Thor Forums

[bigben]

We spend lots of time traveling in our Challenger. Had a very serious problem come up after picking up our coach at Thor's Wakurusa Factory Service location.

I stopped to get fuel, walked behind my more coach to add fuel and my towbar was literally on the pavement at the forward portion of the hitch. Initially, I thought the Reese hitch had failed. Wrong. What happened was the frame where the hitch was attached had split on both sides.

Our hitch is rated at 5000 lbs. Our Ford Explorer's curb weight is 4600 lbs. Again though - it was NOT the hitch that failed - it was the coach frame chassis.

As of today, Thor has been very supportive in helping get the problem fixed. I found this problem on Tuesday, May 24. Since my initial phone call, I have talked with Thor, Morryde and Ford. Obviously, I am concerned with fixing the problem but just as concerned with WHY this happened. Poor design, weak chassis, other engineering related issues or is this a simple 1 off non-standard problem. Good news/bad news - Morryde has a fix for the problem but locally applied it is more than $1300 to apply. More good news/bad news. Morryde will apply the fix BUT I must travel back to Elkhard - 275 miles north of me.

The main reason for me posting this is to alert other owners with toads - CHECK YOUR HITCH AND FRAME!!!!

I will continue to update as I get more info.