Not to Happy with Thor or Ford
Not to Happy with Thor or Ford
Back in May of 2016 Thor sent a driver to my home in Mashpee, Massachusetts to drive the 2016 Challenger 37KT back to Indiana because the repairs needed were too much for CW in Berkley, Mass.
After repairs we're done we flew out to Indiana and drove the rig home. Some of the issues were the hydraulic system would come on in the middle of driving down the highway at speed. The windshield wipers would get tangled up. Problems with the heat. Various leaks in Windows, showers and sinks. It was another half a dozen things that I can't remember.
The main thing is that the coach drove down the road crooked. There's a few phrases for this issue, crabbing or some call it dog walking. This usually occurs after an accident, it's a giveaway that the frame is not square or the rear axle is not perpendicular to the frame.
When Thor had it last year in Indiana they sent the rig to Ford, Ford sent the rig to a company called Quality Automotive to fix the crabbing issue. The problem is due to the rear axle not being perpendicular to the frame. When the fix was being done I tried to find out the approach they were taking, Unfortunately they would not tell me. They did not eliminate the crabbing although they did get it much better.
Well, this January I noticed the handling had gotten very sloppy. I had a friend drive and I got behind the rig and could see that the crabbing had gotten just as bad if not worse than it used to be and that the coach had a lot of swaying in the rear. I called the Thor and told them about it. Knowing the issue was serious Thor sent a so-called expert to fly out the Massachusetts to check it out. He drove behind me and then he drove the unit. I asked him what he thought and his words were and I quote "It's Crooked"
Thor had me bring it to a local truck repair shop in Mass. They discovered that the leaf springs had been twisted to compensate for the crabbing and a had bent the shackles and blown out the bushings. This damage was the result of the technique that Quality Automotive used to try to make the axle perpendicular to the frame. They simply loosen the bolts Twisted the axle and then tighten the bolts putting more torque then the bushings and metal shackles could take.
Thor did pay to have this fixed, but not before they blamed the damage on me. I installed a super steer track bar to help eliminate the absurd amount of rear sway the coach had and they tried to say the damage was caused by the trac bar. The mechanic told me there was no stress on the bar this problem was created by the technique that was used to adjust the axle. Thor decided to add a leaf spring on each side two help stiffen up the sloppy handling.
Unfortunately now the ride is ridiculous, the rear end is two inches higher than the front end in this a ridiculous amount of body roll and sway now that the center of gravity is even higher. Thor has refused to pay the money to fix this problem that they've created.
Not only do I still have the crabbing problem, I now have a RV that every time I want to set it up I have to lift the front wheels off the ground to inches just to get her level. My wife refuses to drive in it because she doesn't feel confident in the drive as well as it makes her sick from all the body roll.
Thor says it's a Ford problem, Ford says it's an altered chassis. Dealing with Thor has been frustrating and unrewarding.
I consider this the worst purchase of my life. I read a lot of bad reviews about Thor, I decided that there probably were many happy people that never left reviews.
Marc DeNardo
Back in May of 2016 Thor sent a driver to my home in Mashpee, Massachusetts to drive the 2016 Challenger 37KT back to Indiana because the repairs needed were too much for CW in Berkley, Mass.
After repairs we're done we flew out to Indiana and drove the rig home. Some of the issues were the hydraulic system would come on in the middle of driving down the highway at speed. The windshield wipers would get tangled up. Problems with the heat. Various leaks in Windows, showers and sinks. It was another half a dozen things that I can't remember.
The main thing is that the coach drove down the road crooked. There's a few phrases for this issue, crabbing or some call it dog walking. This usually occurs after an accident, it's a giveaway that the frame is not square or the rear axle is not perpendicular to the frame.
When Thor had it last year in Indiana they sent the rig to Ford, Ford sent the rig to a company called Quality Automotive to fix the crabbing issue. The problem is due to the rear axle not being perpendicular to the frame. When the fix was being done I tried to find out the approach they were taking, Unfortunately they would not tell me. They did not eliminate the crabbing although they did get it much better.
Well, this January I noticed the handling had gotten very sloppy. I had a friend drive and I got behind the rig and could see that the crabbing had gotten just as bad if not worse than it used to be and that the coach had a lot of swaying in the rear. I called the Thor and told them about it. Knowing the issue was serious Thor sent a so-called expert to fly out the Massachusetts to check it out. He drove behind me and then he drove the unit. I asked him what he thought and his words were and I quote "It's Crooked"
Thor had me bring it to a local truck repair shop in Mass. They discovered that the leaf springs had been twisted to compensate for the crabbing and a had bent the shackles and blown out the bushings. This damage was the result of the technique that Quality Automotive used to try to make the axle perpendicular to the frame. They simply loosen the bolts Twisted the axle and then tighten the bolts putting more torque then the bushings and metal shackles could take.
Thor did pay to have this fixed, but not before they blamed the damage on me. I installed a super steer track bar to help eliminate the absurd amount of rear sway the coach had and they tried to say the damage was caused by the trac bar. The mechanic told me there was no stress on the bar this problem was created by the technique that was used to adjust the axle. Thor decided to add a leaf spring on each side two help stiffen up the sloppy handling.
Unfortunately now the ride is ridiculous, the rear end is two inches higher than the front end in this a ridiculous amount of body roll and sway now that the center of gravity is even higher. Thor has refused to pay the money to fix this problem that they've created.
Not only do I still have the crabbing problem, I now have a RV that every time I want to set it up I have to lift the front wheels off the ground to inches just to get her level. My wife refuses to drive in it because she doesn't feel confident in the drive as well as it makes her sick from all the body roll.
Thor says it's a Ford problem, Ford says it's an altered chassis. Dealing with Thor has been frustrating and unrewarding.
I consider this the worst purchase of my life. I read a lot of bad reviews about Thor, I decided that there probably were many happy people that never left reviews.
Marc DeNardo
