NHTSA Complaint #11460901 — 2004 WINNEBAGO JOURNEY

Winnebago propane road tank serial #1661055. This tank is mounted on the frame with 2 brackets which are welded to the tank and bolted to the frame. This is the second time for this failure. The tank forms a crack at the end of the bracket where the bracket has a sharp 90 degree corner. The bracket is not welded at this point and is welded 3/4 of an inch from where the leak forms. The second leak happened with a full tank of propane (37.6 gallons) and was at the bottom of the tank and therefore in liquid not gaseous propane. The leak was loud enough to be audible and as such scared the hell out of us. We had just driven the stretch of highway 93 between Phoenix and Henderson Nevada which is in very poor condition and is extremely rough in different sections. I believe the rough road is what contributed to this crack braking though the thin tank wall and the tank bounces up and down and flexes with pressure concentrating at the sharp 90 degree corner at the top and bottom of the bracket. We drained the tank so that we may continue to our destination. There is already a safety recall of Winnebago’s up to September 2003 manufacture date for this same problem. This safety recall should be expanded to include all Winnebago’s with the same mounting system. I understand that there is a change up bracket system that will support the weight of the tank better to prevent these tank cracks at the ends of the brackets. It was only due to being very lucky that we did not end up in a fatal fire or explosion. This defect needs to be addressed no matter how old the vehicle is as it is a deadly hazard.