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2011 KEYSTONE OUTBACK — STRUCTURE:BODY

crash · 1063552 · 2014-05-09

Vehicle

Make
KEYSTONE
Model
OUTBACK
Year
2011
Manufacturer
Keystone RV Company
Component
STRUCTURE:BODY

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

WE RECENTLY PURCHASED A USED 2011 KEYSTONE OUTBACK TOY HAULER-STYLE TRAVEL TRAILER. IT HAS A SIDE-ENTRY GARAGE ON THE FRONT OF THE TRAILER. KEYSTONE ADVERTISES THE TRAILER AS CAPABLE OF TRANSPORTING A FULL-SIZED MOTORCYCLE IN THE GARAGE. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE'S A DEFECTIVE DESIGN IN THE LOADING RAMP THAT MAKES GETTING A MOTORCYCLE IN THE GARAGE VERY DANGEROUS AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE ANGLE OF THE LOADING RAMP WHEN IT'S OPENED. IT'S SO STEEP, MOST STREET MOTORCYCLES BOTTOM OUT ON THE FRAME. MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE DEFECT WAS WHEN I TRIED TO RIDE MY 2009 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FXD SUPER GLIDE UP THE RAMP INTO THE GARAGE. THE FRONT TIRE MADE IT INTO THE GARAGE, BUT THE FRAME OF THE MOTORCYCLE BOTTOMED OUT ON THE TRAILER, CAUSING ME TO LUNGE FORWARD ONTO THE HANDLEBARS. I THEN ROLLED BACK DOWN THE RAMP, SKIDDING THE FRONT TIRE WITH THE BRAKE ON. I WAS VERY LUCKY NOT TO LOSE MY BALANCE AND COME OFF THE BIKE. THERE'S AN OWNER'S FORUM ONLINE FOR KEYSTONE OUTBACKS CALLED "OUTBACKERS.COM" AFTER REVIEWING COMMENTS FROM OTHER OWNERS OF KEYSTONE OUTBACK TOY HAULERS, IT'S CLEAR TO ME THAT THIS IS A WIDE-SPREAD PROBLEM. APPARENTLY KEYSTONE RAISED THE RIDE-HEIGHT OF THE TRAILERS BEGINNING WITH THE 2010 MODEL YEAR, BUT DIDN'T CONSIDER THE WAY IT WOULD INCREASE THE ANGLE OF THE LOADING RAMP TO A DANGEROUS DEGREE. THE WEBSITE SHOWS MANY DIFFERENT WAYS PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO WORK AROUND THE STEEP ANGLE TO FIX THE PROBLEM THEMSELVES. SOME APPEAR QUITE I

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10587438
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown