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Old 08-16-2017, 11:57 PM   #1
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gray tank fell off!

Hi all, my husband and I are pretty new to the camping world. We have a 2013 267BHS Flightswift. We bought it brand new, but we've only gotten out in it maybe a dozen times, and at least half of those we didn't use the water.

So despite being 4 years old, use-wise, it's still pretty much brand new. This past weekend we were using the water and thus the tanks...the gray tank was full but before we could empty it, it fell off onto the ground...nothing at all was connected to the camper anymore. Just flat out, boom...on the ground.

Please tell me this isn't normal and to be expected once the tank is full. I mean, people can and do drive with stuff in the tanks right? There should be almost no possibility of the tank falling off, correct? I'd imagine it would cause a bad accident if it happened while on the road and someone swerved to avoid it. Especially considering its age and the fact that the tanks haven't been used much.

So of course, we're out of warranty. But I think Jayco should have to fix it, because it must be some sort of faulty installation or something. So far I have tried emailing their parts dept on the main website (only other choice was cust service and sales) and I got back a lame scripted email about contacting the nearest dealer for parts. Any info on who and how to contact to get this fixed and the costs covered? I don't even know where to begin. Does anyone know of any info of this being a known issue with this year/model? I did find one other post on here from 2013 of the same thing happening with the same year/model, but more examples would be great. Thanks!
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Old 08-17-2017, 04:50 AM   #2
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I have read about this happening in RV.net from people with other brands as well so it's not specific to Jayco. I do not think Jayco will cover something 2 years out of warranty nor would I expect them to. Have you crawled under the camper to determine why it fell (if possible). Maybe rust or metal fatigue on the straps contributed to the problem.
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Old 08-17-2017, 05:38 AM   #3
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Yes, other people have had it happen. And be glad it wasn't the black tank

Our old fiver just had a couple of perforated steel straps holding the tanks up. Just by chance I was under it one day and noticed one strap had worked the hole large enough to slip through the strap. I put in new screws with large washers and added a third strap to all the tanks.
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Old 08-17-2017, 05:46 AM   #4
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Wow. I can't imagine that happening. Thankfully like you said, you were not traveling on the road at the time. Glad you're ok. I'd be pretty upset to. Let us know what Jayco says once you get ahold of a real person there.
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Old 08-17-2017, 05:50 AM   #5
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This is very concerning, lucky for you it happened where it did.I’’ll be curious to hear what you find out. Our unit has an enclosed underbelly and is a 2008, I’m tempted to by an inspection camera and inspect mine. Keep us posted on what you find, I would think Jayco would want to find out if there is an issue as well so they could contact people of a potential problem if indeed there is one.
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Old 08-17-2017, 05:54 AM   #6
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So far I have tried emailing their parts dept on the main website (only other choice was cust service and sales) and I got back a lame scripted email about contacting the nearest dealer for parts.
That's who you would "e" mail, not parts.
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Old 08-17-2017, 06:13 AM   #7
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I don't think Jayco or any other manufacturer would cover this. Did you do any pre-trip inspections of the trailer before you headed out? There should have been something visible leading up to this failure that could have been addressed prior to it happening.

I'm not blaming you but instead pointing out how important it is to give your entire rig a once over at regular intervals. There are many things that need attention that are not "Routine" Some of the things that should be looked at on a semi regular basis in my opinion - Wheels / tires, suspension, coupler, water lines, gas lines brake wiring, bumper / hitch welds, the list can go on.

Things will loosen up over time and for your safety as well as that of others they should be checked.

Good luck in your attempts to get this repaired and keep us informed of your progress.
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:15 AM   #8
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The thin metal straps around the tanks are for assembly. One lip of the tank gets slipped in a cross member while the other side is installed with metal brackets screwed in solid wood pre-installed in the floor. This is standard mfg. practice.
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:42 AM   #9
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That's who you would "e" mail, not parts.
I'll try that next before I call. However it was worded, parts seemed like the most logical department. Thanks!
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:56 AM   #10
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I don't think Jayco or any other manufacturer would cover this. Did you do any pre-trip inspections of the trailer before you headed out? There should have been something visible leading up to this failure that could have been addressed prior to it happening.

I'm not blaming you but instead pointing out how important it is to give your entire rig a once over at regular intervals. There are many things that need attention that are not "Routine" Some of the things that should be looked at on a semi regular basis in my opinion - Wheels / tires, suspension, coupler, water lines, gas lines brake wiring, bumper / hitch welds, the list can go on.

Things will loosen up over time and for your safety as well as that of others they should be checked.

Good luck in your attempts to get this repaired and keep us informed of your progress.

Thanks, i get what you're saying. But is the average RV owner expected to be able to do more than standard, light maintenance (air up tires, respond to any error messages, winterize, etc). Just like with cars, the average car owner does not do any real mechanical maintenance (that involves crawling around under the vehicle inspecting things) unless something is wrong. I would think if a cars transmission for example is only held on in away that it could drop out of the car, this would be considered a huge issue that would likely be a recall.

Incidentally , we did just happen to have a 130 point inspection a few weeks prior from the dealer we bought it from. I would think any sign of wear or potential to fall off would have been noticed then.

Thanks for your reply though, I'll update if I manage to get anywhere.
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Old 08-17-2017, 08:04 AM   #11
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Thanks, i get what you're saying. But is the average RV owner expected to be able to do more than standard, light maintenance (air up tires, respond to any error messages, winterize, etc). Just like with cars, the average car owner does not do any real mechanical maintenance (that involves crawling around under the vehicle inspecting things) unless something is wrong. I would think if a cars transmission for example is only held on in away that it could drop out of the car, this would be considered a huge issue that would likely be a recall.

Incidentally , we did just happen to have a 130 point inspection a few weeks prior from the dealer we bought it from. I would think any sign of wear or potential to fall off would have been noticed then.

Thanks for your reply though, I'll update if I manage to get anywhere.
This is where I would focus my efforts right now. Trailers need a bit more attention then your daily driver. They are manufactured as "Recreational Use" vehicles and take a lot more abuse than a passenger car. Again, I am not blaming you for not finding this. I'm simply stating that an RV does require more preventative maintenance than a passenger car...
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Old 08-17-2017, 08:20 AM   #12
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I don't think Jayco or any other manufacturer would cover this. Did you do any pre-trip inspections of the trailer before you headed out? There should have been something visible leading up to this failure that could have been addressed prior to it happening.

I'm not blaming you but instead pointing out how important it is to give your entire rig a once over at regular intervals. There are many things that need attention that are not "Routine" Some of the things that should be looked at on a semi regular basis in my opinion - Wheels / tires, suspension, coupler, water lines, gas lines brake wiring, bumper / hitch welds, the list can go on.

Things will loosen up over time and for your safety as well as that of others they should be checked.

Good luck in your attempts to get this repaired and keep us informed of your progress.
Sorry I ain't buying it. There is the concept of "fitness of purpose", that is the product is designed so that it can reasonably be expected to function. A tank falling off(which could easily injured or killed someone, if it happens while driving) is not acceptable.
Regarding catching this during inspections, what do people do with enclosed underbellies, pull it all off a couple times a year "just in case". It don't think so. I don't expect the gas tank of my car to fall out, I also don't expect the water tank of a trailer to fall off.
If this were to ever happen to me, especially while driving, I would be calling the NHTSA and my lawyer, real quick.
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Old 08-17-2017, 08:22 AM   #13
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Hi,

Do you have any pictures of this that you can post? My expectation of Jayco quality (this being our second Jayco because of the standard of quality) is that something like this should not have happened at least w/ a 2013 model. I would be surprised if Jayco would not want to know about it as they may have a bigger problem w/ this happening just to you. As someone else said, if this would have happened on the highway, the results could have been catastrophic for multiple people. Hopefully you can make contact w/ them and they will at least assist w/ getting to the root cause of this.
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Old 08-22-2017, 10:01 PM   #14
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gray tank fell off!

I wanted to update on what we heard from Jayco and the dealer, in case anyone was interested. We got nowhere. Jayco told us, sorry, you're too far out of warranty. And the dealer says the underbelly and the tanks weren't part of the multi- point inspection, so they would have no way of knowing if anything were wrong with the tank.

So, we're pretty , and I don't even want to take a guess at how much this is going to cost to get it reattached (it also broke something off from the black tank since the two are connected somehow, I don't know, my husband does all that dirty work).

Granted I am new to the camping world, but to me it sounds like "we got your money, we're not obligated to help you so we're not going to". I mean afterall, I'd venture to guess most people don't make multiple purchases in short periods of time from their camper manufacturer, so maybe they don't care about helping when you likely wouldn't be a repeat customer for another 10-20 years. Now I'm just venting, but really, I feel it is a huge safety concern, and I think it would be a completely different story if it were a company that relies on customer satisfaction and a product that is replaced much more frequently like a car.

Thanks to everyone who responded. May your tanks stability be ever in your favor!
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Old 08-22-2017, 10:38 PM   #15
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I don't believe any RV manufacturer would cover the cost of such a repair 4 years out, even with light use. I hate to put it that bluntly, but it's just not likely. Stuff does occasionally fail prematurely on RVs. It's usually a stove or a refrigerator (there's a current open thread on this forum with one of these just over 2 years).

Good thing your unit was stationary when this happened. I cannot imagine if it was the black tank and while rolling at highway speed. As bad as this is, it would have been way worse for the poor sap right behind you.
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Old 08-23-2017, 06:32 AM   #16
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If you subscribe to Trailer Life magazine they have a column where they assist some RV owners w/ their issues w/ manufacturers, even out of warranty items. At the very least, I would suggest that you look into reporting this to the highway safety agency or some other organization. I understand Jayco's "out of warranty" position somewhat, but c'mon, a tank falling off, which if occurred on the highway could be a very serious situation. I've never heard of such a thing and it is clearly something you'd think they'd look into. Good luck.
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Old 08-23-2017, 12:07 PM   #17
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This is the state of the RV industry. It's decades behind the auto industry in terms of quality. Is this right? Certainly not. But keep in mind that cost and quality are driven by us, the consumers. To get the kind of quality we expect, most of us would not, and do, spend $50k on a 22' trailer. That's why you see so few Airstreams. They pretty much make one of the best built trailers on the road, but the 16' Bambi is well over $40k.

Autos are different because a lot of the safety and quality is driven by government regulations.

That said, those cheesy straps holding up the tanks are why I won't carry water on a trip. Call me crazy, but this thread is exactly why.
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Old 08-23-2017, 12:23 PM   #18
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Granted I am new to the camping world, but to me it sounds like "we got your money, we're not obligated to help you so we're not going to".
I understand how p'd you are when something like this happens, and I by no means want to discount any of what you're feeling.

One of the challenges with the RV industry is that by its very nature, the RV takes a beating. It's one of the reasons warranties are so short.

Things like grey water tanks take an absolute beating while driving down the road. In fact, the entire RV from top to bottom (and below) is one whack of "everyday wear and tear" items.

Just like your car manufacturer wouldn't replace your brakes if you've used them for a year, an RV manufacturer isn't going to do anything about an issue that happens 4 years into its lifetime UNLESS it seems to happen again and again and again ad nauseum across multiple units.

It's not an issue of "we've got your money, screw you", it's simply that without multiple similar instances, all they can say is that it's a wear and tear issue, which puts it smack dab into the hands of the user.

I'm most peeved when I read that your dealer's 130 point inspection didn't cover this ... that's fricking ridiculous IMHO ... and sounds more like a cop-out from their end. For those users like us who aren't trailer mechanics, we RELY on our dealer to do the things we cannot ... and one would think a 130 point inspection would be sufficient, and was the right thing for you to do.

I will echo the chorus of "thank God it happened while sitting still", but I would find myself a new servicing dealer from now on. I'll also be ensuring my own grey tanks (indeed ALL tanks) get looked at once a year.
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Old 08-23-2017, 01:25 PM   #19
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Sorry, I just would not expect Jayco to cover this unless there are many such reported failures. If you really want to pursue then the suggestion to contact the magazine is a good one.
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Old 08-23-2017, 01:29 PM   #20
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I wanted to update on what we heard from Jayco and the dealer, in case anyone was interested. We got nowhere. Jayco told us, sorry, you're too far out of warranty. And the dealer says the underbelly and the tanks weren't part of the multi- point inspection, so they would have no way of knowing if anything were wrong with the tank.

So, we're pretty , and I don't even want to take a guess at how much this is going to cost to get it reattached (it also broke something off from the black tank since the two are connected somehow, I don't know, my husband does all that dirty work).

Granted I am new to the camping world, but to me it sounds like "we got your money, we're not obligated to help you so we're not going to". I mean afterall, I'd venture to guess most people don't make multiple purchases in short periods of time from their camper manufacturer, so maybe they don't care about helping when you likely wouldn't be a repeat customer for another 10-20 years. Now I'm just venting, but really, I feel it is a huge safety concern, and I think it would be a completely different story if it were a company that relies on customer satisfaction and a product that is replaced much more frequently like a car.

Thanks to everyone who responded. May your tanks stability be ever in your favor!
This vehicle is designed to be driven on the highway, Just because it is an RV/Trailer does not mean it is exempt from meeting basic safety standards.
I would be writing some letters/emails rather than posting here. Start by contacting the NHTSA, your local BBB, possibly the RVIA and also give Trailer Life magazine a report as well. Make sure Jayco and your RV dealership are copied on the emails. You might be surprised how much more inclined these monkeys are to "step up". If nothing else, maybe the increased scrutiny will prompt Jayco to change their design and your local dealership to start including this in their "130 point inspection". Who knows, you might save someone from accident/injury.
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