Fit & Finish Issues?

[Roscinante]

AS new Bambi owners, we love our trailer. However, there are a couple of fit and finish issues that just really bug me. I intend on getting them checked out at the dealer and/or contacting Airstream.

1. Seams on the cloth wall covering under the wrap around window appear to be separating or "strained" to the point of sparating.
2. There are a couple of seams that are loose appear to need gluing down
3. The white plastic seam covers/strips have a couple of gaps in them that really make it look "cheesy"
4. The door to the cabinet over the bed has what looks like a couple of putty filled holes in the front. Really messes up the look.

For a $35-40K RV you would expect a little bit better attention to detail.

Anyone else have any little issues like these?

On the positive side, all the mechanical stuff (except one overhead light the dealer already had ordered a replacement for) worked perfectly. We fired off the heater, the A/C, the water heater, the stove, oven, toilets, all the fans, the radio/CD, and even made our first black water/grey water dump! Everything worked as advertised.

The electric jack is cool. The PRodigy brake and EZ-Lifter hitch work wonderfully. The Bambi is a real pleasure to tow. I have a pair of clip on tow mirrors from Camping World that also work great.



JERRY

[Fyrzowt]

Hi Jerry,
These kinds of issues are common unfortunately. Hopefully your dealer is going to be easy to work with on getting things fixed up as they should be. I live about a mile from our local A/S dealer, and commonly stop in there to either get parts, or just look at the new models. I'm sometimes surprised at the lack of quality in the fit and finish in the new trailers. These are the items that are out in plain sight, I sometimes wonder about the things I can't see.
To put it perspective, the other trailers (SOBs) seem to have the same issues. The difference is, for 40K to 65K, I would want those issues resolved as you do. Good luck with it. Also, there was a similar thread here a few weeks ago that you may want to check out/search for.
Dave

[moosetags]

Jerry-
We have had similar issues with our Lucy. Some have been fixed some haven't. We are 300+ miles from our (the nearest) dealer. We are bringing Lucy back this week and will leave her there until right before Thanksgiving. We are are hoping that all of our problems can be fixed. We will also be having the wheel bearings serviced as we have already put 10,000 miles on her since June, 2006. We have spent 67 nights in lucy thus far, and none of these minor problems have made her "umcampable". I guess that Ain't too bad

[doorgunner]

My 86 Excella has a few fit and finish items also. like the interior panels not lining up, counter top sticking out. Little things that irk me, but will be redone soon.So not much has changed in a few decades. But hey as I've said before "At least we have something to work with" Tim

[TinShack]

Crooked valances, missing trim, knobs that pull off, drawers that come out in transit, rusty screws, the list seems endless. These are some of the issues with our Airstream. It's not particular to Airstreams though. All brands of RV's have the same lack of attention to detail. I keep my trusty cordless drill handy and keep fixing the problems as they occur. Gee...it's a lot like my house.

[Roscinante]

THanks for the reality check. Nothing makes my Bambi uncampable or unserviceable. It just irks me that they don't have a better quality control effort. All the things I noted are in plain site.

And, it doesn't help that my wife runs a hotel facility and she DOES have "the eye" to spot all these little imperfections.

Again. thanks to you forum members (1) for convincing us to get an AS and (2) for mentoring us on how to live with one!

JERRY AND AVIS

[2airishuman]

hi jerry and welcome to airstream'n

there are already several very very useful threads on issues related to fit/finish, build, appliances and other notiions that fall under the 'quality' umbrella..

here is a link to the 2005 thread, but there are also threads for 03,04,06 to read...

http://www.airforums.com/forum...acking+quality

unfortunately a/s has grown to rely more and more on the dealers to 'finish building' the trailers...

so finding a skilled dealer service department has become very important.

yes humans build 'em and yes things happen, but a/s has done such a poor job with quality control that many trailers have pages and days of issues...

your list is tiny....

i had 12 pages of repairs done at the factory in 2 visits....yes 12 pages.

moosetags....

way 2 go!
lots of travel will shake out the bugs better than driveway camping...

do whatever you think is best on the wheel bearing issue but these bearings properly packed the first time can go a long time.

the warrant states that the bearings must be inspected at 6 months. i had 10k miles at 5 month and had the factory do the 'inspection'...

i didn't ask for them to automatically repack them...but 2 do it based on need.

tech said 'they look great, no need to repack yet'...

at 25,000 miles and about 16 months ownership i had the j/c service center do the repack...
and asked the tech how the grease looked...
he said 'well it still looks good but since a year has passed we should repack 'em...

sitting idle is harded on the grease than movement and unless you've submerged the wheels in water they will be fine..,

if you do have 'em repacked ask to watch the tech...so you can 'learn'...
after removal and cleaning the regrease and reinstall should be clean to the point of sterile...
even a little dirt on the new grease or tech's hands...and you are screwed

of course your brakes do need a peek now, too.

cheers
2air'

[GolfStream]

What are the blue numbers about?

[cosmotini]

Originally Posted by GolfStream

What are the blue numbers about?

If you are referring to the blue numbers on some members signatures or blue numbers on their trailers, they are most likely their Airstream Forums AIR number. That is the number assigned to you when you joined this forum

It looks like yours is AIR 19502.