copter wrote: Holy crap... I remember when you bought that. I went through your posts and found the accident. Since you posted it in towing and not all of us read those threads some of the TH folks might want to know some details. At first look I thought WW had another frame failure. Glad to see nobody was injured.
Yeah, there was some ice and a gurdrail involved. But if the frame didn't break, the trailer most likely would not have tipped, and we probably could have driven the setup away (we did drive the van).
Long story short... The trailer was loaded far heavier than I estimated (over 18,000 pounds at the time, I thought it was about 4000 less), so I did not have enough tongue weight for the load (my fault... I was in a hurry and didn't stop at the scales). I got in some freezing rain in Illinois, and was doing about 60 downhill around a curve, when I saw an icy section as we rounded the curve. I didn't get a chance to scrub much speed before I hit the ice, and a few feet onto the ice the trailer brakes cut out. That started to push the rear end out, and I over-corrected. Before I could get it straight again, we hit a bare spot which flung us into the guardrail. The impact snapped the trailer frame, which resulted in it tipping. The brake problem had been going on previously, and it was scheduled for that repair 3-days after the wreck.
Bryan
2000 Ford E350 DRW Wagon (14-pass all captains chairs)
V10 w/ Banks PowerPack, Diablo Predator, 4.56 LS, 230,000+ miles
Had: Weekend Warrior 41' FSW (still looking for its replacement)
2Blu, I have an 04 Ragen 2124C that was built while National RV. I needed end caps for the roof and had to get them from National , Ragen did'nt carry them. Now I here from my bro inlaw in perris that National is shut down is this true. I hope that Ragen will keep us in parts if needed...
Quote: Yeah, there was some ice and a gurdrail involved. But if the frame didn't break, the trailer most likely would not have tipped, and we probably could have driven the setup away (we did drive the van).
Long story short... The trailer was loaded far heavier than I estimated (over 18,000 pounds at the time, I thought it was about 4000 less), so I did not have enough tongue weight for the load (my fault... I was in a hurry and didn't stop at the scales). I got in some freezing rain in Illinois, and was doing about 60 downhill around a curve, when I saw an icy section as we rounded the curve. I didn't get a chance to scrub much speed before I hit the ice, and a few feet onto the ice the trailer brakes cut out. That started to push the rear end out, and I over-corrected. Before I could get it straight again, we hit a bare spot which flung us into the guardrail. The impact snapped the trailer frame, which resulted in it tipping. The brake problem had been going on previously, and it was scheduled for that repair 3-days after the wreck.
Wow, your honesty is commendable. That is virtually unheard of these days. Best of luck in finding a car hauler set-up, which I would agree, is the best option for any type of heavy trailering. I was surprised to find many car haulers with living quarters, which are built specifically for that purpose, for right around the same price as a typical toy hauler. Best of luck.
copter wrote: Holy crap... I remember when you bought that. I went through your posts and found the accident. Since you posted it in towing and not all of us read those threads some of the TH folks might want to know some details. At first look I thought WW had another frame failure. Glad to see nobody was injured.
Yeah, there was some ice and a gurdrail involved. But if the frame didn't break, the trailer most likely would not have tipped, and we probably could have driven the setup away (we did drive the van).
Long story short... The trailer was loaded far heavier than I estimated (over 18,000 pounds at the time, I thought it was about 4000 less), so I did not have enough tongue weight for the load (my fault... I was in a hurry and didn't stop at the scales). I got in some freezing rain in Illinois, and was doing about 60 downhill around a curve, when I saw an icy section as we rounded the curve. I didn't get a chance to scrub much speed before I hit the ice, and a few feet onto the ice the trailer brakes cut out. That started to push the rear end out, and I over-corrected. Before I could get it straight again, we hit a bare spot which flung us into the guardrail. The impact snapped the trailer frame, which resulted in it tipping. The brake problem had been going on previously, and it was scheduled for that repair 3-days after the wreck.
Sorry to hear about your accident.
How was it determined that your weighted >18,000# at the time of the accident?
How was it determined that your weighted >18,000# at the time of the accident?
It's still an estimate, but we pulled everything out of the trailer, and put it in a 26' U-haul. It was enough weight to put the rig on it's bumpstops. When we loaded the equipment into the U-haul, we didn't have a boom-forklift, so we have to slide stuff around by hand. Moving it by hand gave us a much better idea what it weighed.
I have been corrected. There was a miscomunication or misunderstanding or whatever. Thanks for the heads up Shawn!
It seems that WW has screwed the pooch on this or better yet, screwed the Rage'n line. They are not upgrading the WW to the Z-rail I beam frame with vacuume bonded aluminum framed walls. They are downgrading the Rage'n to the WW frame and giving the premium frame and aluminum studded walls to the ultralites.
2BlueHeelers wrote: I have been corrected. There was a miscomunication or misunderstanding or whatever. Thanks for the heads up Shawn!
It seems that WW has screwed the pooch on this or better yet, screwed the Rage'n line. They are not upgrading the WW to the Z-rail I beam frame with vacuume bonded aluminum framed walls. They are downgrading the Rage'n to the WW frame and giving the premium frame and aluminum studded walls to the ultralites.
Go figure!
I'm glad that my 2009 Ragen FB2100 was built in May at the Riverside Ragen plant.
I was wondering when this would come to pass. So much for the outstanding Rage'n service I received in the past. Not sure if I'm glad I have one now or not, sure glad I didn't wait until now, they'll just be a nameplated WW.
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