24" 2010 Major LEaks

Ken, these are questions that can only be answered by Trailmanor.

However I have been told that they have now switched to a better polyurethane-hybrid caulk (3M). The caulk they used in repairing my Elkmont was certainly superior.

As for expandable/folding line ... I have no idea why they did not have similar problems to the Elkmont when the old silicone caulk was being used. Perhaps, as you sugggest, there was more of a structural problem in the door area, unique to the Elkmont, that was compounded by the poor caulk.

I like to think that many of these problems are now behind them. Only time will tell.

Ed has asked that you e-mail him directly at TrailManor [email protected] for the answers to your questions.

Trailblazers,
I'm guessing if Ed responded to Shadysplace's e-mail, he asked him NOT to post his response or he didn't have answers. If I wanted some private explanation to my concerns, I would have contacted Ed myself. My understanding is that this forum be used in part to shed light on (expose) concerns we have about our beloved trailers. Most responsible companies send out recall letters to ALL customers that have purchased inferior products to make things right, even if every customer of that product experienced a problem or not. From the posts I've seen, it doesn't seem like TM has done this, though I may be wrong. When my wife and I were shopping Elkmonts at Mentor RV last summer, they had a unit on the lot that had roof leaks they were fixing right outside on the lot. This is BAD public relations. Brulaz said ONLY time will tell if all the issues with Elkmonts and possibly the folding trailer line, are behind them, but TM could also tell owners up front . I know I sound critical, but my former opinion of TM has always been that they were on the next level when it came to quality, as their pricing would imply. Now I'm skeptical. If I can't be assured that the trailer I want to buy that has had major issues, and exactly how those issues were remedied, I'm gun shy. I don't want to buy a trailer that HAS to be repaired.

Originally Posted by Ken Brooks

Trailblazers,
I'm guessing if Ed responded to Shadysplace's e-mail, he asked him NOT to post his response or he didn't have answers. If I wanted some private explanation to my concerns, I would have contacted Ed myself. My understanding is that this forum be used in part to shed light on (expose) concerns we have about our beloved trailers. Most responsible companies send out recall letters to ALL customers that have purchased inferior products to make things right, even if every customer of that product experienced a problem or not. From the posts I've seen, it doesn't seem like TM has done this, though I may be wrong. When my wife and I were shopping Elkmonts at Mentor RV last summer, they had a unit on the lot that had roof leaks they were fixing right outside on the lot. This is BAD public relations. Brulaz said ONLY time will tell if all the issues with Elkmonts and possibly the folding trailer line, are behind them, but TM could also tell owners up front . I know I sound critical, but my former opinion of TM has always been that they were on the next level when it came to quality, as their pricing would imply. Now I'm skeptical. If I can't be assured that the trailer I want to buy that has had major issues, and exactly how those issues were remedied, I'm gun shy. I don't want to buy a trailer that HAS to be repaired.

It might have been my Elkmont-we were at the Chautauqua Institution in western NY and left if there (Mentor RV) for leak work. This was in Aug.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by Ken Brooks

Trailblazers,
I'm guessing if Ed responded to Shadysplace's e-mail, he asked him NOT to post his response or he didn't have answers. If I wanted some private explanation to my concerns, I would have contacted Ed myself. My understanding is that this forum be used in part to shed light on (expose) concerns we have about our beloved trailers. Most responsible companies send out recall letters to ALL customers that have purchased inferior products to make things right, even if every customer of that product experienced a problem or not. From the posts I've seen, it doesn't seem like TM has done this, though I may be wrong. When my wife and I were shopping Elkmonts at Mentor RV last summer, they had a unit on the lot that had roof leaks they were fixing right outside on the lot. This is BAD public relations. Brulaz said ONLY time will tell if all the issues with Elkmonts and possibly the folding trailer line, are behind them, but TM could also tell owners up front . I know I sound critical, but my former opinion of TM has always been that they were on the next level when it came to quality, as their pricing would imply. Now I'm skeptical. If I can't be assured that the trailer I want to buy that has had major issues, and exactly how those issues were remedied, I'm gun shy. I don't want to buy a trailer that HAS to be repaired.

TrailManor is not a huge operation and does a much smaller volume than many imagine. If a car manufacturer had a problem with 10% of their production some month, they'd have computer systems that could track a defect all the way to the end customer so that they could issue a recall or at least put out a service bulletin. But in my own experience car manufacturers rarely notify customers about issues unless they have federal regulators looking over their shoulders.

In a good year, 10% of 1 month's production at TM would be lot more like 10 units than 10,000 units. They might or might not be able to tell which units might be affected and if they did, they might or might not be able to find you to fix them. I suggest that we should just be glad that TrailManor employs a guy like Ed and gives him the resources to work the problems for us.

My Winnebago Adventurer needed a full year working with a dealer to get a good sized list of important things right (for one example, they delivered it with a "check engine" light that would never go out, because the RV dealer didn't employ truck mechanics, so it became my job to go find the Ford dealer). If you're gun shy about buying an RV that needs to be repaired, I consider it unlikely that you can do much better than TrailManor as a manufacturer.

Also, who can blame Ed, (or General Motors, for that matter) for wanting to concentrate their customer service resources on the people with problems and not getting into defensive arguments on message boards with people who aren't directly involved?

A note on TM quality-while I can't speak to the leaks in the roofs in the Elkmonts-no doubt a real issue from what I can tell from this site; I have had virtually no problems at all with my 2009.5 model 2720 that I bought new in late 2008. I've used it a number of times and the only issue was a faulty electric element in my hot water heater that was fixed under warranty. Knock on wood....
I understand that consistency is the goal in the manufacture of any product and one does not want to be apart of the manufacture's "learning curve" in getting there, but all in all, my expereince is that TM makes above average quality trailers.
Good luck.

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by moaboy

A note on TM quality-............snip..............
I understand that consistency is the goal in the manufacture of any product and one does not want to be apart of the manufacture's "learning curve" in getting there, but all in all, my expereince is that TM makes above average quality trailers.
Good luck.

Tend to agree with this except I would say average for TM rather than above average but this can hard to determine sometimes as many things can be sub contracted out which can be a vendor rather then a TM problem. Roof leaks, wiring problems, or other assembly things that are done directly at the factory IMO are what make the TM average. We have owned Two TT's, 3 pup's and 1 motor home before the TM. The TM falls right in line with everything but the motor home which had no factory construction issues 21 years.

[cochise]

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

Tend to agree with this except I would say average for TM rather than above average but this can hard to determine sometimes as many things can be sub contracted out which can be a vendor rather then a TM problem. Roof leaks, wiring problems, or other assembly things that are done directly at the factory IMO are what make the TM average. We have owned Two TT's, 3 pup's and 1 motor home before the TM. The TM falls right in line with everything but the motor home which had no factory construction issues 21 years.

Although it is basically true what you state with regards to some items having been "farmed out", there is NO excuse for poor quality. Yes it may be that a vendor doesn't do the job right BUT I did not buy from the vendor, I bought from TM. So ultimately they are responsible for the product delivered. Not the vendor. TM should have tested the vendors product prior to using it in THEIR [TM's] product to ensure good quality. And with regards to roof leaks that is a design problem. And so is the wiring. One of these days I will relate the story of my Elkmont in deeper detail.

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by cochise

....................snip................ Yes it may be that a vendor doesn't do the job right BUT I did not buy from the vendor, I bought from TM. So ultimately they are responsible for the product delivered. Not the vendor. TM should have tested the vendors product prior to using it in THEIR [TM's] product to ensure good quality..................snip.................

This may be true but then my TM owners manual contains different vendor supplied items that TM doesn't warranty; the vendor does. I don't know the truth of the matter but I recently read where a RV maker was sued out of business because a vendor changed their process in making a supplied item to meet EPA requirements. The vendor didn't notify the RV maker of the changes. Something like this would require testing of every batch received from the vendor by the RV maker. Testing of that nature would make an over priced item even higher. In the case of our TM the wiring is in TM's control at the factory. But the TV antenna installation was done by the dealer and is out of TM's control; and yes to prevent leak problems at the TV antenna I have three choices, go back to the dealer, 1100 miles, take it to the factory, about 600 miles, or fix it myself. None of these are good choices for something that should have been done right in the first place.

[cochise]

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

This may be true but then my TM owners manual contains different vendor supplied items that TM doesn't warranty; the vendor does. I don't know the truth of the matter but I recently read where a RV maker was sued out of business because a vendor changed their process in making a supplied item to meet EPA requirements. The vendor didn't notify the RV maker of the changes. Something like this would require testing of every batch received from the vendor by the RV maker. Testing of that nature would make an over priced item even higher. In the case of our TM the wiring is in TM's control at the factory. But the TV antenna installation was done by the dealer and is out of TM's control; and yes to prevent leak problems at the TV antenna I have three choices, go back to the dealer, 1100 miles, take it to the factory, about 600 miles, or fix it myself. None of these are good choices for something that should have been done right in the first place.

I agree with you pricipally......BUT go take a look at the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act(15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.)It's all spelled out there. Very simple and very straight forward. And it is not a new law, it goes back to 1975. Amazingly few people know about it.