Thor Palazzo - anyone drive/ride in one yet?

[Palazzoblues]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

That might have been us. We were on I-10 east coming back from our trip to the Grand Canyon but right past Baton Rouge we did turn around and head west for 1 exit so we could go to the Pilot Station for fuel. We then got back on I-10 east to continue heading home.
Long trip from Louisiana to Williams, Az to go to the Grand Canyon and then back to Louisiana. 3,281.6 miles round trip but the weather was great the entire trip!!
Too bad now I have to call Thor because our Slide malfunctioned again on the return trip!! This will be fix #4 for the slide!!

It's posts like this that scare me to death. RKNOLA, can you please elaborate as to what happened? Can you take pictures or a video please? Us Palazzo owners with slide out issues need to desperately figure out what is going on to solve these problems. Apparently Thor is not going to permanently solve these Schwintek slide out issues. I think it's high time we band together to figure this out. There has to be some aftermarket or modifications we can make to fix this! If anyone has any ideas, please chime in.

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by Palazzoblues

It's posts like this that scare me to death. RKNOLA, can you please elaborate as to what happened? Can you take pictures or a video please? Us Palazzo owners with slide out issues need to desperately figure out what is going on to solve these problems. Apparently Thor is not going to permanently solve these Schwintek slide out issues. I think it's high time we band together to figure this out. There has to be some aftermarket or modifications we can make to fix this! If anyone has any ideas, please chime in.

I don't know what the fix will have to be. I do know that we are on "new Slide motor" #4. "All new Slide components" #2. And the worst part is whenever I write on IRV2 about my slide issues, the other Palazzo Owners get all in an uproar, like I am bashing Thor or the Palazzo! No, I am not bashing YOUR Thor product or YOUR Palazzo. If your slide works properly I am happy for you. But our slide dosen' work and Yes I have buyers remorse!!
Have been trying for 2 days to get in touch with Thor. Their phone message yesterday said their office was closed because of the weather. Today I left a message for Tom Overton. Still haven't heard back.
And before anyone says anything: Yes, the slide was on shore power, yes the coach was level, no there wasn't anything heavy on the couch...........
The slide just doesn't work properly and since the entire thing has been rebuilt, I can't see where this problem will ever go away!!
And I found out, the trade in value on the Palazzo has gone down $40 thousand dollars in the 6 months we have owned the Palazzo! So trade-in will cost us a fortune!!
So if anyone is upset because I am not happy with our Palazzo, I am sorry.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

I don't know what the fix will have to be. I do know that we are on "new Slide motor" #4. "All new Slide components" #2. And the worst part is whenever I write on IRV2 about my slide issues, the other Palazzo Owners get all in an uproar, like I am bashing Thor or the Palazzo! No, I am not bashing YOUR Thor product or YOUR Palazzo. If your slide works properly I am happy for you. But our slide dosen' work and Yes I have buyers remorse!!
Have been trying for 2 days to get in touch with Thor. Their phone message yesterday said their office was closed because of the weather. Today I left a message for Tom Overton. Still haven't heard back.
And before anyone says anything: Yes, the slide was on shore power, yes the coach was level, no there wasn't anything heavy on the couch...........
The slide just doesn't work properly and since the entire thing has been rebuilt, I can't see where this problem will ever go away!!
And I found out, the trade in value on the Palazzo has gone down $40 thousand dollars in the 6 months we have owned the Palazzo! So trade-in will cost us a fortune!!
So if anyone is upset because I am not happy with our Palazzo, I am sorry.

Rick,

I may have been one of those people that pushed back at some of the VERY negative comments made by some folks that had slide problems but it was not to say I am sorry for their difficulties. There has been several others, who do not own a Palazzo and never purchased a Palazzo that were the most vocal based on some of the negative comment found on this WEB site. I am sure the $40K hit on resale value has something to do with the slide problems and the internet chatter discussing the slide. The happy Palazzo owners are not as vocal as those with a problem.

I understand that you have had a number of parts changed and you have done all the right things procedurally to operate the slide but I am still unclear what exactly the slide is or is not doing? Is it coming in cocked front to back, top to bottom or something else? A couple of photos would help the rest of us to understand your problem and maybe someone may have a suggestion.

On one of my trips to Thor one of the service techs told me that you can adjust the travel of the slide by doing the following;

1. Start with the slide in or out and take it to mid travel and stop.
2. Retract the slide a few revolutions, 4-6 inches and stop
3. Extend the slide a few revolutions, 4-6 inches and stop
4. Repeat this 3 times and on the 3rd time retract the slide completely

I did have an issue early on where the top of the slide would hit before the bottom but after doing this adjustment exercise the slide closes flat against the coach body. I have repeated this adjustment exercise several times over the months whenever I detect the slide not closing flat against the coach body.

This may not help with your current problem but maybe it will help others who read this post.

In closing, if I was critical of you in the past please accept my apology!

Jack

[wstrace3]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

I don't know what the fix will have to be. I do know that we are on "new Slide motor" #4. "All new Slide components" #2. And the worst part is whenever I write on IRV2 about my slide issues, the other Palazzo Owners get all in an uproar, like I am bashing Thor or the Palazzo! No, I am not bashing YOUR Thor product or YOUR Palazzo. If your slide works properly I am happy for you. But our slide dosen' work and Yes I have buyers remorse!!
Have been trying for 2 days to get in touch with Thor. Their phone message yesterday said their office was closed because of the weather. Today I left a message for Tom Overton. Still haven't heard back.
And before anyone says anything: Yes, the slide was on shore power, yes the coach was level, no there wasn't anything heavy on the couch...........
The slide just doesn't work properly and since the entire thing has been rebuilt, I can't see where this problem will ever go away!!
And I found out, the trade in value on the Palazzo has gone down $40 thousand dollars in the 6 months we have owned the Palazzo! So trade-in will cost us a fortune!!
So if anyone is upset because I am not happy with our Palazzo, I am sorry.

Very sorry to hear you are still having problems. Sounds like the Grand Canyon was fun though and we would not have seen you if you wouldn't have looped back to go to the other exit on I-10. I think DW came out of her chair when she say yall. "look it's like ours" she screamed.. ok so we are dorks.

Sorry if you have answered this a hundred times on here but where did you buy yours and who has been doing the slide repairs?? We bought from Berryland in Ponchatoula, LA. I follow these threads closely to see what problems people are having so please keep posting. As Jack Arnold just posted we want to hear more from owners. It's the others chiming in we are not interested in. I was just at the dealer yesterday picking mine up (minor issue.. had a piece of flooring changed out) and was asking if they have seen any with slide issues and if I should have mine retrofit to the new standards but not sure if I want to do that since I have had no problems. Mine didn't hit the lot until around May 2013 and I drove it off end of August 2013.

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by TheArnolds

Rick,

I may have been one of those people that pushed back at some of the VERY negative comments made by some folks that had slide problems but it was not to say I am sorry for their difficulties. There has been several others, who do not own a Palazzo and never purchased a Palazzo that were the most vocal based on some of the negative comment found on this WEB site. I am sure the $40K hit on resale value has something to do with the slide problems and the internet chatter discussing the slide. The happy Palazzo owners are not as vocal as those with a problem.

I understand that you have had a number of parts changed and you have done all the right things procedurally to operate the slide but I am still unclear what exactly the slide is or is not doing? Is it coming in cocked front to back, top to bottom or something else? A couple of photos would help the rest of us to understand your problem and maybe someone may have a suggestion.

On one of my trips to Thor one of the service techs told me that you can adjust the travel of the slide by doing the following;

1. Start with the slide in or out and take it to mid travel and stop.
2. Retract the slide a few revolutions, 4-6 inches and stop
3. Extend the slide a few revolutions, 4-6 inches and stop
4. Repeat this 3 times and on the 3rd time retract the slide completely

I did have an issue early on where the top of the slide would hit before the bottom but after doing this adjustment exercise the slide closes flat against the coach body. I have repeated this adjustment exercise several times over the months whenever I detect the slide not closing flat against the coach body.

This may not help with your current problem but maybe it will help others who read this post.

In closing, if I was critical of you in the past please accept my apology!

Jack

Thanks Jack. I will try this. When the slide malfunctioned it was retracting in crooked, so what I had to do was to disengage the slide motor and let the other side of the slide come in until the entire slide was straight. Then I re-engaged the slide motor and retracted the slide in until it started to come in crooked again. Then I went outside and disengaged (unplugged) the motor and repeated the whole process until the slide was completely in. The entire process took about an hour to retract the entire slide.
Now, since we are home I extended the slide to unpack MH after our trip. The slide is going out crooked (front to back) when I try to extend the slide out. So now, the slide is half out and half in, DW is frantic, and I continue to call Thor.
Will let you know what Thor says.

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by wstrace3

Very sorry to hear you are still having problems. Sounds like the Grand Canyon was fun though and we would not have seen you if you wouldn't have looped back to go to the other exit on I-10. I think DW came out of her chair when she say yall. "look it's like ours" she screamed.. ok so we are dorks.

Sorry if you have answered this a hundred times on here but where did you buy yours and who has been doing the slide repairs?? We bought from Berryland in Ponchatoula, LA. I follow these threads closely to see what problems people are having so please keep posting. As Jack Arnold just posted we want to hear more from owners. It's the others chiming in we are not interested in. I was just at the dealer yesterday picking mine up (minor issue.. had a piece of flooring changed out) and was asking if they have seen any with slide issues and if I should have mine retrofit to the new standards but not sure if I want to do that since I have had no problems. Mine didn't hit the lot until around May 2013 and I drove it off end of August 2013.

Nice to see someone else from good 'ole Louisiana!!
No, we didn't buy ours from Berryland (although we may have test driven your 33.3). We wanted the 33.2 and Berryland didn't have any. We bought ours from Johnny Bishop RV in Columbus, MS. which is about 4 hrs. away from us.
The first time the slide malfunctioned, Johhny Bishop's repair shop did the repair. They changed out the 500:1 motors for new ones because they said the motors may not have been "seated" properly. (They had changed the motors out from the 300:1 to the 500:1 before we bought it since they said Thor recommended it). They said the motors not being seated properly may have caused the slide to malfunction.
The next time the slide malfunctioned we brought the coach to Berryland for repairs. We dropped it off on 9/24/13 and didn't get it back until 11/5/13 but when Berryland had the coach they did change out all the slide components to the 2014 slide parts. (So new adjustable rollers, new motors, new wiring harness, new slide tracks, new shim plates under slide etc.).
Now Thor said "Maybe Berryland didn't do the repairs right". (I am sure Berryland wouldn't be happy about that assessment).
Now Thor said they want to "bring the coach to the factory to repair it". I hate having all the extra miles and wear and tear on it, but at this point I have to do whatever it takes to get the MH useable!
I will call Tom Overton from Thor tomorrow and discuss the details. (originally the DW spoke to him but when he said "we want to bring the coach to the factory" the DW froze and said "I will have my husband call you".)
I will let you know what happens.
Geaux Saints and Who Dat!!!

[ChallengerRN]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

I don't know what the fix will have to be. I do know that we are on "new Slide motor" #4. "All new Slide components" #2. And the worst part is whenever I write on IRV2 about my slide issues, the other Palazzo Owners get all in an uproar, like I am bashing Thor or the Palazzo! No, I am not bashing YOUR Thor product or YOUR Palazzo. If your slide works properly I am happy for you. But our slide dosen' work and Yes I have buyers remorse!! Have been trying for 2 days to get in touch with Thor. Their phone message yesterday said their office was closed because of the weather. Today I left a message for Tom Overton. Still haven't heard back. And before anyone says anything: Yes, the slide was on shore power, yes the coach was level, no there wasn't anything heavy on the couch........... The slide just doesn't work properly and since the entire thing has been rebuilt, I can't see where this problem will ever go away!! And I found out, the trade in value on the Palazzo has gone down $40 thousand dollars in the 6 months we have owned the Palazzo! So trade-in will cost us a fortune!! So if anyone is upset because I am not happy with our Palazzo, I am sorry.

I'm one that is not bashing you at all. I too tried to trade - $40,000 here too. I have a 2013. 33.2-- NOW THATS SAD.
And I was trying to trade for another Thor. Lol Now I offered to take a $25,000 loss but was unable to make that deal.

As I have suggested before Thor need to step to the plate & give all large slide owners the option to bring them in for the latest fix that they have. Surly by now they know what the issue is.

It sounds like that the last few that have been fixed are being fixed different and better.

Mine has been back to the factory and repaired. It was not repaired the same way as they are doing them now. I am as careful as possible and hopefully the popping and cracking noises when it goes in and out don't mean anything. Ha

As to the ride & drive. I am as happy as I could be. Not one issue with the drivetrain. Good fuel milage & plenty of power.

Russell

[DP Guy]

Originally Posted by ChallengerRN

As I have suggested before Thor need to step to the plate & give all large slide owners the option to bring them in for the latest fix that they have. Surly by now they know what the issue is.

It sounds like that the last few that have been fixed are being fixed different and better.


Russell

My experience with our 2013 33.2 was pretty good!

We had some issues with the large slide, the local dealers tried, but couldn't fix it, so we went to Elkhart. According to our service rep, they changed out the tracks, used a better metal in the new ones, and we haven't had a problem since.

[Palazzoblues]

It is interesting to note that my September 2013 built model year 2014 Palazzo 33.2 Schwintek system failed too. I was told that the 2014's did not have the same problems the 2013's had. I listened to most of the posters here that these issues have been solved. Apparently they were not.

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by DP Guy

My experience with our 2013 33.2 was pretty good!

We had some issues with the large slide, the local dealers tried, but couldn't fix it, so we went to Elkhart. According to our service rep, they changed out the tracks, used a better metal in the new ones, and we haven't had a problem since.

Encouraging to hear your fix from the factory solved the problem. We are working with Thor to get ours to the factory for repairs. Ours too was repaired at a dealership and the repairs didn't fix the problem. Maybe the Thor factory has fixes that either the dealerships don't know about or can't afford. Or won't afford. Meaning, the fixes are more expensive than the dealerships want to tackle so they cut corners. Either way, we are keeping fingers crossed that the "Factory Fix" does the trick!!

[Palazzoblues]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

Encouraging to hear your fix from the factory solved the problem. We are working with Thor to get ours to the factory for repairs. Ours too was repaired at a dealership and the repairs didn't fix the problem. Maybe the Thor factory has fixes that either the dealerships don't know about or can't afford. Or won't afford. Meaning, the fixes are more expensive than the dealerships want to tackle so they cut corners. Either way, we are keeping fingers crossed that the "Factory Fix" does the trick!!

RKNOLA,

Sounds like you guys are doing the right thing. I hope Thor follows through with what they say they will do for you. Keep us updated on the progress. I know it seems extreme to having to send it back to the factory and more wear and tear on your Palazzo, but the Schwintek issues far out weigh what little wear and tear it will see. Make sure they go through it with a fine tooth comb too.

[Batten54]

Originally Posted by Palazzoblues

It is interesting to note that my September 2013 built model year 2014 Palazzo 33.2 Schwintek system failed too. I was told that the 2014's did not have the same problems the 2013's had. I listened to most of the posters here that these issues have been solved. Apparently they were not.

Nope...the 2014s still have major problems. My 36.1 was built mid June...driven to dealer in Claremore OK...cleaned...and we picked it up June 28th. Took it to Joplin MO over night, then a week later to Lawrence KS for a week (grandkids), then left for the west coast about July 25th or so. Slide went out about 10days into the trip...in Medford OR!

[ALO604]

It seems a lot of the slide issues are on the 33.2 coach. How has the 33.3 coach been? Would extra weight from the washer/dryer have anything to do with it?