Oops--I did a stupid--now I do need a drink. - Montana Owners Club

Dave e Victoria · 05-12-2007, 03:20 PM

Today I towed our Cambridge down to my hanger to do some maintenance chores as we get ready for our summer travels. (It's time, it is 104 here today). But, when i was putting it away I touched the garage wall at the right rear corner of the coach. I am very careful but this time things just didn't seem to be going right. I decided to pull forward to get a better shot. Unfortunately the edge of the rear cap was next to and engaged with one of the steel studs. As I pulled forward I heard a rip and found my rear cap with a tear all the way across under the rear window.

So, I guess we will get to enjoy the Phoenix heat while this is fixed. I'm sure the job is relatively straight forward given that we can get a rear cap for a Cambridge and given that the RV repair guys are not too backed up

All that needs to wait until Monday. In the mean time I am trying to decide if a martini or a manhattan is better for my stomach. Maybe try both and see
Dave

exav8tr · 05-12-2007, 03:34 PM

A couple of each might be the answer. Sorry to hear that Dave, I know how proud you are of your Cambridge. I guess another lesson learned. Hope you can get it repaired soon and get out of that heat. 104 already. Did I mention I have a son that lives in Mesa, May spend some time there next winter. Hope to meet up with you then....

Wrenchtraveller · 05-12-2007, 03:52 PM

Sorry to hear of your incident but I admire your outlook on life and if it was me I would have a scotch on the rocks.
Every one of us has done something similar and I even backed one of my new fivers into the house because I forgot it was 4 feet longer than my old one. Oh,in my case I had the alcohol before the incident. Your way is better.

Ozzie · 05-12-2007, 05:43 PM

Although I am sorry to hear of your troubles, I am somewhat relieved to hear we are all still human. These things do happen now and then no matter how good we are at handling our rigs or how hard we try. All it takes is a little slip of concentration.
I had a gotcha moment last year up at our lake place, been going there for years, just swung a little too wide and the back end clipped a small tree on a tight turn around. Needless to say that tree met it's maker after I repaired the corner that peeled away.
Make mine a double...

ols1932 · 05-13-2007, 03:13 AM

Sorry to hear about your incident Dave, but I always knew I wasn't the only one to do things like that. I like your positive outlook on it and look forward to meeting you down the road.

Orv

lasater · 05-13-2007, 07:40 AM

About 3 years ago, I did a similar thing to the rear cap on my 2955RL. The enntire rear cap had to be replaced at a dost of about $10,000. Let's hear a round of applause for insurance. Had to pay the deductable and that's it.

I decided on a bottle of Crown Royal to celebrate my senior moment. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bet. Of course, I'm under a gray cloud right now since the 6.0L diesel died 2 weeks ago. I'm still trying the get the beast home to have the local dealer look at it. The dealer in N. California, where it died, wantd to charge me $15,000 to replace the engine. Uh-Uh! It's either warranty or we will wholesale the carcass and buy new.

We are udecided right now whether to stay with Ford or go after a GMC duramx/allison combination.

mrosser · 05-13-2007, 08:32 AM

You know the old saying "stuff happens". The lid on my toolbox came open while driving at night. I made a turn into the RV park and the corner of the lid busted the front cap, about a 6 inch hole/crack. $500's later you can't tell it ever happened.

azstar · 05-13-2007, 11:31 AM

Man oh Man, Dave, your beautiful Cambridge. I'm really sorry to hear the bad news.

One thing that won't change is that, your still one great guy.

Keystone paid for our front Cap to be repaired and painted because of factory cracks. They had East Valley RV Specialists in Mesa, on Apache Trail do the work. Nice job. Just in case 480 380 3801. I saw 1M dollar rigs there for collision work.

Wish you the best,
Steve

Cat320 · 05-13-2007, 02:12 PM

BTDT...get out your check book...and in a hanger no less, where was the ground guide?

Dave e Victoria · 05-13-2007, 05:15 PM

Thanks for all the nice sentiments. It helps keep down the attempts at self flaggilation. I went back to look at it and it's a mess. I thought maybe I could whip up a bit of Epaxy and get started sanding but that doesn't look like a good idea. Then I thought maybe I could patch her up eith some alluminum partches pop riveted into place so we could get through the summer. Well, maybe as a last resort.

Brad suggests it might be a $10,000 dollar job. Ouch. Thank goodness it is insured. Also, thanks to AZStar (Steve) for the lead on a repair shop.

Also to Bert -- I wasn't at the hanger when this occurred. We have a storage condo at Big Boy's Toys in Glendale. The garage is 14 ft wide by fifty feet long. Unfortunately, the apron in front is only about 65 or 70 feet between rows so the back in is a real challange. Also unfortunately, I had become complacent as the last three backins had gone perfect without the help of a spotter. So, I got sloppy. and there you go. One thing I did learn once again is how fragile these things are. I was going very slow and hooked what is basically sheet metal in the condo. The results are not pretty. A real accident would be a disaster.
Dave

tbhd2 · 05-13-2007, 05:35 PM

We know the feeling. We caught a pole in a congested mobile home park advertised as a campground in Ft. Meyers Fl. Should have had a spotter and would have solved an expensive disaster. Plus our shore power connection is on the side and it tore that off also. So now I'm trying to figure out how to get power into the trailer with the connector ripped off. Not a pleasant experience. Good luck with your repairs. Had ours repaired at a fiberglass boat repair facility and can't even see where it was damaged

DarMar · 05-14-2007, 09:10 AM

Sorry to hear of your mishap, Dave, we all know that sooner or later our turn will come and we will be in the same situation. We trust the "Medicine" you self administered calmed your nerves!

HamRad · 05-14-2007, 09:48 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Dave e Victoria

Today I towed our Cambridge down to my hanger to do some maintenance chores as we get ready for our summer travels. (It's time, it is 104 here today). But, when i was putting it away I touched the garage wall at the right rear corner of the coach. I am very careful but this time things just didn't seem to be going right. I decided to pull forward to get a better shot. Unfortunately the edge of the rear cap was next to and engaged with one of the steel studs. As I pulled forward I heard a rip and found my rear cap with a tear all the way across under the rear window.

So, I guess we will get to enjoy the Phoenix heat while this is fixed. I'm sure the job is relatively straight forward given that we can get a rear cap for a Cambridge and given that the RV repair guys are not too backed up

All that needs to wait until Monday. In the mean time I am trying to decide if a martini or a manhattan is better for my stomach. Maybe try both and see
Dave

Dave,
We just left Phoenix today after just over two weeks in your lovely town. Wow was it hot! I am sorry I didn't realize you were in the same area. I would have really liked to have shared a cup of coffe or other beverage with you. Sorry about that. My CRS just takes over sometimes and I'm lucky to find my way into the house at the end of the day!

OK..... Now... are you sure you didn't partake of the libation BEFORE? I hope you are able to get quick results but some friends ripped their end cap off or nearly so and it took a lot of time and a lot of $$$$$. I'm sure the $$$$ thing is no problem but the time might be a problem. If I remember correctly it took about 3 or 4 months to get everything done. I may be way off on that but that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

By the way our RV park was located near the corner of McClintok and Apache. Right in the middle of the new light rail system they are installing in your great city! What a mess!

OK...... Hope they get you fixed up quickly so you get to some cool country.

Dennis and Mary Kay

Bill and Lisa · 05-15-2007, 12:29 AM

I am not so senior but I had my moment last Friday. Went to drop the unit at the dealer so the replacement microwave and converter could be installed. Nothing seemed to go right and I was running behind, although backing in from the street into the dealers work area went okay. Finally got it positioned where they wanted it and I unhooked from the trailer. Applied the trailer brakes as I pulled forward to ensure a good uncoupling. stoped after about a foot, adjusted the pin height to make hooking back up in a few hours easier (had a camping outing to go on), disconnected the umbilical, closed the tailgate and went to pull out front, complete the paperwork and head off to work. KA-THUNK. There is the kingpin embedded in the middle of my tailgate door. luckily no damage to the kingpin or the land gear legs but the tail gate wouldn't latch again once I got it open. Dealer has one of the plastic 5th wheel tailgates on order. Decided to drop the truck at home and take a different vehicle to work since last think I wanted was to have my generator fall out of the bed on the highway. That didn't happen on the way to the house but one of my mirrors did fall off and shatter. Some good news - the new Apollo seems to work well, but not the converter. Since the campout was an annual appreciation campout put on by the dealer I got a chance to let the service manager know that my converter wasn't working. I have the golf cart batteries and a charger so it was no big deal but I just hope the problem was an installation slipup and not signs of a bigger problem.

Two weeks ago when dropping the unit at the same dealer after hours after a weekend of camping I made too tight of a turn while dropping the unit in an adjacent lot and found that adding an air deflector changed the "first point of contact" between the monty and my truck from the middle of my cab window (which I can see and monitor easily) to the upper part of the cap which impacts the end cap and the frame for the deflector. Now I have a 3 inch by 1 inch gash in the fiberglass that needs to get fixed. Dealer looked at it Friday and they said they can't do that repair work but any body shop should be able to. I heard someone mention a boat repair facility. Anyother recommendations and an estimate of how long it takes to repair something like this (I work M-F) and we are camping like 8 out of the next 10 weekends.

Bill.

bsmeaton · 05-15-2007, 05:36 AM

Dave,

It did the same thing a month ago, to a lesser degree, but I did head straight for the Scotch.

Ironically, I was pulling it out of storage to go get an estimate for some body work Keystone was covering. Miscalculated the turn coming out of the building and heard the steel building ring. Jumped out and sure enough, it left paint from the building all the way up the side in the rear corner and took a chunk of fiberglass out by the tail light. Cost me money, but it was already scheduled for the body shop so I lost no time. They did a nice job repairing what was there. Fortunately did not have to replace the rear clip.

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