Blowout Results

[JumboJet]

Friends of mine had a blowout on their 2014 Tiffin Zephyr July 12 on I-10 near Tallahassee, FL. The MH ended up in a ravine destroyed. They both survived and are now out of the ICU. One of their small dogs died later at a vet clinic.

Be careful out there and wear those seat belts!

[GMandJM]

Any word on how the Zephyr owners are doing? I hope they're on their ways to a full recovery.

[John_S_]

This is why I bought a Foretravel. You can own a Blue Bird or a Country Coach of old too. Newell and Prevost as well. There are reasons they are more expensive. We had a FT owner just have a front Blowout and he pulled into an empty area across the road under control and stopped. We have had FT that have had Blowouts that have been thrown right into the median too but they usually need a bit of work and are ok. I know one FT owner who was in Alaska and went to close to the road edge as someone was coming into his lane and he rolled his coach. IT was fine till the wrecker broke the front end off pulling it up the hill. The issue is Raised Rail coaches are prone to this kind of catastrophic failure as they are just set on the rails and the side and the roof offer no real structural support. It is why they are much cheaper to build too. Heck the shell on a Prevost cost more then the coach in this crash.

[Mike_Hohnstein]

Family of 4, driver not belted, brain hiccup, wound up in the middle of the coach, tomato juice came out of the refrigerator, got all over him, freeked the family out. If it hadn't found the tree, would still be on the road.

[GMandJM]

Mike Hohnstein wrote:
FF to 1.26

I like metal.

And the only injury was a broken toe from kicking out the windshield. Wow.

[Mike_Hohnstein]

FF to 1.26

I like metal.

[Two_Jayhawks]

Ivylog wrote:
OP, are these pictures after it was put back on it's wheels? It bothers me that I do not see any steel tubing sticking out from the walls. It looks more like the remains of a TT than a MH from the floor up.

I bet the coach suffered unthinkable damages being recovered as the crew probably knew it was a total loss anyway. No way all that damage was from the original accident no one would have survived.

[Blaster_Man]

The problem with pull behinds and 5th wheels is lousy tires. Most OEM tires are STs made in China. On my 5th wheel, I had a tire come apart, so I changed all four to US made LTs...no problems. Most MH tires are not made in China.

Re stability, my MH's GW is 49k, it's pretty stable.

[mike_brez]

Kayteg1 wrote:

Vncgrg wrote:


I probably wrong, but I don't think DP can go 90mph? :@

I did in Country Coach on Gillig chassis.
Probably not the smartest thing, but that was high land in Nevada with straight road going down for another 10 miles.
I hate to ride the brakes only to burn fuel to speed up again.
I put it in N and let it roll.
Road had no ditches, no curbs, just sand with minimal vegetation so in case of blow up, I had lot of space to go.
The gearing gave the coach less than 80 mph max.

I believe Allison says not to let rv coast in N

[slickest1]

If your cruisin along the road on cruise and a tire blows the automatic reaction would probably be to hit the brakes to disengage the cruise. Just sayin.

That was a horrific crash and I hope the people recover fully from their injuries. My heart goes out to them for the loss of their dog.

[Kayteg1]

Vncgrg wrote:


I probably wrong, but I don't think DP can go 90mph? :@

I did in Country Coach on Gillig chassis.
Probably not the smartest thing, but that was high land in Nevada with straight road going down for another 10 miles.
I hate to ride the brakes only to burn fuel to speed up again.
I put it in N and let it roll.
Road had no ditches, no curbs, just sand with minimal vegetation so in case of blow up, I had lot of space to go.
The gearing gave the coach less than 80 mph max.

[ferndaleflyer]

500hp DP can go 90+ if you want to go that fast

[Pangaea_Ron]

When a crash is occurring in a Class A MH, you need to lift up your feet to let the crash happen below you, and then duck because the microwave is coming forward. Timing is everything.

It's a bit of joke, but I don't expect my chances of surviving a serious MH accident are very likely. Winnebago suggests that there is a reinforced frame around the dashboard, but it's chance of reducing injury is pure fantasy. I think that my Class C had more survivability, as would probably any other type of vehicle.

Drive safe.

[Cloud_Dancer]

Yes, whenever you are in a crash, you will be better off in a vehicle which has a high safety rating.
Yes, my motorhome is not the safest vehicle if I crash into something large and heavy.
Every airplane, motorcycle, boat, racecar....that I've ever had was the same way.
But, I'm a good driver, and I wish myself good luck. And, I hope my skills on handling a blown front tire on my Dutch Star are as good as I say they are.

[azrving]

Also, when I said "with the way they are built" I certainly dont think FW or TT are any better. I would look at the construction of any of them and think "put a power train under this mess?" No way. Just in my opinion and we all know what the cliche is for opinions.

But.....I did learn from this post. I dont pull in the rain because of stopping distances, I pay attention to the wind especially with an axle flip, and I check my tires often, keep my speed down and stop driving when I first feel tired. If I was to have a blow out, the slower I'm going the better, keep both hands on the wheel, dont be distracted and be ready. Drive, nothing else, just drive.