Black tape on under body and wiring issues

[rexerito]

We received our 2013 - 312-BHX-OK last week. The unit interior was great and looked like it was made with quality workmanship. Thats where the quality ended. After inspecting the outside bottom I was not impressed. They used paper thin black tape around all of the exposed pipes to cover where the plumbing came in and out of the unit. This tape has little or no adhesive, and has already started coming apart and falling off. They used the same black tape to hold back exposed wiring harnesses, and keep general wiring in place. The entire trailer brake wiring is exposed and can easily come in contact with the wheel. The battery wiring is completely exposed and the nuts holding the wiring were not all the way on. Needless to say I'm not happy. If I would have seen this at the dealership prior to buying I wouldn't have bought a Wildcat. I expected better quality from Forest River. Make sure you look at the entire unit before buying and do your homework.


Rex

[scroses40]

Hi, Rex. Are you fixing these yourself or taking it back to the dealer? I would think the dealer should catch these things. The main reason we ordered from our local dealer (Sun City RV in Colo Springs) was due to the service and inspection. RVWholesalers was significantly cheaper, but we liked the peace of mind of a local pro. I hope your local dealer addresses these quickly. Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Shawn

[racedaymechanic]

Mine had the same crappy Tape, I pulled it all off and put 3 inch polyken tape in its place

[SaskCampers]

Thats the way trailers are made unfortunatly. Our brake wiring is like that and my BIL has a brand new K-Z and it is the same. Seems RV manufacturers have a blatant disregard for safety as there are no standards it would seem. I have a 2010 made in Saskatchewan 18 foot flat deck that has fully enclosed wiring right to the brake assemblies and it cost 3500 so why can't a 30k trailer at least have the same thing. I had to cover all the wires myself as we live out int the country and on some of my old trailers have had exposed wires cut completly off by rocks. Good luck asking the dealer to fix that issue.

[rexerito]

I just can't wrap my head around the lack of workmanship. I traded in a Surveyor SV-304 TT for this unit. The Surveyor (built by the same manufacture) never had these issues with material or quality. Isn't this the same company?

Rex

[Diesel 2500]

I too was not super impressed but with the covered underbelly it makes for easier access if u cut it and then tape it bac. I used black gorilla tape that stuff sticks to everything. Just my two cents. We also just bought the 312bhx and love it

[on vacation]

We have the same issues with the underbelly tape. I used duct tape and worked fine.

[Wildcat Chris]

Originally Posted by rexerito

We received our 2013 - 312-BHX-OK last week. The unit interior was great and looked like it was made with quality workmanship. Thats where the quality ended. After inspecting the outside bottom I was not impressed. They used paper thin black tape around all of the exposed pipes to cover where the plumbing came in and out of the unit. This tape has little or no adhesive, and has already started coming apart and falling off. They used the same black tape to hold back exposed wiring harnesses, and keep general wiring in place. The entire trailer brake wiring is exposed and can easily come in contact with the wheel. The battery wiring is completely exposed and the nuts holding the wiring were not all the way on. Needless to say I'm not happy. If I would have seen this at the dealership prior to buying I wouldn't have bought a Wildcat. I expected better quality from Forest River. Make sure you look at the entire unit before buying and do your homework.


Rex

Please send me a private message with your contact information and VIN#... any photos you've got will be helpful as well.

[Wildcat Blue]

After reading your post, I took a look under mine and it looks like you described. I guess I need to get some tape.

[Goomph]

Never had anything like that happen to my Surveyor, very weird ....

[mdamm]

I am going to do some preventative maintenance and wrap all of my exterior exposed wiring this weekend - I was thinking of using the black Gorilla tape as well - my concern is that we are in Alberta, and will sometimes get stretches of -30C weather - is the Gorilla tape the best option, or can anyone suggest anything better?

[Pleasantsurroundings]

We have the same problem with our 313re-ok we just got in Feb. We're probably going to hold the under-belly covering up with those metal straps and screws. Then we'll get black gorilla tape and cover the seams. It is sad they did such a lousy job.