Conqueror Companion A-Frame Failure!!

[Charlie100]

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

it will probably take them 2 weeks to answer, like all their sales queries usually go - they still haven't phoned me back about a quote for a shower option for my companion, its been 2 months - and I sold the companion since

and that isnt the only time they take their time to phone back - i once wanted to know how much it would cost to add the new style beds to my companion - had to follow up 3 times telephonic-ally , and only after sending 2 emails did I receive a quote

[Erwin Schimper]

Get a mechanical PrEng to give you a report.

That should be the end of the 'argument'

Structural engineer. He analyse the beam for you and tell you what side and wall thickness to be used. Depth of the beam is very important.

[Skylark]

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.

Works at Ford in marketing?

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.

Works at Ford in management?



Congo's insurance had an independent party look at the trailer, I'm assuming a person qualified to do so, outcome - design flaw.

On this thread alone I've counted 3 other owners apart from Congo who had trailers with the identical failure. And a few engineers on this thread have explained why drilling a hole at that spot would be a very dubious engineering choice.

Never mind basic common sense, why choose to weaken the main load bearing structure right where it requires the most strength, on a trailer designed specifically for heavy duty off road use?

[hbannink]

Chances of single owners having more than one conqueror is remote, congo had a bad experience with his units and was able to compare the damage on two units, Jannie Kubu confirmed this and just a while back CMK advised of another two similar problems. I don't think this was a BS post by a disgruntled owner I was on to this post minutes after it went up, as Christa said brand loyalty can cause injury in this case, brand bashing in this is also bad taste as this is as usual not wether the Conqueror is better than your Echo so for the loyalty brigade and the bashing lot ....stick it in your back pocket and sit on it, this is a situation that owners and potential owners can learn and avoid possible tragedy.

I am sure Conqueror has picked up on this thread an that they can start to see the scope of the problem. with a bit of luck they will also do some remedial upgrade to avoid this breakage. Problems will happen and it is important how you handle them, if a recall is needed so be it, as long as it is sorted.

I have done quite a bit of work on Conquerors and I can guarantee you it is a great product for the most of it, like any of its competitors out there they have their fair share of issues.

[oradba69]

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.

Honest question.
If Conqueror comes to the party and issue a recall due to this thread, will you take your new Companion to have it 'fixed' or wait for it to crack, since it is only one "a-frame"?

[MarcoP]

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.

You keep saying "one" problem, have you even read all the comments? There has been mention of at least 5-6 units with the same problem...

[Mitsu Fan]

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.

Never ever put a hole in a stress member at the point of greatest bending moment. Major flaw. Finis and klaar.

[Jannie Kubu4x4]

To be honest I feel sorry for Congo and the way his Insurance handled his case. Conqueror is a huge manufacturer and they have Engineering Certificates and Designs for every single component they add on their trailers. If an Insurance Assessor deems the A-frame problem to be a Design flaw what qualifications does he have to do an assessment like that if Conqueror has solid documentation to back up their design. I'm not sure to industry standards if any the manufacturers must adhere to, but I'd revisit the Insurers and ask for the Qualifications of the Assessor.
That said if a problem shows up like here it must be attended to by the manufacturer to try and prevent future repeat problems.
I check my Companions regularly now and hope Conqueror comes up with solution for current owners. The Companions are far from perfect but they are still great Offroad campers and there's probably more of them on and off the road than any other 4x4 in SA. They are my most popular van's and are always booked way in advance.

[jaco_n]

I bought a 2007 Commander last year and they seller informed me that the a-frame broke and was replaced (with nose box) by Conqueror on his own account. When I phone Conqueror HQ to enquire about what a second hand Commander goes for and any issues that I need to look out for, the first question they ask was "was the a-frame replaced". Which I could answer yes to. I do not think that this might just be for Companion owners to look at. We did buy the Commander and enjoying it, after making some tweaks I...:-).
The service from Conqueror is up and down. Not sure if it is that they are my be too busy?!

[PhlippieV]

I was looking at a conqueror as our first trailer now that our family is out growing my bakkie.
But after reading this I'll give them a skip pass.

A design flaw is one thing, but the blatant disregard to fixing the design and towards the customer is off side in my opinion.

I guess I'll go back to the local trailer builder who built the box trailers I use in my business. It probably won't be as polished as the aforementioned brand, but at least he stands by his products and has fixed the issues we've had free of charge.

[DCTheron]

I can concur with CMK on this one, the friends he mentioned is all very well known to me. At the time I also owned a 2013 Companion, bought new. I sold it Nov last year.

Even though I did my best to avoid any damage to the A-frame, I was constantly aware of the weakness and had a brand new A-frame lying in my garage just in case. (I still need to get rid of it).

We thoroughly enjoyed our Companion, it was our first offroad caravan. Like it was said already, every make / model has some issues to contend with, some more than others, HOWEVER this issue should be taken seriously by owners.

[jelo]

Just to touch on several replies that implied that Congo's thread is libelous and defamatory:

if Congo is providing this info in the interest of the general group, with evidence, and believes in his stance, and it is not as an unsubstantiated attack on the supplier, then no court of law can find against Congo on this matter.

So those guys who want him to shut up can relax and get off their very high horses.

[PhlippieV]

Coming back to the use of a conqueror as a rental unit.
A guy I know does bicycle rentals. They used a certain brand. Suddenly the wheels on that brand's road bike started breaking spokes leaving clients with unrideable bikes all over the Cape Peninsula.
The brand then decided not to warranty the wheels (wheels same brand as the bikes.)
The solution: sell the fleet and replace them with a different brand. It took them about a year to phase out all of the old brand, but they are now in the new brand, and get solid support from the new brand as well.
Replacing bicycles are a lot cheaper than caravans, but if I was a rental operator, for me it would be a no-brainer to ditch conqueror in this case. Even if the new brand's vans are less user friendly or less liked by clients.

[lekhubu943]

A lot is being made of the specific caravan being a rental unit.

I think a manufacturer cannot ask for better testing than a rental unit. I am a QA myself, albeit software. For rigorous testing to find the defects ( bugs in the case of software) you test on the borders, the limits. What is the use of testing in the "safe" zone? All will seem well while it is not.

[Pieterk]

The A frame of a trailer or the chassis of a vehicle should never break. Finish and klaar! Whether used for leisure or commercial.
If the trailer is overloaded or abused it should be able to bend. Break? Never.
Servicing of the unit? Does that entail inspection of the A frame and chassis? If not. Servicing has nothing to do with the a frame breaking!
It does not matter what type of trailer you have, inspect the a frame yourself, after every trip.

[Congo]

No amount of computer simulation or FEM testing can ever compete with real time live field testing. No manufacturer will field test their product with the same level of disrespect as would some rental customers.

The rental market provides invaluable information to manufacturars on items that might fail at zero cost to the manufacturor.

How a specific manufacturor responds to a failure..... Well, that is where the differance lies.....some might chose to fix the issue and provide their clients with an improved product, some might chose to ignore the issue and some might choose to profit from supplying the parts to repair the failure that they were responsible for in the first place.......

[LdLL]

I am currently stripping the Companion, will start with a proper fix this week.

Please post photo's. I would also be rather save than sorry.

[Jeepiscool]

Very interesting thread! In the new upgraded frame design, has the manufacturer at least removed the hole that caused the stress concentration?

[Congo]

Very interesting thread! In the new upgraded frame design, has the manufacturer at least removed the hole that caused the stress concentration?

I was told by staff at Conqueror head office that the A-Frame has not been changed in any way as it does not have any issues.....

[Merlin4WP]

They have also increased the load capacity of the Companion. Tare is up from 990kg to 1380kg and gvm from 1500kg to 1800kg. All that on a "weak" A-frame.