--- title: "Open Range spring hangers break and the frame cracks above them" kind: "owner-report" recall: false brand: "highland-ridge-fifth-wheels" model: "open-range" year: 2019 slug: "highland-ridge-open-range-spring-hanger" url: "https://www.rigfixhq.com/issues/highland-ridge-fifth-wheels/open-range/2019/highland-ridge-open-range-spring-hanger" markdownUrl: "https://www.rigfixhq.com/issues/highland-ridge-fifth-wheels/open-range/2019/highland-ridge-open-range-spring-hanger.md" --- # Open Range spring hangers break and the frame cracks above them Owner reports are not official NHTSA recalls. Each report cites a public complaint, bulletin, forum thread, or manufacturer page. It is not a failure rate, a diagnosis, or a repair procedure. **Owner report** · Frame · 2019 Highland Ridge fifth wheels Open Range ## Symptoms NHTSA complaint ODI 11487746, on a 2018 Highland Ridge Open Range, says the spring shackles that hold the springs to the frame broke off. The rear axle moved forward and the tires rubbed. The owner wrote that a dealer and an insurance company both called it a manufacturing defect, and that there was no warning before the axle moved. Complaint ODI 11245732, filed August 14, 2019, on a 2019 Open Range, says the rear leaf-spring hanger broke at both bends while the owner was backing into a driveway in Mechanicsville, Virginia, on a trip from St. James, New York, to Myrtle Beach. The rear axle moved forward and the two tires on the door side touched. On the Open Range RV Owners Forum, an owner of a 2019 2410RL wrote on August 31, 2024, that the frame cracked just above the lower flange, immediately above the rear spring hanger, and that the coach was out of warranty. A reply on that thread says a spring bolt fell out and the repair was about $10,000. That figure is the reply. The reply does not name a year. ## Likely causes The 2019 complaint says the hanger broke at both bends and let the axle move forward. The 2018 complaint says the shackles broke off the frame. The 2019 2410RL owner wrote that the crack sits where the suspension loads the frame, and that there is no reinforcement for those loads. The complaint also says Lippert makes the chassis and that the owner had seen hanger failures on other brands. That sentence is the owner's. The posts do not show one broken hanger on every Open Range. ## Common fixes Look at the spring hangers and the frame just above them before a trip, especially the rear hangers. A hanger that has cracked or pulled off, or a crack in the rail above the hanger, is what these owners found. Tires that have moved together are what the 2018 and 2019 complaints describe. If a hanger has already broken, or the tires are touching, do not keep towing the trailer. The 2018 owner had a dealer look at it. The 2019 2410RL owner posted photos so other owners could look at their own frames. Welding a hanger or a cracked rail is shop work. Ask Highland Ridge or the frame maker to look at the rail and to say what they will repair before the coach is hauled. ## DIY difficulty Looking under the trailer at the hangers is something the owners describe doing. Repairing a broken hanger or a cracked rail, in these reports, was a dealer or a shop. There is no measured procedure here. ## Parts needed No Highland Ridge part number is named. The posts describe the spring hangers, the shackles, and the frame rail above the rear hanger. One reply says cross members were added. That is the reply, not a kit. ## Warranty notes This is not a recall. The 2018 owner wrote that a dealer and an insurance company called the broken shackles a manufacturing defect. The 2019 2410RL owner wrote that the frame crack was out of warranty. The 2019 complaint does not say who paid. A complaint is not a coverage decision for another Open Range. The years on this page are 2018 and 2019, which are the years these reports name. This site's other Open Range floorplans are separate models. ## Sources - [NHTSA complaints for 2018 Highland Ridge Open Range (ODI 11487746)](https://api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make=HIGHLAND+RIDGE+FW&model=OPEN+RANGE&modelYear=2018) - [NHTSA complaints for 2019 Highland Ridge Open Range (ODI 11245732)](https://api.nhtsa.gov/complaints/complaintsByVehicle?make=HIGHLAND+RIDGE+FW&model=OPEN+RANGE&modelYear=2019) - [Open Range RV Owners Forum thread on a 2019 2410RL frame crack above the rear spring hanger](https://www.openrangeowners.com/threads/2410rl-frame-crack-above-rear-spring-hangar-bracket.1108189/) Year page: [2019 Highland Ridge fifth wheels Open Range](https://www.rigfixhq.com/issues/highland-ridge-fifth-wheels/open-range/2019) HTML page: https://www.rigfixhq.com/issues/highland-ridge-fifth-wheels/open-range/2019/highland-ridge-open-range-spring-hanger