New Finding!!!!

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Maybe I missed my meds this morning. I'm going to have to sit with Jack and Jim on this...............[/font]

[whoofit]

It appears you have Al studs in the wall too, correct?

This is incredible. Hope they took care of the dissimilar metals corrosion somehow. This poses new problems for condensation and roof leaks now too.

At least thin wall steel structural tubing is better than wood.....or is it?

Thanks for bringing this forward!

LL ought to be ashamed.

[leslie]

Do you have a lawyer on speed dial?

[wcuhoppytoad]

I have to stop looking. I keep finding more!!! it appears I have a metal roof stud every 4 foot with two within a foot behind the air condition unit. There is two running half way down the front stopping in the middle of curve. There is one located in the slide out to the left of the window.[img style="" style="max-width:100%;" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah6/wcuhoppytoad/camplite%208_zpssbfxhjax.jpg"]

[fasteddieb]

I was installing some magnets today to hold up my upper cabinets and one of them stuck to my ceiling. Went in the home to get a larger magnet and it appears that the roof supports and framing around my door/lower windows must be steel. Magnet stuck in multiple locations. I am not that concerned, but just tired of constantly finding out my rig is not the product I thought it was.

On the one hand, our trailers were advertised as "Wood Free", not necessarily "Steel Free".

On the other hand, I just took a magnet down to our 2014 21BHS (built in 2013) and there's only one place a magnet sticks consistently - along the "seams" in the ceiling:






A little around the LED fixtures - I imagine they have a steel frame or similar.

Curious as to when and if something changed!

[wcuhoppytoad]

[wcuhoppytoad]

[img style="" style="max-width:100%;" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah6/wcuhoppytoad/camplite9_zpsrng5hd52.jpg"]

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Do you think you're finding continuous steel sheeting, steel tubing frame members, or just steel screws??
[/font]

[drdave]

You could be rich if you have somehow found the long sought after aluminum magnet.  Do you have a live jackelope?  Left threaded chimney screw?  Rainbow farting unicorn?  Motorcycle doors? Seriously I'm ready to grab a magnet and investigate my own camper...oh wait... I have a steel frame... I will still check above the floorboards.

[wcuhoppytoad]

Not screws because it remains stuck to the ceiling for the whole width of roof. It acts like it is following  a stud because it appears to be no wider than 2 to 3 inches. The side wall studs seem to be on just one side of each window. In the front curve of the unit there seems to be 2 curved studs but it they only run down to the middle of the curve and stops. I watch the videos just now on the Livinlite website showing the "All aluminum structure" (The video with the trailers turning to see all the studs). I have noticed they do not show the 21 footer. Curious if the 21 is built a bit different.

[drdave]

So I also found some ferrous parts in mine.    I can't reach most of my roof without a step stool and didn't have one handy.   I did confirm I have 1 metal beam in the roof similar to hoppytoad in my bedroom area where the ceiling is lower.    I did also find magnetic areas above the window frames.  I have different windows than you guys, but I think this must be something to do with the window frames as it seems like there are vertical "strips" that end about 6 inches above the top corner of each window.  I also found a spot in my shower, but it was a spot as opposed to a vertical beam or strip.  Since I have a 5th wheel it was definitely pre-thor so I can't blame it on "thor cutting corners".   I, as previously mentioned, have the superduper corrosion resistant steel frame due to the 5th wheel so that doesn't count.    

[montedtrotter1]

Have you weighed your trailer at a public scale (CAT) or equivalent? MY 21 BHS weights right at 5000 lbs with all our gear, two full propane tanks, two six volt batteries, electric tongue jack, and steel slide out cargo tray in front cargo area. I need to get an updated weight  as the 5000k weight was about one year ago. My tongue weight using a tongue weight scale was exactly 700 lbs. I have got this down to 600 lbs, when using a bike rack on rear bumper with bikes and not loading anything that weights much in the front cargo area. We also put our hang up clothes in the rear until reaching our campsite, again getting the tongue weight down to 600 lbs. If you have that much steel added, your trailer may be several hundred lbs. heavier than older units with a possibly higher tongue weight? Steel is not horrible but LL marketing has been based on all aluminum. Is this the new Normal for LL? Now you know why Thor got rid of the past LL President, he was probably bucking the new owner changes.

Buyer Beware! One cannot ask enough questions these days to make sure you get what you think you are getting! I do not think the dealers know what they are selling.

[daplumbr]

This is certainly worthy of followup to LL for an explanation. Their website is still plastered all over with the tag-line "all-aluminum structure". Since the stainless steel fasteners they use are not strongly magnetic, there is something going on. 

[wcuhoppytoad]

[p]My goal with my post was not to discourage anyone and I really was hoping I could get some clarification as to what I found today. I am upset with my findings but still feel that our units are much better than any run of the mill rigs you can purchase from Camping World. I am only concerned because every time I mount steel aftermarket products to my rig, I always make sure to add a barrier between the two metals. I get worried about how the new company seems to bend words in their advertising and it makes me wonder what else they are bending. Years ago I found wood in my past 13 QBB when trying to repair a leak in our the shower. After I contacted the company they apologized and offered to fix issue. They blamed it on an outside contractor who built the showers, and  owned up to the mistake because of their advertising with NO WOOD NO ROT. For years they have had that slogan and just recently removed it from their webpage including the NO RUST. Weight is not a major issue for me but still aware when packing the rig for trips. If there is metal studs anywhere in that rig then the company better change their new slogan from ALL Aluminum Structure to Aluminum Structure with added steel support. We all make our choices by what we read and research. When we get mislead not everyone will be as understanding!!!!! I really would like to hear from the employee from Livinlite who has been given the task to read and respond to this forum. [/p]

[gbpack]

There has to be some explanation for this. No way is there steel in the walls or ceiling. We were at the factory twice last fall before ordering our 21BHS and even got an extensive tour of the factory floor where there were numerous trailers in various stages of construction. We walked thru the plant and saw the entire process from the beginning all the way to the end and the only steel I saw were the axles. And this was long after Thor purchased LL (after the change to wood cabinet faces but before the other changes that they've since made to the roof and less axles on some models). We saw only aluminum framing in the sidewalls and ceiling, and an aluminum floor. There has to be something else in there that the magnet is sticking to.