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Old 05-18-2013, 08:58 PM   #1
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Noisy thumpy test drive of Solera M

Our family was excited to test drive the 2013 Solera M today, but quickly became disenchanted when the road noise, as well as the various rattles from the inside of the RV, really distracted from the overall performance. We were on a road that had just been repaved, so it was very smooth. There was also a pronounced vibration through the steering wheel, which was consistent and ongoing. That was weird, given we test drove a Prism RV the week before, and smoooooth sailing the entire time (country roads, highway roads, etc...).
Has anyone else experienced this? Is this the norm for this RV?
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Old 05-18-2013, 10:51 PM   #2
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One of the reasons we bought our s was how smooth and quiet it was. My wife wanted the 26 ford but the solera was much smoother
Never drove a prism but the wini was similar just almost no storage
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Old 05-18-2013, 11:12 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brazilianInOregon View Post
Our family was excited to test drive the 2013 Solera M today, but quickly became disenchanted when the road noise, as well as the various rattles from the inside of the RV, really distracted from the overall performance. We were on a road that had just been repaved, so it was very smooth. There was also a pronounced vibration through the steering wheel, which was consistent and ongoing. That was weird, given we test drove a Prism RV the week before, and smoooooth sailing the entire time (country roads, highway roads, etc...).
Has anyone else experienced this? Is this the norm for this RV?
With there being a constant vibration in the steering wheel the front tires are probably out of balance. If you really like the unit tell them to get all the tires balanced and then take it for another drive I can almost guarantee it will go away.
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Old 05-19-2013, 07:59 AM   #4
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Another thing to remember is that new asphalt or concrete does not always mean smooth. It may look great but have small waves through it. When I was working as an ASE Master tech at a GM earlier we experienced this with a newly paved road. Started having all types of noise complaints and finally isolated most to a poorly paved new road in the area. It was the main thoroughfare, so most were using it. The city replaced within the year...

Try a different road, if thumping persists it is an out of balance issue.

On rattles- in ANY RV you have to stow things properly or it will rattle. May have been a case of something in a wrong place. Our 2012 S is amazingly quiet and has a ton more storage space than the Wini.

Good luck.
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Old 05-19-2013, 08:48 AM   #5
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Another thing to remember is that new asphalt or concrete does not always mean smooth. It may look great but have small waves through it. When I was working as an ASE Master tech at a GM earlier we experienced this with a newly paved road. Started having all types of noise complaints and finally isolated most to a poorly paved new road in the area. It was the main thoroughfare, so most were using it. The city replaced within the year...

Try a different road, if thumping persists it is an out of balance issue.

On rattles- in ANY RV you have to stow things properly or it will rattle. May have been a case of something in a wrong place. Our 2012 S is amazingly quiet and has a ton more storage space than the Wini.

Good luck.
I thought about that too, so we drove my truck on the same road after we left and it was really smooth. I am guessing the problem was probably the wheel not being properly balanced.
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Old 05-19-2013, 08:57 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brazilianInOregon View Post
Our family was excited to test drive the 2013 Solera M today, but quickly became disenchanted when the road noise, as well as the various rattles from the inside of the RV, really distracted from the overall performance. We were on a road that had just been repaved, so it was very smooth. There was also a pronounced vibration through the steering wheel, which was consistent and ongoing. That was weird, given we test drove a Prism RV the week before, and smoooooth sailing the entire time (country roads, highway roads, etc...).
Has anyone else experienced this? Is this the norm for this RV?
Ditto on the wheel balancing. I would also insist they do a wheel alignment while they are at it. Alternatively, if the dealer has other Soleras on the lot you might want to test drive one of those. If properly aligned, the Solera is gonna be one of the best driving Motorhomes you'll ever see.

As for rattles - if you're test driving a unit off a dealer lot, there should not be anything in the cabinets to rattle.

It does seems to be normal with the slide outs to creek and groan a little - I know mine does, but it seems to diminish after driving a few miles.
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Old 05-19-2013, 07:19 PM   #7
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I'm an owner of the Murphy bed model. I was wondering why I couldn't talk on my hand's free phone while driving. I came to the conclusion that the slide leaks quite a bit of road noise right behind the driver seat. So maybe the new back bedroom slide model might be better in this regard.
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Old 05-19-2013, 10:30 PM   #8
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we actually wanted to look at a 24r, they had one in the service area from a customer that let us take a look inside. we then took the 24m they had on the lot for a ride (the only other unit). we may go down to eugene (about 1.5h drive) to check out the units they have and take it for a test drive. i really liked the layout and the finish of the unit and i really want to get a solera, but the wife was not happy with the ride, so hopefully the other one will ride better.
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Old 05-20-2013, 08:54 AM   #9
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The M does tend to be a bit noisier since the slide goes much further down (closer to the road). All the other models have the slides above the floor, the M is the only one that goes below.
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