Couple wrecks trailer 20 minutes after buying it

[Eric_Lisa]

Link

Curious what the forum's opinion is on who should be liable. Seems to me like the dealer has some responsibility.

-Eric

[dodge_guy]

There is a fine line between "SOLD AS IS" and knowing elling a unit that has been compromised! and yes despite what the paper work says the dealer does hold some responsibility! I`ve worked at a few dealers in my life. a dealer will get rid of a car that has frame damage. they wont sell one despite the "SOLD AS IS" on the paper work.

[rockhillmanor]

1. Used TT. Dealer sales contract would have had these words right across the top of the contract.
..............SOLD AS IS.......................

The dealer will bear no responsibility.

2, How many of you have crawled under neath each and every RV you have bought?
INCLUDING your first 'newbie' purchase. :C

[JaxDad]

Ralph Cramden wrote:
In closing, as to the actual cause, I'd guess Chinese ST tires.......Blowout........Or possibly contaminated brakes from using EZ lube.

The picture seems to show 4 round tires without noticeable pieces missing. The story clearly related the drivers comment that it was a progressively worse sway that finally resulted in the trailer rolling over.

If it was contaminated brakes you would hope that at least setting up the brake controller would reveal a lack of brakes.

[Ralph_Cramden]

Eric&Lisa wrote:

So if it had a hack job that significantly changed the weight of the trailer, that would not be shown on the weight sticker. If the dealer did not disclose the issue and let the customer leave the lot with an overweight trailer and under-capacity tow vehicle, then I could see the dealer having some liability for what happened.

Good luck with that. When the purchaser hooked it to the hitch and drove off they assumed any and all responsibility. I have yet to see a used trailer where a legitimate dealer did not have some rock solid verbiage somewhere in the sale documents such as "sold as is". Sure one could hire Sheister, Snake, and Litigator LLC Esq, better have deep pockets.

Better yet perhaps the buyer should of done due diligence, like lay on the ground and look underneath, then say "What's up with those 2X6's"?

In closing, as to the actual cause, I'd guess Chinese ST tires.......Blowout........Or possibly contaminated brakes from using EZ lube.

[mich800]

myredracer wrote:
They were talking about it on the local station KISS FM yesterday on their "9:30 knucklehead nominee" segment. Podcast here. (Starts at about 0.50.) They claim it was bought from an RV dealer in Poulsbo but it doesn't say that elsewhere on the internet. If a dealer did sell the TT to them, I'd be suing them for letting it off their lot. Couple more photos below. Hi-res photos here.

Trailer is an older Mallard. Maybe someone here knows how they were originally built.

It may have been that the WDH was improperly set up or no WDH at all, maybe the trailer was too long for the Jeep or the 2x6 made it much heavier. I drove through Poulsbo last year with our TT. The speed limit on hwy 3 is 50 mph so it's not like they would have been going at interstate speed.

I'm going with the hack repair job theory. What RV of any kind has 2x6 for a floor? Look at the straps that attach the 2x6 to the frame and each other. Looks like the entire subfloor was replaced. Not normal and very amateurish looking. If you look closely at the frame photos, you can see rotten flooring and joists above (below in the photo) the 2x6. Maybe the old rotten floor was even left in place and put back on top of the 2x6 somehow. You can even see sheet plastic between the 2x6 and old floor. The work was clearly visible by looking under the trailer as no underbelly material to hide it so buyer didn't inspect it or if they did, didn't know about TT construction.

If it was a hack repair job, the superstructure "box" may not have been properly reattached and it could have suddenly shifted and caused a huge catastrophic lateral weight shift that initiated unrecoverable severe sway. Luckily nobody was severely injured or worse.

Quote from article: "Unbeknownst to them, the trailer has pressure treated 2x6 boards underneath, making the trailer heavier than they believed," Hodgson said.

So they are not new to towing. This is just an odd statement. Sure sounds like a lot of finger pointing and not acceptance of responsibility. Not really surprising as the OP has already resigned to the fact it is someone else's fault other than the operator of the vehicle.

But I am sure they can rest easy staring up at their kids participation trophy on the mantle knowing their lack of skill and research falls squarely on society and not their own judgement.

[CA_Traveler]

TCollins wrote:
I think it was fixable

X2 Just needs a few more 2x6's! :B

[dodge_guy]

The shoddy repair with boards aside, For the size of the trailer the Grand Cherokee was well suited. I’m betting on improperly loaded and poorly setup hitch coupled with a new to towing driver.

[fj12ryder]

TCollins wrote:
I think it was fixable

Heck yeah, that'll buff right out.

[TCollins]

I think it was fixable

[turbojimmy]

Chris Bryant wrote:
I can't believe nobody has said it's because it was a woman driving 😉 "the driver said she..."

Thanks for going there. It was the absolute first thing I thought when I read the article.

[RandACampin]

CA Traveler wrote:
My 2014 Grand Cherokee GVWR is 6500 lbs and I just weighed it with full fuel, 2 people and NO cargo at 5450 lbs. Not much headroom for towing but a great toad.

That is your payload. Your towing is GCWR.

[Chris_Bryant]

I can't believe nobody has said it's because it was a woman driving 😉 "the driver said she..."

[Bobbo]

My opinion is an inexperienced driver towing a trailer for the first time, the trailer starts to sway, the driver hits the brakes.

I don't know why people are still talking about a "dealer." There is zero evidence that a dealer was involved in this at all. It is a more logical deduction that she bought a trailer off Craigslist from Hillbilly Bob and drove out of his back yard.

That podcast does say they bought the trailer from a dealer, but they also call it a "new" trailer, more than once. I think we can discount their depiction of "a new trailer from a dealer."

[myredracer]

They were talking about it on the local station KISS FM yesterday on their "9:30 knucklehead nominee" segment. Podcast here. (Starts at about 0.50.) They claim it was bought from an RV dealer in Poulsbo but it doesn't say that elsewhere on the internet. If a dealer did sell the TT to them, I'd be suing them for letting it off their lot. Couple more photos below. Hi-res photos here.

Trailer is an older Mallard. Maybe someone here knows how they were originally built.

It may have been that the WDH was improperly set up or no WDH at all, maybe the trailer was too long for the Jeep or the 2x6 made it much heavier. I drove through Poulsbo last year with our TT. The speed limit on hwy 3 is 50 mph so it's not like they would have been going at interstate speed.

I'm going with the hack repair job theory. What RV of any kind has 2x6 for a floor? Look at the straps that attach the 2x6 to the frame and each other. Looks like the entire subfloor was replaced. Not normal and very amateurish looking. If you look closely at the frame photos, you can see rotten flooring and joists above (below in the photo) the 2x6. Maybe the old rotten floor was even left in place and put back on top of the 2x6 somehow. You can even see sheet plastic between the 2x6 and old floor. The work was clearly visible by looking under the trailer as no underbelly material to hide it so buyer didn't inspect it or if they did, didn't know about TT construction.

If it was a hack repair job, the superstructure "box" may not have been properly reattached and it could have suddenly shifted and caused a huge catastrophic lateral weight shift that initiated unrecoverable severe sway. Luckily nobody was severely injured or worse.

[CA_Traveler]

My 2014 Grand Cherokee GVWR is 6500 lbs and I just weighed it with full fuel, 2 people and NO cargo at 5450 lbs. Not much headroom for towing but a great toad.