Community Forums

Fishkc10boom · 09-14-2016, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernie Ekberg

has any tech looked at the ride height valves? They control the level of the coach. You have 3 of those

That is part of the problem, it has been sitting in someone else's care, the frame shop, diesel shop for bearings and fluids, since February and moved from back lot to back lot waiting for someone to take a look at it. Nobody did anything. The tape came off of the windshields that I put on before I got to the dealer. They never bothered to replace it or cover the big gaps where the windshields were pushed out. We have had record rainfall this year. I can see where rain got in and the carpet under the dash is stained. The dealer/repair shop says they are not responsible. I talked to the adjusters supervisor, who has never even driven an rv, and he told me the floor under the slide was rotted and had mold. He said the seal on the rear of the slide was missing and that leaked and ruined the floor. I am pretty sure it was there before. Besides the almost 2inch gap where the slide is off the track may have something to do with water getting to the wood subfloor. They keep talking about wear and tear, I think it has experienced more abuse with almost 4 months in the mud and 7 months just sitting in the elements with no care. We did park it on level concrete and there was no need to measure, it leans bad.

Mr_D · 09-14-2016, 04:23 PM

Oh boy. The owner of the vehicle is responsible for mitigating any damage so no more occurs. If you didn't check on the tape and other spots that could leak it will probably be a losing battle with the insurance company. The rig should have been stored inside or at least covered to prevent more damage.

DMTTRANSPORT · 09-14-2016, 04:24 PM

Should have thrown a flare in it before calling the insurance company.....just sayin.

Fishkc10boom · 09-14-2016, 04:45 PM

When I left it with them the service rep said they would take care of it until the windshields could be replaced. I even called a few times when it was raining so hard or the day after it rained and asked if there was any damage because of the large hail storms we were having and I was told one time that no it was inside the shop and protected and the other times I was told well it didn't really rain that much there and I'm not too worry about it. I called them in April and I told them to go ahead and have the windows resealed because it had been raining so much I didn't want to wait any longer for the windshields and I knew that the insurance company was going to pay for that so I wasn't worried about the money. I just wanted to make sure that it was they were covered. Originally when I dropped it off I had discussed with the service rep that if they could coordinate the time of checking the refrigerator because i had problems with that and I knew of course would not be covered under insurance it was just a normal maintenance thing I wanted them to check the refrigerator and if it was going bad I wanted to put a household refrigerator in there and if we could coordinate replacing the windshield and putting a household refrigerator in there that would be great but then I called them when they had not done that in a timely manner I called them and said go ahead and do the windshield I don't care about the refrigerator.

Ernie Ekberg · 09-14-2016, 04:48 PM

it sounds like some legal council is going to be needed here

Gordon Dewald · 09-14-2016, 05:42 PM

Just wondering if there was any issues caused when the winch truck winched your MH out. It would take a lot of force to pull the coach out with the tires stuck that deep. Torsional force would be high with one side deeper than the other.

Did anyone dig a ramp for the tires to walk up when getting the tow? Was the winch line attached to two points (one on each side) of the frame and singled up before winching?

IMO there may be some culpability with the towing company.

DMTTRANSPORT · 09-14-2016, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Just wondering if there was any issues caused when the winch truck winched your MH out. It would take a lot of force to pull the coach out with the tires stuck that deep. Torsional force would be high with one side deeper than the other.

Did anyone dig a ramp for the tires to walk up when getting the tow? Was the winch line attached to two points (one on each side) of the frame and singled up before winching?

IMO there may be some culpability with the towing company.

The only way to remove this without doing anymore damage would be spreader bars, belly straps and a Crane.

DMTTRANSPORT · 09-14-2016, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Just wondering if there was any issues caused when the winch truck winched your MH out. It would take a lot of force to pull the coach out with the tires stuck that deep. Torsional force would be high with one side deeper than the other.

Did anyone dig a ramp for the tires to walk up when getting the tow? Was the winch line attached to two points (one on each side) of the frame and singled up before winching?

IMO there may be some culpability with the towing company.

The only way to remove this without further damage would be a Crane with spreader bars and straps, unless there's a secret to jerking this out with a heavy Tow Truck
Sorry, all the blame goes to the owner!

Fishkc10boom · 09-14-2016, 07:36 PM

I made arrangements for a freightliner place to get it out. It was going to cost between 3-4k, but they were going to dig out all around it so that is would be a straight pull and a slow incline to freedom. It was going to cost so much because they were going to have to bring the tow truck, bobcat, and maybe a small excavator, with several extra guys with shovels to do it. They wouldn't do it any other way. Insurance said they had a place that would do it for 1k. This tow co. had both me and the insurance co. sign a contract saying they would not be held accountable for any damages. I disagreed but Insurance told me any damages would be covered by them. So 2 guys showed in a winch truck, dug under the front some for the skinny one to get under and hook the cable to the frame. There were quite a few pulleys involved and lots of cable. they anchored the truck down and pulled with me in the drivers seat with the engine running. I wasn't real happy about that but insurance says don't worry it will be fine. If it is not we will pay for it to be fixed. no ramps dug, just a strong enough pull and it came up and out.
What i really want to know is the adjusters sup. said that the wood under the large slide was rotted but it would last a little while longer, and that all slideouts fail around this age. And I would probably be trading it in on something in a couple of years so not to worry. It's 2000 Safari Serengeti a very high end mh then. Do the slides really fail/come off the tracks like that after 16 years?

steppinstone · 09-15-2016, 05:37 AM

I don't think that the tow company did the damage like stated earlier the force of the ground tweaked the house frame off kilter. As for the damage go's if the adjuster told you to sign the waver that he would take care of any damage is far fetched unless he put it in writing. Ins. co. don't like to give out check's so stick to your guns. The slide out damage water damage to the floor was because of age tell him (not)and any other water damage that happen do to the shifting like windshield the adjuster must have seen the windshield before it was dug out and the slide off kilter . I don't think it takes the long for mold to form with changing temps and water on plywood ether . Where was the molding that was missing on the slide out . I would definitely get my lawyer involved this would piss me off to no end wasting my time since feb. not being able to use the coach spending all that money thats why we have ins. Call the adjuster and tell him he want to speak to his supervisor and keep going up the line this is BS.

TQ60 · 09-15-2016, 07:34 AM

This thread can be a learning moment...

Lots of items are claimed to be existing faults.

Maybe a good practice for pre - storage is to inspect and photo everything.

If placed in a storage lot and vandals do something that let's water in that causes some damage the photos date stamped at time parked would show status.

It also would allow one to discover things needing repair.

Like pre - flight and post flight inspections on aircraft consider same for storage.

Fishkc10boom · 09-15-2016, 08:09 AM

I am pretty good about that. I spent almost 18yrs flying in the Air Force. I was (and always will be) a Boom Operator, KC-135 and KC-10, Inst. Stan/Eval, Chief of training at the school house, so I am kind of anal about how things are. We didn't get to do much traveling last year but still twice a month I would go out check the fluids, run the generator, engine, and at least move it a few feet forward and back or drive thru our tiny little town just to keep the things moving. That's why I get so frustrated with these people. I know my coach inside and out, and they act like I am just trying to get more things fixed than what was caused by sinking. It wasn't perfect, I gave them a separate list of things I wanted checked or replaced and made it clear that those were not part of the claim, I would be paying for those.

TQ60 · 09-15-2016, 01:59 PM

You know it was good but photos do not lie.

If time stamped they cover your butt well.

Gordon Dewald · 09-15-2016, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMTTRANSPORT

The only way to remove this without further damage would be a Crane with spreader bars and straps, unless there's a secret to jerking this out with a heavy Tow Truck
Sorry, all the blame goes to the owner!

Agreed and since the owner signed a waiver the point is moot. Had the owner not signed a waiver the tow would have been responsible for any further damage, would have charged accordingly and probably done as you suggest. The tow truck operation is expected to be knowledgeable about the risks of damage during a tow.

Considering the story about how a small hole was dug so they could attach the cable I expect the winching of the coach has placed a lot of stress on the frame. If the cable were only hooked to one side the stress was asymmetrical!

Motorhome frames are not likely built for heavy tows like this. I suspect they may be sketchy for any kind of tow. I have seen off road trucks (where they expect to get stuck) set up with hooks on both frame rails. Any time I observed a truck being winched/towed the connection was made to both hooks. As a side I watched them tow a truck that was so stuck it took a D8 and D9 to pull it out.