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Topic ClosedIs my R-Pod totaled?? Looking for advice
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tsherv View Drop Down
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Posts: 35 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Is my R-Pod totaled?? Looking for advice
    Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 10:57am
We are the proud owners of a 2017 R-Pod 180.  We just got back from an awesome trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We were driving home through Iowa on I-80 just outside of Des Moines.  I was following 2 semis (one in each lane staggered).  Suddenly the semi in front of us swerved into the other lane.  Directly in my lane was some type of long object in my lane about 8' long and about 4" tall laying crossways.  I tried to avoid it, but couldn't.  I ran over it with my passenger side of my truck.  It felt like a speed bump at 65 MPH.  There was a loud "thud".  It turns out that the object that I hit was a loading ramp that fell off the back of a truck.  Thankfully the semi ahead of us didn't hit it and kick it up into our windshield!  

Unfortunately the loud thud was the ramp hitting the front corner of our r-pod.  It completely bashed in the corner breaking the fiberglass, the wood underneath (on both the side wall and front wall), the front diamond plate, etc.  I can actually stick my finder through the cracks into the interior of the camper.  The ramp also put a small dent into the lower side of the camper in front of the passenger side camper wheel.  
I have Geico insurance on the camper and have already started the claim process.  I've been doing some research on whether damage like this is repairable?  It looks like it is, but I'm concerned about quality.  I want to make sure that I end up with a "good as new" camper and not some type of "cobble job" repair.  

Has anyone else been through an insurance claim like this?  Any advice on how to proceed?  

Thanks!
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 11:09am
That'll buff right out.
r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6288 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 11:17am
As long as the damage did not bend/break the aluminum frame, it could be repaired. The bad news is that it will likely have to go to the factory for repair if the frame was damaged because it would mean the whole side would need to be replaced. The roof might need replacing also if that was damaged. Ours had one side and the roof replaced at the factory. The other side was repaired. It had damage similar to what I see in the picture.

If you got information about the truck that lost the ramp, your insurance should file a claim with the truck owner's insurance ror rapair/replacement of your RPod. I have a dash camera in my Frontier for such situations as this. I hope the police (you did report this, didn't you?) will be helpful in locating the truck that lost the ramp.
StephenH
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1nana2many View Drop Down
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Posts: 62 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 11:22am
Ouch
The mountains are calling and we must go...O.D., Keith & Jody
2016 RP179= O.D. (Olive Drab)
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1993 Jayco 1206 popup
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1nana2many View Drop Down
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Posts: 62 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 11:23am
ASSUMING there is no frame damage, I would think a good body shop could take care of this. New deck plate, new corner, fiberglass work with gel coat over. I am no expert, but my husband and I have done a few things with fiberglass and bondo that look great.
The mountains are calling and we must go...O.D., Keith & Jody
2016 RP179= O.D. (Olive Drab)
2008 Coachman Captiva
1993 Jayco 1206 popup
2016 F150 Supercrew
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tsherv View Drop Down
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Posts: 35 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 11:34am
Thanks for the reply.  I did get a police report.  I wasn't able to see which truck dropped the ramp.  It was laying stationary in the road, so I don't believe it was the truck directly in front of me.  Considering the size of it, it couldn't have been laying there that long.  I would imagine that would be caused a pretty good traffic backup.

Here's my concern: Geico is going to send out an adjustor to take a look at the camper.  You mentioned that you had roof damage, frame damage, etc..  How do we know the extent of the damage from an adjustor "eye balling" it in my driveway?  in your situation, who made the decision to send it back to the factory?  My concern is that we are not seeing all of the damage.  What if they repair the front and side damage, and then next time I take it out, the roof leaks?  

There is an RV repair shop in my hometown that all of the dealerships send their repairs to.  I did proactively make an appointment for next week to have them take a look at it.  
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Posts: 260 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 12:15pm
Originally posted by tsherv

...There is an RV repair shop in my hometown that all of the dealerships send their repairs to.  I did proactively make an appointment for next week to have them take a look at it.  

I damaged the roof of our 195 requiring a new roof.  RV place quoted about $10000 (obviously absurd as it turns out because FR quoted $3850 for a factory replacement).  Insurance paid $5800.  Beware local shops!!
2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River
2018 RAM 2500 6.4L
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6288 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 1:04pm
The $10,000 quote was obviously an "I don't want this job" quote. Take some more pictures, both of the inside and outside of the damage and contact Forest River's warranty repair department. Even though it is outside of warranty, that is the place to contact.

One thing to consider is that the local shop would need to have a rather large sheet of fiberglass shipped in if that is needed, and that is very expensive. Forest River has the materials on hand.

If you want to see the extent of the damage our RPod had, look at this topic:  http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9133&PID=86002&title=i-wrecked-our-escapod#86002

The photo of the slide-side front end shows damage similar to what you have. That was repaired at the factory. I can tell that the section in front of the water heater was painted and not the original gel coat, but the color match is excellent. I can also see where the front was rebuilt on the inside as well, but that is not visible unless I lift up the bed platform.
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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tsherv View Drop Down
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Posts: 35 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 3:16pm
I called Forest River's warranty repair department.  They told me that they would not do the repair and that I would need to go through a Forest River dealer.  
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jul 2020 at 4:09pm
If by frame being bent you mean the square aluminum tubing in the sidewalls, quite obviously the front right side tube in pushed in at the bottom. Take a look at around 23 seconds into this video and you can see that that  tube is right up front at the curved corners of the trailers. 

That being said, I think it is repairable. I would be inclined to cut back the damaged fiberglas, build out the tube to the original curved shape with some wood, and patch in the damaged panel. Is there visible damage in the interior that needs to be dealt with or is it just in the storage area? 

Ideally the rpod would be totaled and you could buy it back cheaply enough that it would be worthwhile taking the time to fix it. 

Why are we concerned about roof leaks?
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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