Another 21 RBS (lengthy)

[fasteddieb]

[quote source="/post/6177/thread" timestamp="1421963383" author="@tinkeringtechie"][quote source="/post/6176/thread" timestamp="1421948917" author="@djsamuel"]Seeing the materials used in the Jayco trailer make me appreciate the LivinLite trailers even more.  [/quote]Yeah, after watching I thought to myself "this is a promotional video?... it makes me NOT want to buy their trailer"[/quote]Just watched it, and I have to agree 100%.

DAMN that's a LOT of wood!

[jtelles3993]

Hey pinstriper, no harm - no foul my friend. We're just sitting around the internet camp fire learning what we can from each other. I hope to have a root beer float with you out on the trail some day

[jtelles3993]

P'strip, S'up......you both miss the point of the video, which is to showcase Jayco's Amish workforce, a people with an unbelievable work ethic.  It is this Jayco claim that distinguishes them from the herd, a branding difficult today in Thor's vast land of RV .  Never did talk things Jayco with reps or owners where this point, "made by the Amish' was overlooked.  It would be akin to Livin Lite failing to mention 'all aluminum'.  

The Jayco video is showcasing the Amish workforce.  Ever see a LL video with their workforce busy building a trailer?  Found lots of aluminum skeletons, finished models or dealers' video tours,  but no actual manufacturing at LL's facility.  (If you know otherwise, please send link.)  Otherwise, what definitive conclusions can be drawn by the naive public as intended by the manufacturers in their promotion of product via their very different video approaches?   Perhaps one utilizes a superior workforce, the other, superior materials?  Or is this yet one more apples to orange comparison?  Me thinks so.   

It has been said that often we miss the forest for the trees.  Seems that expression might apply.  

GWBushhogwash 

Hmmmm? I'm more of the opinion that Jayco is "using" the Amish's good name to infer that their RVs are built with some sort of "old world" quality. This video obviously demonstrates that that ain't so - not even close. In fact, the Safety Officer inside me was flipping out watching those workers jogging around and jumping over all that plant equipment trying to catch those prefab walls before they hit something? And the way they throw all the parts together, yikes!!!! I could go on, but to be fair, most low cost RVs are probably built the same way.

[jtelles3993]

Before we took delivery, my wife and I took a tour of the LL factory. It was great fun to see the "insides" so to speak. They took us to every stage of manufacturing except the paint room. The tour started with welding the floor frame and installing the axles. The superstructure was welded up next. The skeleton then went to another building for electrical and plumbing, then to another location to get the appliances installed before the insulation, walls and finishing touches were completed. In each building, the technicians worked on one trailer for multiple days. There was some assembly line aspect to it, but it was not really mass production. They were also doing custom work. Looking inside the walls and structure was especially interesting for the techie in me. I noted the type and gauge of wire, the sizing of plumbing, and quality of joints and splices. Nothing I saw worried me or caused me to cancel my order! My only concern was with the general lack of cleaning up all the aluminum dust, slag, and chips from the welding, sawing, and drilling. That was confirmed as a problem in my own 16TBS which came with that stuff everywhere I looked behind panels and fixtures (and shorted out at least one light). I'll still take that over wood and staples any day. And my only regret after the tour was that my dealer didn't let me know how much LL is able and willing to customize their trailers. It goes far beyond the limited list of options the dealer showed us (but then we ended up with a really lousy dealer, so I should have known). 

This is basically what I was told.. Would love to go see the process myself. I found an extra loose screw inside one of the compartments and few little metal pieces from the cutting work, in the same area.. No, not perfect.

[pinstriper]

Mrs. Pin said one day she thought there was a nut loose inside the trailer...

[jtelles3993]

Definitely will be a nut loose in mine next week..

[charliem]

My only concern was with the general lack of cleaning up all the aluminum dust, slag, and chips from the welding, sawing, and drilling. That was confirmed as a problem in my own 16TBS which came with that stuff everywhere I looked behind panels and fixtures (and shorted out at least one light).

[font size="3"]It could have been worse. They could have been WOOD chips  .
[/font]

[jtelles3993]

Well we're off to pick up our CampLite in the morning, 0700 departure. Pictures hopefully soon to follow..

[dh50]

[quote source="/post/6281/thread" timestamp="1422579731" author="@surfsup"]Well we're off to pick up our CampLite in the morning, 0700 departure. Pictures hopefully soon to follow..

Whooo hooo!  Happy for you!   Be safe, and let us know all about it![/quote]

[jtelles3993]

Made it home safe and sound. Towed very well even with very windy conditions. 13.5mpg mixed driving. Plan now is to start making it our own tomorrow..

[dh50]

It's good to be alive!  Congratulations and may many blessed years lie ahead for you!   

P.S. Beautiful rig!

[jtelles3993]

Yes it is great to be alive and thank you for the blessing. Still playing with posting Picassa photo links from my smart phone. You must have caught one of my attempts :cool:

[jtelles3993]

[pinstriper]

Looks like the trailer is [em]ever[/em] so slightly down towards the front, and the TV is dead solid level.

Exactly as it should look.

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/6328/thread" author="@surfsup" timestamp="1422717564"]
Stopped halfway home to check everything over inside/outside to make sure everything was good... and it was!

[/quote][font size="3"]Can't get much better than that...................[/font]