HRambler

Hello Folks, I just returned from a family vacation to Whistler, BC from Southern California and had the unfortunate experience of trailing arm failure on my 2008 Holiday Rambler 39 PBT. The coach has the RR4R chassis and had about 25,000 miles when the right trailing arm failed (completely broke near the U bolts where the trailing arm is attached to the rear axel). We were driving near Seattle, WA and I can't remember if it was the pothole or a section in Seattle (I-5) that caused us to brake hard, but we started to sway violently from side to side. It seemed to get worse as I braked and so I coasted off the freeway. I could not find any broken suspension part and was a bit confused about what could be the problem. It was the afternoon of the 3rd of July, so many RV repair shops had closed for the long weekend and some said the earliest they could take a look at it was about two weeks. We had just started our vacation and had reservations at Whistler, BC (non-refundable), so we felt like our vacation was over. We made our way to Arlington, WA to Jim Creek Recreation Area where we were camping for the next few nights. In the meanwhile, my wife researched the internet for possible reasons for this uncontrollable sway (and found this forum and topic on FMCA). The coach seemed to drive fine when we were driving below 50-55 MPH, but noticed that the coach would sway whenever I used the brakes. Luckily, the I-5 was congested and we limped along at around 45 MPH to our destination. After reading this forum, I inspected the trailing arms and found the right side to be broken. We were fortunate that the trailing arm stayed on the rear axel; it was caught on the plates that sandwiched the rear axel and attached the trailing arm. If it had bronken 1 inch forward, the arm could have damaged the air suspencion bags, axel, wheel, etc. We found a local mobile welder that was willing to come out and weld it, but upon further inspection, I decided that the band-aid fix was too much risk and looked for another solution... I contacted Source Engineering (rv-chassis.com) via their "about us" link and sent an email to Jim Walls to tell him of our predicament. To our surprise, Jim called me on the 4th of July and said he was trying to gather the necessary parts and a volunteer team to come out to our site to repair/replace the trailing arms. We were blown away!! Wayne Wells and his assistant drove out to our campsite from Vancouver, WA, with all the necessary replacement parts and tools and had us on the road next day. When Wayne removed the other trailing arm, he showed me the hairline fracture on the left trailing arm. It was doomed to fail and had it failed when we were on the road, I don't think we would have a coach to speak of. These guys were very sympathetic to our family vacation and predicament and provided the ultimate customer service. They saved our vacation and provided a superior product that is backed by a lifetime warranty (for the life of the vehicle). In addition, the new trailing arms provide a marked improvement in ride quality and stability, so we plan to purchase the ride enhancement kit in the near future. If you have the Roadmaster Chassis that is mentioned in this forum, for the sake of you and your family's safety, please have them replaced! Contact Source Engineering immediately!!! Sincerely, David and Rhonda Han P.S. I can send you photos of the broken trailing arms...