Wires and propane lines in wheel well

[boatman10]

A friend of mine had an inside rear tire go in a DP and it took out a wrist size bunch of wires......costing him [or insurance] big bucks but sending him home in an airplane [breathing tho!] ruining his trip.

I knew I had some wire runs in my class A '01 25' gasser rear wheel wells......so I'm looking around and I also see a 1/2" pipe with a 3/8" copper line half LOOPED sticking out in the air 6" to feed the refridge.....I envision a blow torch after a blow out---right next to the door no less!......and me n the girl going out the window with the dog on the side of I95!.......cars n semi's whizzing by.....

this is all just unacceptable.......I realize its probly industry standard especially for short older gassers...... but GEEEZUS.

Not having metal working equipment anymore I guess I'm going to put a bunch of well sealed pressure treated plywood around and over these things.

comments or ideas?

[CountryB]

Not good.

You should add your motor home "make/model/year" to your signature line so others reading your posts will know what you have (and if they have the same coach, can deal with this concern).

[boatman10]

is what it is.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by CountryB

Not good.

You should add your motor home "make/model/year" to your signature line so others reading your posts will know what you have (and if they have the same coach, can deal with this concern).

He has a 2001, 25' Trail-lite per his profile. All it takes is 2 mouse clicks to find this information.

[grindstone01]

I had a tire blowout on my fifth wheel this summer. When the rubber tire strip starts flapping around in the wheel well, it can do some damage real fast. It's like someone was banging a sledge hammer around in there. This wheel well is made of plywood which got mangled. I couldn't see any way to beef the wheel well up, there just isn't room to put thicker boards in there due to the tight clearance to the top of the tires. I thought about welding 1/4" plate steel in there, but decided it was not worth that much effort since it was my first blow out in 5 years at about 10k/miles/year. It wasn't hard to cut and replace the plywood, but wires or piping would have been a more difficult job. I used a hammer and body dolly to straighten the tan aluminum skirting and found a different style set of new fenders at a salvage yard near White Pigeon, MI

[09 harley]

Very poor engineering with no regard for safety. The manufacturer should be held responsible for this damage. He would immediately have this problem fixed on future models. No accountability and desire to cut costs is the problem. No concern for the customer.

[leadman]

I would find a way to move the wires and propane line. Go with steel line outside for the propane and either copper or rubber hose inside the coach.
The wires may be harder to move but could you protect them with a metal shield?
If you drive in snow and ice I would be worried about the line and wires do to build up and the weight.

[Tha_Rooster]

If you have a revolution look in the passenger front tire wheel well it has a big wire loom.My tire blow out ripped it to shreds.

[hoakken]

On my gulfstream conquest some rocket scientist decided that above the tire was a wonderful place to run the wiring for the slide (12 and 110) and the propane gauge. Moving 12 inches to the side would have placed them inside the frame.

[Arch Hoagland]

Had inside passenger dual blow, ripped out all the wiring for the coach control panel. Had to tow it 70 miles and then $12,000 and 6 weeks to repair. Insurance covered it all.

[boatman10]

all this trouble from a blown tire is unacceptable.

i have a plan to shield the stuff in my rear wheel wells with steel bracing that i can cut and bolt in where needed [which is the forward area of well] and marine pressure treated plywood---multiple layers built up til 2" thick.....bolted in.

i'll i'll use pieces to 'fir out' the well to the thickness of the wire loom, then put a whole piece over the whole area.

there is clearance to do this.

i have built 40' cold molded epoxy and plywood boats......properly done
thick enough plywood is wayyy stronger than it needs to be for this problem.

you just do not have to use metal sheeting/plate to accomplish this.

i've seen what a boat trailer blow out does to metal fenders stuck out there.....2" plywood will be much better.

the time and cost of rerouting wires and pipes is prohibitive.

[grindstone01]

Originally Posted by boatman10

all this trouble from a blown tire is unacceptable.

i have a plan to shield the stuff in my rear wheel wells with steel bracing that i can cut and bolt in where needed [which is the forward area of well] and marine pressure treated plywood---multiple layers built up til 2" thick.....bolted in.

i'll i'll use pieces to 'fir out' the well to the thickness of the wire loom, then put a whole piece over the whole area.

there is clearance to do this.

i have built 40' cold molded epoxy and plywood boats......properly done
thick enough plywood is wayyy stronger than it needs to be for this problem.

you just do not have to use metal sheeting/plate to accomplish this.

i've seen what a boat trailer blow out does to metal fenders stuck out there.....2" plywood will be much better.

the time and cost of rerouting wires and pipes is prohibitive.

Consider how many blow outs you have had in your lifetime? Sometimes the prevention is not worth the effort considering the low risk. Just my opinion.

[Retired and Happy]

A few years back I had a blowout on the driver's side front. ('95 Itasca Suncruiser 37W) It wrapped a clump of wires around the axle and literally pulled many loose the whole length of the unit. Three months in the shop (maybe not the best dedicated service) and who knows how much insurance money to get us back on the travel road. Fortunately our mishap was close to home and once we got the wiring off the wrap-up, and after we replaced the wheel that had ground down when we tried to stop, we were able to drive home to at least unload what we needed, then on to the repair shop. Oh, and later models have a metal plate in the top of the wheelwell to protect that wiring.

[MSHappyCampers]

I think it's pretty stupid for a manufacturer to run wires or propane lines inside a wheel well!