Damaged RV on roads on way home from Florida, anyone else?.

[Tundra2084]

Let me first say that the roads were really bad this year in the northern states in April.

On our way home from Florida to Ontario Canada along interstate 75 we hit some very bad roads with potholes and cracks in the roads.
We hit some potholes because we had no place to go but into and over them due to traffic. We did hit a couple pretty hard and we travel at about 60 mph. Once home we noticed while unloading that we now have a Crack in the side of the RV, running about a foot in front of the axle. The crack starts at the top right corner of our slide in the livingroom.
After seeing this we went to look under the RV to see if anything else was damaged. Under the RV we noticed the underbelly had lost a screw and upon looking at it and lowering the belly a little more, that in 2 places on the cross beam the welds had broken loose.

Has ANYONE had anything like this happen to them while traveling along I75 or for that matter along any bad roads?

Insurance is saying its manufacturers defect and that we would have Tire and rim damage if the roads were bad and we hit potholes. They haven't even looked inside the RV for frame damage yet its manufacturers defect.
We have 14ply tires so that shouldn't happen anyway by hitting a pothole.

[Tundra2084]

I have no idea how to post a picture on this forum with the pictures being on my laptop and not a server where there is a url to link to.

[pcm1959]

Tundra2084 wrote:
Just an update on our fiver. The 5er has been sitting on the lot of a repair shop waiting for the insurance company to get their hands off their butts to send someone out to show us where the manufacturers defect is. After many phone calls they agreed to have the wall removed inside at OUR expense unless they agree to the repairs. Well the wall is open and there is NO damage to the structure of the rv. As a matter of fact,the wall studs are metal and are the biggest ones we have seen in an RV. The studs are about 6 inches wide and there is no damage or broken welds in the area of the large crack. So now its yet another waiting game to see what excuses they come up with to get out of paying our claim, which is over $10,000.

Wow. Please keep us updated.
I have never had a claim and hope never to. I think my insurance is nearly $1300 a year on our 2014 fiver with a purchase price $73k. We do replacement cost in the policy so if it were totaled we'd get $73k towards a new one. I know that ups the premium but worth it to me.
It would be great if you could post pix for the benefit of us all. Its always interesting to see these RVs with the front caps removed, et., etc.

[Tundra2084]

Just an update on our fiver. The 5er has been sitting on the lot of a repair shop waiting for the insurance company to get their hands off their butts to send someone out to show us where the manufacturers defect is. After many phone calls they agreed to have the wall removed inside at OUR expense unless they agree to the repairs. Well the wall is open and there is NO damage to the structure of the rv. As a matter of fact,the wall studs are metal and are the biggest ones we have seen in an RV. The studs are about 6 inches wide and there is no damage or broken welds in the area of the large crack. So now its yet another waiting game to see what excuses they come up with to get out of paying our claim, which is over $10,000.

[GHop]

Funny this topic is being discussed. Just a few days ago there was news peace on the roads and bridges across our country and it is bad. Happy and safe travels.

[agesilaus]

1320Fastback wrote:
285 In/Out of Carlsbad NM is the worst road I have ever driven on.

LOL you must have missed any number of roads then.

I have some comments on I-10 in FL right now. We were on it Wednesday and they must be doing some sort of maintenance on the roadway. They are resurfacing at least some of it. The bridge/road thumps were never there before so that's why I suspect there is something going on.

People here should have had the experience of driving it before they laid asphalt over the concrete slabs. It was 400 miles of thump-thump-thump... For those many expansion joints. Like that long bridge on I-12.

We got on US 82 at Montgomery after taking US 332 up from I-10. It is very variable, from excellent 4 lane to bump thump shake for miles. Our sample so far is half way across in AL and then all the way across MS and just into AR. Thinking back on this route we should have driven north on I-75 to where is hits US 82 and skipped I-10.

We are going to follow 82 all the way across AR and TX until it hits US 287 in west Texas. Skipping interstates this year.

[1320Fastback]

285 In/Out of Carlsbad NM is the worst road I have ever driven on.

[fj12ryder]

You never, ever, never, never want to suggest a tax increase or a new tax. Because they won't just enact more taxes, they add to the old taxes, and they'll never, ever, never get rid of one.

[laknox]

FWIW, the state congresscritters and loser governor, passed a bill here that upped our car registrations $32 a year. Now, in AZ, tags are an out-n-out TAX that's levied on everything with a plate and, for the most part, is based on valuation of that vehicle/trailer, and changes year to year. Sounds sorta like your property tax, but it goes =down=. This flat-rate increase was to pay for road and infrastructure improvements. Now answer me this; since we have 2 major freeways that pass through the state, I-40 and I-10, and is a bit tourist destination, why not simply tax =all= vehicles that buy fuel here a few extra cents. That way ALL vehicles that use our roads help pay for them, NOT just the residents? We'd still be on a par with 3 of the 4 surrounding states. (CA doesn't count since they're basically insane there. :B)

Oh, sorry; dropped off again...

Lyle

[laknox]

ivbinconned wrote:
One thing that our Canadian/Saskatchewan Auto Association does every year is run a contest to nominate the worst road in the province. In an effort to raise awareness and embarrass government.

Maybe there should be a nationwide organization here to do the same, state-by-state. THEN publicize the hell out of it with recommendations to NOT drive those roads unless absolutely necessary. Maybe the economic impact will help (embarrass) these states into doing some actual repairs. Huh? What? Oh, sorry I was napping and having a dream...

Lyle

[ivbinconned]

One thing that our Canadian/Saskatchewan Auto Association does every year is run a contest to nominate the worst road in the province. In an effort to raise awareness and embarrass government.

[ivbinconned]

I’ve written here about this too. If there is one thing that would stop us from dragging our FW south it’s the lousy highways. But that’s exactly what the greeny left wants.
Coming up through California to Seattle I pulled in centre lane at 70 mph.
Not going to hold anyone back or get in the way of merging traffic

[agesilaus]

When you buy diesel for your truck you are paying that road tax.

[ChuckV1]

We were on the Indiana toll road last year, the road was a mess an I told the toll gate operator I would be ashamed to work for a company that charged for such a bad road ... The back roads in Ohio an Indiana even thought they are two lane highways in most case's are far better than the interstates an that were we travel most of the time ...

Out west here the interstates for the most part are ok till you get near the big cities an then they get pretty bad ... You can tell what counties spend money on road maintenance for sure an which spend money on paying their own wage's at the top level ...

If you really want to get mad, think about every semi you see driving down the road, they pay fuel tax an tax on every mile that truck runs across an all the tolls if they drive on the toll roads ... When I sold my semi I was paying forty two cents a mile for every mile that truck ran empty or loaded plus road tax in every state which was different, so add that up along with the tax on gas you pay at the pump along with fuel/diesel tax you pay, talk about a cash cow Ugh !!!

[cummins2014]

laknox wrote:
I remember reading a post on here several years ago, about a guy who would take I-5 with his FW and run at the posted 55 for trailers in the left lane because the right lane(s) were so bad. He figured that he could argue that it was a safety issue due to the lousy conditions of the road surface and it was =safer= than running 45-50 in the right lanes. :B AFAIK, he never got a ticket.

Lyle

Have done the same thing on I-10 and parts of 93,95 in Arizona. Some stretches it does not matter, going to get beat up .

[cummins2014]

SidecarFlip wrote:
Preaching to the choir. I live in Michigan, home of the worst roads in the country. I've never had a blowout or anything fail because I don't drive fast on bad roads and there is always the berm to avoid those big whoppers.

What I find amazing is, I live on a bad road (potholes) and people insist on driving fast. I listen to them go by, suspensions clanging, springs protesting but they keep right on hauling butt, have to get somewhere important like home to a cold beer.

I rarely drive over 55 with my RV and always allow enough room in front of me to avoid the holes. It's vacation, not the Indy 500. In a hurry, go around. I'm in the slow lane for a reason. Besides the minimum allowable speed on any Interstate in the US is 45 mph.

Lucky you. I am 71 , 56 years of driving , and had my first tire failure or flat out on the highway this past winter. IMO due to the chuckholes on a Arizona road. I invite you to come on out ,and see if you can avoid all of them, and the traffic, and no berm to bail out on. 55 you say, good luck here not getting run over.