So if you have ready of my last posts on here you know we were looking to tow our Jeep Cherokee behind our Motorhome. Well we had both a Failure and a success. First off we were heading to California and after owning a Class A for almost 5 years figured it was time to pull something behind so when we got to the RV Park we weren't tied to the Motorhome. Well we got it all figured out and bought my Blue Ox Towbar, Blue Ox Aventa 2 tow bars, Safety Chains, and 7way to 4 way plug. Also bought a Ready Brake to install in the Cherokee. Everything was great. I installed it all and took it around the block a few times and everything worked well. 50 miles into the trip I hear a clank and I look over at the Backup monitor and see sparks flying all over the tow vehicle. I though we had a brake fire or something. We pulled off the freeway and the Jeep was against the side of the Motorhome and the Hitch is still attached to the Jeep. The receiver either broke the Hitch Pin or it came unlatched somehow. I now for a fact that it was put in right as I checked it twice. Weird thing is before we left I had looked at this extra hitch pin sitting on my garage floor like 4 different times as I passed it loading stuff into the Motorhome and on the last one I thought I should just throw this in with my tools. Good thing we did as we would have not been able to tow without it.
We got everything hooked back up and headed back down the road without incident the rest of the trip. So I guess that's our success part. Lesson learned was I was glad I bought the extra weight Blue Ox safety chains as they kept our Cherokee with us instead of breaking and sending the cherokee off into the desert or worse another vehicle. I have been towing for 20 plus years with RV's Trucks etc including being an OTR Truck driver for 5 years without incident. Glad this one turned out without any further damage than what happened.
So now I need to decide if the damage is enough to warrant an insurance claim or not. I don't want to if I don't have to but I don't know how to fix fiberglass either. So what do you think about this damage? Does it warrant an insurance claim? Photo's below.
Damage is basically all the rear cap of the Motorhome. No damage to the compartment in front of damage. Looks like just a small area would need to be replaced or fixed and then the trim piece... But I'm not sure what would be involved.
Jeep Damage
We got everything hooked back up and headed back down the road without incident the rest of the trip. So I guess that's our success part. Lesson learned was I was glad I bought the extra weight Blue Ox safety chains as they kept our Cherokee with us instead of breaking and sending the cherokee off into the desert or worse another vehicle. I have been towing for 20 plus years with RV's Trucks etc including being an OTR Truck driver for 5 years without incident. Glad this one turned out without any further damage than what happened.
So now I need to decide if the damage is enough to warrant an insurance claim or not. I don't want to if I don't have to but I don't know how to fix fiberglass either. So what do you think about this damage? Does it warrant an insurance claim? Photo's below.
Damage is basically all the rear cap of the Motorhome. No damage to the compartment in front of damage. Looks like just a small area would need to be replaced or fixed and then the trim piece... But I'm not sure what would be involved.
Jeep Damage
It looks like your brake-away activation cables are fasten to the hitch extension which came out of the MH's receiver. No lock on the front pin holding the extension in the receiver was the problem which after 50 miles let the pin come out and the extension and the hitch departing the MH. I'd turn it into insurance assuming a low enough deductible. Could have been worse.
45Ricochet wrote:
Who hooked up your brake away? Cord must have been longer than your cables.
Note to self, check yours :W
There is no breakaway. That is a ready brake system... Hitch came out of receiver so it would have mattered anyways..
Having never made a claim before I'm wondering if I get an estimate does the insurance company write you a check or do they write a check to the repair facility? What I'm getting at is maybe the jeep part I can fix myself cheaper than the repair shop. That way if there was extra money it didn't cost me I could apply it to my deductible? Not sure if that's how it works though. Maybe that's not an option. The RV for sure I cannot repair. But the Jeep I probably can.
Gjac wrote:
In addition to what others have said I would call the Towbar company and let them know what happened if you hooked it up correctly I would think they have some responsibility in correcting the situation. Also check with your insurance company and see if you have in your policy a vanishing deductible. I was camping with my friend last week and his motorhome rolled forward into his trees in front and he thought he had $1000 deductible which he did but over time it went to zero when he had no accidents. The Insurance company will now cover the entire damage with no cost to him.
Wasn't the Towbars fault. As you can see the entire receiver came out of the Motorhome and the tow bar etc was still attached to the jeep...
byrdr1 wrote:
get an estimate to see whether it would be an insurance job. ladder is broken, trim piece looks like it would need to replaced. molding needs to be replaced. plastic/rubber bumper needs to be maybe cleaned repaired and painted. side light lens broken/missing.
Me I would at least get the estimate then proceed from there. Cost might be higher than you think for a claim.
but its all cosmetic right now.. can you live with looking at that each and every time you take camper out.
randy
Definitely would get it fixed one way or another. Wouldn't want to go down the road looking like that all the time. That looks trashy. Also do you think I would have to file 2 claims or would it be 1 for both vehicles since I was towing? I have Allstate and $500 deductible on both vehicles.
