Floor moves side to side

[LeeChastain]

The rear floor of my camper is moving side to side causing the rear side walls on the outside of camper to bulge.

 

[trailrydr]

Only seen those in haunted houses! LOL!

All joking aside, would take it back to your purchasing dealer and have them figure it out.

 

[huntr70]

The rear floor of my camper is moving side to side causing the rear side walls on the outside of camper to bulge.

The side walls are bolted to the floor, so if that is actually happening, you have some major structural issues....

 

[Soundsailor]

The rear floor of my camper is moving side to side causing the rear side walls on the outside of camper to bulge.

Could you post some pictures? That would help us understand what is happening.

 

[Likes to tow]

It's not your floor moving it's the rear and side wall !!!! Major structural issues with Reflections and other Grand Design trailers!!!! Do a youtube search and you will see that the back of your trailer is moving on top of the floor!!!! This causes a bulge inn the skirt at the bottom right where it meets the rear wall. How to fix this is going to be a nightmare or a major expense.

 

[Boykie]

Hi. Wondering if there is a current thread on this issue? And, if not covered by GD, anybody have a clue about cost of repair?

Attached you can see the back wall has "moved", causing the screws to tear the wall. I took it to the selling dealer, and they said the floor has dropped at the back, but cannot estimate without removing the underbelly. They will have to do that when they repair the iFrame cracks (currently waiting on Lippert to review 30hour estimate).

Reflection 150 240RL is a 2021. We bought it as our retirement RV, spent a lot of money on Victron with LIPO4 batteries etc, Flex roofing with lifetime warranty so we had peace of mind.

I say the bulge on the black trim at back corner. Investigated and could not find any damage so assumed maybe someone had backed into me (gently). It was while investigating this that I found youtube references to root cause.

Reached out to GD, who flipped me off to Lippert for iFrame issues and told me to get estimates. Two places that I selected (from Lippert "find local vendor" tool) did not want to touch the iFrame issues - so i arranged with the original sales vendor some 500 miles away for estimates. They took 3 weeks to provide an estimate on iFrame, but not the rear wall issue.

Not making progress fast. Am still asking GD to pick up the tab for the rear-wall as it becoming more apparent that this is fairly common, so probably a defect4
Anyway - new to the forum, so am probably missing current active threads on this wall issue. Please advise and i will move there.

Cheers

 

[Likes to tow]

This is exactly what my 2017 Reflection 27RL looked like!! I can positively tell you it was not anything connected to the I-Beam frame. The problem is caused by the bottom of the rear wall of the trailer is not bolted to anything solid !!!! The small 1/2 inch aluminum angle shown in the photo is fastened to the rear wall with short screws into the lauan board and the bottom of the angle is screwed into the floor. This is the only thing keeping the rear wall from moving back and forth during transit. Lauan board is only 1/4 inch thick and has no structural strength. It's basically used to provide something to glue the vinyl covering to. Using this surface with short screws accomplishes nothing. I eventually found my trailer had some 2 inch wide aluminum that went all the way across the back of the wall behind this lauan and about 3 inches above the floor. I purchased 4 inch aluminum angle and used 1 inch long self tapping screws to secure this new 4 inch angle to the floor and to the aluminum behind the lauan. I spaced the screws on the new aluminum angle about 6 inches apart. As they threaded into the aluminum I could feel them getting tight and drawing the angle up tight against the lauan.

Before I started this task I removed the bottom skirt from the outside of the trailer and could grab hold of the rear ladder and actually shift the back wall from side to side about 2 inches!!!!! All the screws in my trailer were missing or scattered about under the sofa. There are many youtubes on this problem and it's not just confined to Grand Design. This is just the way some of these trailers are assembled.

 

[Boykie]

This is exactly what my 2017 Reflection 27RL looked like!! I can positively tell you it was not anything connected to the I-Beam frame. The problem is caused by the bottom of the rear wall of the trailer is not bolted to anything solid !!!! The small 1/2 inch aluminum angle shown in the photo is fastened to the rear wall with short screws into the lauan board and the bottom of the angle is screwed into the floor. This is the only thing keeping the rear wall from moving back and forth during transit. Lauan board is only 1/4 inch thick and has no structural strength. It's basically used to provide something to glue the vinyl covering to. Using this surface with short screws accomplishes nothing. I eventually found my trailer had some 2 inch wide aluminum that went all the way across the back of the wall behind this lauan and about 3 inches above the floor. I purchased 4 inch aluminum angle and used 1 inch long self tapping screws to secure this new 4 inch angle to the floor and to the aluminum behind the lauan. I spaced the screws on the new aluminum angle about 6 inches apart. As they threaded into the aluminum I could feel them getting tight and drawing the angle up tight against the lauan.

Before I started this task I removed the bottom skirt from the outside of the trailer and could grab hold of the rear ladder and actually shift the back wall from side to side about 2 inches!!!!! All the screws in my trailer were missing or scattered about under the sofa. There are many youtubes on this problem and it's not just confined to Grand Design. This is just the way some of these trailers are assembled.

Thanks for those details - really appreciate. I am not familiar with the terms. I understand the need to remove the black skirting. Did you also remove the interior rear ‘wall’ - than thin covering?

 

[Likes to tow]

Here is an excellent youtube on a similar fix. This guy used slightly larger angle than what the factory did but I always overkill or over engineer everything so I used 4 inch angle. I wanted to be sure I had enough height to reach that aluminum bar behind the lauan. You can see in this video where the guy cut a section of lauan out to observe the aluminum behind it. The walls on 5th wheels apparently do not sit on top of the floor. They hang over the back and go below the floor level. The factory apparently does not fasten the bottom to anything and just uses 1/2 inch aluminum angle inside the trailer to hide the crack !!!! I would like to have a serious conversation with the engineering staff!!!

watch on youtube, very good video.

 

[Boykie]

Cheers mate. Much appreciated

 

[Likes to tow]

Here's another you tube in a 3 part series that explains in great detail how these things are assembled. You can see how the back wall hangs below floor level and thus the wall is only secured on top, and each side. Nothing other than a 1/2 inch cover on the inside secures the bottom. Watch this 3 part series......

 

[Boykie]

Hi again. Watched the first link you sent. I don’t believe that will fix - he is basically securing the floor to the thin interior wall covering. If you look at my photos, the same screws just tore a hole in my back wall / ‘wall covering’

I had seen that other series of 3 before. He diagnosed the problem but not the solution.

When I read your fix, I thought you were putting in a triangle between the sidewall and rear wall aluminum tubes

Did I mis understand?

 

[Likes to tow]

The second video was just to show how the wall shifts side to side and is visible with the lower outside skirt off. I repaired mine exactly like the first video. Using a 4 inch angle securely fastened to the floor and back wall. I used no triangle anywhere. The thin back wall on my Reflection has a two inch flat bar or tube from side to side just behind the lauan board.

 

[Boykie]

Thanks for the help. Given that the screws tore the back wall, I don’t think that would work for me.

Appreciate the input

 

[Likes to tow]

Thanks for the help. Given that the screws tore the back wall, I don’t think that would work for me.

Appreciate the input

The screws tore the back wall because 1/4 lauan has no structural value. You must find the aluminum vertical or horizontal metal behind the lauan. There are two ways you can do this. Mine was simple because the sofa sits against the rear wall and when removed I could explore by cutting small pieces of lauan out or by taking a small drill and drilling through the lauan. When the drill hit metal it was obvious so I marked the height with a Sharpie. Before long I knew exactly what was behind the lauan. The sofa covers my destroying the lauan in the small places where I explored and found aluminum . When you hit metal it's very obvious. This is what you want to fasten the angle to. Like stated earlier, my trailer has a two inch wide aluminum plate or square tubing behind the lauan about 3 inches above floor level. It goes from one side of the trailer to the other.......all the way across the back. The 4 inch angle I put in was tall enough to allow my screws to go into this metal. Watch the first video again. I'm not sure this guy went high enough to allow the screws to penetrate the aluminum. If not then the screws will pull back out. Lauan cannot be counted on.

 

[Boykie]

Makes sense. Thanks for dumbing it down for me.

Peace.
Boykie

 

[goducks14]

The screws tore the back wall because 1/4 lauan has no structural value. You must find the aluminum vertical or horizontal metal behind the lauan. There are two ways you can do this. Mine was simple because the sofa sits against the rear wall and when removed I could explore by cutting small pieces of lauan out or by taking a small drill and drilling through the lauan. When the drill hit metal it was obvious so I marked the height with a Sharpie. Before long I knew exactly what was behind the lauan. The sofa covers my destroying the lauan in the small places where I explored and found aluminum . When you hit metal it's very obvious. This is what you want to fasten the angle to. Like stated earlier, my trailer has a two inch wide aluminum plate or square tubing behind the lauan about 3 inches above floor level. It goes from one side of the trailer to the other.......all the way across the back. The 4 inch angle I put in was tall enough to allow my screws to go into this metal. Watch the first video again. I'm not sure this guy went high enough to allow the screws to penetrate the aluminum. If not then the screws will pull back out. Lauan cannot be counted on.

1/4" luan? I thought it was only 1/8". Regardless not enough meat for the job.

 

[Boykie]

Yeah, either way, paper thin.

I will ask GD for recommendation as the original design does not secure the rear wall to the floor but to aluminum tuning on side walls of rv, so I don’t really see this as long term fix

 

[Likes to tow]

Yeah, either way, paper thin.

I will ask GD for recommendation as the original design does not secure the rear wall to the floor but to aluminum tuning on side walls of rv, so I don’t really see this as long term fix

I believe the 1/2 inch angle already in place from the factory with those short screws has already secured the rear wall to the floor. Screws fell out and now the rear wall shifts side to side which allows the floor to protrude beyond the wall and bend the lower skirt on the outside of the trailer. I would be interested in continuing this conversation after you get input from Grand Design!!

Last November when I returned from a trip I found loads of information about these rear wall movements on Grand Design Reflections. After securing my wall as previously discussed in this forum thread I wrote a detailed email to Grand Design explaining what I had discovered, my method of repairing and specifically ask them if I had compromised the structural integrity of my rear wall by securing it so solidly to the floor. Their email response a few days later was rather short. About all they said was "Hello, the rear wall would also be fastened to the side walls as well." This tells me they did not disagree with solidly securing the bottom of the rear wall to the floor. Remember, they already did.....somewhat.....by using the dark grey 1/2 inch angle and short screws. Did they know the screws would pull out? Do they have any clue as to how to build a solid RV????

 

[Boykie]

I personally think the angle iron between floor and ‘wall’ is purely cosmetic.

If they wanted to secure rear wall using this, they would secure to aluminum framing in rear wall