Conqueror Companion A-Frame Failure!!

[TRON]

Quote "Manufacturers don't like admitting to design flaws, look at "LR",Ford,Toyota etc. It is the way they handle it that sets them apart."

Are you crazy? what flaws?

Conqueror are quiet, I wonder why? - if some one was dissing m products I would say something.

In the USA this issue would, after proper investigation and assessment be a classical opportunity for "a class action suite" if the matter warranted it.

I only noticed this thread this morning. I have a Companion and will check and report back. The Companion design is such that ii tends to be nose heavy by nature and overloading will exacerbate the problem of the weakened A-frame.

[lekhubu943]

Some needs to really get off their high horses. Brand blindness could be a killer, literally.

A fault is a fault is a fault. Congo experienced this. He told us about it. Engineers and technical guys agreed. The manufacturer is shrugging their shoulders. I did not see any brand bashing.

There are two options: go and check your caravan and remedy or ignore what is said here, no need to get into kicking a man that is down and probably out of pocket by quite a bit.

[Spartan101]

Well, I for one will not be getting one of these in the future, that's for sure.

[lekhubu943]

Well Spartan, that is your decision, but keep in mind that everything can break.

There is not one brand that is perfect or does not have some sort of fault or weakness that might be problematic in future.

Anybody thinking their vehicle or caravan or trailer is immune to problems are in for a big surprise and usually react very negative to honest, hard threads like this one.

The key for prospective buyers and current owners, is to be informed and open minded and make intelligent decisions based on info available.

[DarylB]

Some needs to really get off their high horses. Brand blindness could be a killer, literally.

A fault is a fault is a fault. Congo experienced this. He told us about it. Engineers and technical guys agreed. The manufacturer is shrugging their shoulders. I did not see any brand bashing.

There are two options: go and check your caravan and remedy or ignore what is said here, no need to get into kicking a man that is down and probably out of pocket by quite a bit.

You are so right. I cannot believe the petty bickering that goes on on this Forum at times due to silly blind brand loyalties.

[Cats]

Well Spartan, that is your decision, but keep in mind that everything can break.

There is not one brand that is perfect or does not have some sort of fault or weakness that might be problematic in future.

Anybody thinking their vehicle or caravan or trailer is immune to problems are in for a big surprise and usually react very negative to honest, hard threads like this one.

The key for prospective buyers and current owners, is to be informed and open minded and make intelligent decisions based on info available.

Well said

CATS

[oradba69]

Well Spartan, that is your decision, but keep in mind that everything can break.

Agree. The issue is how it is handled by said brand.
What always baffle my mind is that a brand would rather lose sales due to bad publicity than spending a few bucks with a recall to fix the problem.

[Grant1]

Just some questions,

Are the Van's still under warranty?
Did the OEM service these Vans as per there schedule ?
What distance are these Vans averaging a month?
Did you inform OEM that these were going to be rental units?
What extra maintenance programmes are you following knowing that rentals are abused?


Out of warranty and a rental, you will struggle to get ay manufacturer to assist you after you have posted his on the internet.

[TRON]

Divvie I am just using your post to express a few of my opinions and not having a go at you.

I am not sure why some of the forum guys are thrashing the good name of a reputable supplier? Or am I missing something..... Conqueror have the right of response and they are a commercial member of this forum and so too many of their shareholders, owners an management. I do hope that we will get their comment.

from what I have read since the 1st post is that up and until yesterday, there were no concerns as to the reliability of the companion and more so on issues with the a frame. This is true, however most members (Companion owners) are concerned that there is an issue around the A-frame design and that there could be specific flaw with the "hole" being a weak point. A professional engineering report should set this straight. Very few designs hold up to excessive abuse. I am not referring to normal usage. In the instance of a 4X4 trailer normal is that it should be capable to handle what rough off-road conditions. The professional engineer would have access to such specifications etc. I would expect Conqueror to get this done and to then give feedback and implement any recommendations.

Companion (and other brands) owners should aware of this issue and check for the fault.

Now that one person, who did not load or towed the unit himself, had a failure on the unit, now suddenly a number of people perceive this to be a known problem. I do believe that the idea behind a forum of this nature is to inform and discuss problems of this nature, now that it is known to have occurred just take care! Brand blindness and brand bashing is human nature and both can be distasteful and cloud fair argument. I our responses we should show empathy and apply fairness to all.

how many units had similar problems that we know of? Seemingly only two .... And that is two out of huge number manufactured as from around 2009. And from the two units, we still do not know if they were serviced regularly and whether they were abused or not. The fact is that with giving the benefit of "normal" use and not abuse to Cong's renters then two is two too many.

As the saying goes in Afrikaans .... Een swaeltjie maak nie n somer nie. Nee maar hy wys dat sommer op pad is!

i personally know a number of happy companion owners who actually have towed the companions over van Zyl and up to the Serengeti ... Without structural problems. Add me I am also currently a satisfied owner.

@Congo, seeing that you are making the averments regarding this "known issue" and generalizing, I trust that you can give the facts on similar cases and how they were maintained .... If not, it can be risky to keep on your current path bad mouthing a supplier on open forum.

[divvie]

Tron,
I agree with you (mostly)on this.

I do however fee that this is not a common issue, all vehicles can have the Friday vehicle ......... but rather one unhappy client using the forum to get an audience ......

I for one are not brand loyal, albeit that we all have our preferences ......

I have however contacted Conqueror, seeking some insurances .....

[Charlie100]

There is also the second hand market that can be affected by this

all of a sudden you would wonder what happened to that 5 year old companion thats for sale on gumtree...

I actually informed the buyer of my 7 year old companion to go have a look, just think what that person would think of me if it happened to him after 6 months of use

[Mitsu Fan]

Just my 5c. I am a Mech Eng and first things I look at are build quality.
The first Conquered Vans that came out obviously drew my attention and very new ones were showing rust. Closer inspection of the attachments etc gave me a distinct opinion of poor design input. Did not need to crawl under it to verify my view.
Not surprised. And their attitude stinks as far as the remedial action goes.
They can keep those horrible brown clamshells thank you.

[JLK]

They can keep those horrible brown clamshells thank you.

it seems that sometimes manufacturers prefer to deny things rather to face all the claims. Even Toyota does that.

Repairs done on my 3t cattle trailer. Flens welded on the side of the chassis. It cracked just where that triangular plate stops on the chassis.
Last weekend I loaded 3.5 ton on it

[Grant1]

Biggest opinions of members who have never owned a Conqurorer. The member wet to Conqurorer and was told, out of warranty and also a rental unit that sees excessive use and abuse. Did not get the answer he wanted and then starts a BS post.

[dave saunders]

Biggest opinions of members who have never owned a Conqurorer. The member wet to Conqurorer and was told, out of warranty and also a rental unit that sees excessive use and abuse. Did not get the answer he wanted and then starts a BS post.

Buy an Echo Chobe 2. Built like a Bratwurst vendoring van and tough as nails. Mine has been over Baviaanskloof, Tanzania, zambia malawi moremi etc. Not a bit of trouble other than brakes, due to 2 nuts falling off. No corrosion due to stainlees chassis.
Every one is trying to reduce weight at expense of strength.
My advice is forget looks and go for durability

[casper.mostert]

My Metalian was recalled 3 or 4 times since I bought it.

Heinz always said safety first. There have been quite a few improvements on the Maxi that I don't have, but everytime Heinz made an improvement regarding safety he recalled the trailer. This is why I will recommend and buy another Metalian. Customer satisfaction is everything.

[CMK]

I had a 2012 Conqueror Companion and on a Botswana trip in 2014, the A frame of mine cracked just before braking, but another family that toured with us, Companion, A frame broke completely off. Luckily it was the second last day of our trip and we realized it when we wanted to hook on to drive from Kasane to Elephant sands. We did not abuse our trailers, we did not overload them!! The A frames broke exactly at the same points where the other Companions( mentioned by Congo and Jannie) A-frames had failures. Long story short- we argued with Conqueror for about 1 and a half months after which they gave us new A-Frames, my companion was at the factory, so I only paid for the fitment with a service. My friend fitted his A-frame by himself. So we where very pleased by the way Conqueror helped us. But it is true, this is a very bad designing flaw and it could end up in a very bad tragedy if not seen and fixed in time. Needles to say, we both sold our companions right after it was fixed.

I hope that other companion owners will take this information that Congo is giving very seriously. Check the A-Frame regularly for failures to avoid accidents like this.

[Prof]

Biggest opinions of members who have never owned a Conqurorer. The member wet to Conqurorer and was told, out of warranty and also a rental unit that sees excessive use and abuse. Did not get the answer he wanted and then starts a BS post.

For real?

And I don't own one.

Pointing out an issue can actually help a manufacturer in the LONG run.

As stated in a post....how it is dealt with is how manufacturer is remembered...think Ford and the Kuga debacle

[divvie]

prof,
i am still unsure how we can call one "a -frame" with a problem, not knowing what caused it to crack, "an issue"?

It is silly to keep on blowing smoke in the air without having all the facts.

Lets wait for a response from conqueror, alternatively a report by a qualified professional on the specific unit, which hopefully the OP will obtain, before speculating further.

[Prof]

BTW....has anybody sent a link to this thread to the manufacturer?