Alas, it's the end of the line for my 1999 Dutchmen 1004D, which has been a good friend since I bought it in 2019 to use primarily at Oshkosh for the airshow. The rest of the time I rented it out.
A month or so ago, a couple of guys were in a hurry to get out of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The mosquitoes were eating them alive and the rain was constant. Despite warnings to go through the step-by-step process I provided in the Camper Guide, they decided to wing it.
They didn't flip the hitch safety latch down and pin it, and they didn't attach the safety changes.
A few miles down the dirt road from the campground, ye olde camper fell off their vehicle. It could have been catastrophic for them and/or anybody else on the road if they'd made it to the highway.
At the time, I checked things in the front and it was all good. I should have gotten underneath. I would've seen the "tow frame" was cracked near the weld to the camper frame. And a couple of subsequent trips by renters flexed it to the point it was pretty much broken save for a small thread keeping it together. That's a very dangerous situation.
I'll miss the camper. Moreover, I'll miss the nice people I've been in the last four years.
In the spring, I'll offer it for free to anyone who enjoys rehab projects and knows how to weld.
