quality?

[hitchikerman]

I just replaced a basement door latch and a door latch on my 2008 3011rls Cougar and of the eleven screws that mounted the two parts only two screws (one in each one) on hit something solid...:S

[Water-Bug]

willutfid wrote:
We had the entire step assembly come loose on our Heartland Landmark (supposedly Heartland's "high end" - yeah - 5th wheel) while driving down the road Arizona. Did a lot of damage to the side of the 5er. Heartland would not cover the damage although we were still well within the "two year bumper to bumper" warranty period. Heartland said they'd never heard of this happening before, which is pretty odd since the fellow at the RV shop who we had remove the mangled mess (this took place hundreds of miles from home) said he'd seen the same issue (problems with the stair assembly releasing) three or four times on various brands of 5ers. Heartland referred us to their supplier who was, guess who - Lippert, who is famous (or infamous)for making high quality products. Lippert also refused to cover the repairs.

Same with our door lock, which was defective and required that we take the entire door handle assembly out while reentering the U.S. at the Mexican border. The door would not unlock and we were basically told we either get the door open so border security could conduct their usual inspection, or we turn around and go back to Mexico. When we got home, we had to replace the entire door and once again Heartland denied warranty coverage - and referred us to the supplier - guess who again - Lippert, who also would not cover the repairs.

Sorry, Lippert had nothing to do with your defective door. They were just the scapegoat, so that Heartland didn't have to deal with you. You are not required to deal with a "supplier". If your truck was under warranty and dead on the side of the road and GM referred you to some Chinese supplier, would you cantact the supplier or a lawyer?

EDIT. The trailer manufacturer has clout with their supplier to supply quality components OR ELSE. You are not a customer of the component supplier and have NO CLOUT. If the trailer manufacturer won't stand by their product, it isn't the suppliers fault and to be honest, they don't care what you think as long as they don't loose their contract, to which you have no input.

EDIT. Retired Customer Quality Engineer for a major big three supplier. (The customer being the big three)

[anaro]

Txiceman- the cabinets do have screws that have stripped out. Weight isn't really an issue for us.... we have a 13000 lb gvwr on the fiver and we are under all specs. I agree we shouldn't be having this many issues, I'm just trying to make lemonade from lemons and keep from jumping up and down screaming and ripping my hair out. I've learned I will get much better treatment with lemonade than sour grapes. So I will try to stay positive but at the same time, I do agree QC in the rv industry needs lots of improvement.

[TXiceman]

Anaro, the point is that you should not have that many issues. Some are due to poor QC at the plant, but some are due to poor and cheap design.

For something that you plan to drag down the road, shaking and bumping, the cabinets shoul not come apart or pull loose and should not be pot together with a few brads and staples.

Cabinets and such should be put together with screws and glue and secured to the walls with metal plates in the walls.

Slide mechanisms should be solid and robust, but this will add weight.

Ken

[anaro]

Let's see, my 2014 Sabre, purchased 2 months ago to date:
1. bedroom slide assembly sheared away from the floor and pinched the wiring. We had to disassemble the slide entirely to get it pushed back in. Dealership had to rewire the Slide and screw the slide assembly back down with stronger screws.
2. Microwave ran but did not heat. Got a new microwave.
3. Basement door was free swinging on pdi (latch Sat too low for it too hold closed). Washers gave a fix.
4. Cracks in shower fiberglass walls- will be fixed at factory next month
5. Shower door handle fell off a few times, dealership glued back on
6. Slide seals on 3/4 slides torn and pulling away from 5er wall. This is apparently due to the fact that the holes the slide goes through in the trailer walls are cut unevenly, they are wider at the top and too narrow at the bottom pinching the slides. This will also be repaired at the factory in October
7. Propane line for fridge routed poorly causing it to be pinched by the slide. This caused a dent on the trailer sidewall and a hole in the propane line. We are being sent a new propane line to change it out (quick connect). The dent will be handled at the factory.
8. Cabinets above sofa have exposed nails and appear to be coming apart.- fix at factory next month
9. Multiple little trim issues will be handled at the factory next month as well.

I would say a lot was missed on quality from the factory here and on dealership pdi as well. I am hoping for forest river to get it right on the return trip. They are picking it up and taking it back for me. Both my dealership and factory rep have been great to work with. I just hope all is resolved quickly and I'm done finding problems.

[willutfid]

We had the entire step assembly come loose on our Heartland Landmark (supposedly Heartland's "high end" - yeah - 5th wheel) while driving down the road Arizona. Did a lot of damage to the side of the 5er. Heartland would not cover the damage although we were still well within the "two year bumper to bumper" warranty period. Heartland said they'd never heard of this happening before, which is pretty odd since the fellow at the RV shop who we had remove the mangled mess (this took place hundreds of miles from home) said he'd seen the same issue (problems with the stair assembly releasing) three or four times on various brands of 5ers. Heartland referred us to their supplier who was, guess who - Lippert, who is famous (or infamous)for making high quality products. Lippert also refused to cover the repairs.

Same with our door lock, which was defective and required that we take the entire door handle assembly out while reentering the U.S. at the Mexican border. The door would not unlock and we were basically told we either get the door open so border security could conduct their usual inspection, or we turn around and go back to Mexico. When we got home, we had to replace the entire door and once again Heartland denied warranty coverage - and referred us to the supplier - guess who again - Lippert, who also would not cover the repairs.

[ddschuman]

Water-Bug wrote:
I'll bet that you've been walking on those steps, haven't you ? Didn't they tell you on your walk thru that you are supposed to plop your butt on the bedroom floor and swing your feet around. Those steps are for shoe storage only. 🙂

This made me laugh. No, I guess they left that part out. Lol

[hitchikerman]

Yep it has held up for six years good that they put caulking under the latch it helped out:B

[Water-Bug]

I'll bet that you've been walking on those steps, haven't you ? Didn't they tell you on your walk thru that you are supposed to plop your butt on the bedroom floor and swing your feet around. Those steps are for shoe storage only. 🙂

[ddschuman]

We bought our 5er new in April, 2013. We've used it for many weekend trips a several week long or longer trips. On the trip we are in now, the bracket that supports the bottom step of the stairs going to bedroom broke. Luckily we are handy and were able to temporarily fix until we can get back from vacation. It's holding well but we intend to completely rebuild the stair frame as when we were bracing the step back, we noticed just how cheaply it is made. Most of it is held together with staples. We took a look at the flooring while we were under there and it seems a little better made but those stairs are a hazard and need to be fixed.

[goducks10]

Look on the bright side it lasted 6 years:)

[Sandia_Man]

Just the way it goes as they are all assembled as quickly as they can push them out the door, although you would think they could do a bit better than 2 out of 11.

Pays to be handy when owning an RV as they all have defects, some are just hidden better where others are glaringly visible. Oh well, as long as we keep buying them faster than they can build them RV manufacturers have no reason to make changes to ensure a better built rig.