This incident happened to a 2024 Coachmen Sportscoach SRS339DS (also called model S1A339DS) motor home (RV) built on a Freightliner XCS chassis. Under the specific circumstances surrounding the actual component failure incident, no safety hazard existed--but under different circumstances, failure of the same component could result in a safety hazard with potentially catastrophic consequences. The component that failed was the chassis battery disconnect switch, which was installed on the chassis by the RV builder's (final stage manufacturer) chassis preparation division. The failed component is a BEP Marine battery switch (part number unavailable at the time of this report). The resulting condition is that there is NO power to the dashboard, display console, headlights, taillights, running lights, nor any other chassis-related system, resulting in a completely unpowered, unlighted, unmovable coach. In this case, the switch failed under light load while the vehicle was parked in my driveway. However, if the same failure had occurred while the coach was being operated on the open road, such as a freeway, in the dark, the result would be an unlighted, barely-visible, 21,000-pound stationary object in the lane of traffic, possibly resulting in a serious collision with another oncoming vehicle.
- NHTSA ID
- 11666481
- Incident
- Jun 5, 2025