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Old 08-18-2016, 10:23 PM   #1
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Any Questions about FR's resolve to build cheap?

I love the power of three's

1) I had to chuckle when I discovered the outside speakers were wire mono. (I assume to save on wire cost)

2) When I found no bluetooth on the entertainment pod labeled as having bluetooth, I just went "really?"

3) But then as i was listening to the opening bass riffs from Avishai Cohen trio, I assumed I had blown my ceiling speakers.

WOW!

My question for the folks at FR is in simple multiple choice form.

As the people responsible for the design, implication and QC are you

A) laughing at us a buyers because you have scammed us on such a fraudulent ploy?

B) Continue to ignore however many folks have pointed that out to you on the thousand of units you build.

C) Be the employers of the largest group of people who are so daft that no one really knows that foreign objects bouncing on paper speaker cones is a bad thing?



Meantime..anyone found a fix like a backing for this scenario? The stuffing is going to continue to bounce over to the speakers till I can isolate them...
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Old 08-18-2016, 11:58 PM   #2
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They must so proud of their accomplishments? Managements must be a bunches of walking dead. Those are the kind of people who are screaming louder " Foreign workers stole our jobs". Looking in the mirror, but than again they are dead. What am I talking about?
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Old 08-19-2016, 06:13 AM   #3
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It's our own fault for continuing to buy these units. I'm guilty too. My love for camping overrides my common sense and I bought another camper this year knowing anything I can afford will be poorly built. It's been to the dealer four times for build defects and lack of quality control. They will keep making them as long as we keep buying them.
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Old 08-19-2016, 07:11 AM   #4
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Remove some of the foam and make a backing for the speaker out of brown oven paper hot glue it in four spots around the speaker and reinstall. I'm not an audio tech but seems like and easy fix to me. JMHO
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Old 08-19-2016, 07:46 AM   #5
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It's pretty easy to buy some speaker baffles to put behind the speakers to prevent the stuff from getting in there.
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Old 08-19-2016, 08:03 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by SeaDog View Post
Remove some of the foam and make a backing for the speaker out of brown oven paper hot glue it in four spots around the speaker and reinstall. I'm not an audio tech but seems like and easy fix to me. JMHO
I could envision something like that only a net that will allow air movement since that is the driving force of sound reproduction. The best fix will be an enclosure and screened port for air. A version of this would be perfect - if i can find a size for limited space.
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Old 08-19-2016, 08:30 AM   #7
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This is how I fixed the $h1tty sound system:

https://www.amazon.com/UE-BOOM-Wirel.../dp/B00CM0XHNS

Works well inside and out.
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Old 08-19-2016, 11:59 AM   #8
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His point is he should have to fix anything he bought a new trailer


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Old 08-19-2016, 12:13 PM   #9
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Exclamation Competition

Maybe one day the Japanese and the S. Koreans will decide to get in the RV business. Then the US industry would pay attention to quality.
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Old 08-19-2016, 12:31 PM   #10
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One day we should make an honest effort to establish an advocacy group and possibly one day with enough voices these manufactures may take note
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Old 08-19-2016, 12:33 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by windsurfdog View Post
This is how I fixed the $h1tty sound system:

https://www.amazon.com/UE-BOOM-Wirel.../dp/B00CM0XHNS

Works well inside and out.
Yep, that'll work no matter what!
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Old 08-19-2016, 01:02 PM   #12
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Jan and I are currently in Goshen at the FROG Rally. On Tuesday we had a tour of the FR/Rockwood trailer factory. While it appears that there are always a few minor quality issues, in my opinion the products built by FR at this factory are very well engineered and built. The workmanship is fantastic. These people really care about producing a great trailer, and go to great lengths to assure customers are satisfied.

The service techs here at the Rally repaired and/ or seviced several items on our Windjammer, including repairing an awning that I damaged in an encounter with a tree! I can't say enough about the people at Rockwood.

If you have a problem just call the factory. They want you to be happy, and will work hard to satisfy you.
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Old 08-19-2016, 01:10 PM   #13
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I think I would go to the Big Box and pick up some fiberglass screen wire, the kind you put in window screens. I believe you can buy it by the foot and a couple of feet will be plenty. Lay the speaker on top of a piece of the screen and then draw (chalk?) a circle about 3" in diameter larger on the screen. Cut this out with scissors and tack it with hot glue to the back side of the speaker. It will let air in/out as needed, but should keep the chunky insulation off the speaker cone.

And yes, build quality is terrible: I still get sawdust out of the entertainment cabinet every time we take the TT out. How much was actually in there to begin with?
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Old 08-19-2016, 01:50 PM   #14
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Let me play "devil's advocate" for a minute. Since I have been into RV'ing or Camping since 1973, I have a long history of the RV industry. I have owned, and camped in, a "surfer" van, a truck camper, an early Class C, three different Class A's, and now another Class C. And, yes, I am "older than dirt"

I think that we, as consumers, are as much to blame as the manufacturers for our current problems. Through the years, we have demanded higher quality units, with more features and more "comforts", but we have also balked at the price of paying for this higher quality. The manufacturers' attempt to lower their price point to meet consumer demand, resulted in lower initial quality products. The manufacturers were caught with rising raw material prices and higher labor costs that they could not pass along to consumers.

Then, we hit the terrible economy a couple of years ago, manufacturers realized that the "new" buyer demographic for RV's was a younger generation with less disposable income than before the crash. This new generation wanted high class RV's at rock bottom prices. As the economy improved, demand increased for the lower price units more than the higher priced ones.

It quickly become apparent to the manufacturers that it cost less money to put out a lower quality unit and then have their dealer network fix and repair their mistakes than "doing it right" at the factory. And so the cycle goes on.

For those of us that have had these RV's for years, we can attest that the quality of the units has definitely decreased through the years. I can remember my first truck camper that never had any quality problems, never saw a dealer for repairs. Even my last Class A purchased in 2007, only had a very short list of 5 items to be fixed, and took only a few hours to fix them all, and it never had to go back to the dealer except for maintenance items. Now, my Class C is at the dealer's lot longer that I have had it at home. Of course back then, I didn't have "Day and Night" shades, leveling systems, LED lighting, surround sound systems, granite countertops, etc.

But, I got a really Great Deal on my coach.
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Old 08-19-2016, 01:59 PM   #15
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One day we should make an honest effort to establish an advocacy group and possibly one day with enough voices these manufactures may take note
SO why can't we do this now? State chapters with volunteer support. After reading the Spiral article - it seems to me the only way to impact change is to boycott for quality and organize.
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Old 08-19-2016, 02:06 PM   #16
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Yes we should do something to save American jobs. I know one thing if I get a chance to buy new rv, it will not be forest river products. Some how the messages need to be heard by consumers. Stop buying forest river products. That is the only way to wake them up.
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Old 08-19-2016, 02:33 PM   #17
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Attached is a recent series of articles regarding many issues in the RV industry.
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File Type: pdf RV-Industry-Death-Spiral-compilation.pdf (1.47 MB, 191 views)
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Old 08-19-2016, 03:06 PM   #18
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Attached is a recent series of articles regarding many issues in the RV industry.
Every RVer should read this 8-part series by Greg Gerber on the Death Spiral of the RV Industry. There is plenty of blame to go around from the buyers who want a cheap but well-built RV, to the parts suppliers, to the dealers that we all love to hate.
I was in the market for a new 5th wheel next year, but now I may just stick with my 2014 Windjammer that, until the roof membrane decided to come unglued , had been a good "lucky" unit. Knock on wood. I am looking seriously at independent builders now that still have to have word of mouth to sell their units: Vanleigh, Grand Design, and others.
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Old 08-19-2016, 03:10 PM   #19
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Maybe one day the Japanese and the S. Koreans will decide to get in the RV business. Then the US industry would pay attention to quality.
Tell me how you think this would ever happen.

North American RVs are unique and nothing like them exist in those countries.
Only tiny versions of some types.
Plus very few of their population camps.

European companies have been making RVs for many years. How many of them do you see for sale at any dealer in North America?
NONE!

Asian auto makers became competitive because they also use autos, especially smaller fuel efficient cars, which gave them a to hold here.

This scenario doesn't exist for RVs.
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Old 08-19-2016, 03:23 PM   #20
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They used to make water shields for speakers for car audio... I assume they still do.

Get you some cheap soup/cereal bowls and put over them
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