2019 Thor Motor Coach Outlaw

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation, PE24023, on August 14, 2024, to investigate allegations of Thor Motor Coach motorhome frame or trailer hitch structure cracking and separating. The hitch was manufactured by Lippert and installed by Thor as standard original equipment. ODI received eight Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) describing the hitch structure cracking. If not caught in time, a cracked hitch can fully fracture and separate from the vehicle. ODI sent information requests to Thor and Lippert on September 6, 2024 and September 27, 2024, respectively. Thor's full response was received October 31, 2024, and Lippert's full response was received December 6, 2024. ODI reviewed the responses and learned of improvements introduced to increase the overall strength of the system. The manufacturers reported 32 total incidents, and ODI is aware of 37 non-duplicative subject vehicle incidents in total, including four crash incidents where the towed vehicle separated and struck a roadside feature. The overall failure rate for all subject vehicles is low, and ODI isnot aware of any failures on vehicles produced in the last 30 months. Although a defect has not been identified, the manufacturers understand the seriousness of a potential hitch receiver structure failure. As a result, Thor, supported by Lippert, is conducting a customer satisfaction campaign that instructs consumers to inspect their hitch structure and informs what to look for and what to do if issues are found. If consumers areuncomfortable performing this inspection, Thor dealers can inspect the trailer hitch for them. The inspection and repair will be done at no expense to the consumer. ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) with this manufacturer action. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.

The trailer hitch mounting brackets failed (metal sheered) where the hitch mounts to the frame. It attaches at 2 points, and both points malfunctioned. My trailer almost separated from the RV while I was driving. There was only about 5% of the metal remaining, even though I was only towing 1100 lbs of the 8000lb capacity. After posting in a Facebook chat (Thor Outlaw Owners and Wannabees) there were probably a dozen owners that posted pictures of the same exact incidents. Some of them were towing vehicles, and the vehicles either departed the road (off a ravine) or careened into oncoming traffic. Problem has been reproduced dozens of times by other owners No, I contacted Thor and they said they would not take an action even though I said there was imminent risk of death or injury. No warnings, I only noticed it when I saw my trailer was tilted at an odd angle. Also, the safety chains that attach the trailer to the hitch would not have worked, as the entire hitch would have fallen off.

NHTSA ID

11613912

Incident

Sep 2, 2024

The bolts used to mount the RV body to the frame are substandard and spaced too far apart. The RV body weight causes these bolts to begin shearing off. Once one shears off, the entire RV becomes unstable and causes more bolts to fail. On this RV, all of the bolts from the front of the coach to the second exterior storage bin back, on both sides failed. This is a distance of approximately 10 feet on each side. The RV body dropped from the frame 1.5" on the driver side and 2" on the passenger side. This caused safety issues in that the exit door to the RV was pinched shut and unable to be opened from the inside or outside. At speeds over 45 mph, the entire dashboard bounced up and down 4" to 5". This also caused the headlight control switch to break and become unusable. Additionally, there was visible separation of the RV walls from the floor. This is a recognized manufacturing defect by Thor Motor Coach. These bolts shearing off has happened with many Thor RVs, and this is discussed on Facebook pages and other forums, with several videos on You Tube and other places, made by Thor RV owners on how to fix the problem or to be proactive to insert more bolts spaced closer together before they start to fail. The dealer who repaired my RV said they had just completed repairing another Thor RV that had the same bolt failures and issues. My RV was 2 years out of manufacturer warranty and when I contacted Thor, and because they know this is an issue, they offered to reimburse me $2,000 of my $4,800 repair. In the RV world, virtually everyone now knows this is a common problem with Thor RVs and to not purchase them. I initially filed a claim with my insurance who did an investigation and determined that this was not the result of a sudden, direct and accidental incident so the damage and repairs were not covered under my policy. This happened in the middle of a cross country trip in August 2021. It was unsafe to use by the time I got it home and took 5 months to repair.

NHTSA ID

11459141

Incident

Aug 30, 2021

This letter stated that there were no Service Bulletins or Technical Service Bulletins issued for the month of November, 2019.

This letter stated that there was one (1) Service Notification issued for the month of October, 2017.