What is the real story about the rear trailing arms of the Roadmaster R4R and RR4R chassis. Accoring to Family Motor Coaching magazine, Nov. 2009, even many of the newer Monaco products have a potentially dangerous situation of the rear trailing arms cracking and causing safety issues and damage to the MH. Is this an overreaction? How common is this failure in the rear trailing arms? I really am concerned and confused as to what to do. I checked the arms myself on our 2008 Cayman and could not find any cracks. However, should I spend the $3000-4000 and replace the arms anyway. (Navistar isn't honoring any Monaco warranties.) What are the rest of Monaco owners doing about this issue?
Yes it seems to be a very real issue even for us with newer rigs. There is a ton of discussion about this issue on another forum. Go over to IRV2 forum and look under roadmaster chassis.
I'm going to have my arms pulled off and reinforced with more plate steel welded on. I hope to have this done sometime this month. I'll have picture of it I'm sure.
If you want a super strong replacment arm. Source is the place to get them. And yes they are $1800 plus shipping and install labor.
I'm surprised Brett hasn't been here yet.
Good luck
* This post was
edited 11/11/09 04:30am by soberjoe *
Joe & Paca
Gainesville, FL
08 Safari Simba RD 37PDQ 06 CAT C7 330hp
07 Honda VTX 1300R loaded in the dinghy
05 Mazda B2300 dinghy
OK, I'm up, I'm up. Was over on the FMCA Forum (I am the moderator) addressing some questions: FMCA Forum
According to my information, there are THREE different suspensions under the R4R and RR4R chassis over the years. ONLY ONE IS AFFECTED.
The recall affects Rear Suspension Trailing Arms ONLY ON THE R4R and RR4R CHASSIS with the "Monaco Gold" or sometimes referred to as "R-Way" suspension. It is an in-house copy of the Neway suspension. It does NOT include any suspension systems made by Neway or Reyco.
The recalled R-Way arm goes UNDER the rear axle and is made of 3" square tubing. They are on either side in the rear. The rear air bag is bolted to the rear/back end of the trailing arm. The center of the trailing arm is bolted to the rear axle with a large u-bolt and plates and the front is bolted to the frame. The cracks happen on the upper or lower portion of the center of the trailing arm where the u-bolt holds it to the axle.
You can identify the Reyco rear suspension (NOT AFFECTED BY THE RECALL) by the trailing arms that go over the axle rather than under.
If you have the FOUR air bag suspension and your trailing arm goes OVER the AXLE= Reyco= no problem.
If you have the FOUR air bag suspension and your trailing arm goes UNDER the AXLE= Neway OR R-Way= MAY, repeat MAY. BE SUBJECT TO THE RECALL/problem.
If the trailing arm is 3" square tubing, it is R-Way and is part of the recall. The Neway was used basically from 2000 thru 2002 and those arms are identified by the fabricated weldments using multiple pieces of plate welded into a box assembly (Not tube) and is NOT part of the recall-- there are no problems with this design
Monaco had a previous recall on the trailing arms because of bad welds. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE ARMS REPLACED UNDER THIS EARLIER CAMPAIGN ARE STILL THE OLD DESIGN THAT ARE SUBJECT TO BREAKING-- I.E. THEY ARE THE 3" SQUARE TUBE DESIGN. They need to be upgraded just like the original trailing arms.
The trailing arm allows the rear axle to move up and down using the air bag to cushion and limit the movement. A lot of stress is placed on the pivot point at the arm on the axle.
The recall essentially includes any R4R or RR4R Monaco Roadmaster chassis produced after the 2002 model year. This change was made as a running change and it is possible that some very late 2002 models could be effected.
NHSTA didn't think they could do anything because Monaco is out of business and the "new" Monaco appears to be under no legal obligation to accept responsibility.
The arm's crack, allowing excessive rear suspension movement AND CAN BE DANGEROUS, as the arm holds the axle in place front to rear.
Monaco doesn't supply the parts any more. The new supplier is: Source Manufacturing in Portland: 541-935-0308 . They say their arms are 3 to 4 times stronger than the original
I'm going to have my arms pulled off and reinforced with more plate steel welded on.
PLEASE, do yourself a HUGE favor and keep that money in your pocket, and I urge you to read the thread here, at IRV2.com. The OEM trailing arms are a very brittle cast iron material, and cracks/breakage, has been occuring in the mileage intervals between 12,000-18,000 miles. These arms typically break between the u-bolts and there simply isn't enough room to added plated steel. If someone does modify the OEM arms, they WILL break elsewhere. The Source Engineering arms are immense and as they claim, are three times stronger than the OEM units.
I manage a frame repair and alignment shop in SoCal, and we have done this replacement on several coaches, and am speaking from experience. I believe if you read the thread over on the other channel, you will reconsider. Good luck with your decision. Gary
See ya out there!!
Hooliville member #128
Gary & Lynne.
'04 Dolphin 5320 WH-22 370W Solar
22' Mighty Mover Trailer, 60W. Solar.
Sand Sprite 4. 2.3L EFI sand buggy
'04 Polaris Predator
'84 Jeep CJ.
Golden Lab "Annie" for both of us
I'm going to have my arms pulled off and reinforced with more plate steel welded on.
PLEASE, do yourself a HUGE favor and keep that money in your pocket, and I urge you to read the thread here, at IRV2.com, (10,251 views can't be wrong). The OEM trailing arms are a very brittle cast iron material, and cracks/breakage, has been occuring in the mileage intervals between 12,000-18,000 miles. These arms typically break between the u-bolts and there simply isn't enough room to added plated steel. If someone does modify the OEM arms, they WILL break elsewhere. The Source Engineering arms are immense and as they claim, are three times stronger than the OEM units.
I manage a frame repair and alignment shop in SoCal, and we have done this replacement on several coaches, and am speaking from experience. I believe if you read the thread over on the other channel, you will reconsider. Good luck with your decision. Gary
No, I'm not going out and throw 3 to 4 thousand dollars at the coach.. There was/is a list of serial numbers that was on the original recall and ours was not on it.. So I'm checking between trips and any other time I'm under the coach, but I don't want to just throw money at this if it isn't needed.. May not be the right thing to do, but just can't justify it right now..
Has anyone heard of a newer coaches breaking arms, '05 to '09??
Mike..
2003 Holiday Rambler Neptune 36 PBD 38' - ISB 300 Cummins w/Allison MH2000 5 speed
2009 HHR w/Blue Ox Aventa II & SMI Stay-n-Play Duo
FMCA - HRRVC - Chapters - 56,57,& 419 - Good Sam Life Member - Coach Net - 3/4 timers
Mike & Sharon
A STRONG suggestion: Using my description verify IF you have the faulty trailing arms. If so, the failure rate suggests they need to be replaced.
And no dealer would accept one in trade and no knowledgeable buyer would buy one that had not had the up grade performed, so they will need to be replaced at some point or the cost of replacement deducted.
mscamping wrote: No, I'm not going out and throw 3 to 4 thousand dollars at the coach.. There was/is a list of serial numbers that was on the original recall and ours was not on it.. So I'm checking between trips and any other time I'm under the coach, but I don't want to just throw money at this if it isn't needed.. May not be the right thing to do, but just can't justify it right now..
Has anyone heard of a newer coaches breaking arms, '05 to '09??
Mike..
On IRV2.com if I remember there was a person with a fairly new coach that had the the trailing arms brake and did a considerable amount of damage to their transmission. They broke on my 03 Safari Sahara and I was lucky to make it to my repair facility as they said they couldn't believe I didn't make the six o clock news. Oh and by the way my MH already had the arms replaced when Monaco did their recall. I now have the ones from Source and I can tell you first hand there is no comparing the two, the coach even rides better then before they broke.
As suggested by others you need to verify what arms you have, over top of the axle or below. THESE ARMS WILL FAIL!!! You can ether replace them now at your leisure or be stranded somewhere with a nightmare of a problem on your hands. The decision is yours.
2003 VW GTI, 2006 Audi A4 Q, 2003 Safari Sahari 39' 8.3L 350HP Cummins , 2007 BMW R1200RT, Rufus the choclate Lab
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