I purchased my 2016 Thor Challenger 37kt back in December 2015. It's been in the shop 9 times. One of the main problems is a tracking issue. When you behind the motorhome you can see drive down the road crooked. I wet the tires with a garden hose and drove forward in a straight line. It allows you to see the tire tracks are not straight. The right side tire tracks show three tire marks on the right side the middle tire track being the front. But it only shows two tire tracks on the left side of the coach. That's because the front tire drives on the same track as the left rear tire. It's the oddest thing you've ever seen. There's actually a space between the two tire tracks. Being new here I haven't learned how to post a pic yet. They've sent me from Ford dealers to Ford dealer and repair shop to repair shop and nobody is willing to fix it. I wish they would just give me my money back for this POS.Marc DeNardo

Some suggestions:1: Alignment,, The Delux job2: Trac Bars if not already installed.Depending on other things you might wish to consider improving the Sway Bar as well.

Marc - at some point you're going to take this problem into your own hands. I saw from your other post that you're upset with Thor and possibly the dealer (CW in Berkeley I suspect) and it's ruining an otherwise enjoyable experience. Forget trying to get Thor to resolve the problems, have the coach fixed yourself to your satisfaction and move on. Chalk it up to knowing what not to do next time and start using your coach.We (Major's RV) get new coaches in for alignment all the time. We have a guy that comes in to do it. It's not an uncommon problem, and it's not uncommon for the manufacturer or dealer to shuffle it off.

Most likely cause is rear axle is out of alignment with the coach. The thrust angle is off. There are other possible causes but a decent four wheel alignment should identify them. You can do a sanity check on the thrust angle with a bit of string. You will need two people to do this. Take a piece of mason's twine long enough to reach from behind the rear tire to behind the front tire. Have the helper hold the twine around the rear of the rear tire. Stretch the string to the front tire. Now move the string at the front tire until it just kisses the outside of the front of the rear tire. Now either mark the front tire where the string intersects it, or measure to a reference point on the tire. Repeat for the other side. If the rear axle is aligned perpendicular to the front then the measurements should be the same on either side.

Avoid anything made by Thor...excluding perhaps Airstream (if you like spending the cost of a house for a LITTLE BIT more quality). But, Airstream's quality control is STILL overall abysmal...although not as bad as Thor as a whole, which truly is the "hole" of the industry quality-wise.

The Ford dealer says there is no adjustment on the rear axle. He said the thrust angle is within specs. He said it can be off as much as.050 mine is off .042 When you are behind the rig as it drives down the road you can see the rear bumper is off 12 in hes from the front bumper. You can actually see the whole driver side of the coach. I think in addition to the thrust angle being off these fools built a out of rack and unplumb box. Is a bunch of other problems too but I won't bore you. It's funny because I want others to read my post and stay away from this company. Unfortunately as I read other people's post prior to my purchase I didn't listen to them. I figured it's probably just a bunch of whiners, surely all that coaches can't be bad.Marc DeNardo

Customer service 2 | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

katoomer
Explorer
Jul 20, 2017
Take it to a heavy duty truck frame and alignment shop. If the frame was built crooked they might be able to find a way to compensate for that. The Ford dealers are most likely not knowledgable enough. Dump trucks and the like get twisted all the time. They can be fixed.
Executive45
Explorer III
Jul 20, 2017
Dash cam and follow behind the coach. Then post the pictures everywhere....Dennis
DSDP_Don
Explorer
Jul 20, 2017
Something to check. My brother in law bought a new 2016 Southwind on the F53 chassis. It was tracking wrong and the left rear fender was farther away from the tire than the right rear, by 2". Local Ford truck shop found that the pin that centers the leaf springs to the frame was bent and allowed the springs to shift.

Just a shot...take a look.
marcdohc
Explorer
Jul 20, 2017
The Ford dealer says there is no adjustment on the rear axle. He said the thrust angle is within specs. He said it can be off as much as.050 mine is off .042 When you are behind the rig as it drives down the road you can see the rear bumper is off 12 in hes from the front bumper. You can actually see the whole driver side of the coach. I think in addition to the thrust angle being off these fools built a out of rack and unplumb box. Is a bunch of other problems too but I won't bore you. It's funny because I want others to read my post and stay away from this company. Unfortunately as I read other people's post prior to my purchase I didn't listen to them. I figured it's probably just a bunch of whiners, surely all that coaches can't be bad.
Marc DeNardo
Harold_Fairbank
Explorer
Jul 20, 2017
Avoid anything made by Thor...excluding perhaps Airstream (if you like spending the cost of a house for a LITTLE BIT more quality). But, Airstream's quality control is STILL overall abysmal...although not as bad as Thor as a whole, which truly is the "hole" of the industry quality-wise.
Bikeboy57
Explorer
Jul 19, 2017
Most likely cause is rear axle is out of alignment with the coach. The thrust angle is off.

There are other possible causes but a decent four wheel alignment should identify them.

You can do a sanity check on the thrust angle with a bit of string.

You will need two people to do this. Take a piece of mason's twine long enough to reach from behind the rear tire to behind the front tire.
Have the helper hold the twine around the rear of the rear tire. Stretch the string to the front tire. Now move the string at the front tire until it just kisses the outside of the front of the rear tire. Now either mark the front tire where the string intersects it, or measure to a reference point on the tire.

Repeat for the other side.

If the rear axle is aligned perpendicular to the front then the measurements should be the same on either side.
jplante4
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2017
Marc - at some point you're going to take this problem into your own hands. I saw from your other post that you're upset with Thor and possibly the dealer (CW in Berkeley I suspect) and it's ruining an otherwise enjoyable experience. Forget trying to get Thor to resolve the problems, have the coach fixed yourself to your satisfaction and move on. Chalk it up to knowing what not to do next time and start using your coach.

We (Major's RV) get new coaches in for alignment all the time. We have a guy that comes in to do it. It's not an uncommon problem, and it's not uncommon for the manufacturer or dealer to shuffle it off.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Jul 19, 2017
Some suggestions:
1: Alignment,, The Delux job
2: Trac Bars if not already installed.

Depending on other things you might wish to consider improving the Sway Bar as well.

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Customer service 2

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