Quality Control Issues

[Gsandman62]

We have a 2023 Intl 27 FBQ, our trailer has SO many quality control issues! The steps were apparently installed incorrectly and had to be replaced. We have Cabinets coming loose (we constantly tighten screws and have replaced many to no avail) and the trim behind them is migrating down the wall! Our door is installed crooked!! We have had several people look at it and everyone agrees it’s crooked and says it works so it’s not a problem!! There are a good number of other issues not mentioned here that I have corrected myself.

Also both of the Zio Dee awnings, the 12v Patio awning and the manual curb side awnings have broken a couple of times (I know Zip Dee issues not airstream but they put them on so) The curb side awning spring is apparently broken. Who knows what that will involve trying to get it fixed!! We are stuck waiting on a response!!

This is our second airstream travel trailer we didn’t have any issues with our Basecamp 16x. We pulled that thing everywhere! We have 17k miles on this new one.

Are others having these kinds of issues?? Did we just get a lemon??

[CBWELL]

If things are coming loose and screws are coming loose I would look at a couple of things. First, your tire pressure. What are you running for pressure? The higher pressure the more harsh ride in your rig. The next thing is your hitch. What do you have for a hitch and what bar weight do you have? Too heavy a bar weight and incorrect hitch adjustment will cause a very harsh ride in the rig. What is your tow vehicle? How have the awning broken? You need to give us a lot more information.

[Rich Jenkins]

Welcome to Airforums. 17k miles towing in a year is...impressive. Sounds like you have some challenges.

Could you elaborate on your service visits to an Airstream Dealer to rectify these problems, as these issues would be covered by the warranty, no?

Were the steps not working when you picked up the trailer? What caused them to have to be replaced?

Your post is not clear what "broken" means, relating to the awnings. What, exactly, is broken about the electric awning? Does it just not work? You mention the curb side awning "spring". That would seem like a warranty item. Does it not retract?

Lastly, what tire pressures are you running in the rig?

Sorry for your issues. We didn't have that many problems with our 2022 GT, but to be fair only owned it for a year, so I don't know all that much about recent model year AS production QA.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Another (as yet unmentioned) couple items to check:

How is your brake controller set in your TV?

I'm guessing you have a WD / AS hitch. If so what kind is it and how is it set up?

Where have you been towing (and how fast have you been going)?

Like others posting above, I'm guessing that *something* is putting a lot of "shake / rattle / roll" into your trailer.

Bob

[Gsandman62]

I will address all these questions in detail when I have time to sit at my computer. Please for now, let it suffice to say it’s none of those things.

[JeffKim]

Someone in the forums said something like "the Airstream warranty period is just another phase of the manufacturing process". With our 2023 GT we had a punch list of 30-some items after our first year. So far, the awning gods have been kind to us. Most of ours were not as annoying as your problems, but it's often a topic of discussion about build quality. We had the Jackson Center Service Center fix most of them and even then they didn't do a very good job, but we're inching closer to a more perfect camper.

We had a 2021 Bambi before this one and it only had a few problems, but then it's a less complex peice of machinery.

[navychief01]

Yeah. Talk about quality control issues. Was routing a Starlink cable for the SL array from the battery box to the battery cable access beneath the belly pan. Seems the electrical team needs some quality control. Routing hole roughly resized by what looks to be a drill. And no protective grommet = electrical short in the works.

[sfranklin]

Originally Posted by navychief01

Yeah. Talk about quality control issues. Was routing a Starlink cable for the SL array from the battery box to the battery cable access beneath the belly pan. Seems the electrical team needs some quality control. Routing hole roughly resized by what looks to be a drill. And no protective grommet = electrical short in the works.

That is one of the most disturbing things I've seen yet.

[JJTX]

As A side note, to the well known problem of quality control in most everything Travel Trailer related since 2020...

17K means you are living in this camper, which it is not designed for. Thats a lot of time rolling and bouncing down the road.

[Forester2]

How about the bolt on the load side of shunt where power and inverter negatives connect only being hand tight.

[BGClassic]

Loose shunt bolt, that’s a new one for me. Glad you caught it. Navychief01 has a good one, too. I had a similar one with the Romex lines coming out of the wall under the dinette area, the grommet/combing was only installed halfway. Also had several loose electrical connections in the 12V box, and only found them during the MP upgrade.

For the OP, we had a 37 item list repaired at JC last October, and have another list of about six items for this September. But, we made it to Alaska, and the problems are fewer. Tire pressures, Centramatics and slowing down helps. Plus backing off on WD on the Propride.

Our wardrobe doors still are not correct, it’s a design problem.