2002 Fleetwood Discovery

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS OPENED BASED ON ODI'S RECEIPT OF A CONGRESSIONAL LETTER ON BEHALF OF A CONSTITUENT.THE CONSTITUENT REPORTED INCIDENTS WHERE THE SLIDE OUT ROOM OF HIS MOTOR HOME WOULD INADVERTENTLY MOVE (EXTEND) DURING HIGHWAY USE.ODI WAS CONCERNED THAT A FULLY EXTENDED SLIDE OUT WOULD DEGRADE THE VEHICLE'S DYNAMIC HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS AND/OR POSSIBLY IMPACT AN OBJECT OR ANOTHER VEHICLE, RESULTING IN A CRASH.ODI CONTACTED FLEETWOOD AND DISCOVERED THAT SLIDE OUT ROOMS WERE INSTALLED IN MOTOR HOMES, TRAVEL TRAILERS AND FOLDING TRAILERS. AS PART OF THE INVESTIGATION ODI VISITED A RV SHOW AND THE FLEETWOOD PAXINOS PLANT TO EXAMINE SLIDE OUTS IN VARIOUS NEW MAKE AND MODEL VEHICLES AND GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE SYSTEMS WORK.DURING THE INVESTIGATION ODI LEARNED THAT THERE ARE TWO METHODS USED TO EXTEND SLIDE OUT ROOMS.SOME MANUFACTURERS USE HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS AND OTHERS, SUCH AS FLEETWOOD, USE AN ELECTRIC MOTOR. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 2)

MULTIPLE TIRES EXPERIENCED SIDEWALL BLOW-OUT ON MICHELIN 255/80 R 22.5 XRV. I HAVE A 2002 FLEETWOOD DISCOVERY MOTORHOME WHICH I PURCHASED NEW. IT HAS JUST OVER 17,000 MILES ON IT. TO DATE I HAVE EXPERIENCED FOUR OUT OF SIX TIRE SIDEWALL FAILURES WHICH MICHELIN DESCRIBES AS A "ZIPPER RIP". THE FIRST BLOW-OUT WAS ON THE LEFT FRONT ON 5/13/2005 @ 15,025 MILES. THE MOTORHOME WAS PARKED IN THE GARAGE UNTIL MY MOST RECENT TRIP. ON THIS TRIP I EXPERIENCED THREE MORE BLOW-OUTS WITHIN 36 HOURS OF WHICH 11 HOURS WERE SPENT STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AWAITING SERVICE AND 5 HOURS SLEEPING. THE SECOND BLOW-OUT WAS THE INSIDE LEFT REAR WHICH OCCURRED ON 10/30/2005 @ 17,133 MILES, THE THIRD BLOW-OUT WAS THE INSIDE RIGHT REAR WHICH OCCURRED ON 10/30/2005 @ 17,483 MILES AND THE FOURTH BLOW-OUT WAS THE OUTSIDE LEFT REAR WHICH OCCURRED ON 10/31/2005 @ 17,760 MILES. TO PREVENT A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL I ROTATED THE "NEW REPLACEMENT" FOR THE RIGHT REAR (INCIDENT #3) TO THE RIGHT FRONT TO PREVENT A FRONT TIRE FAILURE. EACH BLOW-OUT RESULTED IN DAMAGE TO MY MOTORHOME. I HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO BOTH REAR FENDER SKIRTS AND A CARGO BIN. ONE INSTANCE CAUSED ME TO GO ONTO THE SHOULDER AND HIT A MILE MARKER WHICH SCRATCHED THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE COACH FOR SEVERAL FEET. THE SAME INCIDENT KNOCKED OUT MY INSTRUMENTATION ON THE DASH RENDERING ALL GAUGES INOPERABLE. I KEEP THIS MOTORHOME IN AN ENCLOSED GARAGE AND AM VERY PROFICIENT AT MAINTAINING PROPER TIRE INFLATION. AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT I WEIGHED MY MOTORHOME FULLY LOADED ON A CAT CERTIFIED SCALE TO ENSURE PROPER LOAD. BASED ON THE TIRE AND THE MOTORHOME MANUFACTURER'S WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS I WAS WITHIN LOAD SPECIFICATIONS. I CONTINUE TO HEAR NUMEROUS REPORTS FROM FELLOW RV ENTHUSIASTS CONCERNING THE XRV AND XZE TIRES FAILING AS DESCRIBED. I BELIEVE THIS PRODUCT TO BE A POTENTIAL SAFETY HAZARD. *NM

NHTSA ID

10141479

Incident

Oct 30, 2005

Mileage

17,133 mi

WHILE DRIVING AT 66 MPH THE INTERIOR REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE DETAILS.*JB

NHTSA ID

10003659

Incident

Oct 13, 2002

Mileage

9,235 mi

INFORMATION REGARDING THERMOSTAT FURNACE WIRING. ( AFFECTED DISCOVERY T AND U MODELS). *YH