Staples?!! Why, Staples????

[twoballscrewball]

Bought a 2016 X23F in late February 2016.

Had a couple issues with it this spring that the dealer fixed (bad refrigerator, a couple small tears in the roof). Factory/dealer defects and I'm not mad about them. I was treated well.

We have used the trailer a lot, as well as put some significant miles on her over this first season, a few 300-400 mile trips, many many 'local' 50+ mile weekends, a couple trips with friends were we had every sleeping quarter in use, etc.

There are so many issues with things falling apart that are STAPLED together, that should be screwed.

The end plate on the couch, stapled to the frame. Flapping loose like a flag in a hurricane at this point.

The entire front shelf / TV stand / bed support system, completely detached from the structure of the trailer, all stapled.

End cap that separated the front lower cabinet storage from the exterior storage, I have that in my garage since I found it completely detached after a road trip.

Bathroom sink under cabinet structure, all stapled together, all falling apart.

Also a cabinet door along the lower rear of the side rear bunk has completely split along the woodgrain....

Thankfully for me, this is all under warranty, but after just one season with our sticker-price $24000 hybrid (and first new camper, ever), I have to say I am less than confident in this thing surviving more than 5 years of heavy use. Anyone else have a similar experience, or did I just get a late-friday build here? Could they have not used glue with the staples, if not using screws? Basic carpentry 101 there, no???????

[Grumpy]

The RV industry has been using staples since the beginning of time. Had a 1988 where we removed the dinette to install a table. Had a whole batch of staples to cut off and push back into the wall. It was aluminum skinned and the dinette framing was stappled to the wall from the outside before the skin went on.

[bansai]

I've been slowly screwing and gluing (hope that doesn't sound nasty) every item that comes loose. In a couple years my camper should be stronger than my house. Not sure what else to add...

[twoballscrewball]

So, I can fix this all myself. Is the best bet to just glue and screw the entire trailer together (wherever I can reach) over the winter myself? I am thinking that would probably be the best bet, if nothing else for my own peace of mind. Dealer will just hob-job it together again per factory, right?

Guess, I just expected more from a brand new 2016 trailer. My 1998 Coleman Pop-Up had less issues in the year I used it than this X23F has had......

[rjackson]

small staples are fast and cheap, thats why they use them

[Dustdevil]

I am sure it also has to do with how often the average owner uses their RV as well. I know a lot of owners who only use the thing 3-5 times each year. Twice a month is heavy use by nearly any measure, and it's likely a bit much for many RVs. For sure, they are much faster to assemble with staples, and they don't accept much abuse.

[Jagiven]

Sounds like the air pressure to the stapler was set to high, and the staples were going through. We had the trim on the bathroom door come loose during our first trip. That has been it over 4 years and 200 nights of use

[Fire_Instructor]

I went around with a tube of liquid nail and my pneumatic trim-nailer after our last trip and fixed several lose pieces of trim. Found two that never even had staples. As best I could tell, they had been held in-place by friction only...

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

Seems the idea is that you hope the manufacturer got a good start and a quality platform for the owner to improve and build upon. Some disappointment and some delight...

[johnsoax]

I've noticed the same thing on our 2016 x23b. The small piece of wall behind the toilet came loose at the bottom because of the suction of my shop vac when I was vacuuming out the trailer.


We've only taken two trips this year (Sad I know, but we also moved). A 2k mile trip from Cincy to Disney in Florida, and a 200 mile round trip to Buckeye Lake near Columbus. I've already got another list for the dealer to fix this fall. Last year it was 20 items long.

[bankr63]

Just a point to ponder. My TT weighs about the same as my TV, but cost half as much new. Perhaps if we were willing to pay, pound for pound, as much for a TT as we pay for our TV, quality would be better?

[johnsoax]

Nope. For the price I paid, I expected a level of quality that was way better than what was delivered.


Construction debris everywhere hidden (wood shavings, loose screws, pieces of wire), wiring jobs that are a complete pain to troubleshoot due to being rats nests.. among other things. I work in manufacturing, and understand what goes into doing some of this stuff. Lots of it is just cutting corners, and it shows in the construction quality.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

RV companies advertise wonderful construction and features, but they can change whatever they want whenever they want. Their bottom line is money, not your happiness. The construction on my 2017 16XRB seems adequate so far, but the model advertised and shown to me, the one I ordered, had galvanized steel wheel wells and a fan in the bathroom. The wheel wells were a tipping point in the sale. Two months later I was delivered an August, 2016 build 16XRB with plastic wheel wells and no fan in the bathroom. Very disappointed with that and extremely disappointed in Jayco's response: too bad, that's the way we make them now, now go away and don't bother us. Jayco was bought out by the Thor Industries conglomerate on June 30, 2016. I suspect there has been some cost cutting and disregard of the exceptional standards for which Jayco has always been respected.