Little Old Ladies Building RVs?

[mtofell]

Okay, let me start by clearing stating I'm pro-little old lady. After all, who wouldn't be? But in my second year of Keystone Hideout ownership I'm finding that everything is loose! Any plumbing fitting, co-ax cable attachment, hinge or anything else that should be tight...... Isn't!!! I know things can rattle loose but this seems pretty ridiculous.

In the last 2 times out I've had water leaking from the underside - loose fitting behind the city water connection, no signal from the antenna - loose co-ax at the back of the plate, bad signal at the bedroom TV - more loose co-ax, falling window blinds - loose screws, entry door not latching - loose screws on the latch and plastic "fenders" falling off - more loose screws.

It's almost as though the people building these things are toying with our minds

I'm starting to understand more why so many folks complain about having a lemon. If I didn't know how to chase down problems and fix things I'd go absolutely nuts.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by mtofell

Okay, let me start by clearing stating I'm pro-little old lady. After all, who wouldn't be? But in my second year of Keystone Hideout ownership I'm finding that everything is loose! Any plumbing fitting, co-ax cable attachment, hinge or anything else that should be tight...... Isn't!!! I know things can rattle loose but this seems pretty ridiculous.

In the last 2 times out I've had water leaking from the underside - loose fitting behind the city water connection, no signal from the antenna - loose co-ax at the back of the plate, bad signal at the bedroom TV - more loose co-ax, falling window blinds - loose screws, entry door not latching - loose screws on the latch and plastic "fenders" falling off - more loose screws.

It's almost as though the people building these things are toying with our minds

I'm starting to understand more why so many folks complain about having a lemon. If I didn't know how to chase down problems and fix things I'd go absolutely nuts.

Such is the nature of the beast I believe. Of course, I would rather have the loose fittings, screws etc. instead of the many overtightened things I've had on mine so that everything is stripped or broke. I guess the things tightened "just right" might be made on Tues - Thurs??

[66joej]

After hearing the multitude of reports of shoddy workmanship on these RVs on this site alone it's hard to believe that they can't make them fast enough for the consumer to buy them. In fact a lot of people are actually factory ordering them. I hope the industry takes note of these complaints.

[vampress_me]

I feel like I should take offense at this...since someday I may be a little old lady.

In seriousness, I am joking (just so no one thinks I really am offended). And I agree that there should be some sort of quality control.

Luckily, in our case, the worst "not tightening a fitting" that I have come across was last winters winterizing that I had the dealer do. Hooked up to the black tank sprayer last spring for the first flush of the year. Had water immediately coming out under the camper... Shut off water, muttering to myself a few choice words, and dug into the water area from in the kids closet to discover they unscrewed the fitting and never screwed it back on. He had put new thread tape on the screw threads, but that's as far as it went. Mopped up what I could, few more choice words for the guy who did that, and screwed it back together. And noted to myself to always look at all the fittings in there every spring before hooking up water. And also asked myself again who in their right mind would put the electrical cord junction box right next to the water center with a thin piece of luan separating the 2 areas..

[Desert185]

As an airplane guy I sometimes wish airplane construction standards were applied to trailers, but then realizing the economics of that I have become more tolerant of the issues. We have just accepted the fact that we have to modify certain aspects of the trailer to make it more robust or live with the frailty of the design. Life is a compromise, and trailers are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

[Quiroule]

Just to set the record strait, RV sales drop 24.4% last year....So I guess they should have time to make them a little better this year..

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by Quiroule

Just to set the record strait, RV sales drop 24.4% last year....So I guess they should have time to make them a little better this year..

maybe, but they are WAY UP this year. Factories can't crank them out fast enough.

[notanlines]

Your 24% figure is bogus as a football bat. This is from the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association:
RV shipments through August 2016 totaled 290,852 units, an increase of 13% from the same period in 2015. Shipments in 2016 are expected to surpass 400,000 units, and reach the highest total since 1977. This would mark seven consecutive years of shipments growth as the industry has bounced back from effects of the Great Recession.
•RV shipments are predicted to continue growing for an eighth straight year in 2017. RVIA projects shipments will climb to 411,000 units — an all-time high.
•In 2015, RV shipments totaled 374,246 units, a gain of 4.9% over the previous year. This was the sixth consecutive annual increase.
•Recent shipments history.

YEAR RV SHIPMENTS Percentage change


2015

374,246

4.9%


2014

356,735

11.1%


2013

321,127

12.4%


2012

285,749

13.3%


2011

252,300

4.1%

[chuckster57]

I had that email, as I am registered wit RVIA. I don't keep them.

[ctbruce]

I would have to agree with both of you. All the RV news has been saying sales are booming again with no end in sight for this year at least. This fast pace of brisk sales has lead to facilities expansion, adding of new workers, and running at full speed ahead, to the point things get missed at a higher rate.

NOTE TO BUYERS: this is not bad, but does mean you have to do a more thorough PDI before you buy!

Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Fuzion Impact 312
2017 3500HD Silverado LTZ

[JRTJH]

According to notanlines' comments, there has been a 45% increase in RV sales from 2011 to 2015 with an additional 13% in 2016. That's almost a 60% increase in just the past 6 years. From all of my indications, there has not been a similar increase in available camping sites. This spells busier campgrounds, overcrowding and increased competition for available sites. In the past, popular campgrounds were "reservations only" during peak periods.

I'd suppose that will translate to "reservations only" for even more weekends during the camping season at an increasing number of campgrounds and the list of places where "preplanning is required" will grow. I don't remember a "no vacancy" sign at a campground before about 1995 or so, but saw more last year than in all our trips in the past 10 years combined...

So, along with "rapid construction issues", places to camp may be a sign of things to come ????

[66joej]

If finding a campground around this part of Canada is any indicator the -24% quoted by Quiroule does not seem to equate. Also the hard numbers indicated above^^^ tell a different story.

[Murmaids]

Thanks for the great stats. I was more than a bit shocked to hear that there was any drop in sales from what I had seen. Learned a long time ago, if you are under warranty or had a dealer fix something, do not let them off the hook. The dealer will contact the company and complain, especially if they have to continue to correct behind the manufacturer.

[Quiroule]

You are right notanlines,

I got this figure in an outdoor magazine, lesson learned: do not believe everything you read....

[sourdough]

As an example of how things are growing in the RV arena;

We began parking in a newly opened, renovated park in FL in 2014. More than 1/2 the sites stayed open for the duration of our stay. Fast forward to 2017; even though they had added some sites the park was virtually full most of the time and particularly on weekends. The RV traffic at the park, and on the highway, had increased dramatically. In fact, we made reservations to stay from Nov. 1, 2017 to March 1, 2018 on Feb. 27, 2017; 2 days before we left. The manager told me then that several sites were already spoken for for the upcoming year and I talked to several others who had not reserved a site but intended to.......it's going to get crazy in another few years.

[Desert185]

We're in trouble, if that's the case. We can't plan that far ahead. I foresee more boondocking for us.

The "problem" where we live is that we encounter more population whenever we leave home. I think its supposed to be the other way around. Staying in crowded parks is a real negative for us.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Desert185

We're in trouble, if that's the case. We can't plan that far ahead. I foresee more boondocking for us.

The "problem" where we live is that we encounter more population whenever we leave home. I think its supposed to be the other way around. Staying in crowded parks is a real negative for us.

3 years ago that's exactly what I said. But, when you're grandgirls move away from you and you have to go across the country to see them, and a busy RV park is the only place you can stay......you adapt

[JRTJH]

It's the same with us. When we retired, we built a house in the middle of nowhere. It's a "tourist-go to" locale. On holiday weekends there's "standing room only" in every store in town, the traffic triples and noise increases significantly. During the week, we're a "sleepy little town" and during the summer, it's "all hands on deck"....

There are several state forest campgrounds near us. None of them have any hookups, and none of them even have a dump station, so it's haul out what you haul in and what you produce while there.... When we moved here 8 years ago, none of the campgrounds were full, even on holiday weekends. Now, without reservations forget most weekends and during the early summer, forget even finding a campsite. Most of the state park campgrounds (electricity only with water in several community areas) it's reservations required for most weekends and "hit or miss" during the week. Full service commercial campgrounds are few and far between, but they are "reservations only" all summer long.

We don't camp "at home". Heck, why drag the trailer 2 blocks when I've got " acres of wild" right behind the house, complete with fire pits, beach and all the bugs anybody would ever want.... We "escape to even smaller population centers" to camp. Along with that comes a lot of dry camping in forest areas where there's no improved campground within miles. And, even those places are getting harder to find.

The "favorite campground for opening day of bass season" in the past has meant we were the only camper there and maybe 2 or 3 local fishermen would drag in their boat for the day. In the last 2 years we've been joined by 8 or 10 other campers and there's 40 or 50 boats on the water. This year we're going up a couple days early, hoping to get our "regular site" and expecting that we might find a "full campground" when we get there. We're hoping not, but won't be surprised with all the "community" that's overtaken the "wide open spaces"......

[pawpaw]

If little old ladies were building these RV's I think the quality control and workmanship would be much better. I think work release druggies are building most of them!

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by pawpaw

If little old ladies were building these RV's I think the quality control and workmanship would be much better. I think work release druggies are building most of them!

My vote is for Rosie the riveter and her girlfriend work ethics to come out of retirement.