Back falloff

[goducks14]

Is no one impressed with the strength of the back as it came off in one piece.

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Not in the least. It's a vacuum bonded wall. Maybe GD should concentrate more on how they fasten that strong wall to their trailers. It will be interesting to see why exactly this wall was that easily ripped off. The car clearly has very little damage. That shows that the wall was poorly attached. I hate to say this but that whole rear assembly was a major issue waiting to happen. I would be very nervous if I owned a similar trailer built on the same day or by the same guy in charge of fastening that rear cap.

[bertschb]

Mr. Farouk on your post above, you asked for feedback on what to do to get the trailer fixed. Here are the options I see, and maybe others have additional ideas:

1. Fix the trailer yourself.
2. Pay someone else to fix the trailer with your own money.
3. Convince Grand Design to pay for the repairs. I know you've already pursued this without success and you're escalating your claim to upper management.
4. File an insurance claim and have them pay for the repairs to the trailer.
5. Sell the trailer with the current damage and the future owner will pay for the repairs.
6. Consider the trailer as totaled and take it to a salvage yard for a total loss.
7. Contact an attorney for legal advice.

Great summary Jim. You added a couple options I hadn't considered. Theoretically, this should be the end of this thread but I think we'll get at least 10 more pages out of it :-)

[jamieline]

"It will be interesting to see why exactly this wall was that easily ripped off. The car clearly has very little damage. That shows that the wall was poorly attached. I hate to say this but that whole rear assembly was a major issue waiting to happen."

Does it? What's the complete story here? Will we fully know?
Talk to your insurance company.

[rfarouk]

Thank you for the response.

I am going to do what I think it's right for me and my investment. If I choose to voice my opinion, I will continue to do so. Please do not feel obligated to response. I have learned from my facebook post and my post on this "Owners of the GDRV" that some of us are big fans of the GDRV, and I appreciate that. Unless you have a 2016 GD model 267BHS RV. Please do me a favor and don't don't give me your expertise on something you don't have, nor owned.

One of the forum rules
"This forum will not allow personal attacks, nor will it allow attacks to or from the manufacturer. The "Can't we all just get along" saying is applicable here. If you wouldn't say it to your mother or your spouse, then don't say it here. There truly are no dumb questions. We were all new at some point, and we have all had questions that we needed answered. With that in mind, please use the search function prior to asking a question to see if has been asked. Be civil, and stay a part of the board."

Let's be civil and respect each others opinions. I have earned my right to speak my opinions the day I bought the RV. I don't need anyone to fight GDRV unless you are working for them, not paid by them.

Thank you

[T'boro Fisher]

Thank you for your expertise and feedback.

I am glad that you have time to blow up the pictures and analyze them. I think your expert eyes, did see that the holes are empty and there are only 8 holes that have screws to them.

I wish people like yourself would:
A. Give a feedback on what to do to get fix.
B. Say something nice or do not bash a co-owner, becasue I proofed that i believe in the brand when I bought. Just like you did.

Have a great day.

The holes are not pre-punched into the aluminum, they are tapped as the installer puts them into the wall. If there is a hole there it had a screw in it at one time. With the force that the cap would have come off my guess is if you would look around the area where the ACCIDENT happened you would find the missing screws.

You asked for feedback;
To fix: I would make sure YOUR insurance company found a reputable / reviewed / RV repair shop that has extensive experience repairing body damage and have the unit taken there and repaired. In the meantime I would find a indoor storage facility to get the unit in to prevent anymore damage from water intrusion. If it was my unit I would have it transported back to the Grand Design Service Center in Bristol Indiana and let the factory guys repair it on your insurance company's nickel. I took our unit up there last Halloween to have a repair done (caused by me / and billable) and they are great people and will make sure you are happy. I know you are in Texas and your insurance company will pushback on transporting it that far, but if I was planning on keeping the RV long term I would be willing to pay the freight to know it was repaired correctly.

Saying something nice: Whoa, not to put this in a playground mode but you trashed GD on a Facebook page with several thousand followers and then came here and did the same thing. A lot of these folks are not yet owners, looking for an RV, and thinking Grand Design might be their choice. If you really wanted to play nice you should have contacted your insurance company and started a claim (it was after all an accident). If you had issues with the construction of the unit you could have started a dialogue with Grand Design and let them have a fighting chance to respond. Instead you (and your wife) took to social media and probably cost them several possible sales, sorry but in my honest opinion you started the "not being nice" part of this. Not sure why you think because we are "co-owners" that we can't point out a wrong when we think some one is going after anyone unjustly.

[offtohavasu]

Thank you for the response.

I am going to do what I think it's right for me and my investment. If I choose to voice my opinion, I will continue to do so. Please do not feel obligated to response. I have learned from my facebook post and my post on this "Owners of the GDRV" that some of us are big fans of the GDRV, and I appreciate that. Unless you have a 2016 GD model 267BHS RV. Please do me a favor and don't don't give me your expertise on something you don't have, nor owned.

One of the forum rules
"This forum will not allow personal attacks, nor will it allow attacks to or from the manufacturer. The "Can't we all just get along" saying is applicable here. If you wouldn't say it to your mother or your spouse, then don't say it here. There truly are no dumb questions. We were all new at some point, and we have all had questions that we needed answered. With that in mind, please use the search function prior to asking a question to see if has been asked. Be civil, and stay a part of the board."

Let's be civil and respect each others opinions. I have earned my right to speak my opinions the day I bought the RV. I don't need anyone to fight GDRV unless you are working for them, not paid by them.

Thank you

It's certainly not fun to be in your situation and I wish you the best outcome possible. Additionally, you opened the door to opinions. I have not seen a personal attack on you from anyone on this forum. You may not like what they have to say, but it's honest information on how to remedy your issue, none of which is a personal attack.

We all know what opinions are like and who has them. That being said, you can't post a problem asking for opinions and not expect to get responses you won't like.

[Cate&Rob]

I can’t add anything to what I consider to be well thought out perspectives on the main topic of this thread from Del (T’boro Fisher) and Jim (TucsonJim), based on what is actually known about the situation.

However, as often happens in discussions like this, people bring in incorrect information that could negatively influence decisions by others. The claim that OSB (oriented strand board) is sub-standard to plywood or that it is "particle board" or "fake wood", needs to be clarified. A little research will find that OSB and plywood have the same mechanical properties and are considered equivalents from a structural engineering perspective. OSB has no voids so might in fact be superior to plywood for many applications. One of the real advantages of OSB is that it is available in much larger sheets than plywood is. GDRV uses OSB for the floor so that it will be one continuous sheet with no joints as would be required if they used sheets of plywood. It is not right to malign a company for use of a more appropriate material, based on a misunderstanding of its properties.

Rob

[bartlett]

anyone who has ever held a hammer in there hand knows why they use osb and why not to use osb ...... pro's : Its cheap con's: If it gets wet it swells up and does not return to its normal state. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4eUGi4uWgM

[LCBoyer]

OSB is used by most RV manufacturers. Even the very expensive units use OSB for floors.

[rfarouk]

I went back today and took some more pictures. Check out the back frame and the back wall screws, holes, wood, and the quality of the work and the materials.