Formal Recall on Glued Hood Brackets Announced

[sundog964]

Well, after saying for years that this was a design flaw, the pressure finally has paid off. There is a recall for the hood mounts on the following vehicles.

The problem for me is that the damage was already done when it fell off at highway speeds and did a LOT of damage to the undercarriage. I fixed it myself, and will be requesting repair of the damage under this recall.

 

[Jim_HiTek]

Wow, really slim group there. Doesn't cover many vehicles with the same design either. 12,000 I believe, when they've produced a couple million like them probably. And it doesn't cover all their other models, like my Journey.

My '02 Winnie Journey had those brackets come loose, followed by one after another on the front end cap and rear end cap, front and rear grills in 2016-2017. It was close, but I did not lose anything on the freeway. Almost though. I just drill holes and use SS screws and locking nuts to hold the brackets.

 

[dkoldman]

Well, after saying for years that this was a design flaw, the pressure finally has paid off. There is a recall for the hood mounts on the following vehicles.

The problem for me is that the damage was already done when it fell off at highway speeds and did a LOT of damage to the undercarriage. I fixed it myself, and will be requesting repair of the damage under this recall.

I am in same predicament. I had discussions about the issue years ago with WBGO and they refused to pay for repairs under warranty. I refused to allow the Dealer to repair because the Dealer was going to repair using the same process used in the OEM manufacture

So I then had a Mobile Tech redesign the brackets, I never liked the premise of using screws through the hood of a brand new RV.

Not sure what WBGO will do, I even sent them my solution to help them to help others, I deserve some compensation

 

[dkoldman]

Well, after saying for years that this was a design flaw, the pressure finally has paid off. There is a recall for the hood mounts on the following vehicles.

The problem for me is that the damage was already done when it fell off at highway speeds and did a LOT of damage to the undercarriage. I fixed it myself, and will be requesting repair of the damage under this recall.

I am gonna assume they changed the adhesive and method to apply starting 1/21/2014. But I would agree with you, the design has always been flawed.

Last fall I saw the same epoxy breaking breaking free off my front grill. I was able to proactively secure it with my own epoxy.

 

[br1896]

I fixed it!

Really slim list of those covered in the recall. I have an Itasca Sunova 2012 that had the hood and the front grill both detach. I hired a mobile tech to repair mine but really it was futile. He ordered some expensive epoxy ($100+) but that didn't work because there is no way to clam the hood attachments to the body with any amount of pressure. Think I found a solution on this site where I used some SS screws and bolts to fix the hood. I was able to use some epoxy to fix the front grill where it had detached. Wish I had the receipts for the epoxy that failed but I doubt Winnebago would pay me back.

 

[megawatt-WO]

Had the same problem with my 2019 Sightseer. Brackets came loose and had them re-epoxied. Also looped a zip tie through them to the chassis in case they come loose again so I don't lose them.

 

[YoYoDaddyOhMy]

My 2023 Vista 29V has had several of the front end items come lose or FALL OFF ENTIRELY while driving down the road! On our very 1st trip, we lost a front-end, left headlight trim piece.. while driving.. without even knowing it. I noticed it that evening at our 1st campsite. Just fell off!! I manually feel of most items around the exterior when washing and inspecting before every trip, but did not notice anything out of the ordinary at all.
I have since checked EVERY piece of trim, found many had the bolts holding them to the grill, body, etc. gone or falling off! It appears the "glue" they used either dry-rotted, dried up/cracked causing the bolts to come loose until the piece simply falls off... while driving!! I have since repaired every trim piece using MY new epoxy!! GET SOME BETTER EPOXY, WNBG!!

 

[jdkbrooks]

I've heard of this for years I've fixed both sides one of them twice and I love my Winnebago but they've known as long as I have and should of taken care of it long before...just sayin

 

[PeterK-JAY]

Brackets

I was in Canada and the hood and grill brackets came loose on my 2018
Winnebago Vista LX 35F on a trip to Alaska 2019. Fortunately I found an excellent mechanic who epoxied the brackets in place and secured the others that did not come loose. It was a job that took 8 hours. The best part was two fold; 1. As of now there have never been an issue, 2. Winnebago reimbursed me in full for bracket failure.
The mechanic expressed that the epoxy used only enough to hold the bracket in place. The procedure the mechanic used was to initially glue the bracket back in place, and additionally cover all the bracket extensions with fiberglass and epoxy.
Peter K

 

[MikeyC-WO]

Similar issue

Well, after saying for years that this was a design flaw, the pressure finally has paid off. There is a recall for the hood mounts on the following vehicles.

The problem for me is that the damage was already done when it fell off at highway speeds and did a LOT of damage to the undercarriage. I fixed it myself, and will be requesting repair of the damage under this recall.

I got mine stuck on then did a fiberglass sheeting over the brackets, holding well to date but just in case I have a small steel chain connecting them to engine hardware so should they fall off no damage will occur.
Sad it took this long to get a recall. I have 2018 Sunstar 35F.
I also received the recall letter

 

[Tillie]

Recalls with on fix

My grill came loose which apparently is not part of the “recall with no solution”. I added zip ties JIC my epoxy fails. The hood looked good at that time but I definitely will check before the next trip. I now have two recalls that they have no solution for. The other is “undersized” front turn signals.

 

[tderonne]

Wow, really slim group there. Doesn't cover many vehicles with the same design either. 12,000 I believe, when they've produced a couple million like them probably. And it doesn't cover all their other models, like my Journey.

Where did you hear 12,000? Winnebago has averaged about 3000 per year for the last ten years. That would be about 30,000 units total, so 12,000 would be about right if they narrowed the list to certain models.

And yes, it has been a problem for decades, on many models, recall should cover more stuff, but probably not enough complaints to NHSTA to reach the right percentage to trigger a recall, or something like that.

 

[wyocamper-WO]

Not sure why the Vista coverage starts with 2016, one fell off of my 2015 and I'm pretty certain other 2015 owners have seen this as well.

But my hood and grill brackets have now been permanently attached with stainless steel machine screws and nyloc nuts for a total cost of less than $20, including a bottle of touchup paint to cover the screw heads.

 

[rblebaron]

Attaching Hood Brackets

I had the left hood bracket come off on my 2017 Vista. Tried some Marine Glue without success ,so I went to JB weld steel epoxy and that has held tight as a drum. If you do this, make sure you clamp well for a few days so it cures properly. I also attached a aluminum rod to both brackets from a part below in case they ever come off again as I learned it costs $100 + to get a new bracket.

 

[RayIN]

Mine had held-fast for 22 years, they came loose when I bottomed out the front cap on a gravel parking lot at a truck stop when I drove through a mud-puddle.

They were reattached with epoxy by the body repair shop. If that begins to fail I'll do as wyocamper and JimHyTek have done.