2004 Lexington 210, my thoughts
I am going to start this thread to record my thoughts and my updates to our sightly used Lex 210. Overall we are really happy with the unit and think we got a good deal. Fortunately, I am a skilled carpenter and will be able to take care of the upgrades and flaws that we are finding daily.
THE GOOD:
We have no water issues, No leaks in the roof and the walls have no sign of wall delamination. All system are working well. Tires are holding air well and it handles like a dream.
THE BAD:
1) The under carriage is full of holes that allow insects and rodents into the cabin. For example, the front corners of the floor deck are clipped off at 45 degree angles and do NOT follow the contour of the fiberglass wall corners. I found holes big enough to push my arm up into the cabin on both sides. I removed the vinyl covered panels (inboard of the fiberglass corners) between the cab and the cabin and found the same holes looking down. FR did ramdomly inject foam into these areas but missed the mark badly. My fix was cutting pieces off a heavy plastic furnace filter and pack the voids. I then injected expandable foam into and over the fibers.
2) FR, I assume, added a foot or so to length of the GM (2004 Chevy Express) factory chassis frame. On close inspection it is easy to see that they did not properly weld the frame extension to the factory frame. Poor penetration, skips and missing welds. In at least one side the top flange is not even welded. The trailer hitch is 100% mounted to these frame extensions. Nobody should assume that it is safe to tow anything from this hitch without an inspection of the welds.
3) The seat belts on the forward facing dinette seating are unsafe and should NOT be used by anyone. The hefty belt mounting bracket below the seat is too far forward (because of the wheel well bump out). The belts exit the lower compartment between the seat and back about 6" behind the mounting point. During a crash this would create at least 12" of slack in each side of the belt. IMHO, 24 inches seems like a lot of slack to me. In addition, the belts would push the seat plywood into the back of passengers' legs, doing untold damage. I will post a photo of this hazard soon.
4) Each and every area under the cabinets and seating is open to the area either side of it. This allow the critters from the front corners to visit and take up residence almost anywhere they want. I have segmented the areas with expandable foam around the wires and pipes so that the "passages" are closed off.
5) The water pump made a lot of noise. I removed the tank and pump and cleaned up FR's wire and tube mess and remounted everything in a serviceable manner and the pump is now nearly silent. LOL, at first I thought it wasn't working.
There are many other small issues, the fake oak cabinet fronts (looks like vinyl cover balsa wood), the shoddy fit and finish on most things. I am in the process of reworking the bath and kitchen cabinets to gain storage and clear up all the crazy stuff from FR. I plan to rework some of the plumbing.
Not meaning to complain or gripe about what we got, we love the unit and are busily working to get it ready to travel again. I am just trying to inform others of my concerns and observations. Stay tuned, I will update as time passes. I will add photos as I download them and figure out how to load them here....
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