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Old 08-15-2018, 09:08 PM   #1
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I'll never again buy anything from Thor

And here's why...

In 2013, I bought a new Coleman 281BH. First travel trailer, thought it was awesome.

In August the following year, so some water dripping from the center skylight. Took it to the dealer (Traveland in Langley, BC); they said, it's out of warranty, but just out, so they fixed it for free. Great! Thanks guys!

On the first outing, almost all the taps leaked at the screw fittings. That was an easy fix - just tighten them - but the thing has a decal saying it's been pressure tested, and like hell it was.

Come February, I went to do some tidying and the skylight over the bathtub was leaking badly. So I took off the interior bit to open it up, when on the roof to see what was going on. I found the source of the leak. I noticed a few of the screws had been over-driven, right through the plastic, shattering it, and leaving cracks that went past the putty seal under the skylight. The water was entering where the caulking was lifting off the plastic a little. Being February, and in a hurry, I laid silicone over top of the skylight flange, on top of the caulk, but not onto the roof. This fixed it for a while until I could get a whole bunch caulk and re-do it.

Fast forward to March 2016... While camping, I figured it was time to fix the leak once and for all. Once I stripped off the silicone and the caulk, I found EVERY SINGLE screw driven right through the plastic of the skylight. Every hole shattered, and the only thing holding the skylight on was the caulk. So I got curious and lifted a bit of the caulk on the center skylight. What did I find? The same damn thing. Why the dealer didn't inform me tells me loads about their ethics - after all, they had resealed that skylight for me and couldn't have missed the problem.

Inside, I've had so many bits of trim fall off because the staples and screws are way to short and have no purchase into the backing.

This year, I blew a tire. No big deal, right? But I wanted to get some checks done, so I took it a certified trailer (as in every kind of commercial trailer and heavy equipment) repair shop. They found the I-beams had bent inwards, one axle was bent, and the springs were shot. This on a trailer with *maybe* 5,000 km on it. $8,500 later, I had new, larger axles, beefed up I-beams, new hangers and equalizers, heavy-duty springs, and reinforcement angle-iron across the trailer from bracket to bracket. And class D tires and steel wheels because I found out too late the class C's that it came with were past their maximum capacity with just basic crap in the trailer.

I still have to repair under the floor and the slide where the wheels rubbed off huge divots in the bottom of the flooring.

So - in a nutshell - the quality control from the factory is not just substandard, it was brutally bad; the frame and suspension are barely adequate for the 7600# GVWR it claims to have. To the point of it being dangerous, and I didn't even have a clue.
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Old 08-22-2018, 10:10 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rvandenberg View Post
And here's why...

In 2013, I bought a new Coleman 281BH. First travel trailer, thought it was awesome.

In August the following year, so some water dripping from the center skylight. Took it to the dealer (Traveland in Langley, BC); they said, it's out of warranty, but just out, so they fixed it for free. Great! Thanks guys!

On the first outing, almost all the taps leaked at the screw fittings. That was an easy fix - just tighten them - but the thing has a decal saying it's been pressure tested, and like hell it was.

Come February, I went to do some tidying and the skylight over the bathtub was leaking badly. So I took off the interior bit to open it up, when on the roof to see what was going on. I found the source of the leak. I noticed a few of the screws had been over-driven, right through the plastic, shattering it, and leaving cracks that went past the putty seal under the skylight. The water was entering where the caulking was lifting off the plastic a little. Being February, and in a hurry, I laid silicone over top of the skylight flange, on top of the caulk, but not onto the roof. This fixed it for a while until I could get a whole bunch caulk and re-do it.

Fast forward to March 2016... While camping, I figured it was time to fix the leak once and for all. Once I stripped off the silicone and the caulk, I found EVERY SINGLE screw driven right through the plastic of the skylight. Every hole shattered, and the only thing holding the skylight on was the caulk. So I got curious and lifted a bit of the caulk on the center skylight. What did I find? The same damn thing. Why the dealer didn't inform me tells me loads about their ethics - after all, they had resealed that skylight for me and couldn't have missed the problem.

Inside, I've had so many bits of trim fall off because the staples and screws are way to short and have no purchase into the backing.

This year, I blew a tire. No big deal, right? But I wanted to get some checks done, so I took it a certified trailer (as in every kind of commercial trailer and heavy equipment) repair shop. They found the I-beams had bent inwards, one axle was bent, and the springs were shot. This on a trailer with *maybe* 5,000 km on it. $8,500 later, I had new, larger axles, beefed up I-beams, new hangers and equalizers, heavy-duty springs, and reinforcement angle-iron across the trailer from bracket to bracket. And class D tires and steel wheels because I found out too late the class C's that it came with were past their maximum capacity with just basic crap in the trailer.

I still have to repair under the floor and the slide where the wheels rubbed off huge divots in the bottom of the flooring.

So - in a nutshell - the quality control from the factory is not just substandard, it was brutally bad; the frame and suspension are barely adequate for the 7600# GVWR it claims to have. To the point of it being dangerous, and I didn't even have a clue.
Well it's not just Thor, they all have shoddy work and substandard materials. It's an assembly line business with time and material restraints. As I was told with my 2012 Komfort, you didn't do a through inspection when you picked it up. See my write up on the 2012 Komfort and all I had to do to make it the 5th wheel worthy of travelling in. Good luck with any choice you make in the future.
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Old 08-22-2018, 10:42 PM   #3
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Why bring it up on a Dutchmen site?
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Old 08-22-2018, 11:08 PM   #4
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Why bring it up on a Dutchmen site?

Maybe because Coleman is made by Dutchman?


I have a '14 CT274BH and it has been trouble free, so guess luck of the draw.
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Old 08-22-2018, 11:18 PM   #5
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Apples and oranges
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Old 08-22-2018, 11:30 PM   #6
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Coleman is owned by Dutchmen, which is owned by Thor. Doesn't mean Colman's made by Dutchmen or Thor.

Guess the OP is gonna really be limited in trailer selection since Thor owns Airstream, Bison, DRV, Dutchmen, Heartland, Keystone, Jayco, Crossroads, Cruiser, Highland Ridge, KZ, Liv'n Lite, Redwood, Starcraft, Venture. Did I miss one? Anyway, Thor owns a bunch of companies so be careful what you buy, it just might be a Thor owned trailer.
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Old 08-23-2018, 12:02 AM   #7
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Technically, there is no actual Dutchman trailer. On their home page it lists all the trailers sold by Dutchman, and none of them say Dutchman.



Aspen and Coleman all share the same floorplans and overall construction, and built out of the same plant in Indiana, saw a few of them off the tollway on my way to Toledo. The 2710 Aspen is nearly identical to my 274BH Coleman, the difference being material colors and the top bunk being smaller in the Aspen.



Dutchmen is a Thor owned company, so right, leaves very little out there that is NOT a Thor Industries subsidiary. Maybe Winnebago would be the one to get next.
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Old 08-23-2018, 01:41 AM   #8
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Im not saying it happend here but the worse thing for a trailer is to store them outside in the weather. They sit all winter with 3 feet of snow on them or 100 degree temps on them most of the summer while in storage.
The best thing you can do is store your RV under a hard cover. Use moisture collectors.
You got to get on the roof and check your seals around your vents and caps. If it's suspect don't use silicone use Eternabond .
If you see a leak you got to get on it right away.
I am on year two with my Coleman and have had any troubles so far... Knock on wood.
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Old 08-23-2018, 04:30 AM   #9
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Thor Products

I believe Thor has over 200 manufacturing facilities in the US. The quality control at any one of these facilities is totally dependent on the local management's commitment to produce a consistently good product. The trailer's produced on Monday may be far inferior than those coming off the line on a Thursday.

I had a Denali 289RKS TT for 5 years. Bought it used at 18 months. The customer service was less than poor. E.G., when asked for a wiring diagram to install a fan, they replied they didn't have any. At first look, the Denali looked like a beauty inside, but upon more detailed examination and living with it, it was not that great. The slideout seals were the worst.

I now own a new 2019 Outdoor RV Titanium 25RDS TT, had it for 4 months. It is one solid trailer. I would never go back to Denali, or any other Thor product. The first trailer we had was a 1998 24-foot Sunnybrook (now owned by Winnebago). That was really a nice trailer, but Sunnybrooks are hard to find on the West Coast.
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Old 08-23-2018, 03:28 PM   #10
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Our first TT was a 1991 Prowler. It was heavy but, actually built pretty well. It had a sheet metal roof. Then we had a 1990 Mallard class A motorhome that was relatively well built. Now we have a 2017 Coleman 262BH. It seems to be OK. I think that trying to go as cheaply as possible and keep the weight down as much as possible means they aren't built as well as we might like.

From what I see flimsy manufacture is pretty standard now unless you go deep into your pockets. I just want a trailer to last me the rest of whatever usable years I have to enjoy it. After that it won't matter anymore. I do try to be gentle with it.
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Old 08-24-2018, 09:07 PM   #11
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Coleman

While we are on the subject, was told Coleman only sold at Campers World. Is the true? That kinda makes it their unofficial house brand.
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Old 08-24-2018, 09:27 PM   #12
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absolutely NOT! I see them all over the place.
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Old 08-25-2018, 10:44 PM   #13
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They "may" have regional rights to sell them. But I have seen them at some independents, of which there and fewer and fewer. Coleman is nothing but a brand name that is licensed by Thor/Dutchmen/Keystone. It has little to do with the original Coleman camping equipment other than making some money for the current name holder and waxing nostalgic with people that remember when it meant something.

As a side note, the only Coleman stoves and lanterns made in the USA are the white gas, everything else is made overseas.

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Old 08-27-2018, 06:22 PM   #14
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Falconbrothers comment hit home about the weight and how they build them to be light. It brought back the memory of I Love Lucy when Ricky and the group towed a travel trailer with their convertible car. What a mismatch but it did show it could be done with a car but the problems they had were many. It was funny. In real life , it would be disasterous.
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Old 08-22-2021, 05:30 AM   #15
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Some further adventures. Fixing a bit of caulking and was looking around inside the ceiling cavity (skylight bezels off.) There are groups of roof nails that entirely miss the aluminum trusses. Lots of them. No wonder the roof is popping up all over. And the transition strip on the roof between the front cap and the roof membrane was popping up and leaking. The self-tapping screws used *never hit any metal*. They're just into the plywood or whatever the roof substrate is. That might be okay for a vent or skylight, but not the transition strip, which is a pretty important piece on a sloped front. No wonder the strip is coming up. Tomorrow I'll pull some other bezels and have a really good look.
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