We've had Chickadee 2.0 for a month. We spent the month working out our office spaces, installing the Winegard Connect 2.0, inspecting the plumbing, carpentry, chassis, roof, electrical, and exterior finish. Of course we took our PDI checklist for delivery day, but you cannot really get acquainted with a new unit until you get her home and run your own tests and deeper investigations. Some of these things we saw in the PDI. We made notes and knew we would fix them ourselves.
Our overall opinion is that the Jay Flight is pretty solid. Over the last ten years, we have spent tons of time in numerous brands. It's put together better than most other Thor and Forest River products in its class. But it is an rv, and it has typical rv issues.
Note: We have absolutely no interest in giving our unit to a dealer for who knows how long, only to receive subpar work and service that only produces strained relationships for us.
1. Throughout the coach, the carpentry is slightly above the industry average for its class. We have one large shelf under the kitchen sink that has pulled away from its supports. The material is too tight and fragile to pull back into place; it will snap/split. So we will be reconstructing its support and closing a 1/16-1/18" gap created by the separation.
2. Plumbing/Electrical: the water pump is located right under the kitchen sink's drain; not a good call. Its on the floor, fully exposed to anything and everything that may occur under a sink in a storage space. The wires and Pex are cut super tight; there's no way to move the pump without wiring and plumbing modifications. Jayco left the wires exposed on the floor under the drain. There is a front-facing panel facade that is so tightly placed that the siphon hose is kinked closed and hard on its clamp. Obviously, we will need to remedy that, too. The tv jack/110 was screwed into shredded paneling. We made a temporary repair. It will need better bracing soon.
The water heater "compartment" had a lot of debris (wood chunks). The simple 1 by support frame under the tank had a 1/2" gap between it and the tank. This left the tank suspended, hanging. I did not like the idea of the tank jouncing and bouncing down the road and bowing when 6gal/48lbs (+/-) of water is filled in it. We got it shimmed up.
In the bathroom, the black tank flush backflow valve is tightly plumbed so that it rests on the backside of the GFCI's metal box that has exposed Romex leads (literally pressing on the metal box near the wires' inlet). The GFCI is mounted on the vanity below the counter facing the shower door. Obviously, these are not best practices. We will address this as well.
A lot of debris was left under the shower, and the floor insulation was left exposed, and insulation is missing - We'll take care of it and create better support for the shower pan; this is common to almost every rv, poor pan support.
The water line valve cutoffs beneath the coach were fit crammed up on each other. They will need to be refitted. Over time, they will fail from the stress of pressing on each other.
3. Chassis and Exterior: Like other coach elements, the chassis will reveal its secrets overtime. So far, we found a skirt brace disconnected; it was passed over in production. We filled a 1" hole to no where in the floor of the front storage pass through. The linoleum hid it from above, but underneath you could see it about an inch from the floor/wall joint. We also filled a 6"x4" breach in the corrugated underbelly. It was behind a front stabilizer. We are not impressed with the amount of foam insulation used on coaches these days. All of our windows, the door, and the slideout seams have soft foam, not butyl and/or rubber. We will have to address this too.
So far so good. It's better than a lot of the scary industry products we've seen. We think our 2016, last of the pre-Thor, Jay Feather was about the same with one exception. We are finding the materials to be a bit more skimpy. The aluminum skirting, the sinks, the cabinetry wood, the window fames and window latches, the main door, and chassis paint are thinner, lighter, weaker, and less solid in operation. I can only surmise that this is likely a "Thor-subject."
All said, we do love our new work office and camper. Assuming one understands the nature of the "beast," the good definitely outweighs the bad, and we are looking forward to years of enjoyment with Chickadee 2.0!
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