Solei Front Hood Bracket

[Honwing]

Passenger side bracket fell off in January when getting ready to leave the Tampa RV Show. When I unlocked it the bracket fell to the ground. Only two spots of epoxy on the bracket and had repaired at Camping World and checked at Forest City last week. 2016 Vista LX 27N. Only 7,000 miles--problem still exists

 

[GTobey]

Sounds like same problem I had, 3M 5200 has fixed it.

 

[Jim_HiTek]

I've got a '02 Journey and they were using epoxy to hold on the rear grill back when this unit was made. And there's been too many to count complaints about those types of bracket connections popping loose. There's long threads about it. Winnie is either blind, or simply lying that they haven't had any complaints.

There was one benefit of the epoxy mounting that happened to a friend's '04 Journey. We were heading back to the US at the Calexico East crossing. It's known to have lanes that are far too narrow and she got too close to one side of the RV lane, and ripped the back grill off in one piece. Thing is in good enough shape that it won't need to be replaced or even repaired, just remounted somehow. HAH!

She plans on drilling and bolting it in place this time though.

 

[GTobey]

Wow, Jim. Thats really some kind of luck! If that would've happened to me, mine would have flipped up into the air, and came down onto an oncoming vehicle destroying it. Hlad she could it again.

If my brackets come lose again, I've made up my mind, Polidhed Stainless carriage bolts! Bolted in. 3M has got me tight for now.

 

[br1896]

I just had my hinges on both sides detach. I was checking the oil and other fluids and thought I had latched the hood down. I pushed up on it after I thought it was latched and it didn't move. We had a strong wind storm about an hour later and both of my hinges have detached from chassis. I've read several posts about similar problems. Seems that bolts and more epoxy or glue might work. My question is what did you do about the gas lifts when you did the repairs? I've thought about removing the hood cover and doing the bolts and epoxy and then reattaching the hood hoping that I could thin close the hood and latch it without problems with the gas lifts. Any tips before I try? I have an Itasca Sunova 2012.

 

[LPD218]

Mine failed too. I used the 3M 5200 also. The kind I used takes several DAYS to cure. I used hand clamps when I redid mine. It has lasted 4 years now.

One owner used the holes in the bracket and fastened it to the fiberglass with pop rivets painted to match the color. I think that will be my next fix should this fail.

 

[Jim_HiTek]

My access cover came loose, but before it fell off onto the road, I just used a couple flathead SS screws, 6-32, to hold it in place. I wanted to minimize any damage if there is ever an accident, so the 6-32 screws instead of anything bigger. Really isn't supporting much weight. Seemed to me that the epoxy redo was a waste of time when the setup just cried out for screws.

Here's my blog article about what I did to two sections of mine, the engine hatch, and the wrap around rear cover just below it: Winnie Body Work

I think it's an improvement, and no danger of an important body part just falling off onto the roadway without my knowing.

Next up is doing the front access cover. Mine's not loose yet, but they also suffer from this poor design.

 

[br1896]

Thanks for the replies. My Itasca Sunova is gas powered. The engine hood is at the front of the coach and the body has a curved surface. When I unlatch the hood release there are gas lift cylinders at each end of the hood cover. The metal lift mechanisms at each end of the hood were glued to the fiberglass at three places. Two of the attachment points are hidden behind the hood cover when it was closed so screws would probably work. The main attachment point at the base where the most stress is is not hidden. On this part of the bracket is where one of the attachment points for the gas lift cylinder is attached. I will try to post of pictures later today about my problem. There are a couple of RV repair places in town that I intend to visit to see if they can fix my problem. Also wondering if an auto body repair shop would be a better place to ask about repair.

 

[MAC-JAY]

Just dropped my 2017 Adventure at CW an hour ago. The first latch fell off 3 months after delivery and the 2nd one last week. I have to give CW credit for the last repair as they bolted it on the inside body tab and glued it as well. I expect them to do the same on the left one. This is a very silly design to glue a heavy hood to the hinges and expect it to hold up.

 

[jerichorick]

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.

This has been a common problem with many models. I had the grill fall out on me from my rear deck lid. It put a dent in the radiator but no leak in the tubing. I pop riveted it back on. Had to do the same for the hinges.
While on the factory tour, at a GNR, we went into the fiberglass fabrication shop. I saw just how these things were "glued" on. What a dumb idea. And the company will just not listen to us when we tell them so and prove it through the failure records. Another QC issue with Winnebago.