[ibyers]

Here is the e-mail I sent to gulfstream and CC'ed the dealer

Hello

I am writing this e-mail to bring attention to a design/engineering flaw with the 2011 Trailmaster. I am not expecting any compensation, nor work to be performed, my motivation for writing this e-mail is strictly a safety concern that I want to bring to your attention.

I bought my trailer in the fall of 2010.

During the spring of 2011 I performed an inspection prior to a trip, I noticed some particular tire wear on the outside of the tires on the door side. Upon closer inspection the tires were bottoming out/ hitting the bottom of the trailer. This issue causes severe gouging on the outside of the tires, which will ultimately lead to tire failure. It is only the very outside of the tire that hits the edge of the frame under the membrane (indicated in some of the pictures via drawings).

I took it to Western RV to have it looked at. They indicated that the leaf springs appeared “flattened” and it appeared I had the trailer over weighted. I knew this was not the case as I had my trailer weighed fully loaded and was under the gvw by 1000 lbs. But being unable to prove this, and possibly being on the hook for the bill if gulfstream did not deem it to be a warranty issue, I decided to replace the leaf spring myself. At that time I thought it was just a defective leaf spring.

I contacted gulfstream via e-mail and corresponded with John Bruhn. He was very friendly and sent a replacement leaf spring at no charge.

This brings me to the recent events.

I took the trailer to a friend’s shop to assist me with the leaf spring replacements. As soon as he saw the situation he knew this was not a leaf spring, or an over weighted issue. This was a clearance issue. We decided to take a drive to the trailer storage lot where I keep my trailer, as I have seen 3 other Trailmasters stored here. Upon inspection of all 3, ALL had the exact same issue!!

When I spoke to the owner of one of the trailmasters and showed him the issue he was completely unaware. Unfortunately he does not have the resources that I have to get this fixed on his own, and will be taking it in for repair. I am concerned he will be told the same thing I was, that this is an overweight issue, warranty won’t cover it, and the leaf spring will just get replaced (THIS WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM)

In order to fix this issue the shop had to make small lift blocks to raise the trailer a small amount to resolve the clearance issue, yes I know this voids the warranty, but the warranty did nothing to fix this problem anyway.

I would be happy to discuss further and provide more pictures of the problem.