Our sencond big trip of this year has indeed had some "adventures." 

We left Pennsylvania, headed toward Utah. We got on I80 with the exception of circling south of Chicago which put us on I70 for little until we returned to I80. Ohio roads were very nice. Indiana roads were markedly worse and Illinois roads weren't much better. Still, we traveled, taking advantage of Walmart parking lots for overnight stays with the exception of one night at a paid campground to take advantage of full hookups to drain tanks and refill fresh water. Plus, it was an opportunity for a shower without risk of filling the grey tank or running out of fresh water.

Once we got through Nebraska, we started hitting some pretty significant winds. In Wyoming, we saw signs warning of winds gusting to 40 mph. The next day, we saw warnings of winds gustingt to 60 mph. It is here that because of the higher altitude and the wind that the Frontier's lack of turbocharging was evident. Our mileage which was around 12-13 mpg at the lower, flatter altitude without the headwind became around 8.5 with the climbing and headwinds. It was difficult to maintain 60 mph and we spent much of the time in a low gear with the RPMs approaching 6,000 rpm. Still we made progress.

Coming into Utah, we were on I80 approaching the port of entry near Echo Utah when we had a blowout on the door side of the RPod. I felt a thump and saw the fender sailing behind us. I slowed down and pulled off. I was already past the entry ramp to the port of entry, so I pulled off enough to be well off the travel lanes. I saw a truck hit the fender which went sailing off into the median between the north and southbound lanes. There was a section of tread on the right lane. I was able to get the tire changed. I was glad that I had bought the battery operated impact wrench. It made the job much easier. I finished putting the spare on, torquing the lug nuts, and putting the blown-out tire on the carrier. Then I got my safety vest (highly recommended to get a reflective safety vest), and set out to retrieve the tread and the fender. A highway safety vehicle pulled up to where the tread was and picked up the tread while I was on the way. They assisted me in getting across the lanes to retrieve the fender, which was mangled beyond the ability to reuse. I never did see where the marker lights went as they were not on the fender when I found it.

We finished the trip to our daughter's house. I then went to Discount Tire and purchased two Goodyear Load Range D Endurance tires, even though the one tire still had plenty of good tread on it. I did not want mismatched tires on the trailer. The spare is still a Carlisle LR-D tire, but it is the spare. I am going to have to complete our trip without one fender as it seems to be impossible to locate one while on the way.

We left our daughter's house in Utah, headed toward Arizona to see our younger daughter and our grandchildren there. Along the way, we wanted to pull off and saw an open area that looked pretty good. It looked smooth, so I didn't slow down much before pulling off -- BIG MISTAKE! We were bouncing over the hard-packed dirt worse than any time since we had the trailer. We got stopped and went into the trailer to find a big mess. That was not the worst off it though. I did notice that the frame seems to have bent just a little bit over the slide-side axle attachment point. Not only that, but two of the factory supplied outriggers that I had installed had split along the place where it bolted to the frame and the horizontal support. My homemade outriggers which were made of sturdier material did not fail. The failure of the outriggers probably prevented the frame from bending worse since the slide was then sitting on the ottomans.

We continued our trip, visiting the Natural Bridges National Monument and the Four Corners monument. I found that by jacking up the side a little, that I could get the slide free enough to not bind on the ottomans. We finished this leg of the trip to our daughter's house. While we are here, I will try to fabricate two more outriggers to replace the failed ones. I will also need to check the axle because it looks like in spite of my bracing, it may have lost its crown. I won't know for sure until I can get under there and check.

One other thing that happened was that I noticed the brakes not working well, so I found that the bearing seals had leaked. I cleaned up the brakes and they are working adequately. When we get home, they will get a gong over with new seals before our next trip. I am amazed that even with a piece of the tire wrapped around the axle that the brake wiring was not damaged. I did have to tie up the loose ends of the marker light wiring.

That brings us to the present. We are set up in our daughter's driveway. I am glad that I installed a 30A RV outlet the last time we were here. Chandler temperatures are way too high to take without the air conditioner running.

The new refrigerator is running well. It is able to keep good temperatures, even in the hot weather. We can't boondock as long, but our food stays cold.

Edit:  I visited Harbor Freight and bought a Titanium Flux 125 Amp Welder (inverter wire fed welder). There was a 20% off savings on it so it was a good price. I have the cheaper welder at home, but it will be replaced by this one and the other one will be donated, probably to Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE. Since this one is inverter and uses DC instead of AC for welding, it should do a better job. I did a couple of test welds, and the results look much better than I was getting with the old one. I also purchased the accessories I will need to do the welding including a self-darkening helmet.

I also visited Lowe's and purchased some angle iron and flat stock to use to fabricate the brackets. My daughter has the rest of the tools I will need. however, in order to use the 30A RV outlet as a power source, I did end up ordering a 30A male plug to 15A female socket dogbone. I have one, but it is back home in NC. It will be in Tuesday, so I will do the welding once it arrives. In the meantime, I will be cutting and bending the iron to the shape I need.

Here's a picture of the tire:

What year is your Frontier? The rear end going out is concerning. 

The best thing is that the cost of repair should be much less than I was expecting. I will still relay the information to Lippert, but I'm not going to try to file with insurance since that would likely lead to higher rates so paying the cost out of pocket is likely a better option.

The whole bent frame thing has me shaking my head. Having spent years working in and owning a motorcycle shop, bent frames where something you would expect from either a serious crash or from an inferior brand like something from China. To have a frame bend from "normal" use blows my mind.

I will report this to the NHTSB. It does look as if the axle bent again, but I will take measurements later, when it cools off somewhat outside. It is too hot right now to be doing that sort of thing.

So the question becomes--

 what can an owner do proactively to reinforce the frame at the rear of the axle attachment area?

Is there something bolt-on that we can do ourselves or does it require welding? any idea of dimensions and placement? other details?

I'm sure there is a lot more to frame reinforcement than simply bolting on a metal plate to the side of the frame rail.

thanks for your thoughts, as usual they are spot on.

Safe Travels

Vann

It is possible that a U shape could be bolted in place, but welding is likely a much stronger way to do this. I will try to take some measurements as well as pictures to post.

Hopefully feedback is making it back to FR and they act on it so future buyers won't have to worry about these things.

At the end of the day, it is the owner who has to determine their use case and where they are willing to compromise to reach their intended goal(s)