RV Engineering and Construction
I spent this afternoon repairing a canned-food storage drawer on our toy hauler. It was obviously loose and not sliding correctly. Yet again, I discovered the poor engineering and construction of RV...
Forum Discussion
Cloud Dancer wrote:
I'm always ready to jump in (threads about this subject).
But, I've realized that it's impossible to be fair to the manufacturers unless you're ready to write several pages,.....or a whole book, about this "quality" thing.
I will say this; I won't mention all the items that I had to fix, or modify, but I'm still in disbelief regarding the substandard design and construction of the supposedly "all fiberglass roof" on my Dutch Star. It took me a long time(still a few things left to do) to fix/modify this roof properly. I know a lot about this problem,...NOW. Apparently, so does the manufacturer (they changed the design a couple of years after mine was built).
Here's the thing to watch out for: members of these forums, like myself, usually write about these design deficiencies and substandard quality, on RVs that were built YEARS ago. Remember that many of us act as field testers for these products, and report back to the factory. Naturally, one would expect that the factories use this free information to improve their product. The catch is that it's up to the new customers to find out PRIOR to selecting which product to buy.
Well said! Maybe some constructive discontent can create change in the manufacturing and design of RVs. Forums like this may help educate potential buyers too. I can see how some of the issues I've uncovered in my RV could be innocent design errors or oversights during construction. However, some of the flaws are OBVIOUS intentional cost saving measures and/or willful employee negligence (both during the engineering phase and construction phase). I'm sure many people new to the RV world walk into a dealership with certain expectations based on experience with more common items such as automobiles, houses, etc. I guess that was the point of my original post - underneath all the polished exterior, shiny laminate, and beautiful wood veneer is often some very questionable construction. And, it is not engineered to last long. I still love RVing and - truth be told I actually like tinkering with my trailer - but people should be aware of what they are typically getting for their money.
