RayChez
Barstow, Ca. USA
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Joined: 09/13/2003
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Owners of motorhomes built on Roadmaster R4R and RR4R chassis should have the rear trailing arms inspected immediately.
These chassis were used on certain model year 2002 through 2009 Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Safari and Beaver motorhomes, so even if your motorhome was not included in the previous recall, it stilll may be equipped with the defective parts.
Unfortunately this repair will not be made under the previous MCC recall, since the company is out of business. And Navistar will not assume the liabilities. It is very important to have it inspected and replaced because it can cause major damage to the coach and also can cause an accident.
Big article in the November issue of FMCA magazine.
2002 Gulf Stream Scenic Cruiser
330 HP Caterpillar
3000 Allison Transmission
Neway Freightliner chassis
2005 Honda Pilot EXL 4WD
Aventa III
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JFG
TN
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What was the problem... trailing arms breaking? Mine did and Monaco replaced it before they went chapter 11. The break is hard to see... right at the shackle.
Fred
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soberjoe
Gainesville, FL USA
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There is a ton of info on this in other forums. Check out irv2 forum under roadmaster chassis postings. In a short nut shell you can buy and have installed new stronger arms for about $3000.00 Just read all the info about this problem and decide for yourself. Me, I'm going to have my arms beefed up with some plate steel welded on to reinforce the arms. Might need to do some work with the U-bolts also, but it will be much much cheaper then $3000 bucks. I have found a few others who have done some reinforcing and so far this has done the trick. And there are many out there who have done nothing without the arms failing. I wonder how many have been running over weight causing extra stress? I read a couple of reports from folks who were up on the Alaskan Hwy which is a horrible road that breaks everything running on it.
There does seem to be some problems with some of these arms. Read up on it and decide what if anything you would like to do. I'm thankful that a company has made some replacement arms for us, but at a high price tag. Maybe some other builder will make some at a more resonalbe price.
Joe & Pascale
Gainesville, FL
08 Safari Simba RD 37PDQ
07 Honda VTX 1300R loaded in the dinghy
05 Mazda B2300 dinghy
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RayChez
Barstow, Ca. USA
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JFG wrote:What was the problem... trailing arms breaking? Mine did and Monaco replaced it before they went chapter 11. The break is hard to see... right at the shackle.
Yes, the trailing arms have been breaking off. Initially, it was believed the problem was caused by a spacer plate under the trailing arms that included the transverse weld that was causing the trailing arms to crack.
However, this original recall did not solve the problem, according to Scott Zimmer president of Source Manufacturing. They finally found out that the trailing arm didn't have enough strength. As these trailing arms were put under stress during normal driving conditions, they would bend and eventually develop cracks. They noticed that cracks would develop in 3-4K miles of travel and even faster under stress situations.
They have developed a kit TRA=1003 to replace the original or the second that was on the recall. The only thing is that this will not be covered under the original recall by MCC. The previous trailing arm weight around 65 lbs, this new replacement is beefed up and weighs around 130 lbs.
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wolfe10
Texas
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According to my information, there are THREE different suspensions under the R4R and RR4R chassis over the years. ONLY ONE IS AFFECTED.
The recall affects Rear Suspension Trailing Arms ONLY ON THE R4R and RR4R CHASSIS with the "Monaco Gold" or sometimes referred to as "R-Way" suspension. It is an in-house copy of the Neway suspension. It does NOT include any suspension systems made by Neway or Reyco.
The recalled R-Way arm goes UNDER the rear axle and is made of 3" square tubing. They are on either side in the rear. The rear air bag is bolted to the rear/back end of the trailing arm. The center of the trailing arm is bolted to the rear axle with a large u-bolt and plates and the front is bolted to the frame. The cracks happen on the upper or lower portion of the center of the trailing arm where the u-bolt holds it to the axle.
You can identify the Reyco rear suspension (NOT AFFECTED BY THE RECALL) by the trailing arms that go over the axle rather than under.
If you have the FOUR air bag suspension and your trailing arm goes OVER the AXLE= Reyco= no problem.
If you have the FOUR air bag suspension and your trailing arm goes UNDER the AXLE= Neway OR R-Way= MAY, repeat MAY. BE SUBJECT TO THE RECALL/problem.
If the trailing arm is 3" square tubing, it is R-Way and is part of the recall. The Neway was used basically from 2000 thru 2002 and those arms are identified by the fabricated weldments using multiple pieces of plate welded into a box assembly (Not tube) and is NOT part of the recall-- there are no problems with this design
Monaco had a previous recall on the trailing arms because of bad welds. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE ARMS REPLACED UNDER THIS EARLIER CAMPAIGN ARE STILL THE OLD DESIGN THAT ARE SUBJECT TO BREAKING-- I.E. THEY ARE THE 3" SQUARE TUBE DESIGN. They need to be upgraded just like the original trailing arms.
The trailing arm allows the rear axle to move up and down using the air bag to cushion and limit the movement. A lot of stress is placed on the pivot point at the arm on the axle.
The recall essentially includes any R4R or RR4R Monaco Roadmaster chassis produced after the 2002 model year. This change was made as a running change and it is possible that some very late 2002 models could be effected.
Monaco Knight 2002 - 2004
Monaco Cayman 2002 - 2009
Holiday Rambler Ambassador 2002 - 2004
Holiday Rambler Neptune 2002 - 2009
Safari Cheetah 2002 - 2007
Safari Simba RD All Years
Safari Zanzibar 2002 -2005
2002, 2003 and some 2004 Monaco Knight, Cayman, HR Ambassador, Neptune, Safari Cheetah, Sahara and Zanzibar.
NHSTA didn't think they could do anything because Monaco is out of business and the "new" Monaco appears to be under no legal obligation to accept responsibility.
The arm's crack, allowing excessive rear suspension movement AND CAN BE DANGEROUS, as the arm holds the axle in place front to rear.
Monaco doesn't supply the parts any more. The new supplier is: Source Manufacturing in Portland: 541-935-0308 . They say their arms are 3 to 4 times stronger than the original.
Brett Wolfe
1993 Foretravel 36' U-240
Cat 3116, Allison 3060
Caterpillar RV Engine Owner's Club: www.catrvclub.org
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mscamping
any place, USA
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Joined: 10/27/2000
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Even if you have one of those chassis, there were only certain serial numbers that were bad and on the recall.. The list was on one of the forums, and I don't remember which one.. Even though we weren't on that list, I'm checking ours between trips and whenever I'm under the coach for some reason.. It looks to me, the ones I seen, that they crack right in front of the axle plate.. If I remember right, mileage also plays a part in it too.. Seems that 18,000 to 25,000 miles comes to mind..
Mike..
2003 Holiday Rambler Neptune 36 PBD 38' - ISB 300 Cummins w/Allison MH2000 5 speed
2009 HHR w/Blue Ox Aventa II & SMI Stay-n-Play Duo
FMCA - HRRVC - Chapters - 56,57,& 419 - Good Sam Life Member - Coach Net - 3/4 timers
Mike & Sharon
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BillofPA
York, PA
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Joined: 10/06/2007
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The left trailing arm on our coach broke while driving in Logan Canyon Utah. Fortunatly I was only going about 20mph but it was still a thrill! Transport Diesel in Logan got the replacement arms from Source Mfg. and replaced both of them. Yes they are expensive but I feel good about the replacements; they look like they should last forever. By the way our coach had 48,400 miles on the original trailing arms when this happened.
Jenny & Bill
2004 H/Rambler Ambassador 34PDD
Cummins ISC330 Allison 6 speed
2003 Chevy Malibu Toad
10 year old Yorkie (Cocoa).
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mscamping
any place, USA
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Bill, did you have the first recall done?? Thanks for your input.. The mileage thing came from one of the discussions on a forum referring that the recalled trailing arms were failing at that mileage.. I went back and looked at my notes.. Sounds like you guys were very lucky..
Mike..
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BillofPA
York, PA
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mscamping (Mike)...No, we didn't have the first recall done...didn't even know about the first recall.
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