Concern with Recently bought 2014 Flagstaff MAC 228D

[goatsac]

Hi all,

First time Popup owner and I have a few questions/concerns with my new trailer.

I bought a Flagstaff MAC 228D, used, from a dealer, a week ago. We recently were able to set it up for the first time and really check it out. I noticed a few issues with the internal framing that have me concerned.

I noticed that the cabinet unit that houses the fridge/fuse box/CO detector has pulled away from the bed end of the wall (pictures to follow). On further inspection, I noticed that this is the case on the other side of the aisle too, where the cabinet behind the shower/toilet meet up with the bed support wall.

It appears that the dealer noticed this problem as well, and installed bolts on each side to help with support.

My questions are:

-How significant is the damage?

-What effects will it have down the road?

-What could cause it?

-How would I go about fixing it?

I greatly appreciate any inputs you guys can give me, as I really want to take the family camping this summer, but seem to have a hiccup in our plans.

[pgandw]

As a former PUP owner (2000 Coleman Westlake), one nice thing about PUPs is if the frame is bending or out of line, the canvas won't set up correctly. One area will have excess, and another will be too tight to close.

That said, the cabinet work and framing is atrocious in general. Usually staples are used to hold it together. As the PUP bounces down the road, the staples let go - especially if there is anything inside the cabinets or drawers pushing against the side. Re-fastening with screws is the solution I usually used. In other areas, I had to add additional 1x1 or 1x2 framing to provide screw holding and help hold stuff together.

The plastic hinges and drawer mounts were also high failure items. Sooner or later these get replaced with something more substantial - even on my one year old A-frame.

None of these issues seemed to have affected the structural integrity of the trailer.

I'd be more worried about any water leaks causing particle board and fake wood to fall apart. For dry cabinetry coming apart, it's much stronger when I finish repairing it than it was when it left the factory.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 (now)
2000 Coleman Westlake (then)
2008 Hyundai Entourage (minivan - now)
1993 Ford Explorer (then)