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.

[mbacfp30]

Unfortunately, the sales price will be based on what the seller paid. My extended warranty was in RobbieH's price range (cannot remember exactly). My take is, if the rig had a majority of the bugs worked out...then maybe. Since their appears to be some damage beyond the normal "bugs", I would be a little reluctant. As a long term purchase, I would see what price I could get on a new one vs $92,000 on a used one. The spread between those prices might not be as large as you think. With financing the way it was when I bought mine, if looking at another 30k-40k...I would go with a new unit. Not sure if cash deal or financed...but the extra tax deduction helps for me. Take care.

[seal13il]

Here is the spec comparecment .. SB is also a bunkhouse with the extra entertainment systems and looks like 1.5ft longer?

https://thormotorcoach.com/media/documents/2015-Four-Winds-Super-C-RV-Flyer-2014-08-22.pdf

[RobbieH]

OK, you got me there, $35k not $25k. 🙂 I'm in a class today and supposed to be paying attention to the instructor, I guess I'm not multi-tasking well.

Well, I should look at it this way, if I go to sell mine, I can get more for it than I thought I could.

[seal13il]

127-92 = 35K LOL (plus sales tax - $10,000) and other "wonder fees" , hence the $50K number:)

it is full paint with extra warranty on that as well, and when it comes to that extra inches....u know what they say... LOL

[RobbieH]

The 33SW is really a 34' 6" length RV. We are talking minute differences, really. In this case, compared to the 35SB, we are talking five inches.

You found a new one for $127k, you are paying $92k for the used one. Not counting the warranty, that's a difference of $25k, not $50k. And I do not know why he has that much in warranties, because my warranty was nowhere near that much.

Does this rig have full paint? If not, that's a big price difference in price. I'm going by memory, but I think the full paint was a $10,000 upgrade.

The 35SB has a full wall slide like our 33SW. Make sure it operates correctly. The fridge leaning worries me a bit, it could be water damage to the floor underlayment. Or it could just be an optical illusion.

[seal13il]

the 35 has an extended frame/box (35ft) but still, I'm saving nearly 40K on the total vs a new one.... am I paying too much>?

[RobbieH]

seal13il wrote:
thanks guys, the 35SB is actually about 50K more than the 33 line, cheapest I could find new was in texas for $127,000 (with the diesel gen and outdoor kitchen etc), add tax, travel cost and you are at $140-145K, he has a transferable ext "platinum" warranty that has almost 4 years left on he paid $7200 plus a paint warranty he paid $1400 for....cheapest 35SB used out there is $106,900 without outdoor kitchen or warranty..... as mentioned, all those issues will be fixed by him before I take possession.....

I paid $122k BEFORE taxes and warranty. So the cost is almost the same, considering you have the outdoor kitchen and I do not. Mine has full paint and diesel genny, so mine is a little higher than the stock model 33SW. It is obviously my opinion, but I thinks someone told you a story regarding how much they are new. We looked closely at every model before we decided on the 33SW due to the floorplan.

Man, he paid a lot for that warranty. My 7 year 50,000 mile bumper to bumper (aka Platinum) warranty was just under $3000.

[seal13il]

thanks guys, the 35SB is actually about 50K more than the 33 line, cheapest I could find new was in texas for $127,000 (with the diesel gen and outdoor kitchen etc), add tax, travel cost and you are at $140-145K, he has a transferable ext "platinum" warranty that has almost 4 years left on he paid $7200 plus a paint warranty he paid $1400 for....cheapest 35SB used out there is $106,900 without outdoor kitchen or warranty..... as mentioned, all those issues will be fixed by him before I take possession.....

[RobbieH]

I think sticker on mine was somewhere around $159k.

[mbacfp30]

RobbieH is right. $92,000 sounds a little high with those problems. My dealer came down a lot in price...as with anything MSRP is not actual sales price paid. Best of luck.

[mbacfp30]

Welcome seal13il,

I was also new to MH/RV when I bought my 2015 Thor Chateau 33SW. Mine now has 14,600 miles and I have gotten it pretty much dialed in (as for now). Some of those issues you stated sound routine and others might be from accidental means…like a cracked mirror, broken ladder steps?

Best advice I can give you is to call Thor and have them recommend a shop near you to perform any repairs? I wasted a lot of time trying to get my leveling jack hydraulic leaks fixed (which happened 4 separate times) at the dealer I purchased it from. THOR recommended a shop about 100 miles away and it is worth the travel to get it fixed right the first time.

Regarding the batteries, long term you will have to upgrade them. I replaced mine in my 2015 8 months ago (probably unnecessarily as it turned out to be a fuse issue). The trick is to not let them get run down too far and make sure the water level is good. Going to upgrade to golf cart batteries in the near future.

I have learned personally and from others that MH/RV ownership is pay to play. Over time you will learn all the rigs idiosyncrasies and make repairs better than from the manufacturer. I went through some frustrating moments along the way but am happy with the rig.

[RobbieH]

Why do you think/feel the house batteries are failing? Is there an indicator you are using to tell you this? The reason I ask is that there are some other things to look at depending on what you are seeing.

The shades may just need to be "tightened". You can slide the bottom of the shade across the roller a few times until the bottom is on the roll. Once this is done, it should work properly.

That seems to be a high price to me to have those issues. My 33SW was $122k - list price is one thing but rarely equals purchase price. The 33SW and 35SB are not far away on price, mainly (IMO) it is a floor plan difference.

Of all the things you have on your list, I have none of those issues, and mine is a 2014.

[seal13il]

Howdy All:)

New to MH/RV , looks like we are buying a 2015 Thor Chateau 35SB Super C, has 15,000 miles and a "premium" transferable warranty, its a private party and part of our "contract" is that he has to fix all issues before we take possession....

Reading all the "horror" stories up here.....is it worth it? LOL

issues found that need fixing:

Home batteries are failing
hydraulic jacks error
one of ladder steps broken
passenger side mirror cracked
drivers side "cab corner panel"? is flipping in the wind
looks like the fridge is tinted in wards?
drapes/shades look like wont roll back up?
bedroom slide door needs aligning

its fully loaded with the outside kitchen, love the floor plan, LOVE the diesel and towing capacity...

at the negotiated price of 92K, I don't see anything remotely competitive.....but I'm still shocked of how does a 185K rig (MSRP), has so many issues?

[gkainz]

RobbieH wrote:
All the problems that have been chassis problems (Ford) have been taken care of by Ford. They have not had to call Thor for anything truck related.

My check engine light was due to squirrels getting under the hood and eating the hoses. Almost $500 for a squirrel house and restaurant. 😞

A friend of mine had an ongoing "Caddy Shack" war going on with squirrels eating up his under-hood wiring on his Ford chassis. I guess the wiring insulation is squirrel crack now.

After paying out $500 deductibles TWICE for squirrel damage, he found a couple electronic traps and has killed over a dozen squirrels. So far, no more chewed up wires.

[mbacfp30]

No need to use anything different for A/C unit filter. I tried the 3M filters, but those aren't foam in design and are hard to secure in the filter screen. Went back to the foam design. We run our A/C a lot and it gets dirty fast (though it seems). Hope you solve that issue quickly.