Watch a Jayco "Jay Flight" Being Assembled

[Frank P. Martin]

I found the link for this short video on another RV website. It shows a "Jay Flight" TT being assembled at one of Jayco's manufacturing plants. I thought it was rather interesting to watch; especially for anyone (myself included) who has never seen how a TT is built. The total time for assembly from start to finish took approximately six hours.

Enjoy!

msnbc.com Video Player

[Jim Stewart]

Cool, that's fast work! Thanks for the link.

[Frankenstien]

Wow...6 Hrs.... wonder if it would be faster with Hard sides.

[MikenAmber]

Instering to watch, I noticed that it was a stick and tin unit. I wonder how much longer a fiberglass, aluminum unit would take and how much more time is involved in adding slideouts.

[yogi154]

We were at Jayco's plant in the spring they were building TT, Went back a couple week's ago to see the Designers. The fifths take six days to build. Jayco has a great plant clean as a whisle . After the tour we stopped at our dealer and ordered our 37 footer. Jayco is running the 37 Designer line for the next month. We have 12 days to wait for our's.

[Sallys Mom]

Hey Frank! Just found your post today. Very interesting for me since we just bought a Jay Flight TT yesterday!!! What fun to see one built. If you have found any quirks, let me know. Thanks.

[PNWGirl]

That was facinating Frank, thank you for posting! I wonder how the production time, now, compares to the production time (per unit) for my '85 TT.

30+ units a day, they are running to keep up with that kind of output!

Sheila

[Superslif]

If their really working that fast, no wonder quality sucks on some units. 6 hours to build a trailer.....The way they screwed everything in, left in dought if some screws or nails were set properly. Where I work quantity is stressed more than quality, in the end someone else has to fix the short comings of the quantity aspect.

[wingnut60]

I don't this doesn't come off sounding too smart...but how many of those Toyota 4-Runners do you suppose they make a day?
I can agree quality might suffer for quantity, but methods are usually in place to keep the quality acceptable. One unit a day won't keep a plant open, or it would have to sell for buku $$ to make a profit. Remember, they are mostly assembling pre-made parts, not starting from scratch. Doubletree takes a lot more time to build a unit, and sometimes they STILL have problems.
Jayco must be doing something right as they enjoy a pretty good reputation for quality and service.
Joe

[Frank P. Martin]

Way back in 1988, I toured GM's Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, KY. The tour guide said they made 88 Corvettes a day in two shifts; one production and the other maintenance. I don't know about now, but back then Corvettes had a terrible reputation for quality and reliability.

[creativepart]

I just got back from visiting Northwood's factory in La Grande, Oregon. What a difference. I guess this is why Arctic Fox and Nash trailers are higher quality.

First, nobody is running. The guys get paid hourly, not per trailer produced, and each guy gets bonus pay based on the number of service requests. The fewer the service requests the higher the bonus pay.

Next, they build their own frame from raw steel. And a lot of the time to build the trailer is built into the frame and floor. Unlike Jayco the frame and floor are a sandwich. Sealed top and bottom. Plus the heater ducting is built into the bottom plate and wraps around the tanks to keep them from freezing.

Next, all the wood I saw going into framing was Number 2 grade or better. I checked out about a dozen trailers being built and the framing was clear and straight. Of course, the use radius corner windows and doors, but they don't install them into square holes like most manufacturers. They radius each opening as well with a plastic corner radius reinforcement.

Some of the smaller AF trailers are wood framed and the bigger ones are aluminum framed. They build the Alu walls up from scratch in a sandwich (interior wall, frame, insulation, wiring and exterior wall) into complete insulated walls with heated epoxy in a roller press.

The quality control started right at the beginning, and they had QC teams at every station. By the time the Filon hard walls are attached the entire trailer has been through 6 QC regimens. An "appearance" team starts marking blemishes about 2/3rds of the way through the build process. When the "build" is done a separate QC/Appearance time -- a different team -- goes over each trailer. They feel the more "fresh eyes" they can get looking for issues the better at finding problems.

When done each trailer goes through extensive testing. All waterlines and gas lines are tested to hold pressurized air for an hour or more. Then they actually pressurize the closed up trailer to look for air leaks in walls, windows and interior joints. Of course, it's tested with a sprinkler system to check for any water leaks.

Each trailer is individually weighed and the weight on the door sticker is the exact weight of that unit.

We've had 3 Northwood TTs. One Nash and two Arctic Foxes -- I picked up my new 25S in La Grande at Thunder RV and towed it back to Texas last week.

Superior quality and just well made all the way around. I have to say after seeing them making them that they are much more dedicated to quality than I knew even after owning one for more than a decade.

[Sallys Mom]

Well... found a few "quirks" in our new Jayco. My Mr. Wonderful had to repair the shower surround because it wasn't fastened securely to the wall - the dealer wouldn't do anything since the TT was purchased "two weeks ago". The wonderful TV and multipurpose sound system didn't have manuals or one of the remote controls - again the dealer wasn't responsible and Jayco said they thought they were available for purchase. I downloaded and printed the manuals and am considering $40+shipping for one of the remotes. The accordian window shades are just not straight - none of them. Difficult process to fix and, again, the dealer is not responsible. I suspect all of the things I mention could be a result of too much too fast building. Dealer suggested that I was "too fussy" and you do not want to know what I suggested!

[StStg1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sallys Mom Well... found a few "quirks" in our new Jayco. My Mr. Wonderful had to repair the shower surround because it wasn't fastened securely to the wall - the dealer wouldn't do anything since the TT was purchased "two weeks ago". The wonderful TV and multipurpose sound system didn't have manuals or one of the remote controls - again the dealer wasn't responsible and Jayco said they thought they were available for purchase. I downloaded and printed the manuals and am considering $40+shipping for one of the remotes. The accordian window shades are just not straight - none of them. Difficult process to fix and, again, the dealer is not responsible. I suspect all of the things I mention could be a result of too much too fast building. Dealer suggested that I was "too fussy" and you do not want to know what I suggested!

Sounds to me like the dealer is only in business to sell units. No customer service at all. Probably would be a good idea to know his name so we won't be caught in the same situation.

[Sallys Mom]

Manteca Trailer Sales - Manteca, California! Filled out a Jayco customer satisfaction survey and all they did was send me another one. Perhaps Jayco thinks I'm going to change my mind and give high marks to the dealer, or perhaps they just want to be sure I really meant "Very Dissatisfied". The trailer has some very good qualities - enclosed underneath for better insulation, top quality appliances and electronics. It's just not as spiffy as it should be for the money. This in not our first new RV, and other dealers were way more attentive to even the little things. Guess I'll step off my soapbox now.