Thor Super C (Chateau/Four Winds) improvements and mods

[Sites]

Hey folks,

I purchased a 2014 Thor Chateau 33SW last August and right from the start I experienced the new RV owner blues. In short, after driving back to San Diego from where I flew out to purchase it in Texas, it spent its first 3 weeks in the shop with about a dozen issues, ranging from minor to major.

That said, aside from all of the issues, now that I've resolved most of them either through warranty or just fixing it myself after the local Thor service dealer either did a half-assed job fixing a problem, or just flat out didn't fix it after it sat in their shop for weeks, I like this motorhome. I wanted something fairly nice and that could reasonably tow 10k+ LBS, since I have a desert prerunner truck and several motorcycles to trailer out with the family. Dynamax's were nice, but out of the $$$ range I was willing to invest on a first MH. I also looked as used medium duty chassis Super C's (older Show Haulers, etc.) but anything close to $100k was too dated looking and generally VERY used. So I saw the F550 chassis based Thor 33SW and bit the bullet.

After owning it for about 7 months now, my impression is that Thor came up with a great layout and mated it to a good chassis, but as a result of both production line quality assurance issues and the general feeling that everything beneath the surface was designed to speed up build time, there are many improvements that can be made by owners to make this coach better. And frankly, should have been done at the factory before shipping off to the dealer! 🙂

The reason I'm starting this thread is because I've noticed a few other Thor Super C owners on here and other forums, that have all mentioned having similar issues (house water pump leaks, front fuel tank filling issues, front hydro jacks too low from the factory, poor house battery capacity, etc.) I've also noticed a few very cool modifications and improvements by others on here as well, such as relocating the house batteries to one of the storage compartments and switching to a bank of four 6v batts. I figured it would be useful to try and centralize the communication of issues encountered, how to resolve them and suggestions to improve the coach.

I've done a few already and will post one of them shortly. Hopefully other Thor Super C (33SW, 35sk, 35sg, Etc) will chime in as well.

[RE_Todd]

I'll be looking at it in the next week. I know which display you are talking about, right next to the stitches for the lights,awning, etc. My 5th wheel with full solar doesn't do well below 11.6 volts .

RobbieH wrote:

RE_Todd wrote:
I checked all of the items you mentioned. I think I have it set for 11.6 v to start, I'm going to move it to 11.9 or so and try it. I didn't catch the voltage on the display.

This isn't where I'm talking about. When you first walk into the door, on the left is a digital display. Mine typically says 13.6. If it is anything around 11.5, there's something wrong. I have done so much troubleshooting on these I can step you through resolving the issue if you have one.

[Butch50]

Wow,

I have read through all 40 pages of this and sure hope I don't have the problems that you have had. I'm having a Nexus Ghost built, should be done July 18-20 time frame with extras that we wanted. This was one of the reasons for going with Nexus as they allowed us to make changes to the rig to meet our needs.

I have had many RVs over the years and had some pigs along the way. I can remember a couple of real bad ones. One DP MH and one 5th wheel that I finally just gave up on and traded in. My wife has already told me if this one has a lot of problems that is it we are through with RVing and well Hotel it when we travel from then on. Besides I'm getting to old to have problems like you folks have had. We're retired and want to go when we want and not have to have the MH sitting in the shop being repaired for 6 months or so. The DP I had in the 1.5 years of ownership it was in the shop for over 8 months. When it ran I really liked it but couldn't put up with it anymore.

I hope everybody gets their rigs fixed to their satisfaction and enjoys them for a lot of years.

[port24]

RE_Todd wrote:
So, back from the inaugural run on the new to me 2014 35SK. Issues are a dual passenger rear blow out. I believe it was a leaky dually extender, they're all going away. 5 miles from AZ on the east bound I40. The unit won't take DEF. Got to 311 miles from limp home an hour after the tire incident (Really bad day). The DEF fill is kinked between the under bay housing and the frame. I can see the conversation right now. Thor: It's out of warranty (New date 3/15). Ford: It's Thor's fault. If you climb under the unit and squeeze the flat spot out of the DEF hose, it'll fill. Generator auto start not working: Still have to figure this out. It'll trigger the start but won't follow through. Pushed around by the wind, thinking shocks and steering stabilizer!! 2375 miles in 11 days.

I have a 2014 33sw...had the same kink in the DEF and problems filling the fuel tanks. The DEF filler hose was too long. Easy fix with a knife and screwdriver. The fuel breather lines were also too long. They hung below the fuel filler tube lines for both front and rear tanks and filled with fuel. Filling the tanks took foever!! I shortened both breather tubes and rerouted the lines. I zip tied them on top of the filler tubes. Now I can fill DEF and diesel without problems.

Hope this helps.

[thethrillofspee]

Yes, I put a propane RV refrigerator in my RV. Love it, I can dry camp for days without running the generator.

[McKenziek]

Did you convert to propane?

[thethrillofspee]

I have a perfectly working Whirlpool refrigerator that I took out of mine if you are interested, sitting in my garage in Reno Nevada if you are interested. I think they took it out of the rear window when they removed it.

[RobbieH]

Yosemitebobr wrote:

McKenziek wrote:
Whirlpool fridge just went out and is too big for the door so will have to be repaired. Any diagnostics anyone can suggest? Got a trip next weekend!

If it's too big for the door, how about the window? Remove the window and frame and more it in that way.

Also, taking the doors off the fridge will probably help.

Is the light turning on inside?

[RobbieH]

RE_Todd wrote:
I checked all of the items you mentioned. I think I have it set for 11.6 v to start, I'm going to move it to 11.9 or so and try it. I didn't catch the voltage on the display.

This isn't where I'm talking about. When you first walk into the door, on the left is a digital display. Mine typically says 13.6. If it is anything around 11.5, there's something wrong. I have done so much troubleshooting on these I can step you through resolving the issue if you have one.

[Sites]

Any idea what went out on the fridge? With almost zero ventilation behind the fridge, I've wondered if there would be any overheating issues.

[McKenziek]

Yosemitebobr wrote:

McKenziek wrote:
Whirlpool fridge just went out and is too big for the door so will have to be repaired. Any diagnostics anyone can suggest? Got a trip next weekend!

If it's too big for the door, how about the window? Remove the window and frame and more it in that way.

I found that it will fit through the emergency exit window in the bedroom. But its only 3 years old, should be able to be repaired.

[Yosemitebobr]

McKenziek wrote:
Whirlpool fridge just went out and is too big for the door so will have to be repaired. Any diagnostics anyone can suggest? Got a trip next weekend!

If it's too big for the door, how about the window? Remove the window and frame and more it in that way.

[McKenziek]

Whirlpool fridge just went out and is too big for the door so will have to be repaired. Any diagnostics anyone can suggest? Got a trip next weekend!

[dnhill]

After two years of ownership, I just found out the black/grey connection swivels. I always wondered why the hole in the compartment didn't line up.

[RE_Todd]

I checked all of the items you mentioned. I think I have it set for 11.6 v to start, I'm going to move it to 11.9 or so and try it. I didn't catch the voltage on the display.

[RobbieH]

RE_Todd wrote:
Generator auto start not working: Still have to figure this out. It'll trigger the start but won't follow through.

Did you check the things I (think I) posted earlier?
What does the voltage on the panel say?
Did you check the little breaker under the bed?
Check the water in the house batteries?