Grand Design/Frame Flex/Carsons

hey good afternoon hey this video is in regard to a video that I watched this morning cruising with the Carsons and their ordeal with reflection made by Grand Design product their fifth wheel and I want to tell you kind of give you my little story in regard to The Grand Design product but let me backtrack a little bit I've been camping a long time and my first camper that I bought was in like 1985 little popup and then uh my wife and I we uh we've had 21 campers over our lifetime we got into the Vintage RVs as well so we've had many RVs I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I'm an expert in RVs or anything or anything like that but I do have a little common sense when it comes to them um so over the years we've had vintage we've had new we actually still own a 42ft fifth wheel we have this new Rockwood here and I'll get into telling you why we bought that we were camping last year and we specifically went to elart area to to do a factory tour of Grand Design schedul that appointment 2 months out I want to go see how the Grand Design products were made I was a firm believer in Grand Design um I used to work well I worked after I retired I worked at an RV Resort in south Georgia and we used to hold Grand Design rallies and I thought they were wonderful with their warranty work they come through with a Roven trucks fix everything they put on a big smash you know it was great and I recommended Grand Design to a couple friends you know they do have them um and I was really hung up on them and I wanted to go see how they were built so while we were up there in ship chuana Indiana we uh were camping and a lady had pulled in her and her husband had pulled in with a Rockwood mini light as you can see that's maybe what we have behind us if you can see it so we were talking about going to the tours and everything like that and she kind of suggested hey you should go see Rockwood you know and she let us come in and see her RV and the quality of it and I said yeah I think I'm going to do that we got a week up here we're going to go ahead and do that so I called Rockwood by some slim chance the next morning and we were able to get a uh a tour the following day I went in and I toured Rockwood and then the following day we went and we toured Grand Design products and while we toured Rockwood we were touring it while the workers were working primarily the Amish were working building the RVs so we could get to see them exactly what they were doing they were hustling we got to ask a lot of questions we actually did talk to a few of them you know and you know even one said that you know he used to work for another manufacturer and he said that wood was a good good company now granted regardless what RV you get you're going to have problems with it you're going to have to do some type of Maintenance you're going to have to keep it up but with that being said we saw Rockwood we went to Grand Design we were on the tour with grand design and there were no workers the place was cleaned up it looked like you know they were kind of ready for us so we walked around and got to see the various stages of the RV you know of course from frame up and then we got up to a tier where we went up on a mes mes mesum yeah you know walkway um and uh we got to see the roof and I wish I had a piece of it but I got to see the roof and the roof to me it was stick built and it was like maybe 1 by two maybe 1x3 with the trusses and everything and and at this time that roof was slated for the camper right in front of it which was about a 32t reflection travel trailer and I was as I was walking around I I got a picture of the roof of the structure but I didn't get a picture of what I saw uh and what I saw was on the bottom truss on the rail going all the way from in to front back to front front to back that piece of wood that wood was cracked and it was actually broken so they were going to take that piece of roof like this hoist it up and move it and drop it on on the RV now whether they fixed that piece or not I don't know but to me that broken piece of wood have should should have been replaced um I don't know whether it was or not so at that point I really kind of got turned off by the construction of the Grand Design travel trailers and I specifically didn't like the wooden trusses on the roof and the Rockwood they had the aluminum trusses and there there's a lot of differences in regard to the build structure and I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Rockwood is the best built camper out there cuz realistically I'm expecting to have problems just like everybody else minor hopefully but uh so far we're we're doing good um no OSB board on the flooring of the Rockwood which The Grand Design did The Grand Design had a thinner piece of OSB compared to a 3/4 or maybe it was five 5/8 plywood on the bottom there I got the paper somewhere they build Quality Sheet um I just felt like the Rockwood was structurally built better than The Grand Design at that point and I I was really thoroughly disappointed in Grand Design and I know that they're part of well when aago bought them we actually have a 42t wineo uh 2016 model um I was was really disappointed in Grand Design and their construction and now after watching this video this morning with um cruising with the Carsons and his disappointment uh in his frame and the in the quality build of his fifth wheel you know I kind of I was kind of like mulling over this all day long about doing this video and what I saw there at Grand Design and it could have been a fluke they could have repaired it I don't know whether they did or not but I'm just telling you what I saw I believe I believe I wish that the RV industry would be held to the same standard as car manufacturers especially when it comes to warranty work number one recalls um you know this Flex flame uh this Flex frame is having a big issue with other beers out there you know these are disasters waiting to happen on the highway you're out there Towing 14 15,000 lbs fifth wheel and something happens I mean you know this could be a fatality so um I am glad to hear that uh Grand Design stepped up their warranty from 3 to 5 years um that's a plus that's a plus in right direction but I know after watching this video cruising with the Carsons they did say that this is their second RV from Grand Design they had to have one replaced already which you know it's kind of disappointing so somewhere along the line something's got to be done and I really think it's the power of the people we the people we need to start putting our foot down because I know when I uh went to buy this you know and I asked about putting the clause in there about the Lemon Law what if this thing comes out to be a sour lemon well realistically if I were to finance this um which we did part of it um and I wanted that statement in my contract the bank wouldn't Finance it so Indiana the state of Indiana they have an incredible favorable Lemon Law for them in regard to these RVs uh I was watching endless RV they did a good um a good video in regard to lemon laws and lemon law lawyer regarding the RV industry um and the you know as a consumer we're basically screwed I mean we could not Sue the uh the manufacturer regardless of what other manufacturer we bought so you know with that you know with that said uh I really think that you know there's got to be some type of uh maybe something in Congress a bill being passed or a law written to where the consumer of RVs are are protected now this is a multi-billion dollar you know operation uh or you know I guess in the industry that they are selling so many of them and especially after during Co that the the sales have skyrocketed all the way astronomical um I really think I think that the CEOs they say that they care but to me it's about the bottom dollar in regard to uh selling these RVs it's all about the money dollar and you know they build them they throw them out get them on a lot let the salese take care of them and if there's something wrong with it then it comes down to the warranty work and then you're stuck sitting at the dealership for 1 2 3 months or longer waiting on the warranty to be fixed approved fixed and then delivered back to you so um if they only took the time and made the RVs like they used to back in the day um you know of course you got to take care of them but if they the frames they were steel back in the day you know we actually just gave our son a 1998 Sunny rook and the frame on that is just phenomenal got a full tin roof on there I think is in really good shape and um I just uh I just think if they had taken the time and built a a better quality RV maybe people like the Carson and others wouldn't be in the situation that they're in um of course they all have to be maintained and it's up to everybody to maintain them this is all opinionated my opinion as well you know but I do um believe that some of the older RVs were made uh with a little bit more quality um I think now we have these Engineers that frankly I think they're so smart they're stupid and um you know it's kind of like the government do more with less and you see the results of what's going on um so um I don't know I just I think um I think we all need to stick together um for those that have the love for rving and camping and getting out there and traveling I think it's a great Pastime for the children and families to get out there get these kids off of um their little games and their phones and um get out there and enjoy some family time but um hopefully the Carson get this uh issue rectified and uh I don't know maybe they'll move on to another brand but you know shame on Grand Design right now um I think they really need to step it up as well as all the other uh manufacturers out there but um anyway that's it for today uh just I more uh than usual video that I normally do I only do like a short video but I really felt like man kind of like Disturbed me a little bit about two RVs and you know arguing and fighting and stress that they have to go through with without reflection uh with Grand Design so um I really wanted to talk about it but you know it's kind of a rambling uh video but other other than that um happy trails to you all be safe out there on the road camping season's getting ready or has kicked up and uh there's going to be more of us out there and hope to see you down the road until then um Happy Trails that's it we're out

Channel: Lambo & Doc

Views: 10,845

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Id: fNfGQu8-cR8

Length: 13min 52sec (832 seconds)

Published: Tue May 14 2024