Propane cylinder safety issue

[buffresmgnt]

Dana and i have just returned from a 5 month, 11,000 plus mile trip from Georgia to the west coast and back.  We spent a couple of months in the northwest - Hood River Oregon, White Salmon Washington and the Olympic National Park.  We spent time visiting relatives in Oregon and California and then headed east once again.  Decided to stop at the Grand Canyon National Park, the Petrified Forest National Park and various COE campgrounds.  One issue that became apparent during our trip was the mounting bracket for the propane cylinder that was mounted on the tongue of the trailer.  We have an QS 8.1 off road version with the propane package.  We have yet to do any serious off reading with this trailer so abuse from off reading is not an issue.  My wife noticed a squeaking sound as we were getting ready to set up one evening and we narrowed it down to the propane cylinder.  I just figured that the mounting screws had become loose, but after removing the tank from the bracket, alas that was not the case.  The screws were tight, so tight that i had a hard time removing them so i could remove the bottom picee of the bracket from the trailer tongue.  As can be seen in the photos below you can see that the bracket broke at the attachment points where the screws attached the bracket to the tongue of the trailer.

I would STRONGLY SUGGEST that all owners of QS tent trailers that have a single propane tank mounted to the tongue of the trailer remove the tank and inspect the attachment points / screws on the mounting bracket.  I firmly believe that if this cylinder had decided to leave the trailer while in motion that both Dana and i would have gone out in a blaze of flaming glory.



[attachment id="1853" thumbnail="1"][attachment id="1854" thumbnail="1"]

[sandyu]

Trip sounds awesome. When ya got home did it feel good to have some hard walls again. I do enjoy my camper, but after month out having my own plumbing and some hard walls was nice.

I'll check my camper for fractures around holder. Thanks for advice.

Post some trip pics sometime.

[buffresmgnt]

Recalled 

[buffresmgnt]

Recalled

[buffresmgnt]

Pictures will be moved to Trip Reports.