dawolf66
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Re: WW Repairs
My story begins on August 3, 2007. Had the second trip to Sturgis in my 2006 WW FS2300 and 2004 Durango loaded her up with 2 Harleys (Same as the first trip in 2005). Now since this trip was planned out, and it was a long way (From NJ)I made sure that all bearings were greased right and the trailer weight was distributed as close to spec as possible. I had borrowed my buddy's tongue scale and made sure we didn't have too much (or too little) tongue weight and we got it pretty close to even. We hit the road and about an hour into the trip the rig was a little squirrelly and I figured we had more weight than normal and I will pull over anyway to check on the bikes. Everything seemed ok and I tightened up my Reese dual Cam one more link. It seemed to work ok and on we went, another 30 minutes and it was getting bad so I pulled over at a Truck service place. The guy told us its probably like that because there is not enough tongue weight. I told him we have it at the maximum that is rated by the manufacturer, I pulled out the manual while we unhooked and checked to see if anything had shifted or that we measured it correctly. He measured it and said that 635 pounds was too low and it should be closer to 10% to 15% of the total weight of the trailer. Desperate to try something, we took his advice since he seemed to know what he was talking about, so we shifted some stuff around, and moved everything we could up front towards the tongue. We got it up to 730 pretty quick and I threw the man a 20 and hit the road. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed better, back on the road. Went about 20 miles and almost at the PA border when a truck sped by me on the right and the trailer went into an uncontrollable sway and we ended up doing a 180 and a jacknife on Route 78 with oncoming traffic and trucks doing about 85. We came to rest after the center guard rail caught us and stopped us. We were alive and I was just baffled. I checked the rig and my rear quarter of the TV was totally smashed from the jacknife and the same corner of my trailer was smashed a little from the contact. One of the D Rings holding the bike ripped right out of the floor sending it smashing into the other. We unloaded the bikes and remarkably were able to tow the trailer after we replaced the 2 blown out tires. I was too spooked to drive so I rode my bike and my cousin took over and we took the rig home, doing no more than 50 mph. Have not taken the rig out since, frankly I was afraid. I had a few people look at it and they said the frame is bent and needs straightening. Insurance had some guy look at it and he showed me that the front part was bent slightly. 3 months later I get this recall thing and I am reading it and I get to the part about the weights and my stomach dropped. My recommended tongue weight went from 635 to 942! All I can hear is the guy from the truck place telling me "you need more tongue weight" "the main cause for sway is not enough tongue weight" I remember that when I added 100 lbs to the tongue it seemed to help a little, what if I had added 300? I cannot believe that a trailer manufacturer would be so neglectful to post such inaccurate numbers on something that can have such a critical impact on safety. Anyway whats done is done, I can go on about how I almost lost my life and the the life of my cousin in truck with me, but I will stop here. Bottom line is I want to make sure that my frame is straight, and my hitch is straight before I go out again. I also am ready to ditch the Durango and am getting a F250 SuperDuty Crew Cab. Is there a way I can have the entire frame looked at and fixed here in NJ? Is there a way to check if this thing drives straight? like some certification of straightness or something? Otherwise I am not going to be comfortable driving this thing with my family in it. The Lawsuit says something about an $800 limit for parts and labor? This does not seem like enough. Has anyone else had to have a shop do these repairs? Do I have any other recourse? Has anyone contacted the Lawyers for the Class? Are they helpful? Sorry for going on but once I started I was almost reliving it and felt compelled to share all the details. Thanks, Ray386Views0likes0Comments
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