The Story

[SpeakEasy]

So, last June, the DW and I decide to do a long weekend of camping in conjunction with a wedding we had to go to about 4 hours from our home. Our daughters would be meeting us there on Saturday, and camping on the site next to ours. On the day of the wedding, the daughters are sunbathing at the beach and it's getting later and later. Finally they come back and begin getting ready to go. They're going to drive themselves to the wedding. The DW and I leave for the wedding, and we are on time. The wedding ceremony begins, and no daughters. About 10 minutes in, they appear, looking rather depressed. After the ceremony ends we go over and ask them why they're so glum. Well, it turns out that as she was backing her car out of their campsite,  daughter number 2 steps on the gas instead of the brake. She backed the car right into our camper!

So, between the wedding and the reception I high-tail it back to the campground to check out the damage. The whole side of the camper is mashed in. On the inside, one of the benches is destroyed. The camper itself was moved about 3 feet from its original location. Since the screen room was up, and staked down, it is now ripped at the stake loops. The outside stove is knocked off its mount and is in three pieces. No damage to any tenting material. I wasn't sure we'd be able to fold down and drive home because one of the tracks for the bunk end supports was bent.

However, we managed to fold down and drive home with no problems. I was amazed.

Geico took care of the claim after my daughter paid her deductable. We used the camper with all of its damage all summer, because I didn't want to miss out on camping for the 3 to 4 weeks it would take to fix it up.

We had the local Fleetwood dealer do the repairs at the end of the season.

On the day I went to pick up the repaired camper I checked it over to see if everything was done right. After getting them to re-fix about a half dozen little things they did wrong, we were on our way. (They had had to remove the tenting and roof to replace the side wall of the camper. Keep that in mind.)

In the fall, on our first trip after getting the camper back, I start to notice some problems with the tenting. It didn't seem to be re-installed completely correctly. On closer inspection I find three places where the rubber "arrow" seal is ripped. This is the material that's used to attach the tenting to the roof. It is sewn into the tent fabric, and it is shaped in a way that fits into a groove on the roof. Apparently the service people had given it some rough treatment during the "repairs."

At the next opportunity, we have the camper back at the Fleetwood dealer to have them fix the tenting. A month or so later we get a call saying all is well. I go to pick the thing up, and I find that they have given me about 75% new tenting! Turns out the arrow seal can't be repaired, and the only thing to do is replace the tenting.

Thank you daughter; I now have a mostly new camper!

How do you like that!?

[Turn Key]

Sounds like a big headache came out pretty good with you missing little camping time.  Best of all, no one was hurt.  Sounds like you did all right!
 
Happy Camping!

[sandykayak]

now, let's see...this happened in June but it has taken him 9 (?) months till he could actually "talk" about it.  

[SpeakEasy]

Yeah, my therapist said I should give it a try now. (just kidding)

I talked plenty in the first few minutes. I'm glad no one was recording it.

[tlhdoc]

I am glad they fixed to right.  Did the dealer pay for the replacement tenting?

[SpeakEasy]

"The Story" continues.

Last weekend when I was getting the camper ready for the new season I discovered something else they had done wrong.

The interior walls are made of a 1/4" hardboard material. At the top of these interior walls, the top edge of the wallboard fits up inside a metal cap. (This metal cap is also the base for the rails on which the bed ends slide.)

Well, on the right side of the camper, about half-way back, the wallboard material is not captured under that metal cap. About two feet of the wallboard is free to flap around inside the camper.

It looks like they had this metal cap-and-rail assembly removed, and when they reinstalled it they were careless. As they dropped it back down, part of the wallboard was not captured by the metal cap. The cap came down on the wallboard (cutting into it) and left about two feet free.

I was so depressed to see this!

I thought about trying to repair it myself, because everytime the dealer gets ahold of it something else gets put together wrong. But - everything is connected to everything else. It looks like a ton of parts, maybe even the roof, need to be lifted to get this rail thing to raise up to fit the wallboard back where it belongs.

Oh, and by the way, I also found a bolt, washer, and bed-rail wheel sitting around loose in the camper. I looked carefully, and all of my bed-rail wheels seem to be in place. I guess they lost this one and replaced it with one from their inventory.

Did I mention that they forgot to replace one of the cleats that holds up the dinette in the travel position? Yeah. When I pointed that out to them (back in February) they said they would order me a new one. After two months of waiting I gave up on them and put the broken one back in. Since it is glued and screwed in place, it gives all the necessary support, even though it is in two pieces. The break is barely visible.

The dealer is only about 15 minutes away from my home. They are the friendliest people you'd ever want to meet. I just wonder why they have such an incompetent service staff? Why don't they replace these guys? Must be family or something.

[Camping Coxes]

That wallboard can't be too hard to put back in, because when we bought our '98 Sun Ridge used, we noticed in cleaning it and making it "ours" that the wallboard on the dinette side was really loose, like ti wasn't attached to the middle of the wall (the framing I assume).  Then we figured when they installed the AC, they must have taken it apart to try to hide the cord, which they didn't do.  So DH took it apart, shored it up somehow (it's a guy thing), ran the cord inside and put it back together.  It wasn't that big of a deal.  But since you're dealing with an insurance issue, I'd take it in.

[SpeakEasy]

Hi everyone!

I thought I'd resurrect this post and tell what I hope is the final chapter of the story.

When the original repairs were done I was surprised that they hadn't mentioned anything about wheel alignment or axle problems. When I asked about it they told me that they thought it all looked OK.  (It LOOKED OK?)

Bear in mind that the accident took place in June of 2004.

This past summer, in July 2005, we took our first long trip after the accident. We drove from upstate NY to the low country south of Charleston, SC. We took the first part of the trip in small chunks of only about 150 to 200 miles a day. The "big drive" was from Shenandoah NP in Virginia to our destination in SC. That was a drive of several hundred miles as I recall. Well, by about mid-morning I began to notice severe tire wear on the driver's side tire on the popup. (I always make a visual check of the camper when we stop for pottie breaks.)

The wear was only on that side of the camper, and the tire was wearing only on the inside edge. But these had been new tires before the accident.

The rest of the day there was noticeable tire wear getting worse at every stop. I began to be very concerned that the wear would be enough to cause a blow-out. I had never seen a tire wear so quickly.

So, we got to our destination - (a tropical rain forest on the beach!) - and I spent the better part of a morning on the phone (on hold) with GEICO. After a few more phone calls I made arrangements to have a shop in Charleston take a look at it. Keep in mind that we are now over 1,000 miles from home and living in the popup. You don't easily just drag it over to a shop for a look-see. Our plans were to be in Charleston in about three days, so I arranged to have it looked at on our travel day. I was hoping that we could get it fixed between set-ups, if you know what I mean. I arranged with GIECO to have their adjuster meet me at this frame shop. This was not easy to do, because we were now in a different jurisdiction from where the original claim was handled.

So, the day comes, and we find our way to the frame shop - on time. The guy at the frame shop looks it over and tells me that he can see what's wrong and that he can fix it. No need for a new axle or anything! But - there's no GEICO agent anywhere to be seen. After a phone call to them I decide to go ahead and have the thing fixed at my own expense and deal with GEICO later. The only thing is, the guy can't fix it that day. It has to be tomorrow. I explain to him that this is my home and that it isn't easy to go away and come back tomorrow. No deal. It has to be tomorrow.

So, we go to our campground, set up, and try to enjoy our first day in Charleston. The next day, the camper comes down and off we go to the frame shop. We drop off the camper and then go to enjoy another day of Charleston. Back to the frame shop at the end of the day, and back to the campground. I wonder what our neighbors thought of the loopy people who set up their camper, took it down for a day, and then came back and set it up again?

So that takes care of the frame, but now we need a new tire. Do you know that the tires for these things are only sold in a few places? Geez! I thought that part would be easy.

The campground owner thought he might have one sitting around, so we go tooling around in his golf cart looking. No go. But - he knows a guy who might have one. He phones. The guy has two that he'll sell me. The price is right. The next day I've got the camper at his place to have the tires installed. This guy was a real character.

I look over the tires, and he assures me that they are right for the camper, even though they are obviously (to me) narrower than what's on there. I give him the go-ahead, but while he's installing the first one I'm having a lot of second thoughts. I look at the load rating for what's on there and compare it to the load rating for what he's installing. The load rating for the new tires is 900 pounds. Times two that's 1800 pounds. My trailer is rated at 2000 pounds empty. This just isn't going to work. I tell him to stop, go back to square one, and I give him 5 bucks for his time.

I'm back on the road looking for tires. Again, I want to do this now so that I can set up for the night and have a place to sleep (and get back to my itinerary.) Eventually I find a place, get a replacement tire, and we're good to go.

So, the trip ends, we get home, and I start in with GEICO. Phone calls and letters are sent. No reimbursement. Weeks turn into months. Phone calls and letters are sent again.

A week before Christmas a reimbursement check arrives! Praise the Lord!

[oldmoose]

You've been through a real battle, but it seems that alls well that ends well. Happy camping in 2006.
 
Moose

[AustinBoston]

You were probably OK with the tires that guy was trying to sell you.  Keep in mind that tongue weight (at least 200 lbs. on a 2,000 lb. trailer) does not sit on the trailer axle (unless you use a WDH).  OTOH, better tires will last longer.  Whenever I talk to someone who wants to compromise on tires, I show them their big, fat TV tires, and tell them what they're holding up (on my van, it's about 1,000 lbs each).  Then I show them the skinny little trailer tires and tell them what they are holding (on my trailer about 1,600 lbs each).

Trailer tires get beat to death, and one way or another, usually die some other death before wearing out.

Austin

[tlhdoc]

You were probably OK with the tires that guy was trying to sell you. Keep in mind that tongue weight (at least 200 lbs. on a 2,000 lb. trailer) does not sit on the trailer axle (unless you use a WDH).  

Key words Austin
 

My trailer is rated at 2000 pounds empty.

Not loaded and I am sure the trailer was loaded for a trip of that distance.