New 1st Time Owner ASpen Trail LE 26BHWE

[Bsmart]

Hi all,
Well we did it. We bought our first Travel Trailer, a 2021 Aspen Trail LE 26BHWE. We love the layout. It pulls great behind our F-150. We already had to take it back. Week one - Rear Stabilizer not coming down evenly. Dinette pulling away from slide out when it is in. Slide out lifts up about 1 or 2 when it come in all the way And a few other small cosmetic issues.
Is this Normal??

Thanks
BnD

 

[persistent]

It is typical of Dutchmen built travel trailers. Mine was much worse.

 

[lcv800]

Slideout lifting is normal.
Rusty

 

[Franktafl]

Slideout lifting is normal.
Rusty

Ditto!

 

[dsol]

I would not recommend taking it back again until you have made a few trips over several weeks and can note all the problems, unless of course you have an issue that absolutely prevents you from using it. Your trailer can spend weeks at the dealer waiting to be fixed or for parts to come in before they even attempt to fix it. And while it sits the warranty keeps ticking.

My suggestion is to use it as much as you can when you get it back and keep a running list of all the problems. Then take it back at about the six month mark. Hopefully, you will have it back in a month or two after the second trip in time to use it some more. Then do the same thing again and return it to the dealer for final warranty repair on the last few days of your warranty eligibility, which is probably the one year anniversary of your delivery date. Then they can fix the stuff they likely didn’t get right on the first two times in and anything new.

Hopefully, after this trip in you can have it pretty dialed in and good to go for a while.

Keep lots of tool and supplies (assorted fuses, screwdriver with multiple bits including the square bit, multi-meter, electric tape, hammer, finish nails, liquid nails, small tubes of clear and white caulk) with you and read this forum and other sources so you can make small repairs without having to return it to the dealer.

Ultimately, you will likely have lots of fun with your trailer but Dutchmen quality is pretty pathetic and the components they use are often cheap and low grade. You will enjoy the trailer much more if you can tackle some of the repairs yourself.

Good luck

 

[Bsmart]

Thank all those or some great tips.
As for the slide out. When it’s almost in you can see the dinette pull away from the wall. Seams like it is coming in to far.

 

[Redfour5]

True of almost all of them. One way to look at it is was something a third party vendor like Furrion, Greystone, dometic and on and on... Or was it the manufacturing, entity at fault...