Hold on to your Front Cap | An RV Tale

[Sportin' Wood]

Great way to start your day.

For those that fish, this was kind of like when you rip the hook out, and the guts come with it.

An older gentleman backed his truck into our coach this morning and doubled down by peeling out and taking the front cap with him. This would have been a minor issue had he not pulled forward. The ball on the hitch hooked the cap and yanked the whole thing off.

It rocked our world with the impact, but the rebound was violent. I'm blown away. He did not even seem to know what he did.

Thankfully no one was hurt, and it is just gonna be a super PITA logistically to deal with this. Some of these parts are going to be impossible to find. The front cap should be the easy part to fix, but some of the other broken stuff is going to be a challenge. The door makes a funny noise now, so I'm guessing we have bigger issues.

Does anyone have experience with this? @DILLIGAF lessons learned? At least we have good fiberglass people in this town.

 

[rivrrts429]

There’s a place in Hemet that did mine after a similar situation. Took about a month to source it all. But they were awesome and communicative and my insurance was impressed with them. From the time I dropped it off until I picked it up was about 6 weeks. Everything painted and color matched. My airbag went off so they had to repair that too.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

There’s a place in Hemet that did mine after a similar situation. Took about a month to source it all. But they were awesome and communicative and my insurance was impressed with them. From the time I dropped it off until I picked it up was about 6 weeks. Everything painted and color matched. My airbag went off so they had to repair that too.

We are snowbirds, so that is going to complicate this settlement drastically. I'm going to try and remain optimistic.

Hemet has some really good RV repair shops. I just would prefer not to have to take it that far, and it is not legally drivable at this point. It's all fixable pretty easily if they can find parts. I've struggled with finding some of this stuff for the last 3 years, and it costs 3X more than you would anticipate.

 

[pwerwagn]

I have a buddy that buys salvage rvs at auction all the time, and im surprised at how many decent pushers he buys with damage similar to this.

Almost had this happen to my Super C last weekend. We were at a rock crawling event and this older man had a duramax with a dead battery. He wanted to use one of the power poles to plug his charger into, no big deal. But for some reason he wanted to pull thru all of our camps, with his 40' gooseneck/crawler hauler hooked up and pull between 2 poles that were ~7' apart. We told him there was zero chance he would fit, but he insisted.

He managed to get his truck wedged between the 2 poles touching the front of the dually fenders, with his gooseneck fender about .060" away from my moho front clip. It was a pretty interesting scenario, took me about 45 minutes to get his stuff back out where it belonged without messing up my moho.

 

[mjc]

Take it to one of the advertisers on here Bodyline in havasu. He did excellent work on my RV.

 

[redone76]

Take it to one of the advertisers on here Bodyline in havasu. He did excellent work on my RV.

I was just gonna suggest the same

 

[rivrrts429]

We are snowbirds, so that is going to complicate this settlement drastically. I'm going to try and remain optimistic.

Hemet has some really good RV repair shops. I just would prefer not to have to take it that far, and it is not legally drivable at this point. It's all fixable pretty easily if they can find parts. I've struggled with finding some of this stuff for the last 8 years, and it costs 3X more than you would anticipate.

Fortunately I didn’t need the motorhome. This is your home so it will complicate the issue further, sucks man.

If you haven’t already you might want to jump out in front of this and start sourcing parts now.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Ugh that sucks.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Do like so many of the ricers do now and have a tube bumper made with kinda DOT legal headlights and blinkers. done deal. lol!

 

[Sportin' Wood]

Do like so many of the ricers do now and have a tube bumper made with kinda DOT legal headlights and blinkers. done deal. lol!

If I have to fix this myself, I might consider that. Honestly, I don't want to waste my time fixing this thing anymore. I figured I could fix this pretty easily if I had my shop to play in, but I don't. The biggest issue is going to be how long Islander tolerates this mess in the park. They have insurance, so we'll see how it plays out. My insurance already said they would cover it if they fall short, but we all know how that plays out.

The cosmetic stuff seems easy to fix, but it ripped all of the glassed-in mounts off the cap and broke/bent some additional items.

These things are not top-notch fabrication to begin with.

If the guy had just stopped, it would have been minor fiberglass work; now it's a bitch because getting things aligned without a jig is going to be a bitch.

 

[RiverDave]

If I have to fix this myself, I might consider that. Honestly, I don't want to waste my time fixing this thing anymore. I figured I could fix this pretty easily if I had my shop to play in, but I don't. The biggest issue is going to be how long Islander tolerates this mess in the park. They have insurance, so we'll see how it plays out. My insurance already said they would cover it if they fall short, but we all know how that plays out.

The cosmetic stuff seems easy to fix, but it ripped all of the glassed-in mounts off the cap and broke/bent some additional items.

These things are not top-notch fabrication to begin with.

If the guy had just stopped, it would have been minor fiberglass work; now it's a bitch because getting things aligned without a jig is going to be a bitch.

Have Justin at Bodyline fix it.. You and Angie can stay in my apartment above my shop while it's getting done.. It's first class you will like it.

RD

 

[Mandelon]

Damn, RD that's hella cool.

I know this RV has been a frustrating adventure for them. I see the posts about it on IG.

Maybe Islander would let you put a section of white vinyl fencing up over the front of it until you can arrange an adjuster and get service appointments and parts lined up. A couple posts on concrete bases, and a section or two of fence in between would hide it from passers by.

Jeff, it might behoove you guys to hire an independent adjuster that specializes in RVs. As you astutely mention this won't be quick, easy or cheap to fix.

 

[spark2678]

Was the guy that hit it named Preston from Horizon Motorsports LOL?? Last year when he bought a place in the park he was on a drunk good one and nailed my buddy and my dads golf cart in front of their park model plus tried to take off afterwards denying the whole ordeal. I was there and saw it all unfold. This was right after my Dad purchased a new Trifecta from him too. Park/Cops got involved and he was booted. I will give it to him.....he did own up to it and apologized the next day after he sobered up.

Anyways, I've seen some crazy drivers in there with some being old snowbirds. I hope you are able to get it fixed with little hassle. We had a similar '04 Discovery and it was hard to find parts. REVGROUP is your friend.

 

[EmpirE231]

Bummer! Hopefully they still stock those front caps. Seems like all the other stuff can be fabbed up / fixed by any decent fab shop.

Hopefully the guy has good coverage

 

[bonesfab]

Just borrow RD's rv. The trailer is a hard no I understand, but never heard it about the RV.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

I thought you sold that project and planned to buy a 5th wheel?

 

[HNL2LHC]

What a bummer to hear Jeff. As you noted at least no one was hurt. Best of luck getting back to being whole.

 

[Mandelon]

Now you can fab up something unique instead.

 

[Orange Juice]

I’d say it’s no longer habitable. The risk of a electrical fire jumped.

 

[DWC]

Was the guy that hit it named Preston from Horizon Motorsports LOL?? Last year when he bought a place in the park he was on a drunk good one and nailed my buddy and my dads golf cart in front of their park model plus tried to take off afterwards denying the whole ordeal. I was there and saw it all unfold. This was right after my Dad purchased a new Trifecta from him too. Park/Cops got involved and he was booted. I will give it to him.....he did own up to it and apologized the next day after he sobered up.

Anyways, I've seen some crazy drivers in there with some being old snowbirds. I hope you are able to get it fixed with little hassle. We had a similar '04 Discovery and it was hard to find parts. REVGROUP is your friend.

Calling someone out for a mistake is brutal. Dragging their business into it is a bit much.

 

[Daytona U]

Its hard to tell from the pictures but it does not look like its going to be that hard of a repair it just looks like the front cap brackets need to be glued back on, install cap and a little Fiberglas and paint.
We have done that type of repair many times although never had the cap come completely off like that its usually just one side that loses its bond.

Who is your insurance company and the person who hit you insurance company, that would determine the best course of action for repairs.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

Now you can fab up something unique instead.

Haha, it does beg for a new nose.

We are in pretty good spirits; we have a pile of friends in town for the Ultra4 race this week, so we are going to make fun of ourselves and enjoy the company. We will worry about this when the insurance contacts us. I have the claim number. @Mandelon great point. I will look into that.

@RiverDave, we appreciate the offer; we may have to take you up on it. I also appreciate any RDP community advice on how best to manage this. We are not sure how this is going to work.

While we have had a lot of problems, we have kept fixing the stuff. This one seems like maybe a higher power telling us we need to think about a lifestyle change. Strike three for this trip.

I feel bad for the couple across the road. They are older, and I am sure this is really way worse for them because they have to look at it all day and hear everyone teasing us. There is not a lot that goes on in this park without everyone knowing. That's just my opinion, but I'm not sure the driver should have been driving. Both mirrors were folded in, so he was not even checking his mirrors as he backed up. No backup camera, as far as I can tell.

No question he is at fault, so I don't think I need to split hairs, however, I'm a little nervous now when they back out. If it was a weekend and a kid was riding a bike like in the past few weeks, I would be devastated. We have learned to back into our spot because kids-dogs-old people-golf carts, and a few drunks are in the street at any given time.

 

[rush1]

https://ocrvcenter.com/
This place has a good reputation for body work. Looks good sitting at the islander with your front cap missing ! Unbelievable

 

[Sportin' Wood]

Its hard to tell from the pictures but it does not look like its going to be that hard of a repair it just looks like the front cap brackets need to be glued back on, install cap and a little Fiberglas and paint.
We have done that type of repair many times although never had the cap come completely off like that its usually just one side that loses its bond.

Who is your insurance company and the person who hit you insurance company, that would determine the best course of action for repairs.

They have StateFarm

 

[Sportin' Wood]

https://ocrvcenter.com/
This place has a good reputation for body work. Looks good sitting at the islander with your front cap missing ! Unbelievable

Easy to find us now.

 

[JB in so cal]

Happens there in the summer too. This gentleman wasn’t feeling any pain. How he cleared that fifth wheel with his head still on amazes me

 

[Mandelon]

The Islander is an interesting place to stay. We had our toyhauler there for several summers. We all enjoyed it. Got hassled for noise a couple times, but no real issues. My son was smoking a hookah when that was a thing. Somebody called the police thinking it was a bong. The popo actually came. They laughed and went on their way.

I remember when Chip, (Chipster on here) drunkenly wooshed his golf cart through the middle pull through spots blasting gravel onto the road. The Islander Emergency Gravel Response team was on the scene within minutes. Shovels, brooms and the dust zamboni had the emergency under control. LOL

 

[Sportin' Wood]

The Islander is an interesting place to stay. We had our toyhauler there for several summers. We all enjoyed it. Got hassled for noise a couple times, but no real issues. My son was smoking a hookah when that was a thing. Somebody called the police thinking it was a bong. The popo actually came. They laughed and went on their way.

I remember when Chip, (Chipster on here) drunkenly wooshed his golf cart through the middle pull through spots blasting gravel onto the road. The Islander Emergency Gravel Response team was on the scene within minutes. Shovels, brooms and the dust zamboni had the emergency under control. LOL

The gravel response team makes sure there are no trip hazards on the road every morning. The snowbird community is strong here; the vibe changes quickly when they roll into town. If you are bored here, it is your own fault.

They also are extremely caring and giving when it comes to helping each other. I have seen very generous support for each other. When a snowbird passes away, they have memorial services; that is why you will see plaques and benches all over the park. When someone is sick, they provide meals; when a spouse passes away, they provide a shoulder to cry on.

They also know every happy hour deal in town, measure by the handle, and crush the pickleball court.

The wood shop here is pretty badass. All paid for by snowbirds.

 

[Singleton]

View attachment 1293752 View attachment 1293754
Happens there in the summer too. This gentleman wasn’t feeling any pain. How he cleared that fifth wheel with his head still on amazes me

Was waiting for you to post. Almost the same spot

 

[Singleton]

The gravel response team makes sure there are no trip hazards on the road every morning. The snowbird community is strong here; the vibe changes quickly when they roll into town. If you are bored here, it is your own fault.

They also are extremely caring and giving when it comes to helping each other. I have seen very generous support for each other. When a snowbird passes away, they have memorial services; that is why you will see plaques and benches all over the park. When someone is sick, they provide meals; when a spouse passes away, they provide a shoulder to cry on.

They also know every happy hour deal in town, measure by the handle, and crush the pickleball court.

The wood shop here is pretty badass. All paid for by snowbirds.

They will not allow summer folks or full time folks under retirement age join the club and have access to that shop.
Neighbor across the street is full time, and is not allowed to use the shop, even though he is willing to pay the snowbird dues

 

[angiebaby]

We originally had a space reserved up at Prospector's, if you guys recall, and were on the waiting list at all 3 places on the Island for the winter of 21/22. The Islander called in September and told us they had a space for us, and we didn't hesitate. Knowing what we know now, I think if we had spent that first winter at Prospector's, we probably would not have returned to Havasu for a second season. We love the Islander.

 

[angiebaby]

They will not allow summer folks or full time folks under retirement age join the club and have access to that shop.
Neighbor across the street is full time, and is not allowed to use the shop, even though he is willing to pay the snowbird dues

Jeff will know more than I, but they have a pretty stringent safety training that one of the snowbirds facilitates. Everyone who wants to use it has to participate every year. They all participate in assigned cleaning duties.

We don't have snowbird dues, BTW, but there might be annual dues for being in the woodshop club.

 

[Daytona U]

They have StateFarm

We deal with State Farm all the time and they are a little slow but easy to deal with.

 

[wzuber]

@Travmon
Isn't he in the rv repair business? Maybe he has some helpful ideas or resources for parts?

 

[ultra26shadow]

Calling someone out for a mistake is brutal. Dragging their business into it is a bit much.

Driving under the influence is not a mistake, it’s a bad decision. In a small town as a business owner you sometimes have to keep a low profile and be very involved in the community.

 

[DWC]

Driving under the influence is not a mistake, it’s a bad decision. In a small town as a business owner you sometimes have to keep a low profile and be very involved in the community.

Good thing we’re all perfect here.

 

[DWC]

View attachment 1293752 View attachment 1293754
Happens there in the summer too. This gentleman wasn’t feeling any pain. How he cleared that fifth wheel with his head still on amazes me

Please post his name and place of business for full transparency. I’d like to make sure he’s involved in the community.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Great way to start your day.
View attachment 1293688



View attachment 1293689

For those that fish, this was kind of like when you rip the hook out, and the guts come with it.

An older gentleman backed his truck into our coach this morning and doubled down by peeling out and taking the front cap with him. This would have been a minor issue had he not pulled forward. The ball on the hitch hooked the cap and yanked the whole thing off.

It rocked our world with the impact, but the rebound was violent. I'm blown away. He did not even seem to know what he did.

Thankfully no one was hurt, and it is just gonna be a super PITA logistically to deal with this. Some of these parts are going to be impossible to find. The front cap should be the easy part to fix, but some of the other broken stuff is going to be a challenge. The door makes a funny noise now, so I'm guessing we have bigger issues.

Does anyone have experience with this? @DILLIGAF lessons learned? At least we have good fiberglass people in this town.

WOW! Well....good thing is you are set for the winter I fixed mine with ductape, a string and a 10LB hammer.....pocketed the insurance payout and sold the 5th wheel for 60K as is which I did not expect to be able to do.

Man.....Obviously you will have to take it in and get a quote. Go to an authorized dealer if there is one on LHC. In the meantime you are entitled to living expenses, possible rental, possible hotel costs, storage, etc. I got a quote for a rental RV to use of equivalent size and so forth......Of course they tried to minimize everything but.....you have to be relentless with them. Hopefully he has good insurance as the guy that hit me did (commercial account trucker).

Send me a text if I can help out at all.......

 

[JB in so cal]

Please post his name and place of business for full transparency. I’d like to make sure he’s involved in the community.

Lol
In all honesty the damage was repaired last time I was out. The park said both parties kinda knew each other.

Seriously. Think about how high your head is when sitting in a golf cart then think about what height fifth wheel hitch is. The roof was torn clean off the cart. Dude was lucky

 

[DWC]

Lol
In all honesty the damage was repaired last time I was out. The park said both parties kinda knew each other.

Seriously. Think about how high your head is when sitting in a golf cart then think about what height fifth wheel hitch is. The roof was torn clean off the cart. Dude was lucky

I don’t have to duck under too many things.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

They will not allow summer folks or full time folks under retirement age join the club and have access to that shop.
Neighbor across the street is full time, and is not allowed to use the shop, even though he is willing to pay the snowbird dues

The Snowbird Association owns all the woodshop equipment, which is why it is limited. I pay an additional membership fee for the woodshop access, agree to the rules and take the annual safety class. I'm under the "official Snowbird age limit" But I am a member.

 

[Singleton]

Was the guy that hit it named Preston from Horizon Motorsports LOL?? Last year when he bought a place in the park he was on a drunk good one and nailed my buddy and my dads golf cart in front of their park model plus tried to take off afterwards denying the whole ordeal. I was there and saw it all unfold. This was right after my Dad purchased a new Trifecta from him too. Park/Cops got involved and he was booted. I will give it to him.....he did own up to it and apologized the next day after he sobered up.

Anyways, I've seen some crazy drivers in there with some being old snowbirds. I hope you are able to get it fixed with little hassle. We had a similar '04 Discovery and it was hard to find parts. REVGROUP is your friend.

You could have just said Preston and left the rest out.
It is well known what occurred to those inside the gate and the decisions that were made afterwards.
Since I started the Islander in 2020, I could name 2 or 3 folks per year, who made a bad decision and got booted (it has cost them a summer spot or park model).

 

[zhandfull]

Wow! You aren’t kidding with this RV and bad luck.

If it was me, I’d be buying some colored duct tape to salvage the season and repairing in off season. I just like being in my own RV. I realize there are others who could never live with the damage for one day much less months.

I can only imagine the amount of comments you are getting from others in the resort.

 

[spectra3279]

A few sheetrock screws and you will be good to go

 

[OCMerrill]

You both have been through allot with this RV.
I admire your patience and your approach is always of kindness and the desire to work the problem.

A skill and way of living I completely lack unfortunately.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

I'm not gonna touch it until the adjuster gets a look at it, however, I did take a few minutes to take a good look at what repairs look like. If I drill a few holes in the cap, I could bolt it back on cosmetically.

The mounts would all need to be glassed back in, and all the lights are gonna need some attention with broken sockets, ripped wires, and busted bulbs. Fairly straightforward fiberglass repairs for a pro, but there is a pretty good rip that is about 12" long where the hitch went in. It did seem to get into the door; this is where things get potentially more complicated. There are a few parts that I don't believe can be repaired and will need to be replaced. There is an AC component that got busted; the skirt below the door is bent to hell. The door makes a terrible sound when opened past a certain point, I assume the hinge is sprung, but the door works fine otherwise, except you have to slam it to get it to lock.


Current NADA Value best I can tell

Suggested List Price	Low Retail	Average Retail
$314,734	$84,350	$101,600

We have an attractive interest rate on our loan, but we are well below the low retail value on the payoff. So a trade-out would need to consider these things.

We have receipts for about $30K in engine repairs over the last three years, primarily from Cummins Dealers. I've updated and repaired a lot of the interior, including some new flooring, a new king-size mattress, and reconfigured storage. 8 new tires two years ago.

I did start taking a more serious look at 5th-wheel trailers last night, however, we really hoped to get a few more years out of this rig and see what the interest rate and LHC housing prices did before we made a move to something else. I don't think a park model makes sense for us, however, our neighbors here who have them are trying to sell us on the idea. (Not at the current asking prices)

We are going to look at all options before we make any decisions, but I am going to talk to the Islander office about putting a blind in front of the RV because it looks really FN bad when you come down the street.

Thanks for all the comments and sharing of experiences.

 

[pwerwagn]

I'm not gonna touch it until the adjuster gets a look at it, however, I did take a few minutes to take a good look at what repairs look like. If I drill a few holes in the cap, I could bolt it back on cosmetically.

The mounts would all need to be glassed back in, and all the lights are gonna need some attention with broken sockets, ripped wires, and busted bulbs. Fairly straightforward fiberglass repairs for a pro, but there is a pretty good rip that is about 12" long where the hitch went in. It did seem to get into the door; this is where things get potentially more complicated. There are a few parts that I don't believe can be repaired and will need to be replaced. There is an AC component that got busted; the skirt below the door is bent to hell. The door makes a terrible sound when opened past a certain point, I assume the hinge is sprung, but the door works fine otherwise, except you have to slam it to get it to lock.


Current NADA Value best I can tell

Suggested List Price	Low Retail	Average Retail
$314,734	$84,350	$101,600

We have an attractive interest rate on our loan, but we are well below the low retail value on the payoff. So a trade-out would need to consider these things.

We have receipts for about $30K in engine repairs over the last three years, primarily from Cummins Dealers. I've updated and repaired a lot of the interior, including some new flooring, a new king-size mattress, and reconfigured storage. 8 new tires two years ago.

I did start taking a more serious look at 5th-wheel trailers last night, however, we really hoped to get a few more years out of this rig and see what the interest rate and LHC housing prices did before we made a move to something else. I don't think a park model makes sense for us, however, our neighbors here who have them are trying to sell us on the idea. (Not at the current asking prices)

We are going to look at all options before we make any decisions, but I am going to talk to the Islander office about putting a blind in front of the RV because it looks really FN bad when you come down the street.

Thanks for all the comments and sharing of experiences.

I know its not an ideal scenario, but what you just mentioned worked for me fantastically once. Had an older Kodiak based Super C, got broken into. Damage wasnt anything to write home about. Needed a door handle, they ripped wires out of the walls where the TV's were (we didnt need TV's anyways), etc. I had zero thought they would ever total it.

They ended up salvaging it, paying me out, and I bought it back. Replaced the door handles and a few other necessities and used it for a few years later. I figured I would have to sell it cheap due to it being salvage, but I ended up getting full book value for it when I sold it.

In the end, it was basically a free Moho that I used for a few years. *If* they salvage/total it, maybe work that angle a bit. I had no problem dealing with imperfections when I had zero financial investment in it.

 

[Ziggy]

I think you should just jump in the SxS and go out to watch the races with L&D

 

[DILLIGAF]

I'm not gonna touch it until the adjuster gets a look at it, however, I did take a few minutes to take a good look at what repairs look like. If I drill a few holes in the cap, I could bolt it back on cosmetically.

The mounts would all need to be glassed back in, and all the lights are gonna need some attention with broken sockets, ripped wires, and busted bulbs. Fairly straightforward fiberglass repairs for a pro, but there is a pretty good rip that is about 12" long where the hitch went in. It did seem to get into the door; this is where things get potentially more complicated. There are a few parts that I don't believe can be repaired and will need to be replaced. There is an AC component that got busted; the skirt below the door is bent to hell. The door makes a terrible sound when opened past a certain point, I assume the hinge is sprung, but the door works fine otherwise, except you have to slam it to get it to lock.


Current NADA Value best I can tell

Suggested List Price	Low Retail	Average Retail
$314,734	$84,350	$101,600

We have an attractive interest rate on our loan, but we are well below the low retail value on the payoff. So a trade-out would need to consider these things.

We have receipts for about $30K in engine repairs over the last three years, primarily from Cummins Dealers. I've updated and repaired a lot of the interior, including some new flooring, a new king-size mattress, and reconfigured storage. 8 new tires two years ago.

I did start taking a more serious look at 5th-wheel trailers last night, however, we really hoped to get a few more years out of this rig and see what the interest rate and LHC housing prices did before we made a move to something else. I don't think a park model makes sense for us, however, our neighbors here who have them are trying to sell us on the idea. (Not at the current asking prices)

We are going to look at all options before we make any decisions, but I am going to talk to the Islander office about putting a blind in front of the RV because it looks really FN bad when you come down the street.

Thanks for all the comments and sharing of experiences.

Add that blind cost onto the ins claim

 

[boatnam2]

Kind of gives it the mad max look, i bet the gray hairs gabbed about it for hours.