Fifth Wheel vs. Tree (tree wins)

[Stefonius]

I was returning from 10 days at the Philadelphia Folk Festival yesterday when my roof made friends with a tree bough that overhung the road at far less than the 14' minimum height required by the state. I now have a one-foot tear in my rubber roof at one corner and my 21 foot Dometic 9100 power awning has been completely ripped off of the side of my rig.

The instant I pulled over to survey the damage, it began to rain.

I limped back to the festival grounds where a friend helped me to remove the remains of the awning and stow it inside the trailer. I did not have a ladder, so he stood on top of his VW Microbus and I stood on the bed rail of Truckasaurus so that we could reach the top of the rig. In my haste to do this, I unhitched a bit low and ripped my fifth wheel tailgate right off of the truck. It's now v-shaped instead of straight.

As soon as we were done performing emergency surgery on the RV, it immediately stopped raining.

Now I have a damaged roof and a mostly destroyed awning (will at least need new arms - haven't inspected the tube and motor too carefully yet). Truckasaurus drained all of my emergency repair money right before we left for Fest, so I have no cash reserves with which to fix this damage. UGH!

Should I bite the bullet and contact my insurance, or just pay for the roof repair and live with no awning until I can afford new parts? I'm not sure what to do about the holes in the side of the rig where the screws and bolts go, or the big hole where the wires went in. For that matter, I don't know where the wires ripped off inside the wall.

I thought vacations were supposed to UNwind a person?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Best wishes amigo. Accidents are a drag. Paste an image of a chainsaw up top, forward and those limbs will bend to keep out of your way 🙂

[Grodyman]

schlep1967 wrote:
Was this on a state route? If it was go back to the location and measure/photograph the limb. Give a copy of that to your insurance company. They may be able to use it to get reimbursed by the state. And you may be able to get your deductible back from the state. When in the area look for a segment marker. They are small white square signs with black numbers on them and normally only 3-4 feet high. Should be spaced around 2500 feet apart normally at intersections, bridges or culverts. Get a pic of that also so the state knows where the location is.

Because he drove his rig into a tree? No. This, fortunately, is not the taxpayers fault. But you can feel free to write a check to the op for your share if u wish.
Gman

[JamesBr]

Glad you managed to get it repaired. Enjoy the shake down trip, hopefully the weather will be clear and the branches well above 14'

[Stefonius]

UPDATE - It's finally fixed! New roof, new awning and new vent covers. The work looks beautiful, and I've got a shakedown cruise scheduled for the Veterans' Day weekend.

[Stefonius]

UPDATE - The damages total about $9,000.00, which is more than it cost to put a new roof on my sticks & bricks house last year. Fortunately, the insurance is picking up the tab (minus deductible), and I hope to be back on the road soon!

[Stefonius]

Mexicowanderer - My thoughts exactly. I have the street address where the tree in question is located. I believe the insurance company is going to look into who owns the road and what vertical clearance regulations (if any) are in effect for that area. On the bright side, the road has no shoulder whatsoever and a pretty good drop off to the side, so they can't say I wasn't in my lane. There's also quite a bit of previous scarring on the section of trunk I hit, so I'm probably not the first to do so.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Opinion...

Get out to the site, with camera, tape measure, whatever it takes to document the road clearance. Insurance Company (For the road owner) Lawyers can disassemble and reconstruct the truth atom by atom until it makes you look like a crook.

[Stefonius]

UPDATE: I've contacted the insurance company and am waiting for them to send out an adjuster. The service manager at the RV dealer where it's stored recommended that we replace the entire roof rather than attempt to patch it.

For those of you who like pretty pictures, here are a couple:

Showing the big rip near the front. The metal cove has been crumpled and perforated pretty badly.


Showing the damage down the right side of the rig. Multiple holes have been ripped in the roof.


The gutter along the side has been bent down flat for about 10 feet. The first foot or so was peeled like a potato and curled up.

[martipr]

I tore my roof and broke the ladder on on my 30' TT on a tree. I filed with my insurance and they paid $8970.00 to replace them. I don't know yet if this will affect my premiums but I am sure that it won't equal the $8970.00.

[Stefonius]

fpresto wrote:
I am curious about your statement that the minimum clearance required by the state is 14ft as I know of many state roads that have less. Now if it is a Federal Highway then the requirement is Vertical clearance: Minimum vertical clearance under overhead structures (including over the paved shoulders) of 16 feet (4.88 m) in rural areas and 14 feet (4.27 m) in urban areas, with allowance for extra layers of pavement. Through urban areas at least one routing should have 16-foot (4.88 m) clearances. But I have seen nothing similar for state roads including PA.

To be honest, I pulled the 14' number out of my butt. Almost every road around here with less than 14' of vertical clearance has signage warning of it in advance. I'm sure there is some law on the books regulating the permissible height of trees over public roads, but I don't know what it is and would first have to find out who owns Schwenksville Road so that I can figure out which governing body would provide the relevant regulation.

[wa8yxm]

I have seen some trees that got smacked by a fairly solid vehicle (JEEP) doing a good fifty MPH,,,, and you know what.. I could not see where the tree was damaged.

As for the Jeep.. (And my wife who was driving it at the time)... Total loss.

[time2roll]

Insurance

[Oaklevel]

The estimate idea is a good one but it sounds like you could be looking at several thousands of dollars in damages if the roof needs to be replaced.....

[SteveB]

Bummer about the tree. I ripped of my 5th tailgate with my old camper. I jumped up and down on it to straighten it and its been good to go for years.