Hidden things

[KRMann]

Originally Posted by LaLaLisa

I noticed the BBQ Champ in your signature. Not sure what you BBQ on, but we use a Traeger at home and bought the fold up travel model for taking in Georgette (our RV's name). It fits right into that double storage door on the passenger side. We use it for doing our bacon and sausage in the mornings, too. Keeps a lot of the mess out of the kitchen.

I mainly use a Gatorpit and have 3 of them. I also have a PK grill which we will most likely take along with us. Will be getting Blackstone griddle as well. I have been looking at different options on a smoker and have looked at the Traeger's and they may work for RVing. We have 350+ BBQ awards and have competed all over the country. All the winning lead us to start selling our seasonings and sauces creating our own company. Our company has won 60+ national awards for our products. We sell around 17k lbs of rub a year so keeps us busy. If you interested check us out crcbbq.com. We sold our class C which we used for competition and it was sad to let it go but it was to time to upgrade.

[LaLaLisa]

Oh my gosh! I now have something new to get my husband for Father's Day! Christmas was Bacon of the Month Club, birthday was homemade bourbon making kit and now this! I'm ecstatic! Congrats on all your many awards. Thanks for sharing. What a great story!

[KRMann]

Originally Posted by LaLaLisa

Oh my gosh! I now have something new to get my husband for Father's Day! Christmas was Bacon of the Month Club, birthday was homemade bourbon making kit and now this! I'm ecstatic! Congrats on all your many awards. Thanks for sharing. What a great story!

Mention this forum and throw in something extra for you I just retired from my real IT job and wife is going to later this year. Just want that GT7 to get here so we spend more time on the road relaxing

[LaLaLisa]

Thanks! I just placed an order for a gift set. I'm sure he'll love it!

[KRMann]

Originally Posted by LaLaLisa

Thanks! I just placed an order for a gift set. I'm sure he'll love it!

I just saw that and will ship tomorrow.. Thank you so much for the order. I think you will be happy with our seasonings. They are super fresh and will add great flavor to your cooking. If you have any questions just let me know

[LaLaLisa]

Kevin, thanks for the special gift! He intends to use some of the rubs this weekend. Can’t wait to try them. Hope to see y’all once you get on the road. This forum is pretty cool for talking to people all over who enjoy traveling and glamping.

[KRMann]

Originally Posted by LaLaLisa

Kevin, thanks for the special gift! He intends to use some of the rubs this weekend. Can’t wait to try them. Hope to see y’all once you get on the road. This forum is pretty cool for talking to people all over who enjoy traveling and glamping.

Glad you guys got it.. I am thinking you are going to love it thanks the business. I sure we will cross path time down the road. Your never know may be at a FROG rally. Just got get that coach made

[dmayo13]

Actually anyone designs RVs should be required to full time 6 months or more before being allowed to design one. Problem with designs are the engineers don’t camp in them.

[frankraney]

Originally Posted by LaLaLisa

Why in the world do they make so many things in the motor home so hard to reach? We wanted to use our washer and dryer last weekend for the first time. We didn’t use it after purchase last year so we were trying it out. My husband was able to squeeze his arm in to reach the cold valve but forget reaching the hot water valve for the washer. It’s so far back, neither of us could reach it. I think a woman needs to design these things!

My washer dryer unit sits next to the closet. The closet is open to the washer dryer so you can reach in behind the units.

[Red Roadrunner]

Originally Posted by LaLaLisa

Why in the world do they make so many things in the motor home so hard to reach? We wanted to use our washer and dryer last weekend for the first time. We didn’t use it after purchase last year so we were trying it out. My husband was able to squeeze his arm in to reach the cold valve but forget reaching the hot water valve for the washer. It’s so far back, neither of us could reach it. I think a woman needs to design these things!

Right this is true in our fifth-wheel, seems they hide everything too. Suggest adding extension to the valves so you can reach them.

[LaLaLisa]

Originally Posted by frankraney

My washer dryer unit sits next to the closet. The closet is open to the washer dryer so you can reach in behind the units.

Ours is also beside the one closet, however, they put the valves on the other side, all the way back in the corner. We could get to the cold but not the hot. It's at the dealer right now having a few things done so that's on their list, turn on the hot water.

[frankraney]

Originally Posted by Red Roadrunner

Right this is true in our fifth-wheel, seems they hide everything too. Suggest adding extension to the valves so you can reach them.

If it's a single unit it wouldn't be a problem to reach the connections. The problem comes in with the stacked unit. If the stack unit is two separate units that are locked together or even if it's one unit stacked as a single unit just tilt them forward and hold them while another person makes the connections. Of course this only works in my case where the units are next to the closet with an opening from the closet into the washer dryer space.

[jkoenig24]

Originally Posted by IchLiebeBier

ask a stranger's kid to come in and do it. Offer some candy. You'll be really popular at the campground after that.

I can see it now:

"Hey little boy, would you like some candy? It's just inside my RV".

What could go wrong?

[frankraney]

Originally Posted by jkoenig24

I can see it now:

"Hey little boy, would you like some candy? It's just inside my RV".

What could go wrong?

A lot!!

[DuluthCamper]

From the amount of complaints of this nature, it seems apparent that keeping build/install costs low is the most important part for the manufacturers. Keeping things practical and accessible is of lower priority. Until we consumers start saying "no" to bad designs, RV manufacturers will not stop making them.

This summer a friend had me come over and diagnose his Thor Freedom 32' Class C's water heater--no hot water. The tank & its valves were isolated beneath a blind corner in the L-shaped cabinet holding the sink & stove. There was no way to access the back side of the water heater where the bypass/shut-off valves lived, without removing the oven and the drawer beneath the stove top.

Once in there, I discovered the person installing the water heater had mounted it slightly too far back on its shelf, and had rotated the cold water PEX input pipe's valve so it rested on the shelf instead of sticking straight out. Enough miles of road and that valve handle had worn a large chunk out of the shelf on which it rested, and had vibrated the screw out of the valve handle. And then the valve handle fell off, down into the dark dungeon beneath that blind corner cabinet location.

I eventually found the valve handle and its screw, but before that I took a pliers and manually opened the cold water inlet valve, restoring his hot water flow after it was winterized last fall.

I explained the problem to him, told him what I'd do, and let him make the choice for repairing it, living with it, or finding a different solution.

He should never had been put in this position. The heater should have been easily accessible, and the plumbing valve handle should never have been installed where the weight of the heater tank and its PEX were forcing it down onto the wooden shelf rest.

That's a combination of bad design and poor quality control. He bought the rig brand new four years ago for $100K and claimed it was top of the line. Who was I to disagree with a proud new owner?

And yet this year, on my first ride with him, I couldn't tolerate all the racket from so many things vibrating noisily in the camper. For starters, the oven top / range / stove wasn't clipped or screwed down to the oven in any way. It just rested on it, metal-to-metal, making a heck of a racket as the metal parts bounced & slid on each other.

Again, I explained the fix, showed him how, and tried to enable him so he wasn't depending on expensive extended service contracts and vague warranties to get the job done.

I'm working on him a bit at a time, trying to get him to fix all the simple problems with his rig, and slowly he's beginning to feel empowered. He's not handy at all, and probably never should have bought an RV--he should have stayed renting one. As it is, his investment depreciated even more rapidly than most campers do when they leave the lot, due to loads of quality control errors, and his inability to recognize them, understand them, and fix or prevent them.

But he's a good friend, and I'm happy to help him out, teaching him what's wrong & how to correct it.

Still, Thor isn't the only motor home maker that has these faults. Every manufacturer should have better quality control, and retroactive free repairs that are fast, easy, and effective. It would only improve their brand name and impression.

[PDFOR3]

Originally Posted by DuluthCamper

Every manufacturer should have better quality control, and retroactive free repairs that are fast, easy, and effective. It would only improve their brand name and impression.

Of course, I agree. But as it has been said many times on this forum - unlikely to happen. Manufacturers have no incentive to change.

Because a motorhome (and trailer) by design is an assemblage of components from different manufacturers, there should be a single quality control department that designs, tests, and use the motorhome as a system. My 2 cents.