Why do I have to put up with shoddy workmanship on my fifth wheel? From what I understand from talking with users and mechanics, we have problems that should not be occurring. An example is that I had a problem with the suspension of my rig. The mechanic needed to cut the suspension from the original pick-up points because the wheels would not align. This mechanic told me that it was common for trailers to be mad that way. Brand new, the suspension is set in the wrong places. Why do I have to put up with that? If I buy an automobile, I would have a recourse if this type of problem occurred. It seems that nobody takes the people who buy and use these trailers seriously. Where is the Ralph Nader of campers? Some of these are safety issues. One of those problems was loosing three tires in a two week period. All tires were less than a year old, had less than 7,000 miles on them, and all failed with tread separation. When one spends 40,000 to 50,000 on a fifth wheel, what would an extra $200 impact me in order to get decent, safe tires?I love traveling, camping and the wonderful people I meet along the way. It is problems like this that take away a lot of the pleasure.

Wait till you decide to sell or trade it. The depreciation shock is just as bad. Your tires wore out because your axles were out of alignment. BTDT. The RV industry gets by with this stuff because they make just enough good ones that they out weigh the bad ones. There are also enough new buyers that don't know about the downfalls till they own one. It sucks but chances are nothing is going to change.

dkstraub wrote:Why do I have to put up with shoddy workmanship on my fifth wheel? From what I understand from talking with users and mechanics, we have problems that should not be occurring. An example is that I had a problem with the suspension of my rig. The mechanic needed to cut the suspension from the original pick-up points because the wheels would not align. This mechanic told me that it was common for trailers to be mad that way. Brand new, the suspension is set in the wrong places. Why do I have to put up with that? If I buy an automobile, I would have a recourse if this type of problem occurred. It seems that nobody takes the people who buy and use these trailers seriously. Where is the Ralph Nader of campers? Some of these are safety issues. One of those problems was loosing three tires in a two week period. All tires were less than a year old, had less than 7,000 miles on them, and all failed with tread separation. When one spends 40,000 to 50,000 on a fifth wheel, what would an extra $200 impact me in order to get decent, safe tires?I love traveling, camping and the wonderful people I meet along the way. It is problems like this that take away a lot of the pleasure.Until the grandbaby(ies) of a major company exec are killed in an RV accident that can be directly attributed to junk tires, junk build, junk frames, etc., no changes will be made. Just like a dangerous intersection won't get a stop sign/light until a bunch of people get killed. We're just paying sheep to the execs, who laugh all the way to the bank.Sorry, cynic mode off.Lyle

You do not have to put up with it. If you had researched before buying either on this site or other places you ight have found all these things specially the tire failures.Now does the mechanic work for the dealer that sold you the rig? Is the mechanic willing to testify that the suspension problem is common or is he just blowing smoke? If he is willing to testify and it is common you may have the makings of a good class action. An attorney might be interested

They build them as fast as they can and hire the cheapest labor(Mexicans). What needs to happen is what happened with pontoon boats a new player came in in 1997 Bennington building High quality boats and last year they had 50% of the market share. I would start the company myself if I had the start up money! SKILLED LABOR ISNT CHEAP! CHEAP LABOR ISNT SKILLED end of story!

What kind of house would you get in California for 40 to 50 grand? One with all appliances and can go down the road at 70+ mph. One that runs over holes and other objects on the road. One that has a 2 year warrante. Yep we are getting what we pay for.

Bad Workmanship | Good Sam Community

calamus
Explorer
Sep 12, 2014
They build them as fast as they can and hire the cheapest labor(Mexicans). What needs to happen is what happened with pontoon boats a new player came in in 1997 Bennington building High quality boats and last year they had 50% of the market share. I would start the company myself if I had the start up money! SKILLED LABOR ISNT CHEAP! CHEAP LABOR ISNT SKILLED end of story!
darsben
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2014
You do not have to put up with it. If you had researched before buying either on this site or other places you ight have found all these things specially the tire failures.
Now does the mechanic work for the dealer that sold you the rig? Is the mechanic willing to testify that the suspension problem is common or is he just blowing smoke? If he is willing to testify and it is common you may have the makings of a good class action. An attorney might be interested
laknox
Nomad
Sep 12, 2014
dkstraub wrote:
Why do I have to put up with shoddy workmanship on my fifth wheel? From what I understand from talking with users and mechanics, we have problems that should not be occurring. An example is that I had a problem with the suspension of my rig. The mechanic needed to cut the suspension from the original pick-up points because the wheels would not align. This mechanic told me that it was common for trailers to be mad that way. Brand new, the suspension is set in the wrong places. Why do I have to put up with that? If I buy an automobile, I would have a recourse if this type of problem occurred. It seems that nobody takes the people who buy and use these trailers seriously. Where is the Ralph Nader of campers?

Some of these are safety issues. One of those problems was loosing three tires in a two week period. All tires were less than a year old, had less than 7,000 miles on them, and all failed with tread separation. When one spends 40,000 to 50,000 on a fifth wheel, what would an extra $200 impact me in order to get decent, safe tires?

I love traveling, camping and the wonderful people I meet along the way. It is problems like this that take away a lot of the pleasure.

Until the grandbaby(ies) of a major company exec are killed in an RV accident that can be directly attributed to junk tires, junk build, junk frames, etc., no changes will be made. Just like a dangerous intersection won't get a stop sign/light until a bunch of people get killed. We're just paying sheep to the execs, who laugh all the way to the bank.

Sorry, cynic mode off.

Lyle
goducks10
Explorer
Sep 12, 2014
Wait till you decide to sell or trade it. The depreciation shock is just as bad.

Your tires wore out because your axles were out of alignment. BTDT. The RV industry gets by with this stuff because they make just enough good ones that they out weigh the bad ones. There are also enough new buyers that don't know about the downfalls till they own one.

It sucks but chances are nothing is going to change.

Forum Discussion

Bad Workmanship

About Fifth Wheel Group

Related Content

Just a rant about workmanship in RV assembly plants

Theft: the bad, the bad, and the really bad

Bad gas ?

Bad converter?

Bad Slideout Squeel