End cap damage

[RRT2]

Got our 04 35U June 04. It sat in our driveway for our 'shakedown' cruise (except one 2-day outing and a visit to brother in Alabama AND 2 trips back to the dealer 10 miles away for seat belt recall and oil change) -- until we left for the winter in January.

In mid-November, hubby installed ULTRAGUARD. I crawled in underneath the unit to help. (I can almost stand up in there!) Whoa...what's this? A couple areas along the bottom of the bumper (where it turns under) were much thinner. And cracked. One of the areas is where it rounded from the back to the side of the coach. It looks like it has been 'folded' which may have caused the crack. Plus there is a 6 - 8 inch hairline crack going up the back -- but it folds into the design and is hard to see.

Bodyman at dealer checked..."looks like owner damaged". (No sir, not on our watch!) We made an appt for mid-March after our return home. (Needed another oil change etc. anyway.) By then, we had the 'grocery list' of items to be checked out/fixed. PLUS body work.

Grocery list of items was taken care of rather quickly (now that we have a copy of the bill!). But the coach sat there while dealer emailed (probably once or twice) pictures to manufacturer. Guess what? "Impact damage, not covered under warranty." (Of course any manufacturer would say that.) We DROPPED by the dealer this past WEEK (month of May, mind you) asking about if coach was done. "Let me call." Talked to someone else. More pictures needed. Dealer service rep took 2-3 more digital pictures. End result? "Impact damage, not covered under warranty."

Ok..so now I'm getting a bit 'charged'...and ask for phone number to call. Talked to a fellow in Service Adm., explained what it looked like; he pulled up file and said "There's been impact damage." (Pull a chain, listen to the repeat!) Yes, I expect any manufacturer is going to say that again and again.

However, we had decided to take measurements of the thickness along the entire bumper. WHOA! You'll never guess what was found. Oh...you did guess!! Since we do not know the specs, we do not how much of a variance in thickness is allowed. We are sending an email with 3 Meg of pics showing the measurements. In exactly the thin spots are the cracks.

1) Has anyone else ever had this experience?

2) Would someone take measurements (using calipers -- measuring tape won't work so well) and let me know what was found? An 04 35u preferably.

3) We feel in our case, there was/is a defective area in the making of this end cap and would like to have it fixed -- under warranty. (Pull the chain and hear me repeat!)

Any help is appreciated!

Rose
(Now planning to appear in Forrest City)

PS We DID enjoy our Texas trip, we are enjoying the coach (now that it's back home again!), and we are going to take a trip shortly! (As soon as I get bed changed and coach cleaned!)

[RRT2]

Got our 04 35U June 04. It sat in our driveway for our 'shakedown' cruise (except one 2-day outing and a visit to brother in Alabama AND 2 trips back to the dealer 10 miles away for seat belt recall and oil change) -- until we left for the winter in January.

In mid-November, hubby installed ULTRAGUARD. I crawled in underneath the unit to help. (I can almost stand up in there!) Whoa...what's this? A couple areas along the bottom of the bumper (where it turns under) were much thinner. And cracked. One of the areas is where it rounded from the back to the side of the coach. It looks like it has been 'folded' which may have caused the crack. Plus there is a 6 - 8 inch hairline crack going up the back -- but it folds into the design and is hard to see.

Bodyman at dealer checked..."looks like owner damaged". (No sir, not on our watch!) We made an appt for mid-March after our return home. (Needed another oil change etc. anyway.) By then, we had the 'grocery list' of items to be checked out/fixed. PLUS body work.

Grocery list of items was taken care of rather quickly (now that we have a copy of the bill!). But the coach sat there while dealer emailed (probably once or twice) pictures to manufacturer. Guess what? "Impact damage, not covered under warranty." (Of course any manufacturer would say that.) We DROPPED by the dealer this past WEEK (month of May, mind you) asking about if coach was done. "Let me call." Talked to someone else. More pictures needed. Dealer service rep took 2-3 more digital pictures. End result? "Impact damage, not covered under warranty."

Ok..so now I'm getting a bit 'charged'...and ask for phone number to call. Talked to a fellow in Service Adm., explained what it looked like; he pulled up file and said "There's been impact damage." (Pull a chain, listen to the repeat!) Yes, I expect any manufacturer is going to say that again and again.

However, we had decided to take measurements of the thickness along the entire bumper. WHOA! You'll never guess what was found. Oh...you did guess!! Since we do not know the specs, we do not how much of a variance in thickness is allowed. We are sending an email with 3 Meg of pics showing the measurements. In exactly the thin spots are the cracks.

1) Has anyone else ever had this experience?

2) Would someone take measurements (using calipers -- measuring tape won't work so well) and let me know what was found? An 04 35u preferably.

3) We feel in our case, there was/is a defective area in the making of this end cap and would like to have it fixed -- under warranty. (Pull the chain and hear me repeat!)

Any help is appreciated!

Rose
(Now planning to appear in Forrest City)

PS We DID enjoy our Texas trip, we are enjoying the coach (now that it's back home again!), and we are going to take a trip shortly! (As soon as I get bed changed and coach cleaned!)

Since Winnebago makes their own fiberglas end caps. Denying there's a problem; well you've heard that before! Now if it was an outside vendor, you could see the fingers pointing real fast.

What ever you do, don't expect these end caps to give you any protection in a crash, their basically there for looks, as are any end caps.

Tomcat F15

....hand layed up fiberglass is the traditional way of making everything to specs[thickness].......of course they now use "chopper guns" with no quality control-anotherwords no one gives a sh**......production is the bottom line and the guy on the other end of the gun speaks no english......turn it over to your insurance company and let them fight it.....that's what you are paying for......geofkaye

[RRT2]

Actually, RVs are no protection in a crash!

[Thudman]

I agree w/geofkaye. Let your insurance co (and their lawyers) handle it.

Thudman

[Cruzer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RRT2:
Actually, RVs are no protection in a crash! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree that RVs aren't built like a Sherman tank, but they do offer some pretty good protection, depending upon the accident. Click This Link to see pictures of a Phaeton that was involved in a head-on with an SUV. The Phaeton held up amazingly well. Unfortunately, the two occupants in the SUV didn't make it. There was more than pure weight working here too. The design of the RV allowed absorbtion of energy and the RV family only had a few bumps and bruises. Had this been two SUVs involved in a head-on I'd hate to see the results.