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Old 09-19-2016, 02:02 PM   #1
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Angry Solei Front Hood Bracket

Yesterday when I was locking the front hood of my 2016 Itasca Solei I noticed the right side was not properly locked. Upon unlocking the left side and opening the hood I noticed the right side did not have the same locking bracket as the left side. When I investigated the bracket on the left side and touched it, it dropped off from the area it was mounted on. Further investigation revealed it was being held by six molded tabs, over which the bracket fit. On the left side only 2 of the tabs were still intact. On the right side only 1 of the tabs was still intact, which obviously was the reason the bracket was no longer there. How Winnebago expected this rather bulky and heavy bracket to remain mounted to the inner front fiberglass of this motorhome is beyond belief! This motorhome is just over 14 months old and has 7,700 miles on it. These brackets failed over this short period of time under minimal use. It is fortunate that when this bulky bracket fell off it did not cause any further damage to my motorhome or tow vehicle or some other vehicle. This is an absolutely horrible design and is dangerous to say the least. Has anyone else had similar problems with these brackets. I am including a picture of the remaining bracket.
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Old 09-19-2016, 06:13 PM   #2
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I have a 2015 Winnebago Forza and the same thing happened on drivers side latch - at about 8 months. Attempted to re-attach with epoxy, with no luck. Finally removed both the latches the other was loose, and attached with 3M 4200 quick set, and to ensure it didn't happen again - drilled at the top two holes on each bracket, sealed the fiberglass and installed 1/4" stainless steel hex screws with nuts on the back side. Was only able to drill at the top positions based on the remaining positions would have been visible below the cover. I let the remaining original epoxy, to act as a spacer and give some cushion - have not seen any movement to date. Seems to be a fairly common problem - I just worry about the remaining items being held by the same epoxy.
Thanks
Russ
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Old 09-20-2016, 06:17 AM   #3
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Thanks. I already attached the left bracket in the same manner you described. I am waiting to hear from Winnebago about a replacement for the lost bracket. I also have some concern about other items attached the same way this was. From what I can see these at least appear to have much larger epoxy areas. I guess only time will tell. My Solei is the 34T as well.
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Old 09-29-2016, 12:49 PM   #4
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Mine was the right side bracket

Quote:
Originally Posted by itasman View Post
Yesterday when I was locking the front hood of my 2016 Itasca Solei I noticed the right side was not properly locked. Upon unlocking the left side and opening the hood I noticed the right side did not have the same locking bracket as the left side. When I investigated the bracket on the left side and touched it, it dropped off from the area it was mounted on. Further investigation revealed it was being held by six molded tabs, over which the bracket fit. On the left side only 2 of the tabs were still intact. On the right side only 1 of the tabs was still intact, which obviously was the reason the bracket was no longer there. How Winnebago expected this rather bulky and heavy bracket to remain mounted to the inner front fiberglass of this motorhome is beyond belief! This motorhome is just over 14 months old and has 7,700 miles on it. These brackets failed over this short period of time under minimal use. It is fortunate that when this bulky bracket fell off it did not cause any further damage to my motorhome or tow vehicle or some other vehicle. This is an absolutely horrible design and is dangerous to say the least. Has anyone else had similar problems with these brackets. I am including a picture of the remaining bracket.
I had a similar experience with the bracket on the driver's side of my 2016 Forza 36G, manufactured 03/2015. I went to lock the hood and it pushed in farther than normal with just the pressure being applied to the key in the lock. I looked and the bracket was loose enough that when I touched it with my hand, it came off. I am also happy it did not happen while driving. I only had 1400 miles on mine at the time.

Apparently, there was not enough epoxy squirted onto the fiberglass to mount the bracket. You can see this from the picture I included that the epoxy did not go all the way up on the left side of the bracket. I obtained some 5-minute epoxy suitable for epoxying metal to fiberglass from a NAPA store, and used two tubes of them, one to coat the area under the bracket, and the other to cover over the bracket in order to reattach it solidly. To insure it would stay tight, I used clamps on it and waited overnight to insure it cured.

That was about a month ago, and so far, knock on wood, it is holding tight. I agree that this is crazy, and I would've liked it better if they could've put a bolt through to hold it, even though I know that fiberglass does not particularly like the stress of a bolt compressing it to a steel bracket.

Does this seem like there needs to be a poll to see how many have had this problem?

I wonder how many other Forza owners have experienced this same problem?
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Old 09-30-2016, 06:12 AM   #5
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Solei Front Hood

Thanks for your reply. Update. Upon contacting Winnebago I was told that "there does not seem to be a common issue with these brackets". Judging by all the other issues with epoxy mounted brackets I have read about in this forum and heard of from others, either Winnebago is not acknowledging the issue, or people are not reporting them to Winnebago. I would encourage anyone with a similar issue to report it to Winnebago. Being that my coach was 14 months old, Winnebago offered an out of warranty repair. I opted to have them send me the bracket and I will bolt it on as I did the other. Bolting through the fiberglass and existing epoxy in the 2 upper holes on each side should offer a permanent solution to this problem.
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Old 09-30-2016, 06:56 AM   #6
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It is disgusting that Winnebago says that this is not a common problem. Myself and hundreds (probably thousands) of others have had this problem for at least 10 years.
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Old 10-01-2016, 05:03 PM   #7
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Exact same thing just happened to mine

2016 Adventurer 38Q.Yesterday. Found the passenger side hood latch detached and hanging-- worthless attempt by manufacturer to bind this to the front end cap.
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Old 10-01-2016, 06:38 PM   #8
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Just checked my latches and both are loose.
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Old 10-01-2016, 07:17 PM   #9
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Hood brackets 2016 Forza

Dealer re-glued both brackets. One has come loose. I used middle hole in bracket and through bolted.
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Old 10-09-2016, 02:29 PM   #10
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Had the same problem with my 38R, drilled holes and used stainless phillips head bolts.
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Old 10-10-2016, 07:54 AM   #11
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Like they say, there are two types of Forza/Solei owners - Those who have had the brackets fall off and those that are going to have the brackets fall off. The failure rate on these has got to be close to 100%. I bolted mine on.
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Old 10-12-2016, 08:30 AM   #12
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After reading all the posts I checked the latches on our 15 36G and they were both still tight. Not taking any chances though I drilled through the middle hole on the bracket and used stainless nuts and bolts just to be on the safe side. It truly looks like a hokey set up to me :-(
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Old 10-12-2016, 08:45 AM   #13
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Mine fell off twice. Used different epoxy the second time. Still same result. I wired my hood shut from the inside. Kind of a pain if I need access to the genset but holds just fine.

This is a widespread problem.
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Old 10-13-2016, 05:42 AM   #14
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Forza/Solei front hood brackets

Sounds to me like this needs to be a poll or sticky and get actual numbers as to how many people have had this problem and get a recall going.
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Old 10-15-2016, 11:37 PM   #15
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It's not just a Forza/Soles problem. My Sunstar had the same issue, not enough epoxy or whatever it is to properly hold the brackets in place for more than 6 months.
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:53 AM   #16
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Bracket came off again

Last weekend, in my travels back from Bristol, VA to Troutville, VA, about 150 miles, I noticed a rattle noise coming from in front of my feet while driving. It was more noticeable if the wind gusted into the front and not the sides of the Forza. I hoped that it was not what I thought it was, but when I got home, my fears were realized. The 5-minute epoxy had come loose from the fiberglass, and the left front bracket was barely hanging on.

So, with that failure, and after calling Winnebago about it, I think it is time to drill and bolt it in. Can anyone who had done that send pictures of what theirs looks like? Of course if I fix the left bracket, I'll have to drill the right one and install a bolt there to balance the front end. I just wanted to see what you folks were doing.

Any cracks in the fiberglass from drilling holes and bolting them on?

Thanks. GT
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Old 04-10-2017, 01:54 PM   #17
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Forza / Solei Front Hood Brackets

Finally took time to grind off the epoxy down to a nice flat surface for the bracket to seat on, and be in the original position to support the hood. Cleaned the area completely and also the bracket so that it would cling to the 3M 5200 adhesive/sealant. Coated the bracket liberally with the 5200, and mounted it to the fiberglass, clamping it with a 6" C clamp for a week.

I also coated over the other bracket with the 3M 5200, smearing the stuff all around the bracket edges, and even up inside the bracket, to try to provide maximum adhesion. I did that as a sort of "prevention to try to keep it from coming loose.

I found that the hood prop bracket was also loose, so I had to remove it (which wasn't very hard to do!), grind the nubs down to the surface of the original epoxy, clean it and mount it the same as the original bracket that came loose.

After another week now, and a total of two tubes of 3M 5200, I hope they decide to stay on. It doesn't look real pretty in there, but I don't care what it looks like if it will just hold on!

What I learned from this is to just use the 3M 5200 and be done with it. A 5 minute epoxy just won't hold them in place! Neither will the OEM epoxy if they don't put enough of it there. Check out the picture, and look at the epoxy on the left! They didn't put enough of it to hold through the slots in the bracket!
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Old 04-10-2017, 04:12 PM   #18
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Solei Front Hood Bracket

This must be an issue. Sort of similar problem with my Tour. Attachment 157861157862 resecured with large washers.
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Old 04-11-2017, 11:18 AM   #19
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Wow! Has that bolt coming through the fiberglass enlarged the hole that much? What is it supposed to hold?
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Old 04-11-2017, 02:48 PM   #20
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It holds the front logo panel in place. The nuts were the nylon type and too loose. They now have washers and are tight. But not too tight because the panel will pull in so far that it distorts the panel. Don't ask how I found that out.
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