RV Problems

downtheroad wrote:
The best cure for this is being handy and creative and doing most of your own maintenance and repairs and your own, "warranty work."

I stopped running back to the dealer for every fix and adjustment

That's been my mode of operation as well. With a truck camper, it's far more convenient to do my own stuff since it's a hassle to load/unload each time I would have wanted to go to the dealer.

My previous RV was a toy hauler, bought in 2003. There was a problem with the roof, which I found prior to my first trip. I called and made an appointment, but was annoyed that my appointment really meant nothing in regard to when the work would be accomplished, unlike at an auto dealer when I take a truck in for repair/service. The dealer had the unit for about 2 weeks.

That's the last time I ever went in for dealer fixes.
A short time later, I discovered the fuel gauge for the onboard fuel tank wasn't working. I worked with the factory to get parts and fix it myself. A new sending unit needed to be installed in the tank.


Part of the low quality / problems, are likely a result of the low pay at the RV factories, which leads to quick turnover as well as somewhat unskilled people, instead of craftsman doing the work.

I read a recent thread about someone having various plumbing leaks in their unit. Do you think the RV manufactures hire Journeymen plumbing to do the entire plumbing work in a rig? No. The guy doing the plumbing also does cabinet installation, wiring, and whatever else is required in the area of the assembly line where he works.

I've seen some pretty shoddy electrical connections too - 10 gauge wire stripped with 12 awg strippers, so multiple strands of wires got shaved off during the stripping process.

One of my part time jobs is doing RV transport. I do a quick walk through on every rig I haul to make sure all drawers and cabinets are closed. Even though I spend very little time in a unit, I still see obvious lack of care/inattention to detail in some units.

One case in point - the last two units I hauled, the positive battery cable had the wrong sized terminal end on it - the hole was too small, so I couldn't properly hook up the battery.

Both RVs I've owned, I pulled the electrical panel out and fixed a lot of poor wire strip jobs and cleaned things up.
I go through the cabinets and check all the plumbing fittings for tightness too. Should we have to do that? No.
But for the mass produced RVs, isn't not a bad idea to do it.

Back in the 90s I worked for a large inverter manufacturer, which is now part of Xantrex.
I travelled around to FMCA conventions and did field service on our inverters. Even the $250,000 plus coaches have various issues.