Community Forums

Chuck&Pam · 04-19-2017, 12:22 PM

I have a '16 HR Admiral XE 26D - Identical to the Flair 26D - and a few questions for owners of that coach. I know there have been some issues with the slide alignment; If you had an issue with the slide, how did you resolve it?

There's a rather useless drawer under the shower (for us anyway). This results in a somewhat soft shower floor I think due to no support under it. Has anyone done a mod to make it more sturdy feeling?

The fridge? Has to be one of Dometic's smallest lowest end units. Any mods or fixes to make it colder? When empty it meets spec. When it's full, not so much.

My basement storage area, of which there is a lot more than one would think for a 26ft gas class A, seems to have a problem with flexing of the sheet metal floor and the felt/carpet covered fiberboard that is screwed to it. I get a sound(s) that sound like a baseball hitting the inside walls underneath, mainly when there is some sideward body roll. I think it is due to the sheetmetal flexing and making a pop when it moves...kind of like a piece of duct work..push one side in and another pops up. Anyone else have that issue and if so how did you fix it?

Other than these few items, I am really pleased with the floorplan. It's exacly what we have been looking for. The ride is ok, space is good for 2 and it's simple to maintain. As mentioned above the basement storage is much bigger than I expected. Love the Ford F53. We had a '05 Bounder for a number of years and the DW has taken to calling this one the Baby Bounder.

Amazing that the fixtures, cabinets, all the interior stuff is the same as the stuff they were sourcing in '05. Feels like home.

Thanks for any input!

tominvegas · 04-19-2017, 08:07 PM

I have a '16 Flair 31W, so most of it is different as far as floorplan goes but basic parts and stuff are the same. I do recall some posts where the slide with the refrigerator on the 26 had some issues, maybe a search will find them.

As far as the fridge, I use a couple battery operated fans when travelling. Haven't had any major issues, but the more you open it, the longer it takes to cool back down cool when full. I use these to keep the air moving. That seems to make a difference:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-44123-F.../dp/B0006IX7TW

We always load cold food and fill the ice container and pre freeze anything that goes up there when we first load it.

As for the shower. Mine doesn't have the drawer, but I have an access panel there and have inspected it. The frame for the pan appears to be sturdy and built ok, I do have a bit of a soft feeling on some of it but the box/frame it was built on has held up so far and i'm about 250#. I did have to recaulk the sides once but so far that's held up, too.

I haven't experienced the popping sound you describe...

Most of my issues have been minor. I had a few cosmetic things and after driving through some rainstorms, suddenly had a small leak that was easily fixed on the rear cap top under warranty... no long term damage and next major storm it didn't leak, so it appears to have been fixed correctly (We're talking major west coast thunderstorms here. Drove in a lot of rain but this years storms were crazy. Glad it happened before the warranty expired)

Love the coach and we put 10k miles on it in the first year. Lookig to enjoy it for years to come.

Chuck&Pam · 04-20-2017, 12:56 PM

hey Tom.. thanks for the response.

I dropped mine off for some warranty work today so hopefully I'll be back in business in a week or so, depending on how quickly ARG approves all the warranty items. We head out for the Keys in about 4 1/2 weeks and really looking forward to our annual spring trip there.

I'm sure you love the 31W. That and the Admiral 31/Southwind 32W were top contenders for us. We finally decided we wanted to stay smaller. We had the Bounder version of that floorplan (32W) for 11 years and never had any problems to speak of. The Ford V10 is rock solid. This new F53 and 6 speed transmission package is head and shoulders above the 3sp/overdrive we had in the '05 Bounder.

Like you, I hope we can keep this one for many years to come.

Chuck&Pam · 04-22-2017, 09:15 AM

Thanks for the info on the fans for the fridge. I may have to use them at some point. Going to the Keys in a few weeks so that will be a good test.

tominvegas · 04-22-2017, 05:03 PM

We're hoping to get back out there in the next few weeks. Mine's back at the dealer as well, getting the last of the warranty work done. Just a few minor things to check except for the leveling jack pump, which went out. Fortunately, it happened before the warranty expired. The biggest pain was that it was back ordered from Lippert but it finally came in. Fleetwood and the dealer have been great, no arguments on anything warranty related.

We love the 31W floorplan. Works great for us. The six speed is a lot quieter than the earlier model and no problem with towing our Sonic so far. Have fun in the Keys!

biggcrisp · 04-23-2017, 05:31 PM

@Chuck&Pam,
Did the service center get your slide adjusted?

On the fridge cooling: I added a 12 volt exhaust fan to the top left of the outside access compartment. It has a thermostat that kicks it on / off as needed. Inside temp now stays at 33 degrees.

tominvegas · 04-23-2017, 07:41 PM

Only slide issue I ever had was a screw that was improperly set, so it scratched the side of the slide. That was fixed and painted by the dealer. The pump was to the leveling jacks.

The dealer handled all our warranty work, although I did stop by the service center in Alvarado to pick up a new converter when mine acted up while on the road, they replaced it under warranty.

Chuck&Pam · 04-24-2017, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biggcrisp

I added a 12 volt exhaust fan to the top left of the outside access compartment.

I plan on doing that at some point as well. I did that on my previous HR Endeavor and it helped quite a bit. It had the big 2 door side by side Dometic.

Chuck&Pam · 05-17-2017, 12:41 PM

Updates:

Quote:

Originally Posted by tominvegas

As far as the fridge, I use a couple battery operated fans when travelling.

I got one those too off of Amazon. It does seem to help some. Keeping the air circulating around inside the box is a big help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by biggcrisp

On the fridge cooling: I added a 12 volt exhaust fan to the top left of the outside access compartment.

I didn't have time to get that done this trip, but plan to do that as soon as we get back from the Keys. I took a shortcut by adding a small 4inch desk top AC fan plugged into the receptical that the fridge plugs into and pointing it up. It does make a difference but not the way I think the exhaust fans up top would.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck&Pam

I dropped mine off for some warranty work today so hopefully I'll be back in business in a week or so, depending on how quickly ARG approves all the warranty items.

Well, that didn't go as planned. As I posted on another thread here, the independent RV tech service that assured me that they worked with REV Group all the time didn't pan out. After they kept it a week before they even called REV Group, they found that the policy has changed and REV Group wouldn't let them do the work. I called REV Group customer service and was told that they never received an estimate from them. I really think that the fixed rates that REV Group pays for warranty work (when approved) is less than this service wanted to get for the work. So after 3 weeks, nothing changed and I'm heading to the Keys. I'll worry about this after I get back!

Chuck&Pam · 05-18-2017, 09:59 AM

Another question: Have any of you done anything to make it easier to access the under-bed storage space? Other RV's I've owned have gas struts or some means of holding the bed up. There is a huge storage area under there but dang... that thing is heavy to lift and hold up.

tominvegas · 05-19-2017, 04:44 PM

My 2016 flair 31w has the struts. I would think they are supposed to be there.

Chuck&Pam · 05-24-2017, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tominvegas

My 2016 flair 31w has the struts. I would think they are supposed to be there.

thanks Tom, I'll check with customer service to see what they say.

Chuck&Pam · 05-24-2017, 08:30 PM

Ok, another question I'v come up with since we've been out for a couple of weeks now. I'm seeing other details that I missed earlier.

In the shower, the fiberglass wrap around does not come all the way around to meet the metal door frame, leaving about 6 inches on both sides of the door frame. The material in that six inches is the same board/wall covering in the rest of the coach. Will water not leach into the fabric and the board underneath causing problems in the future?

PSOUZA · 05-24-2017, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck&Pam

In the shower, the fiberglass wrap around does not come all the way around to meet the metal door frame, leaving about 6 inches on both sides of the door frame. The material in that six inches is the same board/wall covering in the rest of the coach. Will water not leach into the fabric and the board underneath causing problems in the future?

Unfortunately that is not fiberglass, but very thin thermal plastic that has a tendancy to develope cracks when hit with an elbow or leaned upon.

The exposed wall board is covered with waterproof plastic "wall paper"....but the edges and bottom of each panel are going to wick up water and cause trouble eventually.

Elsewhere, on this forum, you will find a thread, something like "Dashboard go Boom". Read that and plan a preemptive repair, to augment the screws that support and connect the sidewalls to the chassis. My unit will be undergoing repairs this month for that.

Also have the slide rollers inspected, particularly the one that supports the weight of the refrigerator. That was built wrong on some units. That roller should roll on a metal plate, not the unprotected, soft plywood.

Look for wall separation in the back bedroom at the floor / wall junction. Light may be visible at the junction. This may be usefull, though, if the fresh water tank leaks when you over fill it.

There are effective remedys for chassis handling issues, if you are sensitive to them.

There are many things to like / love about this unit. Just have patience and be aware that "warranty repairs" are not necessarily meant to "Fix" things.
You may have to pay out of pocket to get it done right.

Phil