1995 Foretravel Grand Villa problems

Filed Nov 5, 2009 · Body · 80,000 miles · FL

Foretravel motor coaches from the early 90's have a design flaw that the structural assembly of the chassis that connects the front and rear frame to the center chassis are separating. This is know as "bulkhead separation" the bolts used are a self tapping bolt and they are corroding and breaking. Especially where the on board watertank overflow cascades down into the bolted assembly open seam causing internal corrosion. The factory drills and puts a bolt and nut assembly in place to correct the issue. After re-aligning the sub assemblies if needed. The coach could completely break in half as the original bolts corrode and break. The factory does not do the fix freely and considers it an "optional" safety issue. Many owners have had to have the work done to prevent further cracking of the superstructure and to maintain a safe vehicle. As these are rv's (motorhome) most have very few miles on them, just age. Will it take a major incident costing lives to get this extremely hazardous condition corrected. The factory does the repair, but have not shared a fix that can be used at other facilities. The yahoo news group "foretravel" is loaded with the described issue. If these were dot inspected commercial vehicles, I believe the factory would have had to repair this design issue long ago.