GRAND DESIGN Complaints

Excessive Upper Deck Frame Flex. Unit is currently at Busted Knuckle Mobile RV Repair Auto, RV & Trailer in Henderson NV and has confirmed the unit is out of spec for Frame Flex. Grand Design has authorized minimal repair. See attached document for issues/symptoms.

Report of RV cracked frame and other structural failure 2021 GRAND DESIGN TRANSCEND XPLOR 297QB CA [XXX] VIN [XXX] Purchased: [XXX] Summary of problems reported: - Cracked frame - Caved slide-out - Collapsed fridge cabinet in slideout, and deformed slide-out. - Tire worn out unevenly, with no thread in the inside (only) History summary: July 2023, when tires cupped or separated: so new tires installed. September-November 2023: inquired about alignment, but dealers and manufacturers said that alignment is not done in trailers. Camping World finds brakes of one side only worn out. July 2024: Fridge in slide-out cabinet collapses. Slideout is deformed, caved and rubs ground. One tire is completely worn out near the inside wall only. September-November 2024. Bounced around between dealers, Grand Design, and suppliers about the problem December 2024. Finally the dealer inspected the frame and detected that it is not just out of square measurements, but it is cracked. They reported that: - The RV is unsafe to drive - They can not fix the frame - To contact Grand Design about the warranty - They would not want the RV to sit in their lot for much longer. Grand Design has bounced again to Lippert, frame manufacturer, and they are not responding. Given the way Grand Design has constantly responded to my reports and warranty requests, related to the tire wearing, slide out collapse, and finally the frame found cracked, I have a strong reason to believe that the frame was damaged July 2023 or earlier, and Grand Design bounced back to me, or deflected my reported problems to suppliers, instead of indicating in first place to inspect the frame, and knowing that there was the potential of severe security risks. I can report extensive documentation and photos. Thank you for your attention. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

We are having issues with the frame flex failing, screws popping out from around the slides and also around the wheel wells. Seams on the exterior are pulling apart, roof is pulling away in several spots. The slides are pulling in crooked, external compartment doors open while traveling down the highway. Sawdust is noted in multiple spots in the interior of camper. We had the springs fall apart ( they literally fell off onto the highway!) and caused the axle to shift forward while driving down the interstate. Our camper was going sideways down the highway and caused a flat tire and left us stranded on the side of the highway. Thankfully we didn’t not hit any other vehicles. There is also a burning smell in the camper, the generator turns on and off randomly by itself.

The metal frame supporting my RV body has started to crack. If a complete frame failure occurred while traveling on the highway it could/would cause a catastrophic loss of control and could/would result in major loss of life. This is a common problem with the Grand Design RV line and they have recently extended the warranty because of this issue. It is a well known and documented problem and a national recall should be put in effect. I would not have known about this possibly dangerous issue had I not read about it online and then inspected my RV;s frame exterior frame. I am also concerned that there may be additional frame cracks covered by body panels and I firmly believe Grand Design needs to inspect my RV for additional cracks that I am not able to do myself! I also should not have to be responsible for bearing the cost of repairing a defective frame that is happening to lots of RV owners and appears to be a manufacturing defect. This cost of repair should be the burden of the RV company.

Multiple systems failed on this unit. Trailer Brake failure—The rear trailer brake wires were discovered to be severed inside the wheel drum from the factory. For the first year of use they were inoperable. This was suspected and confirmed with a thermal camera. The tow vehicle also alarmed “Check trailer brakes” while driving. A dealer inspected them and found the wires severed. This was repaired. Suspension failure—the rear driver side leaf spring broke on a paved highway 9 months after purchase. Pulled over immediately to inspect the issue and repair it. On 2 other separate occasions, we found broken wet bolts (after the unit was sitting in one place, unmoved for weeks). Also a cracked equalizer was replaced under warranty within the first year. The front passenger side leafspring also broke on an empty unit. Frame Failure & opening baggage compartment doors, slide out backing out in transit—symptoms of excessive upperdeck flex and frame failure began immediately upon purchase. Baggage compartment doors frequently open in transit. This has been a significant safety risk to the operator as well as other drivers. On more than one occasion the doors open in dense traffic in the middle of a city with nowhere to safely pull over. None of the contents of the compartment has fallen out to our knowledge, but could very easily fall out since none of the doors can be adequately secured. One door was replaced, but the issue not resolved. Upon further inspection, there were severely broken welds in the frame of the unit. The unit has sustained over 22 hours of welding on it to repair and reinforce the damaged frame. However, this has been repaired a total of 3 separate times. There is no guarantee that the repairs will hold moving forward. Also a result of the broken frame, the slide out began backing out in transport. Before leaving, the slide out was fully retracted and measured. Upon arrival the slide would be backed out 0.5-1” from the pre-departure measuremen

While trailering our 42 foot 5th wheel down [XXX] in Florida I looked out my sideview mirrors and found the forward aspect of our passenger side opening into traffic during travel. I have also had to add external straps to bay doors as they have opened up during travel. All of these items are available for inspection. I am trying to get the slide fixed today as it is an integral part of our living space, and we cannot travel with the slide inoperative. By having these items open up during travel there is danger to passing by vehicles, as well as those behind us during travel, as items or slide parts could fall out onto the road. As occupants, we are in danger due to forward focus on travel being interrupted and in the case of a slide moving out, there is a weight distribution change. There are components of the slides that have broken over past few months for reasons unknown. They have always functioned for us until this last road trip when we were caught off guard by the slide opening on its own accord during travel on freeway. The RV was inspected in March 2024 by an authorized dealer for other warranty repairs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Our new 2024 Momentum 414M suffered a landing gear failure - while returning to hitch height the passenger side landing gear cylinder housing broke, causing the camper to fall to it's belly. Upon further research, Grand Design has had issues with frames flexing. Also - the hydraulic cylinder mfg has a gen 2 model that has reinforcement where ours failed. Either way the frame is currently twisted. It's unknown if the cylinder housing simply failed and it caused the drop, which caused frame twist, OR if the frame was flexing, put additional strain on the cylinder which caused it to fail. The factory has been fighting us on repairing or replacing it since the end of October 2024.

Frame Failure. When hitching to the RV, the 5th wheel hitch sinks into the bottom of the RV, placing the entire hitch head on an upwards facing angle.

Based on internet craze of and symptoms of Frame Flex | Frame Failure on Grand Design Momentum 5th wheels I had my unit measured for Fram Flex by Grand Design at the GD East Coast Rally. According to their measurements at that time I was 1/16 inch away from needing to be concerned regarding frame flex. After the fact in reading Lippert Components Incorporated (LCI) measuring instructions Grand Design did NOT measure my unit per LCI's instructions. After much thought and continued symptoms of frame flex we decided to incur personal expenses and took our unit to Affinity RV group of Goshen Indiana to have an independent frame inspection completed. Affinity RV measured our unit following Lippert measuring instructions and confirmed Frame Flex. They are adding gussets and other assorted items to correct this Grand Design manufacturing defect.

On walk through rear awning flew off in slight breeze, took 4 years to get repaired with covid and parts availability, could have just as easily came off on the road, had two 3/4'' screws holding it on and into skin, not frame. Upon looking at bedroom night tables gap at front cap found rub marks on wallcovering and sawdust from rubbing/flexing cabinets from perceived frame flex. back garage man door would open by itself while traveling if deadbolt not used , front man door sticks and screen door has to be opened separately with considerable force. Will be opening a claim for flex frame with Grand Design