Crosswind Blowover

[chuckj]

Was bringing my 2013 Montana 3725 back to Reno from the summer at Lake Almanor on Oct 15,2916 and came out of a sheltered area near Janesville into an open desert area on both sides and a strong crosswind blew that puppy over blocking the highway. Apparently this particular area funnels the wind coming off the mountains. As bad as that sounds it was a rather benign incident. There were trucks and RVs coming from the other way for 10 miles prior to the rollover and I was below the speed limit running about 50. I felt the truck feeling a little light, looked in the rear view and saw the Monty leaning left and it slowly went over as I backed off the gas and lightly touched the brakes. There were a couple of pops which were the bolts pulling out of the center part of the hitch so the truck wasn't pulled over. After calling 911 I got out of the truck to direct traffic around on the shoulders while waiting for the CHP and wrecker. It was difficult to stand with the direct crosswind. At that time I'd have to say it was blowing 65-70 mph.

Kudos to the CHP, Janesville FD and Susanville Towing for their prompt response and professional service. They had the Monty off the highway and me on my way with the truck only in about an hour. My GMC 3500 needed a new bed and hitch and the Monty was totaled. Fortunately I had full replacement coverage with Progressive and they had me in a new 2017 Montana 3790RD in 5 weeks for my deductible of $150 and the $2.3K difference in price for the upgrade. Thanks Progressive!

[mlh]

I had no idea 65 to 70 mph wind could topple a camper. The good part is no one was hurt your truck was fixed and you got a new camper for $150. What a deal.
Lynwood

[DQDick]

Glad you weren't hurt and the insurance came thru. Sitting in one place and moving down the highway can really change the dynamics. Also when we had the 90mph straight wind we had our tanks full, were sitting still and had all 8 of our jacks down (not a misprint, we kept our rear stabilizers when we added level-up)and we had our slides out. Lot of difference of opinion on that, but my personal belief dealing with high winds in KS and NM is that the slides being out breaks up the wind somewhat and work like outriggers if you have enough weight in them, and we travel with a lot of crap.

[1retired06]

Scary situation for sure. Glad nobody was injured.

[Dam Worker]

Glad you made it with no injuries except your Fifthwheel which you replaced. Amazing what the wind can do. I have experienced some high cross wind towing with both my new 3160 and my old Vangard. No fun and it makes for a long trip. I also got see a set of FedEx doubles tip over in January 2006. Nasty wind blowing the normal tumble weeds and also sagebrush and the rock from the shoulder of the roads. It started with the second double being blown onto just the shoulder side tires and then back down a couple of times then it went over as the truck kept pulling it down the highway. Then the double hooked to the truck repeated the same procedure which left the truck that then did the same thing. After all this happened the highway was littered with junk. We stopped and helped the driver who was more shook up mentally then physically. He was about a quarter mile from where the road turned directly into the wind and he would have been safe. The second truck to go over about 20 minutes later resulted in a fatality. That was supposed to be 60/70 MPH sustained winds with higher gusts.

Tom Marty

[Art-n-Marge]

I fear strong crosswinds more than anything else that could happen to an RV. I'm so glad you pulled through this okay, and it sounds like you got this taken care of with some promptness.

I have only had tire problems for mishaps and it took me forever to get new ones and get them changed out, but I was able to take care of them without involving anyone else. Fingers are crossed.

Stay safe.

[richfaa]

Many underestimate wind speed....

https://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/beaufort.html