Broke Down in Tillamook, OR;Camping in Les Schwab

Larryheadhunter · Jul 10, 2009

Well folks, almost bought the big one the other day. On the 33rd day of our 51 day summer trip, 5 minutes after passing the Tillamook Cheese factory going south, heading for Newport,OR our spring leaf sets, shocks, U Bolts from the rear axle, and one of our new Goodyear G614 bit the dust. Thank God we were able to limp into the Les Schwab's in Tillamook, OR. The whole rig was resting on the driver side rear tire and smoking, almost causing a fire. The cops told us that we were lucky to be going so slow when this happened, or both driver side tires would have blown, causing a fire and most likely tipping us over if we were travelling on the highway. All these nice local folks started honking and warning us something huge had happened, as the frame was resting on the tires. Above the tires, on the bottom of the frame are huge rubber dents and marks.
We spent last night behind Schwab's without power, camping with slides in, and lanterns out, lol, drinking wine, eating brie and crackers and going to bed early. Today they hooked us up with an outlet so I can use my Bipap. They weren't too happy that I called the local police, and had someone come over to hook us up to an outlet, which the manager said they couldn't do because the outlets were inside next to the batteries and could cause a fire, but today's mgr allowed us the outlet after all.
The good news is that I spoke with Jim Fenner, Heartland Warranty Mgr, and he hooked me up with Lippert Warranty, and Mike over there requested pics, which Les Schwab's Tillamook crew sent him and today approved the whole repair bill including the burned out new tire. He sent the parts for both sides of the rear axles today by express mail, and hopefully this second night camping behind Les Schwab's will be our last night here. The only negative is I have to pay by credit card and send the receipts to Lippert for repayment.
So without the rig, today we went to Lincoln City, Depoe Bay and Newport for a day trip. In Newport, we had beers at the Rogue Nation Beer Brewery, and it was very tasty, sitting on the dock of the bay watching the boats in the harbor. At least we are still breathing. And this didn't happen because we were overweight either as we don't carry a generator, or heavy tools. Interesting that Lippert and Jim Beletti both told me these accidents usually occur on the kitchen side as its heavier.
Anyway, thats the story of the day. I can still hear and smell the cows mooing. LOL

Nabo · Jul 10, 2009

WOW. Sound like ya'll are safe but what a scare. Hope the rest of your trip is safe.

ziggy · Jul 10, 2009

Oh Larry, that sounds awful! At least you are near the coast while you wait for repairs.

You could take some short trips driving around looking at the small towns between the coast and Salem/Portland to see if there are any places you like the looks of, if you are going to be there for a couple of days waiting for parts. Just grab an Oregon map and go explore to take your mind off the rotten luck with springs etc.

Glad you are both OK and hopefully the repairs go quickly.

Kristy

Larryheadhunter · Jul 10, 2009

Thanks Nathan,
My wife Debbi is still shaking in her boots. Read the rest of my posting as I edited it. I think I will go out and milk the cows behind Les Schwabs. LOL

Ernie & Lettie · Jul 10, 2009

Glad everybody's allright. Be safe and take care.

Ray LeTourneau · Jul 10, 2009

Larry & Debbi, I'm glad to hear you guys are safe and in good hands. I hope the rest of your trip is uneventful other than great fun.

sharmulst · Jul 10, 2009

Larry and Deb
So glad that the both of you are okay. It is certainly a scary thing to happen. We were lucky when the shackles broke on the drivers side as we were sitting in an RV park when Steve found them. There was no damage caused.
Enjoy your time there as much as you can. We are in La Pine, OR at Cascade Meadows RV Park and will be going to Silverton, OR next week. Hope you are back on the road soon.

sandman · Jul 10, 2009

Hey larry glad to here you guys are allright whooooo could of been real bad and i think its time that hearland do something about this problem its becoming a large problem they need to do something about there springs before somebody really gets hurt.

boatdoc · Jul 11, 2009

Bummer Larry, But you're not the only one in that boat. Glad you and Deb are allright and can still have your normal demeanor. Are you comming this way, down thru Bandon on your way back to SoCal. If so look us up and see if we can get together.
Gary & Diana boatdoc
Do you still think the RV is better than the boat???????

geeksrus · Jul 11, 2009

Larryheadhunter said:
Well folks, almost bought the big one the other day. On the 33rd day of our 51 day summer trip, 5 minutes after passing the Tillamook Cheese factory going south, heading for Newport,OR our spring leaf sets, shocks, U Bolts from the rear axle, and one of our new Goodyear G614 bit the dust. Thank God we were able to limp into the Les Schwab's in Tillamook, OR. The whole rig was resting on the driver side rear tire and smoking, almost causing a fire. The cops told us that we were lucky to be going so slow when this happened, or both driver side tires would have blown, causing a fire and most likely tipping us over if we were travelling on the highway. All these nice local folks started honking and warning us something huge had happened, as the frame was resting on the tires. Above the tires, on the bottom of the frame are huge rubber dents and marks.
We spent last night behind Schwab's without power, camping with slides in, and lanterns out, lol, drinking wine, eating brie and crackers and going to bed early. Today they hooked us up with an outlet so I can use my Bipap. They weren't too happy that I called the local police, and had someone come over to hook us up to an outlet, which the manager said they couldn't do because the outlets were inside next to the batteries and could cause a fire, but today's mgr allowed us the outlet after all.
The good news is that I spoke with Jim Fenner, Heartland Warranty Mgr, and he hooked me up with Lippert Warranty, and Mike over there requested pics, which Les Schwab's Tillamook crew sent him and today approved the whole repair bill including the burned out new tire. He sent the parts for both sides of the rear axles today by express mail, and hopefully this second night camping behind Les Schwab's will be our last night here. The only negative is I have to pay by credit card and send the receipts to Lippert for repayment.
So without the rig, today we went to Lincoln City, Depoe Bay and Newport for a day trip. In Newport, we had beers at the Rogue Nation Beer Brewery, and it was very tasty, sitting on the dock of the bay watching the boats in the harbor. At least we are still breathing. And this didn't happen because we were overweight either as we don't carry a generator, or heavy tools. Interesting that Lippert and Jim Beletti both told me these accidents usually occur on the kitchen side as its heavier.
Anyway, thats the story of the day. I can still hear and smell the cows mooing. LOL

We're happy for you that it wasn't worse than that... same thing happened to us 2 weeks ago, the only difference was 2 of our tires received deep groves & did not explode (don't know if we'll have to replace all 4 until they are off the unit & inspected).

I was somewhat surprised that Lippert is agreeing to pickup all your repair/ replacement costs. They are telling me that they will only pay for 2.5 hours of labor on a job that is estimated at 4 - 6 hours minimum. Also only will provide $65 towards the cost of $210 (minimum) per tire to replace the Michelin XPS RIBS.

I would like to send parts of your comments to Lippert to see if they are willing to be more considerate to my pocket book. Let me know if I can quote you.

Also do you have Mike @ Lippert last name & title. Maybe I'll have more luck with him in returning my calls & emails.

Thanks Eh!

Larryheadhunter · Jul 11, 2009

Hi you'all,
Well after camping 2 nights behind Les Schwab's tire shop in Tillamook (really like that cheese), we are now in Newport Marina for the night and then tomorrow we are heading for Turtle Rock RV Park in Gold Beach.
First thanks everyone for all your concerns, it was a scary time for sure.

Thought for the day; wonder if we would have survived if we still had our e rated mission tires and not our new g rated goodyear 614's?

We received all the parts including 4 leaf spring packs, 2 shocks, Ubolts, etc. today. It took 2 guys 2 and a half hours to replace all the springs and shocks. I am a bit concerned as they mentioned the bolts on the shocks on the other side were slightly bent. Hope they don't break as well. I noticed us bouncing down the road this afternoon though. Man those new springs were really bouncy LOL. They only charged us $225 for the labor and the new tire cost over $300. Lippert is covering it all. Bet they sent the other 3 spring sets because the originals may have been faulty. At first they mentioned I might have been too heavy until I told them that was impossible as we weighed in Las Vegas last year very light. Interesting that it was mentioned that to be aware that the side that most often busts is the kitchen side, as its much heavier, with the fridge, and furnace etc all on one side. It could be a design flaw.
Geekrus, please don't use this info until we get home at the end of the month and get repaid. All that work took only 2 and a half hours. I can understand why Lippert is questioning the hours. Not that its my business. Good luck and I will let u know when we are repaid.
Thanks again to everyone who worried about us. That is called a close one.
Gary, and Bob Krull, thanks for all the offers of help, but we kinda liked camping in the dark. lol Do have to pick up some kind of side arm for this exact reason. There were several homeless people and strange people and cows leering at us and all we had was a baseball bat and a bowie knife.

bigredtruck · Jul 12, 2009

that is a very scary story Larry and we are glad to hear that you came thru it safely. Take care!

geeksrus · Jul 12, 2009

Larryheadhunter

Let me know via private message when you get home so I can quote you.

The labor charge was a real bargain, considering it took 5 man hours of work (2 guys @ 2.5 hours).

Hope you have a trouble free trip the rest of the way.

Eh!

Larryheadhunter · Jul 15, 2009

Hi everyone,
Thanks to all for all the kind words and especially to the folks that asked me if I needed anything, or were willing to come up to Les Schwabs and hang out. Debbi and I really appreciate everyone's concern.
We are now back on the road on schedule after a great 30th Anniversary dinner in the Victorian Inn in Ferndale. It was a shame that we could only stay the night at the neat Newport, OR marina rv park, and Turtle Rock RV Park in Gold Beach, OR. We spent 2 nights in the Giant Ancient Redwoods RV park in Red Crest, CA and drove the 32 mile scenic route, (truck only).
It's really wonderful that Lippert paid for all the labor, new tire, and $506 in parts that they sent us. The scary part is the rig is bouncing all over the place so much my 42" TV fell behind the wood frame and it hasn't settled down completely. I am guessing that those springs take time to break in. I am a little concerned that the distance from the top of each tire to the frame seems to be a little off by inches. Is that something I should be concerned about? Les Scwab said we should check the distance from each axle to the front of the rig, after we have put on some miles to see if we have any frame damage, as well as checking on tire wear. Any thoughts? I do believe if we had 7K axles instead of 6K the springs might not have broken.

SouthernNights · Jul 15, 2009

Larry;
Springs do not go through a "break in"period. They may settle a little but the differnce is not that noticable. They do soften over time-alot of time which is why some people have their springs rearched.

You said the distance between the top of the tire and the frame is off by inches. Are you comparing to the way the rig sat with the old springs,??or the distance between the top of the tires is different now between the four tires or what.
It should look and measure very close to the way your rig was if the same spec spring and the rest off the quipment was the same.

chasdvorak · Jul 16, 2009

Hi Larry,

Glad to hear you're on the road again and a good thought for your continued safe travel. Any chance you can post or send some pictures of the damage? It would help to get some idea of the damage and maybe a hint about what, if anything, to check during pre-trip inspections.

Thanks,

Chuck Dvorak

kakampers · Jul 16, 2009

Larry...in reference to everything bouncing all over the place...did Lippert increase your springs from 6,000 to 7,000lbs? If so, that may be what caused this. Check to see how many leafs are on your springs now...if it's 4 then they're 6,000, if it's 5 they are 7,000...

Same thing happened to us...Lippert saw flat 7,000 springs, thought we were overweight...we weren't. They replaced them with 8,000lbs springs and when we moved no more than 100 miles, you'd have thought a bomb went off in our rig...even broke the big mirrored closet door off, right inside entry door!

We had to secure all cabinets and batten everything down, even things that hadn't moved in two years. Final solution...we added Trailair Centerpoint and that seems to have tamed the beast! However, the springs look great after almost 3,500 miles...guess those weak chinese springs have to be bigger than required to actually handle the axle weights...

shovelguy · Jul 16, 2009

Springs

Last year we spent six days in the parking lot of a machine shop in Longivew, Alberta having suffered a similar break down. When we were finally able to resume the truncated vacation we ran into some folks who had the same thing happen to them in California. Since then we have heard the same story several times. Seems to me there is a problem here that the manufacturer needs to address. Hope they are paying attention!! Someone could get hurt. Dean & Jodi

wdk450 · Jul 16, 2009

Where to Report

Maybe we on the Forum are not in on all of the discussions that MIGHT be happening between Heartland and Lippert on this matter, but since we do not know of any recalls happening, I think it is the duty of anyone who has experienced these suspension failures to try to protect the rest of the public by reporting these instances to the National Highway Safety Administration.
A link to the submission form is on this webpage:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

Jarhead · Jul 16, 2009

You guys and gals got me worried. I just bought a new Big horn 3370RL and was concerned about overweight, tires and suspension after reading this thread. I unloaded everything except for the 2 full propane thirty pound bottles and had the unit weighed on a commercial scale. The gross weight is 8906 Lbs.
I was given 3 Big Horn brochures by my dealer and each one of them lists the dry weight differently for the 3370RL. One states Dry Weight as 10,635 Lbs, another lists the Dry Weight as 10,900 Lbs and the third one lists the Dry Weight as 11,100 Lbs.
I know that product information differs according to serial numbers, but that's a huge difference and I have no reason to doubt the commercial scale reading.
Any comment would be appreciated.
Bob - Chilliwack, BC, Canada

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