Is there any quality in craftsmanship left?

[Likepaperinafir]

So I got back from my first trip with my brand new toyhauler fiver and I'm cleaning and locking it up hand happen to notice a few loose bolts so I look now and realize every single bolt on the suspension is loose and one has almost fallen out. I call the dealer I for it from and they tell me I have to find a way to tow it to them. Start asking around and basically everyone that had bought a trailer or rv in the last few years they are all just falling apart. What is happening?

[JnJnKatiebug]

When I picked up my new TT last March I spent 2 hours going over it during and after the walk thru. Spent 20 minutes up on the roof, then took my creeper out of the Tahoe and slid under the trailer. Spent another 15 minutes under there. The guy that did the walk thru told me it was the first time he had someone crawl under the trailer to check it out.

[goducks10]

rjxj wrote:
Take the opportunity to now install wet bolts. Jack it up, install bolts, loctite all the nuts, grease now and then. Also check all the U bolts, stabilizer brackets, propane tank mounts, pinbox bolts and everything else.

I consider the warranty issue pretty much laughable with an RV. To me it would be easier to just do stuff myself vs haul it back and forth and wait and deal with incompetent lying bs.

x2

[SidecarFlip]

Far as the suspension issues go. Maybe I'm a minority bu when I buy a unit (and I've owned a few), first thing I do is check it over carefully, before it goes anywhere. I do a pre delivery PDI with the seller and as soon as I get it home, I go over it carefully and that includes checking things like wheel nut torque and tire pressure, axle to suspension mounting bolts, brakes and electrical and all systems inside too.

Always done that. RV's are built by humans and humans aren't all perfect, they make mistakes and forget to do things especially when in a hurry and the RV industry today is in a perpetual hurry trying to appease the market. I expect correctable issues.

[SidecarFlip]

Additionally, I have a 2 year old RV. While not a 5er or a pull behind, it's still a late model RV with most all the same basic systems that any RV of today has. Forced air heat, air conditioning, hot and cold pressurized water, a kitchen and a bedroom and a inside shower and toilet.

Mine is a Forest River Product (Palomino, Colon, Michigan) and I have had ZERO issues with it. Why? because I did not get a bunch of useless options or what I call fru-fru, things that break. I bought a no frills basic unit to go camping with not to impress the guy in the next lot or say I have every option, because I don't and I don't want them either. Camping is supposed to be simple. When you make it complex with fru-fru junk, stuff breaks.

[JIMNLIN]

Nothing new about quality in general in the rv world.
Bought our first rv in the late '60s and have owned three truck campers and three fifth wheel trailers since.
Many folks back then had the same comments about quality.

My advise to anyone who wants a rv is if you don't have deep pockets for others to do your repairs/maintenance or you can't do your own plumbing/electrical/carpentry/mechanics and general maintenance then think hard before owning one.

If it was my trailer and its under warranty and the suspension could fail if its towed....I would contact the trailer maker and get their input on how to handle their warranty repairs on the suspension.

[SidecarFlip]

colliehauler wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
From what I've seen and read, more money spent does not guarantee that a buyer will get better quality. That's just being facile.

Somebody complains about the build and everyone pipes up with "You didn't spend enough". That's nonsense. High end campers/RV's still have many problems. I've seen a dealer that had multi-hundred thousand dollar motorhomes waiting in line to get problems resolved.

So a Prevost conversions or Newell will have as many problems as a Forest River or Keystone motorhome?

I doubt it.

How many frame problems have Forks/Continental or New Horizon or Spacecraft have you heard about compared to companies using Lippert frames?

The employment market is tough around Elkhart, everyone that wants to work is working so for an outfit like LCI to secure workers, they have to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Consequently, the workers are unskilled and it shows. Slinging burgers one day, welding frames the next. Cannot expect quality when there is no skill input.

I say 'wants to work'. The Elkhart area is like any other area in the is country, a percentage of the people don't want to work or cannot pass a drug screen in the first place.

I also have a comment about RV's from 30 or 40 years ago, compared to today. I've been RV'ing since I was 20 and I'm 68 so I've owned a few 'vintage' RV's in my time and back then, they were built just as shoddy as they are today. The difference was, back then we didn't expect a silk purse because it was a camper and we fixed the issues ourselves, instead of whining, which seems to be the National hobby today...

Of course RV's were simpler too. No entertainment systems, automatic this and automatic that. No air conditioning, you opened the window or sat outside under a tarp on poles, No 3 way or compressor fridge, you had an ice box and put a block of ice in it. Lights were a Coleman lantern (I still have and use mine) or propane lights inside (hot so you left them out most of the time). No shower or toilet, only high end luxury RV's had a bathroom and it wasn't much. Your 'kitchen' was a Coleman white gas stove on the counter, running water... Usually, only cold and you pumped it to the sink, by hand, no pressurized water.

Construction hasn't change much over the years either. Still screwed together and back then like today, things weren't square or straight and stuff fell apart but unlike today, back then it was 'camping and 'roughing it'

If it broke because it was simple we fixed it and continued on. No one cried warranty because most units had no warranty in the first place.

In a way, I wish I still had my Serro Scotty but compared to toady's RV's it was a rock. It was a fun rock however.

[colliehauler]

fj12ryder wrote:
From what I've seen and read, more money spent does not guarantee that a buyer will get better quality. That's just being facile.

Somebody complains about the build and everyone pipes up with "You didn't spend enough". That's nonsense. High end campers/RV's still have many problems. I've seen a dealer that had multi-hundred thousand dollar motorhomes waiting in line to get problems resolved.

So a Prevost conversions or Newell will have as many problems as a Forest River or Keystone motorhome?

I doubt it.

How many frame problems have Forks/Continental or New Horizon or Spacecraft have you heard about compared to companies using Lippert frames?

[Tyler0215]

Mobile tech and have him do it right. The dealer will just ram the bolts back in and tighten them down. whether the bolts are damaged or not.

[tinstartrvlr]

4x4ord wrote:
Quality costs money....consumers base their decision of what to buy largely on price and support the companys that build junk. The few quality RV manufactures left have price tags few can afford.

x2, but even the more expensive "quality" rv's leave something to be desired. Not long ago I wandered around inside a brand new airstream and found two warped cabinet doors. Not surprised since they were pressboard garbage as opposed to wood. My tt has wood doors, and it was 1/3 the price.

[gbopp]

As long as consumers keep buying junk, the manufacturers will keep producing junk.

[fj12ryder]

From what I've seen and read, more money spent does not guarantee that a buyer will get better quality. That's just being facile.

Somebody complains about the build and everyone pipes up with "You didn't spend enough". That's nonsense. High end campers/RV's still have many problems. I've seen a dealer that had multi-hundred thousand dollar motorhomes waiting in line to get problems resolved.

[midnightsadie]

X2 a mobil tech will fix you up and not meney bucks.

[stickdog]

Perhaps if the OP had joined the forum before purchasing he would have had the expert opinions of our fine members to help with his choice. Alas he waited and only came here to decry the well known troubles of quality in RVs.

[colliehauler]

4x4ord wrote:
Quality costs money....consumers base their decision of what to buy largely on price and support the companys that build junk. The few quality RV manufactures left have price tags few can afford.

This is exactly what I was going to type.

A lot of quality companies have gone out of business because people shop price over quality.