires have shown uneven wear patterns. Hitches have been set up in various positions per manufactures requests without any success. Grand Design has not taken responsibility nor attempted to fix the issues with the unit even with the proof submitted to them. Instead, they have been combative, dismissive, and try to bully their way out of their responsibilities. I've invested my own funds over the course of 3 years to attempt at rectifying the issue with no success. My family will not even travel in the same vehicle as me because they fear for their safety as I do as well as the safety of everyone on the roadway. This, however, does not concern Grand Design as they've unprofessionally stated to me consistently.

Frame flexing issues. Storage compartment doors opening while towing and loosing belongings.

In february 2023 we noticed several internal (sawdust, exposed finish nails, floor noises, broken trim, pinched wall coverings) and external (multiple locked doors opening in transit)signs that our RV frame was experiencing excessive flexing, more than what is expected and necessary for a nearly 42' metal vehicle frame. The frame has since failed, the suspension is underrated for the weight of the vehicle. The manufacturers UVW and GVWR sticker knowingly contained incorrect OEM information with proof from a CAT scale leading to me as the owner believing the vehicle could have been loaded with more OEM item weight from the manufacturer than what was accounted for and annotated. Despite understanding the allowable weights and keeping this RV well under the advertised GVWR, the 6 separate leafsprings of the suspension are all flattened. The upper deck frame failed under normal on-road (and very little) use. A 2024 TSB was issued on my RV for "upper deck flex". .5" of movement at the pin box was the "within limits" passing grade. My unloaded and empty RV's measurement taken by an authorized service center by the manufacturer in keeping with the TSB, measured 1.5" of flex at the pin box. This failure was so great it led to the manufacturer instructing the Service center to not move it or release it to me out of safety concerns. It has been at the service center since 4/10/2024 ti present without any instruction or communication from the manufacturer on how to proceed either under warranty or otherwise.

Frame failure causing the vehicle to be unsafe to tow given the failure is in the PIN area. If the PIN box fails that could cause a catastrophic accident resulting in great harm or death to the driving public. Grand Design has failed to take full ownership of this issue with 100's of their large 5th wheel. On inspection welds are weak or missing leading to these RV's becoming unsafe to tow down the road. While GD has approved some work to remediate the broken welds, it's minimum effort and not a full fix. It will still be unsafe to tow with root cause in their upper deck walls not being addressed.

This is in addition to safety report #11540112. While further inspecting the trailer, the right rear shackle bolt was also found to be broken in half. The spring was still on, but it was probably working its way out, which would have cause the same failure as the left side, in the original report.

Left rear wet bolt sheared mid-bolt at the hole where the grease comes out to grease the sleeve in the spring eye. Spring was sliding side to side, causing the shackle hanger to bend and the spring to detach from the shackle. I have Summo springs on the trailer, and the one on the left rear took the weight of the trailer, and may have prevented further issue's. This occurred on the freeway at approximately 65 mph. Safety concern would be uncontrolled axle due to the spring holding the axle not being attached to the frame, and possible uncontrolled swaying.