Wish us luck

[FL420]

Finally, the 🦆' s are almost all in a row. Tomorrow we are being towed to the body shop that is going to rebuild or replace our front cap. The trip is about 10 miles.
The tow truck driver agreed with me that one or both windshields might fall out during the trip. He couldn't figure out a way to secure them using ratchet straps. This is what I came up with and spent the afternoon on a ladder in a biting cold wind applying.
Somehow, a big fat roll of military 1000 mile an hour tape found its way into my toolbox while I was in the Navy and it has stayed with me for more than 50 years. We will see how it's going to work tomorrow.
Maybe now my DW will cut me some slack when I squirrel away just about everything she thinks I should throw away.

[saddlesore]

Slow and steady as she goes...

[Webz]

I hope you are on the road again real soon.
That is my biggest fear being full time. When you have all your eggs in one basket, you hate to see any of them get cracked.

[keger]

Did the body shop give you an idea of how long it will take to get you back on the road? BTW I guess I missed what happened to your MH to cause this kind of repair?

[Cacique]

Originally Posted by FL420

Finally, the 🦆' s are almost all in a row. Tomorrow we are being towed to the body shop that is going to rebuild or replace our front cap. The trip is about 10 miles.
The tow truck driver agreed with me that one or both windshields might fall out during the trip. He couldn't figure out a way to secure them using ratchet straps. This is what I came up with and spent the afternoon on a ladder in a biting cold wind applying.
Somehow, a big fat roll of military 1000 mile an hour tape found its way into my toolbox while I was in the Navy and it has stayed with me for more than 50 years. We will see how it's going to work tomorrow.
Maybe now my DW will cut me some slack when I squirrel away just about everything she thinks I should throw away.Attachment 225237

Sorry to see the damadge but I hope the body shop can finish this as soon as possible. Keep us posted on the progress

[gvette85]

Good idea !! Hope they get you back on the road soon.Reminds me of the "redneck tool kit",roll of duct tape and can of WD 40.If it moves and shouldn't,duct tape it...if it needs to move and doesn't,WD 40 it.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hope everything goes well!

[FL420]

We made it!
Thanks to all for the words of encouragement and good thoughts. Lots of screw ups getting the tow with 2 insurance claims reps, the body shop RV specialist, the wrecker company dispatcher and the tow truck driver all with their hands in the pot, no one in charge and nobody communicating effectively. It was a Chinese fire drill all around but the tow was relatively drama free.
I need to warn you guys. I hope none of you experience even a relatively slow speed collision like ours but if you do I hope you take my hard-earned advice and prepare yourself beforehand for what's ahead.
Do not assume that anyone you will deal with really knows what they are doing. Sometimes they know but they may have a different agenda than you do. They all want to save money. Sometimes they do it by rushing to get their part over with and get on to something else, e.g.-tow truck dispatchers and driver's. Sometimes they do it by dragging their feet, e.g.- insurance claims adjusters and representatives.
You need to be involved in the process and educate yourself as much as possible to keep the ball rolling and get back on the road ASAP with everything done safely and correctively.
Some things I have learned recently:
1. The differences between a Landoll and a lowboy trailer and when you need one or the other.
2. If your coach needs to be towed with all wheels off the ground the height of your coach on a trailer whose bed is 3 or 4 feet probably will make the height of the loaded coach higher than the legal limit requiring the operator to research the route to be taken and submit it to the permitting authority to legally transport. This is often too much trouble to interest the operator in your business and they will turn you away probably pilot model WM-200-8saying the don't have the equipment or it is tied up elsewhere. There are plenty of cowboys in the recovery business who are perfectly willing to ignore the law but it's your property at risk so once you sign the tow sheet relieving them of all liability ( in the fine print) they can do just about anything without worrying about repercussions.
3. At the scene of the accident, especially in an urban or suburban area, you are going to be busier than a cat at a dog show dealing with a lot of people and things all needing attention NOW! You need to call 911 and hope it works. It didn't for me. You have to check everybody involved for injuries and immediate needs, e.g.- extraction from their vehicle(s) to a safe place from further potential injuries.
When the police arrive they may want you to move your vehicle out of the lanes of traffic immediately. In my case my secondary air system drain valve was sheared off and my primary air drain valve was cracked and slowly leaking. Fortunately I knew which system was which by the color of the needles so I could tell I still had enough air in the primary system that my rear brakes would work and that the spring brakes had not been actuated yet but would be soon. I was able to safely move the coach out of the intersection. I also noticed that the front air bags had deflated but the rear bags hadn't collapsed yet but probably would soon.
After checking on the other driver (BTW, it took me several minutes to get out the door as the frame was slightly deformed and a big piece of fiberglass was pushed back blocking the door) the LEO arrived while I was setting out my reflective triangles. I did forget to put on my reflective safety vest. I guess I was more worried about the coach getting hit again than I was about me.
The LEO handed me a full page accident information sheet which required me to write down a whole bunch of stuff not readily at hand. Basically ALL the info from my driver's license, my state registration form, my proof of insurance card, etc. I then had to write down a narrative of what happened. Meanwhile the LEO was asking me where I wanted to be towed and who I wanted to tow it. I couldn't answer either question. She said she would call a tow company. I was concerned about them sending a large enough wrecker so I told her to tell them the size, the weight, rear engine diesel pusher single axle with duallys. I also told her to tell them that if they towed it on a hook instead of a trailer they should pull the rear axles or remove the drive shaft and would probably have to cage the spring brakes and that the suspension was rapidly collapsing.
Of course, the first wrecker they sent was a flatbed barely big enough to carry an SUV. When the big wrecker arrived I was so busy with the cop and her paperwork and talking to my insurance company on the phone the wrecker was hooked up and the front wheels off the ground by the time I noticed. The driver asked me where I wanted it towed. I didn't know. He said the LEO wants you out of here now. I have to take you somewhere. You haven't removed the axles or the driveshaft. He said there's no time. The LEO said to get you out of here. I know a Safeway parking lot just a little ways away where I can drop you off. I glanced at the rear wheels and saw the suspension was still up so I figured the spring brakes hadn't locked the rear wheels up so I agreed to the tow. DW and I followed in the toad. I watched the rear wheels to make sure they were turning. I did notice that the rock guard was dragging on the pavement and throwing out a shower of sparks.
The tow was only about 3 blocks at a cost of $300. I guess you could say it was a Benjamin a block.
One thing I learned watching the driver back up my coach in the parking lot. If the rock guard is dragging going forward it will catch on the ground and tilt the opposite direction backing up and in my case it lifted up the 20,000#+ on my rear axle. I was sure it would be destroyed but amazingly enough it wasn't.
I have a whole lot more info to share based on my experiences this past month but this post is way too long already. Maybe I can get back to it in the near future with some tips and lessons learned on how to and more importantly how not to safely tow a Class A do.
Again, many thanks to all of you who took an interest and posted.

[BCam]

Can you fill us in on the details of the accident itself?

[FL420]

Originally Posted by BCam

Can you fill us in on the details of the accident itself?

Sure. I was eastbound in a suburb of Denver in heavy 5PM going home traffic. The speed limit was 40 but I was doing about 30 due to traffic volume. Approaching a busy 4 way intersection with a green light a 28 y/o woman driving a Ford Escape coming westbound unexpectedly turned left in front of me. I had started to cover my brake and stomped on them immediately but hit her right rear side at about 10-15mph.
No one was injured. My DW was driving the toad right behind me but she avoided rear ending me and missed the Ford which was spun around, probably totalled and was sitting immobilized in the intersection.
Her car wiped out the drain valves and quick disconnect fittings for both my air systems. It also fractured the heater control valve behind my dash causing the loss of all 10 gallons of coolant. These damages combined made the coach non-driveable until repaired. I did eventually drive it a few miles from the Safeway parking lot to a friendly Walmart (thank you Sam Walton) a week later.
I called just about every tow company in the Denver metro area looking for someone who had a lowboy or a Landoll who would tow it to a repair shop. Those with the right equipment have all the business they can handle moving oil company fracking equipment around. No joy.
We dry camped in the parking lot for a week trying to find a tow company and a shop to fix it. One afternoon I just happened to notice a small form taped to the driver's window saying the coach would be towed and impounded at my expense and LIABILITY within 24 hours. I also noticed I only had a few hours left.
I called the tow company and tried to explain why it hadn't been moved, all I and the insurance company had done to try to get it towed, etc. The dispatcher wasn't the least bit interested. I'm pretty sure she was just seeing big dollar signs.
So was I. The big dollar signs I would be paying for damage to the Allison transmission, the U joints, the differential, the suspension, the flat spotted tires, etc. if some poorly trained cowboy tow truck driver in an undersized poorly equipped tow truck tried to drag it to their impound lot. She wasn't listening because she didn't care. She hung up on me.
It was up to me to somehow make it driveable. I knew there was a Walmart a few miles away where we had stayed before without a problem. I figured I could top off the coolant with Walmart or Safeway distilled water. It took me 3 trips to the store. I learned that night my coolant system holds 10 gallons because that's how much water I had to put in.
I thought the air system would be more of a problem. Actually it wasn't once I found the right parts. I figured out I didn't have to actually rebuild all the valves and air fittings that had been damaged. I didn't really need those things to drive it. All I really needed to do was cap both air lines so they would hold air to give me brakes and air bag inflation long enough to make it to Walmart.
Luckily, a NAPA was open in an adjacent city. They are much better equipped to serve the needs of trucks and RVs than AutoZone, O'Reilly's, etc. They had the 1/4" NPT caps that I needed to cap the primary and secondary air lines. They also had replacement drain valves, quick disconnect fittings, etc. that I needed to repair it completely. I bought them and installed them later when I could afford the time. I ended up capping the lines while laying on the wet asphalt in the parking lot in the dark while a light rain/ snow mix fell on my face.
Then the fun began. I had my DW precede me in the toad so possibly, if we happened to meet a LEO coming the other way he/ she might not notice I didn't have a right side headlight or turn signal light.
I closely watched my coolant temperature on the ScanGaugeD. It started out pretty normally but once the thermostat opened the temp would start to rise rapidly which really caught my attention. Very quickly though it would drop back to normal and behave for a little while then do it again. I decided there must have been pockets of air in the system and that was causing the rapidly rising and falling temps. As we were only a block away from the Walmart the temperature started steadily rising. I figured this was for real but I got it parked and shutdown just before it hit the limit. I sure was glad to finally get a break.
I apologise for such a long post. People who know me have learned to never ask me what time it is because I will invariably try to tell them how to build a clock.

[keger]

In addition to BCam request can you or did you take pictures not of the accident but your RV being towed. I've seen a few of these and just courous how they did yours. I'm glad everything turned out okay for you.

[FL420]

Originally Posted by keger

In addition to BCam request can you or did you take pictures not of the accident but your RV being towed. I've seen a few of these and just courous how they did yours. I'm glad everything turned out okay for you.

Thanks.
I didn't take any pics of the towing. Here's one of the driver under the front fastening the axle (I believe) to the cradle on the end of the stinger that he uses to raise the front wheels off the ground. I'm not too familiar with the proper names of parts of a tow truck. I may have just made up "cradle" and "stinger." After 3 tows in 3 weeks I am slowly picking up the lingo. One thing I have noticed is all 3 drivers did some things entirely differently from each other. I learned something from each one by watching and asking questions. Once or twice one of them would start to do something that was not the way it was described in the owner's manual. The last guy only removed one axle saying the drive shaft spun freely when he twisted it and that was okay. From reading the owner's manual and posts on this forum I wasn't buying it. He was good about doing it my way and removed the other axle. I'm glad I was paying attention. I usually do though. Hard experience has convinced me to trust but verify.
I took a number of closeup pics of the axles, axle caps, cones and the cone removal tool which really speeds up the process, at least on my specific coach. I plan on making axle caps from plywood and possibly buying a cone removal tool because 2 of the 3 drivers who towed me did not have the proper caps and tools to fit my coach.
I can post those if anyone is interested. The right parts and tools can make a bad day bearable and if you're parked on the side of the road working on axles, safer.

[keger]

Oh my I can say how sorry I am for all that you had to go through. Good for you in double checking it pays to review the work being done. A second set of eyes on always helps. Yes please post your tools you described above. Keep us posted on your recovery.

[Mark D]

Originally Posted by FL420

Finally, the 🦆' s are almost all in a row. Tomorrow we are being towed to the body shop that is going to rebuild or replace our front cap. The trip is about 10 miles.
The tow truck driver agreed with me that one or both windshields might fall out during the trip. He couldn't figure out a way to secure them using ratchet straps. This is what I came up with and spent the afternoon on a ladder in a biting cold wind applying.
Somehow, a big fat roll of military 1000 mile an hour tape found its way into my toolbox while I was in the Navy and it has stayed with me for more than 50 years. We will see how it's going to work tomorrow.
Maybe now my DW will cut me some slack when I squirrel away just about everything she thinks I should throw away.Attachment 225237

You know, my wife is the same way. I am younger but was raised like a depression baby. So if something may have a future use I keep it.

She complains that I am a pack rat, but I defend myself every time something goes sideways and I have everything on hand to fix it.

Good luck with your repairs.