Basement Floor Failure On 2013 Arctic Fox 990

[Possilian]

I was getting ready to take a nice short weekend trip loading the camper and filled the water tank. I do this off truck and jacks down till the back step barely clears the ground. Got everything loaded and woke up early this morning to find bottom 8 inches down on the passenger side with a gaping hole exposing aluminum cross members, insulation, and the edge of a water tank. If your thinking that this guy filled the tank with he hose straight into the bung, think again. I lurk on rv.net to know better, not write this sob story. I do fill with the small hose adapter every time. I go running to stop the water when I hear it drip out. And my water here has low pressure anyway. takes about 45 minutes to fill the tanks. Should be perfect right?

Anyhow, out of service for now. Called dealer and they setup a appointment. Said it should take a couple days to get it fixed. I am half wanting to do the repair myself. Being under warranty is the only reason I am going to the dealer. Looking at the brackets AF used makes me wonder how in the heck they could have failed. They look more than sufficient to do the job. It appears the heads broke off the assembly. Also I see lots of insulation and solid looking work in the basement as well. Just my crappy luck showing it's hind end.

[JumboJet]

Possilian wrote:
at first they are huge, later they get smaller, so many choices?

I re-size before uploading to Photobucket.

[JumboJet]

Possilian wrote:
Anyhow the Gutting is complete. Just need new wood and insulation. I will design the tub in the morning. I am going to use either teak or Cyprus wood. Something furniture grade for sure. Glad I did this myself, didn't matter the brand I owned I would probably do the same.

I have helped rebuild two Lance campers that suffered from rot due to water leaks. The quality of the wood used to replace the rot was much better and we glued, screwed, doweled, and used angle braces during the rebuild.

[69_Avion]

Possilian wrote:
Anyhow the Gutting is complete. Just need new wood and insulation. I will design the tub in the morning. I am going to use either teak or Cyprus wood. Something furniture grade for sure. Glad I did this myself, didn't matter the brand I owned I would probably do the same.

I can assure you that your workmanship and design will be much better than almost any dealer in the country would provide under warranty service. Those of us with nice campers usually will take the time to do it right. We won't skimp on cutting corners to save a buck. I don't care what brand of RV that you look at, many of them will have defects from the folks building them trying to put things together too fast and being careless. My Avion, that was supposed to be one of the best campers available in the 1960s, had so many craftsmanship flaws that it was embarrassing.

[Possilian]

Anyhow the Gutting is complete. Just need new wood and insulation. I will design the tub in the morning. I am going to use either teak or Cyprus wood. Something furniture grade for sure. Glad I did this myself, didn't matter the brand I owned I would probably do the same.

[deltabravo]

I like photobucket.

[Possilian]

at first they are huge, later they get smaller, so many choices?

[Possilian]

i will fix it later. sorry

[Possilian]

I hope these are better. My wife thinks I am nuts. Running in the house to post these.

[deltabravo]

deltabravo wrote:
What happened to the pictures? They are very blurry.

It looks like you might need to check the upload settings in your photo gallery, so the photos don't get shrunk down so much.

The bluriness is a result images being really small in your online photo gallery, then getting enlarged here on the forum.

See the actual image at the photo gallery here:

[Possilian]

I want to let you all know this one thing, I got my bravery in seeing what you all did before me. That is all.

[deltabravo]

What happened to the pictures? They are very blurry.

Good plan to do it yourself, so you can save some downtime and do some upgrades.

I like the idea of another fan to circulate air in to the basement.

Back in 2003 when I bought a Desert Fox. It had a 26 gallon fuel tank and a fuel gauge to monitor the fuel level. The tank sending unit quit working so the fuel gauge was useless.

My dealer agreed to contact the factory and get a new sending unit under warranty, so long as I returned the defective sending unit.

It was much faster to do it myself rather than tow the rig to the dealer and wait several weeks. It happened in the middle of camping season.

[Possilian]

ready to go in.



in and ready for teardown.



screws aplenty of various heads. frustrating to convert so often.



wood down and tanks next.

[Possilian]

Totally into the this project now. I have the bottom panel stripped away. AF did good, but what i am about to do is better. A rubberized stainless steel bottom is what my final is what my final will be. Will be starting a new thread for it soon. I will post a couple pictures to this one of what i did in prep.

[Yukoners]

Glad to hear the manufacturer responds so well. Our only issues were quickly and efficiently handled by the dealer where we purchased our unit (Voyager RV in Kelowna). They were great to deal with on all levels.
I agree with others who have commented on your positive approach and making an opportunity out of a bump in the road. Maybe that's rather common with TC owners but good on ya mate;)
Here is a link to the previous discussion on the topic.

Empty the tank before offloading thread