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btilfan's avatar
btilfan
Explorer
Apr 10, 2017

lost my storage bin while driving down the road!

Well by lost I mean it came loose dropped to the pavement but was still attached by one screw and I drug it for about 25 miles.
I have a 2004 Coachmen liberty class A and the storage bins are plastic tubs mounted behind the storage doors along each side of the MoHo. This one was passenger side right in front of rear duals. lucky it stayed attached by one screw or who knows what would have happened when the rear tires ran over it.
It wore a hole about 10" long and 8" wide where it was dragging. Only contained some extension cords and jumper cables. both torn to shreds.

looks like the wood around the frame that it was attached to was rotted and the screws pulled out.
I'm going to rig up some metal straps to secure the others as I have much more weight in them.

I suggest if you have this type of storage bin check them carefully.

I'll try to attach a picture but can't get them off of my phone.
  • No, contacted Coachmen and they said it's no longer available. I found a plastic tote approximately the same size, I'm going to try to modify it. or possibly build one from wood. the problem will be revamping where it attaches to the inside of the sidewall.
  • That is too bad. Sorry to hear that. There are some RV salvage yards, but probably still pretty unique item to find.
  • You might be able to take the existing damaged bin and have a fiberglass repair facility fix it for you. They should be able to beef up the exterior and repair where it pulled loose from the coach.
    Now repairing the rotted wood on the coach is a different problem and not sure what to advise on that.
  • I was once following a guy pulling a travel trailer and one of the leveling bars on his hitch had come loose from the hitch and was only being held on by the chain attached to the trailer. Those are very heavy metal bars. It was bouncing all over the place and smashing up against the bottom of his trailer and shooting sparks. I could even hear it hitting his trailer from my car behind him, but for some reason he couldn't hear it and just drove on. I tried to signal him with my headlights, but I was staying several hundred feet behind him because I was worried the chain was going to bust and that metal bar was going to come flying out. He ignored my headlights flashing and just kept going. Luckily he passed a CHP officer sitting on the side of the road and I pulled up to him and told him the problem and he was able to catch up to the guy and pull him over.

    The moral of my story is there could be a lot of things that go wrong with your RV that you may not be able to see or hear from the drivers seat.
  • msmith1199 wrote:
    I was once following a guy pulling a travel trailer and one of the leveling bars on his hitch had come loose from the hitch and was only being held on by the chain attached to the trailer. Those are very heavy metal bars. It was bouncing all over the place and smashing up against the bottom of his trailer and shooting sparks. I could even hear it hitting his trailer from my car behind him, but for some reason he couldn't hear it and just drove on. I tried to signal him with my headlights, but I was staying several hundred feet behind him because I was worried the chain was going to bust and that metal bar was going to come flying out. He ignored my headlights flashing and just kept going. Luckily he passed a CHP officer sitting on the side of the road and I pulled up to him and told him the problem and he was able to catch up to the guy and pull him over.

    The moral of my story is there could be a lot of things that go wrong with your RV that you may not be able to see or hear from the drivers seat.
    And it usually pays to investigate when other drivers are warning you :)
    Last set of headlights and horn from another driver led me to a missing wheel on my 5th wheel and I never felt it go.
  • Mile High wrote:
    msmith1199 wrote:
    I was once following a guy pulling a travel trailer and one of the leveling bars on his hitch had come loose from the hitch and was only being held on by the chain attached to the trailer. Those are very heavy metal bars. It was bouncing all over the place and smashing up against the bottom of his trailer and shooting sparks. I could even hear it hitting his trailer from my car behind him, but for some reason he couldn't hear it and just drove on. I tried to signal him with my headlights, but I was staying several hundred feet behind him because I was worried the chain was going to bust and that metal bar was going to come flying out. He ignored my headlights flashing and just kept going. Luckily he passed a CHP officer sitting on the side of the road and I pulled up to him and told him the problem and he was able to catch up to the guy and pull him over.

    The moral of my story is there could be a lot of things that go wrong with your RV that you may not be able to see or hear from the drivers seat.
    And it usually pays to investigate when other drivers are warning you :)
    Last set of headlights and horn from another driver led me to a missing wheel on my 5th wheel and I never felt it go.



    Any time someone passes me, waving their arms or pointing backward, I immediately head to the shoulder. I know something is wrong.
    I actually pay attention to people around me on the road (situational awareness) they'll usually let you know if something doesn't look quite right.

    I've seen people that couldn't tell you even if someone was beside them or not. Eyes STRAIGHT ahead, never looking side-to-side or in the mirrors.
  • Little update for you people checking your bins..
    I've discovered that the failed bin was the only one that was not attached to the sidewall along the top of it. This one is directly below one of the water tanks so it was only attached on the sides and bottom. all the other bins are securely attached to the flooring above.