I purchased a new Wildwood 26TBSS in January of this year. Overall it it a great RV and my family and I have a lot of fun camping this summer. One of the few problems that I've encountered is how cheaply made the venetian blinds are. After 10 trips this summer four of the seven blinds in the camper no longer operate. It's not that we were hard on them, but they are so cheaply made. The four that don't work all have a problem with the plastic screw gear boxes splitting open and do not open or close when the rod is turned. I have contacted the dealer and he said they will be replaced under warranty. My concern is that the replacements will be just as cheap and break in short order also. Has anyone experienced the same problem or has anyone found a more durable blind to replace them with?
i've not had problems before with the gear boxes but with the pull cords to raise and lower the blinds. i remember i had to replace the cords in my other trailer. as long as they are under warranty, keep getting them replaced.
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2014 Wildwood 300BH
2014 Ford Explorer XLT
2011 Ford F350 FX4
Eastlake, OH
I have a 2011 Wildwood and one of the blinds "tilt wand gearboxes" failed just like you describe. In a previous life we used to sell and install window coverings. I can tell you that the blinds used are Chinese manufactured. Normally you could get replacement tilt drives and have them installed rather economically. But not these. There are no replacement crossovers that I've been able to find. A good quality replacement blind from one of your local window covering specialists (make sure they are metal and NOT plastic) will run you $70 plus per window. By all means get the warranty replacements NOW and see if FR can get their hands on any repair parts like the tilt drives. These plastic parts get sun damaged more brittle and prone to wear as time goes on, so expect more fun in the future. FR really needs to get repair parts for these so owners can properly maintain their investments.
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