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Wow- I had no idea there were all these posts today. I’ve been recovering from the entire incident. My three week trip canceled in the first day, through no fault of mine.
First to Judge & Hooligan2: thank you for your posts and support. I really appreciate it.
Second: I am a newbie. The Winegard was on the coach when I bought from camping world. I apologize for not knowing the specific name or what it did. I hadn’t even set it up yet. I didn’t need it for the trip.
Third, I did not hit anything. I drove along 99 south, 58 east, and I40 east. I didn’t even know the Winegard was hanging off until a CHP officer pulled me over. He said it wasn’t safe for me to get out and inspect the RV in the area where I pulled over, and he suggested I drive 7 miles to the next exit. As I drove those 7 miles, the unit fell off. I then pulled over, I noticed rippling on the roof. I drive to the nearest gas station and asked a man driving an RV to climb on top and he told me that the plywood was showing and the roof was torn. I tried calling RV repair shops, but it was the Friday before Memorial Day and everyone told me I was SOL. As I drove to the nearest RV park, it scary to drive- the rippling of the roof was loud and made it unwieldy to drive. I was alone with my 70 year old mother and 6 year old daughter. I did the best I could under the situation. It was not safe to drive, hence the need for the tow.
Fourth: there have been numerous problems with this coach, but certainly nothing to this level of seriousness. The propane lines were not purged, so at first the stove and water heater didn’t work, the captains chair arm rest didn’t work, prewired HDMI cables didn’t work, cabinets didn’t latch, shower hoses leaked, locks didn’t lock, bunk ladders didn’t fit because brackets were installed too high. All of these prior issues dealt with comfort - they didn’t affect the safety of the coach. The quality control is a major issue.
Fifth: the tow was necessary because the the roof flapping all over the place made the rig completely unstable. Even the tow truck driver had to stop a few times because of the drag.
I’m a new Class A driver- we’ve had class Cs before this. I’ve never had an issue like this.
There were no unusual weather events in the area- a few gusts here or there but nothing unusual. Certainly nothing that should have caused a properly secured unit and roof to rip off. This was the longest trip we’ve taken. Most others were only 1 1/2 hours away. Just one week prior, the rig was in the shop trying to fix those issues I mentioned above. No roof or Winegard issues then.
In short- I was driving at approximately 60 miles per hour, the Winegard came off and hung off the side, blew off somewhere along I40 and a tear occurred on the roof at the same time. I did not hit anything. I was simply driving.
I honestly don’t know what else I could’ve done.
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