Community Forums

lfdeluca2 · 08-19-2016, 07:26 AM

We recently experienced a failure of our dash AC unit; it was blowing only hot air. Following calls to Fleetwood and Ford we ended up at a Ford dealership in NC. The issue was quickly traced to a failed high-pressure AC return hose. It had been factory mounted in such a way that it was rubbing on a frame nut which ultimately wore a hole in the hose and the loss of the coolant. $533 later and Ford pointing at Fleetwood and Fleetwood saying out of warranty I was on my way, poorer but cool. Inspecting other hoses I also found the LP gas line hose rubbing against the frame in the LP tank compartment and installed a foam bumper to mitigate any issues. Obvious that Fleetwood is not doing any QA checks and workmanship is not stellar. Recommend checking those hoses to avoid a costly repair or worse.

Swan-Bull · 08-23-2016, 08:40 PM

I'm running into some similar quality issues on my "brand new" '16 33C. I say "brand new" because it was manufactured in July of 17 and definitely got man handled while it was at the dealer for a year. Now, that being said I don't know if these issues are Fleetwood's problem or my dealer. I had about 40 items on my PDI issue list ranging from small things to huge problems. Luckily they're all being taken care of under warranty, but what I want to know is who's to blame? Is it fair that the dealer is charging all these things back to Fleetwood? Is it a real quality issue or is it the dealers fault?

Some examples:
1 - caulk between counter and backsplash is pulling
2 - living room TV is mounted slightly crooked
3 - corners of wallpaper in bathroom and in closet are pulling
4 - front windshield shade is ever so slightly crooked and wont stay in track all the time

And there's more. I'm just surprised after everything I've read about the Bounder being the best bang for your buck, and Fleetwood having great quality.

Sorry to hear that nobody covered your issue for you. That wasn't covered under chassis warranty?

lfdeluca2 · 08-24-2016, 04:42 AM

I am sorry to hear about all of the issues that you have experienced. Wish I could say that yours is a unique case but I'm afraid it is far more of the norm than the exception. Fleetwood just does not seem to have any quality control on the line; rigs costing six figures are being shipped with slip shod construction and questionable engineering (in my humble opinion). In answer to your question, FORD was more than willing to cover the hose repair under the chassis warranty if it was related to their work. Unfortunately, it was not. The dash AC hoses are installed by Fleetwood and in spite of the obvious defect in the installation of that hose as well as the LP hose, once out of warranty you are on your own. Even my dealer's intervention fell and supporting arguments fell on deaf ears. Needless to say, I am appalled by the lack of quality and their failure to stand behind their workmanship. Although we love the 35K, I would be very reluctant to purchase any other Fleetwood products.

rapid rick · 08-24-2016, 06:56 AM

I have spent hours upon hours upon hours insulating wiring, plumbing, hydraulic lines for levelers, propane lines under my unit to prevent such issues. I have used at least 100 tie wraps on wiring harnesses under the coach to hold wires out of harms way, added countless rubber coated stainless wiring harness hangers. That is only underneath, inside behind and under drawers I also have found horrible routing of 12v and 110v wiring that required hours of attention to keep from chaffing on drawer slides etc, even the thermostat wires were hanging loose in the pantry drawer space chaffing against the drawer slides. I also advise anyone to spend some quality time under your mh with tie wraps and pieces of rubber to do what Fleetwood did not do, it could save you a lot of grief. lfdeluca2 Thanks for the tip, I will be checking ac hoses today.