Palazzo Owners

[beagletim]

Awesome information RVRandy! Thanks!! Guess i have something to do this weekend :-)

[Luvrkds]

Originally Posted by RVRandy

I had very similar issues on mine. It had a bad pull to the right when delivered. It was sent to a non-Freightliner shop where it was aligned but it still pulled right. Eventually I measured it and determined the ride height was off by about 4" leaning to the left. That was fixed at Freightliner but it still pulled. They had to align it again, after the ride height was fixed, because fixing the suspension effected the front end steering. At that point it didn't pull near as bad as before, but still did a little. And the steering wheel now had a wobble when hitting bumps and has a constant vibration. It took several more trips to another CW location and 2 different tire shops but we discovered the right front tire was worn down unevenly with some cupping. Apparently due to the unit being driven 1500 miles from the factory when it was delivered with the front end out of whack. THOR put a new tire on it and it fixed the pull, but we still had a wobble and vibration. Eventually determined that 2 of the wheels were out of round. THOR paid to have 2 new ones installed. It now tracks straight with no pull, no wobble and no vibration. It was a pain but persistence paid off. It also helped that I was a heavy equipment mechanic for years and drove big trucks. That way when the tech at CW would try to say "that's just the way motorhomes drive" I could say BS. THOR was very good about paying for the needed repairs and having one of their troubleshooters work with me on email and via the phone. If you have that much of an imbalance in air bag psi and the coach is relatively evenly loaded, that is the place to start. Park on a level paved area and let all the air out of your suspension, give it a good 2-3 minutes to empty completely. Measure from the ground up to the top center of the rear wheel well lip on each side of the coach. The measurements should be within 1/2" + or - side to side as long as it is level and the pavement is fairly even. Now, with the engine running, air the suspension up fully, giving it 3-4 minutes to reach full height and full air pressure. Repeat the same measuring process. Although the measurement will now be a bigger number because of the increased height, the side to side variance should be roughly the same as before. If not, then the ride height needs to be adjusted. Take it to Freightliner to make sure that is done right. Once you know for certain the ride height is good, have them confirm the alignment is still good. If after all that it still pulls, check the wear on your front tires. Use the jacks to raise the front end high enough for the front tires to be about 1" off of the ground. Get down and look at the gap between the pavement and the bottom of the tire, it should look about even all the way across. If not, then the tire may have scrubbed off unevenly due to the other issues. With the tires still in the air, have someone slowly spin the tires while you watch the gap. If you see any noticeable widening/narrowing of the gap it means the tire and/or your wheel could be out of round. For safety, don't get under the MH when the tires are off the ground, just check when laying in front of the tire and to the side. If everything else is determined to be good and you still have a pull it could be a defective tire i.e. the internal bands are bad. The easiest way to confirm this is move the right tire/wheel to the left side and move the left side tire/wheel to the right. If you had a pull to the right before and now it pulls to the left, its the tire. The next thing to check would be to make sure the right side wheel bearing is not defective or that the brakes are not dragging on the right front. Either one could cause a pull to the right. When you have the front tires in the air and you spin them, see if they both free wheel about the same amount when spun with equal force. Let us know what you find.

Sorry to hear about your pulling to the right.
Our 33.2 was delivered with a pull to the right. I'm fairly sure that Freightliner already checked your wheels and brakes But upon taking it to Freightliner here, they discovered a leaking front driver side wheel bearing and after replacement of seal, problem still there which resulted in replacing the shoes.

[Berlin Kid]

Originally Posted by mikebrls

2014 33.3

Did you add the stainless steel sink or was it original equipment?

[pmcsurf1]

Thanks randy. I'm gonna keep on cw till it's fixed. Funny. Cw said don't take coach to Freightliner. They said they don't know what they are doing. Everyone is pointing fingers. Cw says some pull is to be expected. Not crown drift mind you but pull. I do t believe it.

[HeavyH2O]

Originally Posted by Berlin Kid

Did you add the stainless steel sink or was it original equipment?

It is actually a resin that is textured and colored to look like metal. And, it is standard.

We did the same thing with a Moen faucet.

[Berlin Kid]

Originally Posted by HeavyH2O

It is actually a resin that is textured and colored to look like metal. And, it is standard. We did the same thing with a Moen faucet.

Looks good. Nice job with the faucet.

[mikebrls]

Originally Posted by Berlin Kid

Did you add the stainless steel sink or was it original equipment?

original

[Palazzoteam]

Looking for advice, again! We have plans to drive to factory(Elkhart) in early spring to both tour the factory and get a few items replaced! Do you stay in grounds, do they walk you through, is there a class, must I find a place to stay(small issues, only 3 or 4 days work) really just wanted to learn about factory! Has anyone been there and can give the dw and I some advice? Love this forum and our 33.3

[gmadams]

Originally Posted by Palazzoteam

Looking for advice, again! We have plans to drive to factory(Elkhart) in early spring to both tour the factory and get a few items replaced! Do you stay in grounds, do they walk you through, is there a class, must I find a place to stay(small issues, only 3 or 4 days work) really just wanted to learn about factory! Has anyone been there and can give the dw and I some advice? Love this forum and our 33.3

You can sleep in your MH at the service center. They have 50 amp service but no water or sewer hookups. There is a sewer dump at the service center and water is available. The tech will get your rig around 7:30 and give it back to you around 3:00 or 4:00 every day. There is a factory tour in the afternoons and I think it is offered every day but I don't remember for sure. Be sure to have your toad with you so you can do some sightseeing during the day. There is customer lounge where you can stay in during the daytime. I have heard it is best to fill up with diesel before you get into Indiana. It is better if you have sent them a list of everything you want them to correct or check before you get there but you can add to the items while you are there.

[OldAero]

Originally Posted by Palazzoteam

Looking for advice, again! We have plans to drive to factory(Elkhart) in early spring to both tour the factory and get a few items replaced! Do you stay in grounds, do they walk you through, is there a class, must I find a place to stay(small issues, only 3 or 4 days work) really just wanted to learn about factory! Has anyone been there and can give the dw and I some advice? Love this forum and our 33.3

Just returned from the Service Center in Elkhart. It is about 20 miles north of the new plant location where they are building Palazzos. You stay in the parking lot next to the service center where there are electrical hook ups. At the end of the parking is a dump station and fresh water. A technician is assigned to your coach and comes each morning at seven and takes your coach for the day until 3:30 to 4:30PM. There is room for 6 maybe 8 coaches depending on the number of folks that need 50 or 30 amps. Keep in mind that the work has to done in pieces that will allow a functional coach to be returned to you each evening so what may seem like 3 days "could" be 4. We had anticipated 3 days which after inspection of the big slide needed an extra day....so our four days of work became 5 and a half. Also if time at the paint shop is needed then plan for at least two days for prep., paint and dry. Our paint went over night and Thor put us in a very nice hotel while the coach was in the paint shop. By the way the paint shop seems to have done a very good job of touching up our roof where it was painted and peeled, and also some trim pieces that were replaced. There is a small waiting room at the service center and a larger double wide modular home with a lounge and kitchen across the street at the older Thor plant where they are building ACEs, AXIS, CLASS Cs, etc. Also it is important to know that the service center while it is big facility that can handle 6-8 coaches, it does not have an inventory of parts for all the different units that Thor makes, so they will have to order or draw parts for the factories, build inventory, and local suppliers. This to can add some time to the process. Finally we found the techs and staff most helpful, patient, and capable.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by OldAero

Just returned from the Service Center in Elkhart. It is about 20 miles north of the new plant location where they are building Palazzos. You stay in the parking lot next to the service center where there are electrical hook ups. At the end of the parking is a dump station and fresh water. A technician is assigned to your coach and comes each morning at seven and takes your coach for the day until 3:30 to 4:30PM. There is room for 6 maybe 8 coaches depending on the number of folks that need 50 or 30 amps. Keep in mind that the work has to done in pieces that will allow a functional coach to be returned to you each evening so what may seem like 3 days "could" be 4. We had anticipated 3 days which after inspection of the big slide needed an extra day....so our four days of work became 5 and a half. Also if time at the paint shop is needed then plan for at least two days for prep., paint and dry. Our paint went over night and Thor put us in a very nice hotel while the coach was in the paint shop. By the way the paint shop seems to have done a very good job of touching up our roof where it was painted and peeled, and also some trim pieces that were replaced. There is a small waiting room at the service center and a larger double wide modular home with a lounge and kitchen across the street at the older Thor plant where they are building ACEs, AXIS, CLASS Cs, etc. Also it is important to know that the service center while it is big facility that can handle 6-8 coaches, it does not have an inventory of parts for all the different units that Thor makes, so they will have to order or draw parts for the factories, build inventory, and local suppliers. This to can add some time to the process. Finally we found the techs and staff most helpful, patient, and capable.

Totally agree. Our visit went great. Sending the repair list before hand is very important. A must!

[OC Bill]

Originally Posted by tcopeland

Totally agree. Our visit went great. Sending the repair list before hand is very important. A must!

We just left the service center yesterday after spending a week there, while we didn't spend the nights there, others did and we're very happy.

We decided to stay In a local hotel because we had a couple of complicated time consuming things to be fixed and after a discussion with Steve the foremen it was decided they could do the job faster if they didn't have to reassemble the coach each night for us to sleep in.

It all worked out great, they did the upgrade to the slide and fixed the sealing problem around the engine in the bed area. Both jobs were handled perfectly by our tech, Jim.

We are down the road in Bowling Green KY tonight and the trip has proved that they fixed everything we asked for.

Bill

[OldAero]

Originally Posted by OC Bill

We just left the service center yesterday after spending a week there, while we didn't spend the nights there, others did and we're very happy.

We decided to stay In a local hotel because we had a couple of complicated time consuming things to be fixed and after a discussion with Steve the foremen it was decided they could do the job faster if they didn't have to reassemble the coach each night for us to sleep in.

It all worked out great, they did the upgrade to the slide and fixed the sealing problem around the engine in the bed area. Both jobs were handled perfectly by our tech, Jim.

We are down the road in Bowling Green KY tonight and the trip has proved that they fixed everything we asked for.

Bill

We also had Jim as our tech. He was great!

[tcopeland]

Agree. We had him also.