RV Frame Problems | Grand Design POOR Customer Service
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- Опубліковано 17 вер 2022
- Our home is falling apart! It took 21 days of unanswered calls and emails for Grand Design customer service to schedule a repair date. Our 3rd Grand Design 5th wheel and our first to have a major problem. We feel let down by the "superior" customer service everyone raves about. We will be without our home for an undetermined amount of time and there is a lot of unknowns if we will continue this full time rv adventure.
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#rvlife #fulltimerv #rvliving #fulltimervfamily #rv
We had enough of the run around with Grand Design customer service when they left us along side of the road with broken spring hanger. They couldn't figure out who was to pay for it. We are full-time RVers and this is our home. Lippert came through for us. Lippert got us a temporary fix so we could get home. Lippert did send a tech to our home base to fix it correctly. The tech told us that they just build the frames according to Grand Design specs. Lippert needs to stand up and say we aren't building them that a way. Someone is seriously going to get hurt out on the road. And RVIA needs to make Grand Design recall all the RVs. We have ditched our Grand Design and went with another brand.
The bean counters are responsible for this.
I’ve already posted once, but need to add this. Your video IS NOT a rant. It is just factual information given in a very professional manner. Thanks again for sharing.
Thank you!
Our Grand Disaster Momentum is costing big money. The straps that hold the water tanks ripped away and the tanks fell to the ground.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. My husband loved a Grand Design and it was sold when we went back to purchase it. Dodged that bullet.
I ordered a Grand Design Toy Hauler and canceled because I was seeing a lot of this from Grand Design. I went to another manufacturer and after watching this, I’m super glad I did. If your channel had 40k subs you would be taken care of within a week.
Yes, thank you for saying that. Hopefully you are happy with the other manufacturer. Safe travels to you and thanks again!
Which manufacturer did you decide on 🤔
@@jamesglenn520 I ordered a 31G Toy Hauler back in February, then heard of some people having issues with some of the units plus issues with GD which absolutely shocked me. I always heard GD was a very good company. We ended up buying a 29TRX from Outdoor RV. So far we’ve had two very minor issues (kinked sink hose, and a small 2x2 cover) that went on the bottom of the RV that came loose. My dealer sent me a new cover piece and I fixed the hose. The trailer has been great so far and we are heading out on another adventure here soon.
@@DavidBrown-jt7yi That's awesome.
We looked at pretty much every manufacturer on the market last year.
When we first started looking GD was a contender But after really looking at them in person the Build Quality was terrible if you looked deep.
And the price was outrageous 😳
We ordered an Alliance Valor 40v13 and have been absolutely happy with it.
We have had Minor things come up but nothing I myself have not been able to solve within a few minutes 👍
@@jamesglenn520 The Alliance Valor was an absolute beautiful rig. We looked them very closely and decided they wanted too much for the unit. If we would’ve went 5th TH we would’ve went Raptor, Valor, Fuzion. The units were close to if not well over 100k and we just didn’t want to go that high as someone that will probably only use it 6 to 8 weeks out of the year for right now. I hope you really enjoy your rig, that was very nice. If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of tow rig at you using?
We decided to go with Grand Design because of all the good things we heard about their customer service and all the inspections they supposedly did prior to it leaving the factory. When we got our 2021 Imagine MLE we were so excited that it took us a while to notice our issues, the list is long but the biggest was that it needed a new roof all the decking came loose from the rafters. We purchased it in April of 2020 by July we were trying to get someone from Grand Design to help. Once we finally got a signed someone to help us it went downhill, from July 30 to September 17 we couldn’t get any help/reply from Grand Design. Once they finally agreed to all the problem it took them until May 10, 2021 to resolve it. From what we have seen if you have a big UA-cam channel they will take care of you asap. We still love our Imagine but I’m still finding issues, we just take care of the repairs ourselves.
We were thinking when we made this video public that we were probably going to get many negative comments towards us because of how many rave reviews there are regarding Grand Design customer service. It has been surprising how many people like us and yall are speaking up about similar customer service and repair needs that seem to be ignored for an extended time. Thank you for sharing your experience. We too still love our rig but have been very disappointed by customer service. Several others have said that they notice how the big UA-cam channels get quick attention and repairs too. Thank you for watching and safe travels!
We got a brand new 2022 took us three months to get it back because of the roof fighting with Grant design
So sorry to hear that you too have had issues with GD customer service. Thank you for sharing.
@@0707moto HATE TO HEAR THAT - BUT IT IS INFORMATIVE - JUST STARTING THE PROCESS - WELL, STARTED 1/2/23.
Thats the problem with a new company. It's easy to give great service when you only a few units on the road but by the time you have tens of thousands of units on the roads the service will start to fall off.
Glad you are sharing this. It’s important for people to hear more than just fan boy reviews, but instead real life experiences. Hope they treat you right and get it done quickly.
Thanks guys! Hoping they can make it right in a reasonable timeframe too. We'll keep you updated!
You absolutely did the right thing releasing this video. I can only imagine the frustration regarding this issue. I have never seen your channel before. It just showed up randomly. I will definitely follow through as you seek resolution. I am praying for you that you may be able to put this behind you in the near future.
Thank you Mike! We're hoping this is repaired quickly and correctly so we can get back on the road but we're going to make the best out of it.
Grand Design doesn’t seem to be such a grand design anymore. Good Luck your going to need it.
Thank you!
Thank you SO much for sharing!!!! We have been set netting a Solitude and now we are rethinking this…. I will be following this carefully! Praying for a positive outcome and I hope this gets corrected soon! Stay strong! ❤
Set up a hidden camera system on your interior.
Update us concerned rv community.
This is what future buyers need to see.
You are providing a great service to prospective buyers. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing! We can't wait to upgrade our current rig to a new or newer Momentum 5th wheel toy hauler to keep our journey on the road. Only, if this trucks will cost less to purchase now so we can upgrade sooner than later...lol. Happy trails and safe travels!
To clarify the lipart frame thing. They are a welding manufacturing shop. They get blueprints just like any other trade. They are said use this metal of whatever size and dimensions and make it this way to…engineer specs. Or No pay! So essentially still grand designs fault!
If I were paid to cause harm to someone who is legally responsible for that action . Both parties ! But LLC and Grand Design are making the one harmed responsible .
Good luck on getting your rig repaired. I’m sure you have seen how they build these. It explains a lot. We had a tire blowout which did some cosmetic damage but also the clothes washer and knocked the slide out of alignment. In the shop right now.
So sorry to hear Bobby and April. We’ll be watching for updates and hoping for the best.
Prayers for you, friends. I hope they can get your problems solved quickly. ❤️🙏Jane in SC
Thank you Jane!
Thank you. We have been looking at rigs. This is good to know. 👍
Thankyou for sharing. Hope all goes well
As an Mechanical Engineer (Ph.D.) and a full time Rv'er (CLASS A ) . I feel for you folk's that own a 5th wheel. As I've stated to many UA-camrs that these units are not designed for hauling down the Highways. Yes Buy one leave it on a Campsite for summer get aways and that's it. All those people I see with these issues need to get together and file a law Suit against Lippert/GD and also file a compliant to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Thanks for posting this video. We just had a total nightmare with Alliance RV that we documented on my channel. They are in the process of buying it back from us and we were considering trying a Grand Design trailer next. We will definitely watch your other videos to see how this played out.
I had the exact same customer service experience with our 2022 Grand Design Reflection 31MB. Our issue was a main slide not operating. Because of this we were not able to access our stove and fridge. Finally got it resolved after almost 4 months but it took a lot of pushing on our part to get anyone to do anything.
So sorry your customer service experience was as bad as ours. Glad it was finally repaired. We appreciate you sharing this. Safe travels!
Thanks for sharing this and I hope you get your issues resolved quickly so you don’t have to live in a motel. I bought a 2022 imagine. Our family loves it however ours has many issues and dealers we called are far away from where we lived. I contacted grand design directly and got bounced around from department to department and emails and phone calls have been blown off. I ended up paying someone to fix our brand new air conditioner, and am just dealing with the other bad craftsmanship. Pretty sad working in customer service myself how bad or non existent it is these days.
Much blessing to your family and problems with your 5th wheel.
Thank you. Sorry you are having problems with customer service too. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing. I am not an RVer yet, but I am looking at getting a towable. A Grand Design is highest on my want list but, …uh, good thing I’m not in a hurry. Hope y’all get it sorted soon.
They also have problems with there slides. Several that I know of were ripping up the floors.
Thank you for doing this. We have been looking at Grand Design RVs but have had so many problems with build quality in the past were unsure if we should make the purchase. Your video has convinced us to look elsewhwere. Thanks again and good luck.
Thank you for the well wishes and good luck on your search!
Thanks! will be looking forward to the next video transparency will bring them more sales for right now I will keep my 88 airstream every time my wife sees a 5th wheel see loves them.
We'll definitely keep everyone updated as this unfolds. I'd hold on to the Airstream too! Thank you for watching!
Thank you for posting this and the follow-up. We have a 2022 310GKR and are headed to Elkhart factory for repairs. Have broken all lower filon trim screws on door side, screws keep dropping from somewhere near closet, closet does not close when rig is leveled, and we keep blowing Goosebox pressure relief valves. After watching your videos, I went out today and checked the decals. Same wrinkles but opposite side. We had a major suspension breakdown in Glacier National Park (6 of us with the 8K suspension upgrade). Christine has been marvelous to work with. Hoping we get a similar resolution. Dexter and LCI refused to cover the suspension issues. GD covered it all when we were 2,000 miles from home.
You'r not alone! We're in our 3rd rig in 5 years and this one will probably be our last one. We bought a Prime Time Crusader 382MBH and absolutely love this 5th wheel but one issue we have is we bought it at a large dealer 2.5 hours away and boy have we had issues trying to get into service and just getting it there. A lot of these repairs are Lippert components issues like our awning arm breaking off and crashing down onto the rv the first trip we took, awning "Smart Arm" inop. since new, leveling jack legs wiring just popping out etc. and some of these have been Prime Time's fault as well as the dealer. We all realize what these animals are but lately there seems to be more structural and major component issues. Lippert has been great to deal with, they've walked me through some stuff to fix and just recently sent me a whole new wire harness and awning controller but there I am again fixing an issue that shouldn't be an issue. I think ALL OF THESE manufacture's need to take a step back and instead of turning out 20 rigs a day maybe take some time to do a quality control check and turn out 15 a day.
Thank you for sharing and so sorry to hear of all of your troubles. Your recommendation to manufacturers is a great one! Safe travels!
Your video just popped up in my feed. Have never watched your channel before. So glad I watched this one though. We are looking to purchase a GD Fifth Wheel and working with the dealer this week regarding price. However, after watching this video, I think I'm having second thoughts about the GD brand. I've been reading and hearing both sides about GD, but had decided to go with them anyway because I know that they can all have something go wrong with them. I think we are going to wait for now and look back at another brand that I liked as well. Maybe that why we haven't been able to come to an agreement on price. Sorry you're having these issues and I certainly pray they will be resolved. Thanks for being transparent in sharing the truth. Peace and blessings.
Hey guys.... We are starting our RV life as well. Actually, we are picking up our Rig today.
I found during my extensive research that 2021-2022 models with every brand suffered from poor manufacturing due to the covid shutdown. We walked through hundreds of RVs.. Every 2021 or 2022 have major defects I could see.
We settled on a 2023 Keystone Fuzion 429. I picked it over fairly well. Hopefully we will not suffer the same.
Prayers going up and hope to meet on the road sometime!
I had the same issue with my 2022 Vanleigh beacon. That also has a Lippert frame and it is at the service center as we speak having gusset plates welded to stiffen the overhang of the fifth wheel.
Thank you for sharing. It's crazy how many others have reached out with such similar Lippert frame problems. Hopefully your rig will be repaired quickly and correctly!
@jamesdemann7752 I have a 21 beacon. Did you by chance take photos of the area of repair? I’m not seeing any issues as of yet but would like to do some inspecting. Thanks so much.
@@rickhutchins2087 I do have some pictures but I’m not sure how to share in this format.
I bought a new 2019 GD Reflection 297RSTS in 2018. It was a disaster. They substituted a 1/2" slide out kitchen floor in lieu of the spec 3/4" floor in the original build. This lead to the floor edge trim rubbing a hole on the main laminate floor. Their solution was to cut out a section and replace it which eventually delaminated. After that, they refused to address the manufacturer defect. Here's what you can look forward to; The furnace squirrel cage and the overhead vent gear box is made up of plastic components. They will eventually fail and fall apart sooner than later. If you look at the fit and finish over time, you will notice shoddy craftsmanship everywhere. It becomes more apparent as you become more familiar with the design and construction. The roof had small debris and particles underneath the TPO membrane poking a hole through it because they were too lazy to clean the roof before laying down the membrane. Water will seep through the TPO and dry rot the roof. Customer service was worthless. If you don't have a YT channel with a following, you don't matter. Long story short, I dumped the POS in 2021 and got a 2022 Newmar luxury DP. Don't fool yourself. All the hype abut GD customer service is a lie. I can back that up from first hand experience. I assure you you will regret the purchase.
We are going through the same thing. Our floor in the master bedroom is doing the same thing in our 2022 Grand Design Momentum it's been 10 months. We been trying to get warranty repairs completed. I completely understand your frustration. They have the worst customer service.
Welcome to the club - our 2021 399TH was towed from Seattle to Elkhart 30 days ago to be repaired - major structural issues.
New subscriber here thanks for the info. I’m actually picking up my first toy hauler today,and moving out of are house. So all info is good info. I hope they get you guys taken care of in a timely manner.
Congratulations! That's awesome. Thank you for the sub and enjoy your new rig!
I understand your concern with the frame flex....I did as well on my 2022 399TH. However, after the correct measurements were taken from the locations identified by Lippert and GD, my 1-1/4" flex where you showed on the video is minimal compared to what I have. ANY frame is going to flex (it needs to) as it's part of geometry and physics (think aircraft wings flexing). I'm comfortable with my frame flexing to the amount it does (actually would prefer your measured 3/4"), but I'm good with it. I'm glad the GD is taking care of you, they are the greatest!
We completely understand "frame flex". However, as minimal as our pin box movement is, our trim (as shown in the video) separates the caulk every time we travel because it "flexes" so much. Does your 399TH have that issue? Are the screws in the upper deck working their way up underneath the vinyl flooring in the bedroom due to the "flex"? Has your flooring on the upper deck developed a loud creak across half of the floor? Grand Design has not taken care of us yet, but we are hopeful that their service department is much better than their customer service. We will keep updating as this unfolds. Thanks for watching!
Your experience is upsetting and I will definitely take it into account when purchasing our next unit.
Sorry to hear about your troubles….I work at a rv service center in Colorado and I understand your frustration….since the pandemic, rv manufacturing were pumping out over 400,000 units a year, with supply issues, and with a reduced work force. Their attitude was to pump them out and have service centers fix everything as warranty work. I personally own a 2006 Fleetwood Wilderness AX6, 32ft 5th wheel and I would rather have that than anything new. They’re all have a lot of issues…I know. Surprisingly, I work on more Airstream than anything….as far as a brand. VERY SELDOM, do we get a grand design for repair, mostly for upgrades like solar. There are some things I like about gd, but really, on a whole, each year model suffers in quality, that’s why I bought an older one and did a lot of modifications myself. I also think they’re putting too much technology into the components…I camp to get away from it. Good luck to you both.
I have so much sympathy for you folks. Been there, done that! Four year old Premier 26RBPR was a disaster from the purchase date. It was some Camping World crap that my wife insisted we buy, now she completely regrets it and we are talking about selling it in 2023 and get another brand. TOTAL nightmare that lasted several months, many trips to Camping World and Good Sam was worthless. Will NEVER deal with any of them in the future. Good luck!
I'm sorry about that. We have a Tiffin and stay at their service location in Winfield AL with full hookups while the service team does their thing. I do feel your pain when dealing with our dealer who will remain unnamed. Best of luck to you! Hang in there. Things will get better. It just may take some time.
Thank you! That is really nice to be able to stay in your Tiffin while serviced! We are learning to be able to change plans at the drop of a hat with this lifestyle. You too have probably learned that along the way. We wouldn't change our decision and you're right, just a small bump in the road and it will be better soon. Safe travels and thanks again!
Wow! Booby and April I can’t believe Grand Design. That’s crazy with their customer service. How can they do that? Why couldn’t they have helped you out? I’m glad you finally got through to them to bring it in to get fixed. I wish you luck when you go there to have them fix it. Ya I would love for you to keep us informed how it goes with Grand Design. Hope you have a great week and travel safe. I will pray all goes well.
Dang I feel for you guys. Also I had high hopes for Grand Design… I’ll have to look through your channel to see how it turns out.
Just thought I would share with you our story. We purchased a Momentum 23G (Grand Design) in April of this year. We had 1 trip in it and the rear awning broke we took it to our dealer (Lazydays in Tampa) and they had other minor repairs to do that we found in the walk through. We dropped the RV off on May 9th of 2022.... They still have our RV it is Sept 30th, they blame it on Grand Design not sending parts or approving parts. Meanwhile while on Lazydays lot the RV was ran into and caused more damage. They originally told me a month and everything would be done, we see how the RV industry treats the people who keeping them in the money. I hope your 21 days stays firm and you and your family get back to good times in the rig you love! Stay safe!
We have a similar issue with our Forest River, there is quite a bit of flex in the front of the unit, there are screws coming up in the bedroom floor. We had a crack in a wall that they took the unit to the factory and replaced both walls, brought it back to us and then we had to send it back to them for a roof, now we have another wall crack, the frame issues and no one to help. I just noticed the other day that our basement door frame is tweaked as well and the door doesn't close as it did. Love our fifth wheel, just have never had these sort of problems with anything in the past.
Sorry to hear you guys had such a bad experience with GD customer service. We had the exact opposite experience. Our Solitude has its own unique challenges that GD took care of for us. They had our rig for about a week. Be sure to ask them to cover the cost of the hotel. They helped us in that department as well. We made a video on our channel about it and we received permission to input some video we took while it was under repair.
Thanks! Grand Design did not help cover our cost of the hotel nor did they allow us to use any footage of the repair in their facility. We were told it was against Grand Design policy to use any footage from their "production or repair" facility. This proves their favoritism to some. So happy they took care of your issues and you had a wonderful experience!
For shure the frame is cracked. Now days the bulding RV lighter. This is the result. I restored a 1994 22 ft fifth wheel from Dutchman no slide, simple , and yes it's heavy ..but it is very strong. Hope the best for you guys. Cheers from Canada.
My husband and I bought a Grand Design Reflection 150 series260RD before we bought it I noticed a “wrinkle” in the wall with the slide. Dealer said they would fix it before picking it up. Went to pick it up and wall was not fixed. Dealer took it back had 3 months and could not fix it. In the meantime my husband was in contact with Grand Design. Dealer gave it back to us thet could not fix the wrinkle. Grand Design contacted their fix it place and a representative contacted my husband. The rep sent a driver to pick up the RV to get it repaired. The lady rep was very nice and mentioned the “wrinkle” was a damaged wall. They needed to reorder a complete wall section no slide out and repair the RV. The support person was awesome and she sent pictures and kept us up to date. She even asked when we needed our tv back. After several months, it was delivered back to us. The work was wonderfully done and it looks like a brand new tv. Hopefully once yours gets to the right person, it will be fixed.
That is not the story most people tell just the opposite
Hey folks, I hope you see this comment. This is the first video of yours I’ve watched and boy can I relate to the frustration dealing with GD customer service.
The good news is once you get to the service center it will be a night and day difference from customer service - some of their CS folks seem down right hostile to customers.
Anyway, the work crews all leave by 3PM in the afternoon so once they leave you can go to the service department and ask them to escort you to your rig (assuming it’s still inside the repair bay and not parked outside temporality)
The customer service people I have talked with have been very nice and responsive, but so far - almost 4 weeks, there has been no action.
Make sure your insurance will cover replacement value and not book value. If your frame breaks, the rig is totaled. I had similar issues with a Rockwood and my fix was to just show up at the factory it was built at with the busted rig in tow, and ask to speak with the manufacturing manager, that worked wonders!
We are in the same boat but as second owners they gave us the heisman and said you are on your own.
We are FT in a 2019 (precovid) VanLeigh Vilano with similar issues. Crap CS is everywhere. Lippert issues are everywhere!!! I know only know “lippert” as under engineered, poorly welded junk that will fail without notice. Best wishes, safe travels!!
We are thinking about a grand design 5th wheel for are retirement rv to start touring the country. We came to this conclusion after hearing glowing reviews from people we talk with at camp sights about the first class customer service and warranty. After watching this video we are going to start looking for other options!
Grand Design if your looking at these comments these are not minor issues, for the price people pay for these trailers if you cant take care of major issues like this in a timely fashion, or try to kick the problem down the road it might affect your future sales!
There are very, very few RV manufacturers that invest in engineering, but that is what you want if you start full-timing. Most are heavily focused on aesthetics and marketing instead, and that unfortunately includes Grand Design. One way I like to appraise them is to check on what their insulation package actually contains vs. the R-value they claim for it. Grand Design will claim R-30 or R-40 insulation value just because an assembly has a layer of aluminum foil in it, which is not just woefully inaccurate and deceiving customers into freezing pipes, but it is impossible unless they have figured out how to amend the laws of physics. Maybe start with a company like DRV, understand how and why they construct as they do, and then see how close you can get to that in smaller / less-expensive units.
well they are not so grandly designed anymore it's so sad
Bought a new fifth wheel in March and decided to choose between the Grand Design and Montana. After looking at the GD reviews I took the Montana. They all have problems, but I can say my Montana has been great with the exception of a loose valance on a window that I had to repair. One full summer and all is well. Hope you get your issues resolved.
Good tho know and thank you for sharing! Thanks for the well wishes too!
We started noticing the same creaking in the master bedroom of our 2021 Momentum today, looking forward to seeing how your experience goes.
Thank you for sharing! We will keep updating as this unfolds. Safe travels!
thank you for the video
Thank you for watching! We'll keep updating everyone as this unfolds.
You might want to look in your front hatch and lookup where the deck frame meets the drop and look for cracks in frame. Also put the full load on the truck and look too. If you see cracks I would move it till they come out and patch the frame…. Good luck. P. S. The supply chain for parts has everyone behind I been waiting for a new transmission for my truck for two months now, worst part is my trailers stuck up in the UP in Michigan at a camp ground… and winters knocking on the door😢
Thank you for the info. I've looked as best I can without taking apart anything. Nothing obvious but that's not saying much lol. By the look of the bulging metal in the sheet of aluminum that covers the outside bottom of the deck frame, the trouble is in that area. I cannot access that area without dropping that sheet.... Sorry to hear about your truck. Hopefully it will be repaired just in time to grab your trailer. We wish you luck with that!
We have RV’ed for 44 years now. We’ve owned many brands. From experience, there isn’t any perfect manufacturer. You purchase knowing issues will most probably occur. We’ve owned only two, that we can remember, that had no issues other than getting old.
Had some problems with our 2021 Solitude 2930 and kept getting the run around from customer "service" over a six month period. Finally called and asked to speak with the CEO. He didn't take the call, but I did speak with one Mel Williams, a VP who apparently has great authority with GD. It only took a couple of weeks and the problem was resolved by his authority by a local dealer (not where I purchased it). Please try him. Good luck! I'm new to your site, but I just subscribed.
Thank you very much for this information! Thank you for subscribing too!
I did have bad service experience with my RV Grand Design
We wrote a very balanced letter to the Grand Design CEO outlining our experience and he didn't so much as send back a form letter. If I was the CEO I would have given that letter to someone like your Mel Williams to follow up on and get relief for a customer. [head shake]
@@grambothelegend7388 I received a letter from the CEO yesterday - welcoming me to the GD RV family - the day after I returned it to the dealer for assessment of rust on the undercarriage at the time of purchase; and 27 days after I reported the issues to the dealer and GD Customer Service. He stated the Grand Design "focus has been on producing high-quality RVs that our employees are proud to build, and out customers are pleased to own" And "goals above all others: Continue setting new standards in the RV industry for the highest build quality and best Customer Service, bar none". I would love to love the unit I purchased, and I am still hoping soemthing will work out. No reasonable person would think the new purchase of a Grand Design product with extreme corrosion on the undercarriage is a product a company would be proud to build, sell, or expect a consumer to be pleased to own.
Sorry to hear about your frustrations with Grand Design. I have had a only good experiences with GD making my repairs, but they were not as severe as yours may be. I would suggest that if you can provide CAT scale tickets it will help you. I’m surprised at some of the payload ratings VS the storage area in some of these rigs. It’s so easy to overload them, especially full timing. I’m not making accusations, I’m trying to help you prove your using the rig within Grand Designs specifications. Best of luck, Greg
Time flys when your worried about you’re frame flying apart lol! We switched to a Arctic Fox 35 and it’s been problem free for over a year and heavy use. Our Vanleigh Vilano had tons of issues and one being the lippert frame. After Winnebago bought GD out it’s been much worse quality. Northwood RV is private owned.
Is anyone contacting Winnebago with their concerns? We will keep Northwood in mind!
if this isnt fixed soon it wont be a Winnebago it will be a winnebagon
An idea of an amazing place to go would be Fort Robinson Nebraska. Amazing history and a ton of things to do. Hope your situation gets better.
We hope to visit Nebraska in 2023 so this recommendation is great! Thank you!
So glad we are temporarily done. We sold our 2017 Solitude that we loved. We easily put 20k in ours for independent suspension Amish furniture custom cabinets etc. Ours was great even though we had a couple of problems with the small slide (1 of 5). The best guy that ever worked for GD went to a startup competitor, and after all I've seen, I would not buy a GD today! They were light years better than the Montana we had but the Head guy now just basks in his multi-million dollar Winnebago position.
Some other RV channel here on UA-cam stated it best: These rigs are built as light as possible and are designed to be used like one month a year at the most. NOT to be permanently lived in and traveled relentlessly....sad but true.
I also have had some unanswered emails. Nothing major. When we first got ours, we had a slide issue that ripped the floor. Took 6 months to get OK to have it fixed. It was patched. Didn't hold. Finally got the OK to have the floor replaced. Took it back to the dealership. They called and said the floor was no longer available. Now we have a brown floor in the livingroom/kitchen and grey in the bathroom and top of the steps.
That's terrible! Thank you for sharing.
Good video and I hope Grand Design resolves the issues on your RV. Video's like yours have made be shun buying an RV. As much as I'd like a Toy Hauler the issues I've seen with RV's on UA-cam have made the decision for me. IMHO the overall QA process on all levels in the RV is poor at best. I hear from those in the RV industry that's the way it's always been because it's a home on wheels. My response is it's time for change. Time for RV owner's/buyers to do a full court press on these RV manufactures.
We also have a Lippard frame. Our 5th wheel is a Durango by KZ. We have the creeks, and we got a stress crack in the body of our RV! We’re also making an appointment to go up and have it checked out. We wish you the best on your repairs and we’ll be watching because we’re right behind you!!
Please let us know what they find wrong with your rig. Thank you and we wish you the same!
Lippert
@@joedwc thank for pointing out the spelling. I trusted spell check. Haha! Silly me!
definitely a stressful time for repair guys in these shops. Seems they have too many repairs due to the low quality RV builds
I’ve watched a lot of these and I’m not sure it’s all frame issues like some people may say. The frame builder and the rv manufacturers are not working close enough together. Both are being a little deceiving when they explain how much weight you can hold and carry so therefore we have a disconnect. The frame is built to hold a lot of weight as long as it’s evenly distributed throughout the rig but unfortunately most rigs don’t have evenly distributed storage compartments so therefore we don’t load them correctly which causes the rig to pull apart.
Man, you guys seem to have been ahead of the curve. All kinds of GD frame problems now.
GRAND DESIGN..... off my list..... thanks for the info..... and all the best to you guys
We had this same issue with frame flex at the pin box when we hooked up. It was a different manufacturer but same frame. So sounds like there is a definite issue with the way these frame are currently being made. Our manufacturer has already resolved the issue we had with the frame flex on our home.
I see so may Grand Design units when camping. Thanks for reminding me why I decided to not purchase a Grand Design product.
I had a lot of the same issues with my Jayco and although they fixed most of them some still haunt me to this day.
Sorry your having issues with your Grand Design. Hope it holds together until your service appointment. I thought Grand Design was a solid company, but this makes me wonder. Good luck with your repair.
We have the same creak in our bedroom floor! 22 Solitude, purchased November 2022.
Also, the floor seems to be really unstable. If standing by the island, the floor gives substantially when my husband walks by me. I haven’t checked our frame. We don’t move and are set up for long term.
I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will not progress into the problems we had with ours, but definitely keep an eye out for any screws working their way up into the flooring. Safe travels!
Lippert will say "we design the frames to the OEM specs". Seems to be the case for all of the Jayco Eagle HT 5th wheels in the 2017-2019 time frame too. Sidewall separation.
The biggest issue is that OEMs design these rigs to BARELY meet the loads exerted. What's wrong with overbuilding them a bit, except cost.
I have a 21 GD and I needed a simple hot water heater door hinge pin. I emailed pics and it was a total joke! They sent me a whole new door! It finally took GD 6 months to get us the right $5 dollar part! I had the same issues with emails and calls not be returned! So not impressed by them. This is my first and last GD!
That's terrible!
We've been full time RV family since the start of 2019 in a 2019 GD Solitude 3740BH - been across the country three times pulling it - so, yeah, we've got a little experience with this rig. We gave up working with Grand Design and their customer service. We've had a lot of problems and had to fix it all ourselves. Their warranty has been of no value to us. And I know people swear by their support and quality, but my experience has been very different.
BTW - my last upgrade was getting rid of that garbage electric Lippert level system. I had a Big Foot system installed in SLC - and wouldn't do it any other way. I can fully level manually as the center stabilizers are daisy chained on the rear legs (4 hydraulic pumps at each corner leg). So even when Auto Level doesn't level perfect, really simple to correct. That is because the rear controls both rear and center. When in manual, lowering the rear causes the rear legs to drop, and once they make contact the valve flips to start lowering the centers. Then, the center and rears lift together when all on the ground. So I can get full control of all 6 legs at the same time.
I spent countless hours with a drill manually lowering and raising that garbage electric system. If you're gonna stay in it for a while, upgrade. And BTW - called GD to get what hydraulic system they install from the factory - they wouldn't help. Told me that they don't do that - WHAT?! I've seen countless Lippert hydraulic systems from the factory.
Grand Design service is not what people claim it is.
Thank you for sharing this! And why would you tell me there is a better leveling system out there! Lol, now I have to convince April that we need to get this.😆.... Seriously though, sorry you have had similar issues with GD customer service. So aggravating.
We’re about to buy a 2022 3740BH. Should we do it or do you think it’s a bad idea? We’re going to be boondocking & going from coast to coast.
We are not in the position to answer yes or no to that question. We will say, though, that the 3740bh floorplan is still our most favorite and suits our full-time family of 4 lifestyle. After all of our issues and repairs, we still love our rig. We have visited 34 states from the West to the East and lived in it for almost 2 years. The only advice we can give is to do your homework (lots and lots of it) and hire an inspector if the seller will allow it. We always follow our gut feeling when buying a rig. If something, anything, doesn't feel right..... Walk away. We wish you good luck with your buying decision, whatever it may be, and safe travels!
I hope you have better luck than I did. I had a heartland RV with a lippert frame that did the same thing. And I currently have a redwood fifth wheel and that has the same thing going on because it is a lippert frame. The reason they won't let you see the repairs or take pictures, because if you've ever welded in your entire life you will say those are not welds that you put on there to fix. I can spread Frozen peanut butter on fresh white bread and not make it look as bad as their welds are. And I do have the pleasure of saying that because I have welded for 35 years. Lippert needs to be held accountable for this. Might sound strange but I'm not on any form of social media by choice. I consider UA-cam my social. And I don't comment very often unless it hits real hard at home. I do have the house, but have been a mobile welding service since 2002 and just like you full-timers I need my RV for work. Great video via social media or better yet, UA-cam let's get a class-action suit going against them and put this to bed! I thought when I bought my fourth fifth wheel that cost more than my first house, I would be getting a quality product. But no they're all POS with the different name on them and a different price tag. But almost every single one has the exact same frame manufacturer underneath them, and that is the problem not the RV itself!!
Our 2022 Grand Design 39M was amazing….at first! Then 3 months in the solid counter top island fell over on my wife and hurt her (we were parked)After inspection the island was held up by 2 wood screws. So disappointed. We have factory and extended warranty but they have my money so we will never be a priority. Sorry to hear about your problems.
Wow! Hopefully she was ok. We have seen several complaints about the island collapsing or completely falling over. After learning there were only two screws on each end, I investigated ours and sure enough.... I added 1x1 supports and many 3 inch screws to hopefully prevent any issues with ours. Thank you for your comment.
Yes, we looked at a grand design also however, after seeing several of these videos on the Internet, I think we’ve changed our minds and we’re gonna go with the good old van and hotel lol
Good call
I have a heartland bighorn 15k loaded and it does not flex under the at the point you showed. One comment said it is supposed to flex but that would be the flex of the entire frame. Saw one before and the frame had cracked where it is flexing. I think it was a GD. They had sent a welder out to temporarily weld it to get it to GD and then they went in and welded new brackets to fix it. The screws are coming up because of all the flexing. It’s backing the screws out. I would travel as little as possible. Good luck.
Thank you for your comment! Good to know that you are not seeing flex where we are seeing it. That info helps us a lot! Thank you for watching and we will keep updating as this unfolds!
It's good to hear the truth about grand design come out. Their UA-cam influencers making it look like you can just run up to Middlebury and get everything all taken care of, no problem, has pissed me off for quite some time. No RV company is perfect but they have a lot of people buffaloed. Their products are no better than average and their customer support is just like every other.
We have seen the same and were shocked when customer service said they don't normally allow people to bring up their own rigs. This has been a terrible experience so far but we are hopeful that the service department will take care of us and our home. We may never be Grand Design ambassadors but that's ok. We will tell the truth about our experiences and try to help others with information. Thank you for your comment. We appreciate it!
@@TravelsAbound thank you guys for your honesty. I'm a fan of our Flagstaff (Rockwood) but the customer service has left a bit to be desired. Unfortunately I think that's normal for this industry.
You take good decision the only talking good from Grand Design are the influencers what received for the advertising benefits
It’s disappointing to think that these companies tailor their service to official ambassadors and treat the rest of us like chopped liver. No offense to all you liver lovers out there. 😂
@@TravelsAbound Your Solitude is under warranty. Take it to your dealer. That’s what Grand Design wants you to do. I have a Solitude and had a Reflection 5th Wheel and an Imagine Travel Trailer. I’ve had minor issues with each of them, but have always had them taken care of through the dealership and ALWAYS got the approval from Grand Design. Something is strange with the way you are handling your issues considering you are under warranty with your rig. However, your dealer could suck and that might be the problem.
I had the same lack of response from Winnebago.
I was going to buy a 2023 303 RLS. However after watching so many videos of the frame and other issues I have canceled my buy. Sad this was a camper I really wanted to buy.
It is definitely a problem across all RV manufacturers these days. We have been waiting for 6 weeks to get a slide fixed. We have only owned the trailer for 2 months now!!!!!
Yes, industry wide and its frustrating. Hopefully your issue gets taken care of soon. Thank you for watching.
A friend of mine had a similar problem. They took it back to lippert fixed in a week.
That's great! That gives us some hope, thank you!
We had a 2018 FR Arctic Wolf 5th wheel with Lippert frame that we noticed the front bedroom wall was getting loose in the first few months. Eventually some large lag bolts began to walk out on the passenger side main bedroom wall / floor areas. By 2019 / 2020 the front inside wall was moving as was the driver's side wall. In the mid 2021 the pin started to "disappear" into the nose and the front inside wall "exploded" and the 2" aluminum tubing crushed, tore and ripped apart the front wall and side walls. The unit was totaled after a rough road cause the front to fail. The floor, frame and walls separated into three floating parts and the trailer began to rip itself apart. We received no help from Forest River and were left to figure it out on our own. Sad a 40k unit was totaled within 3 years and it was very well taken care of and even worked out in Indiana at the factory in the early stages of the failure. Good luck.
Wow. So sorry to hear this but thank you for sharing.
sounds like a truck camper would be a better option for you
Two neighbors on my street have imagines. Already one of them had major frame/suspension issues. Broken springs and hangers, stranded on the road, etc. I like the price points, but I will pay more elsewhere to avoid these problems.
With the facts floating around about poor quality you are braver than me.
Sorry you guys are having to deal with all this. I've had the same issues with Lance customer service so you aren't alone. We are thinking about you guys and hope to see you again soon.
Thanks Sean. It's aggravating isn't it. I bet we cross paths soon lol. Safe travels!
Currently looking for a new travel trailer, and had GD as one of my top choices until recently. Hope you get satisfaction.
Also good way to guarantee you get taken care off. Once they see this video they will do better than they normally would.
We hope the service department takes better care of us than the customer service department. Thank you for watching!
Wowwww 🙄 came across your video on my channel. Sorry to hear about your dilemma hopefully Grand Design will take into account the impact this video will have on their bottom line & do the right thing. Safe Travel's to you guy's. 👍🏾
Thank you! What an ordeal this all was, but luckily, we are back on the road all fixed up. Thank you for watching and safe travels to you two as well!
One word! Brinkley. They have there issues, but they seem to take care of them. It amazes me as I have doing research that there is a general acceptance that they all have issues and that’s just the way it is. The amount they charge for these RV’s that should not be the case!
Brinkley will be in the same place when they get some time behind them. Grand design started out the same way Brinkley is, now look at them.
@@stevedenoyer5956 Grand Design got bought out by a larger corporate entity. If Brinkley remains independently owned, they may hold onto their quality.
I'm sorry you're having to go through this. GD marketing has always been far greater at claims than the design and production departments have had the capacity to deliver. I had studied their materials and the factory tour had so many signatures of game-playing for an engineer with implausible answers to questions (e.g., trying to convince me that a stack of OSB sitting there wasn't really OSB, it was "marine grade"--trying to suggest high-grade plywood without saying that word) that I decided fairly quickly that this company was like most other RV manufacturers and mostly about aesthetics and marketing. That is where the real investment was obviously going, and I determined not to touch their products. Seeing what others have gone through since, I'm glad that doing my homework and a preview meant that I didn't have to risk learning the hard way.
My 2005 prowler has a wooden frame built on a metal frame, this was so they could install the water lines in the wooden frame. I have a damaged line rotting the back of the bottom of my trailer now. Cast iron 1/4 inch metal frame until you hit the front.
Guys, rent an airbnb for a month to start . From experience, if you have frame problems, lippert was 8 weeks out just for a camber test on one of our rigs. Check above your slides for cracks as well. Keep documenting everything, you will most likely need a lemon law lawyer to get it bought back in the end. I wish you the best of luck!
We did look into airbnb vs hotels and for us, the hotel was cheaper due to accumulated points we have. If it's not repaired within the 21 days we have booked, then we have options to stay with family. Fingers crossed they can get us back on the road within a decent time frame but we're preparing for the worst. We're keeping a paper trail and hoping we never have this issue again. Thanks for your advice, we appreciate it. Safe travels!
Every lemon law attorney I've ever seen said, "DON'T BUY AN RV!!!"
@@matt89108 It would seem they are not looking at a huge number of potential clients, with over 11 million households owning RVs; 600K built in 2022; $114B industry; 600K jobs. Who wants a lawyer until you need one?
@@markphillips590 The industry needs higher building standards.
@@matt89108 AB SO LUTE LY!!!!!!!
Hearing of your travails is unfortunately comforting... misery loves company... thank you for sharing. We've had our very first Grand Design 5th wheel and the build quality has been very inconsistent with the reputation Grand Design enjoys. We wrote to the CEO and he didn't take the time to even send back a form letter. Customer Service has come through at times and dropped the ball at others. We too have been willing to drive from Texas to Elkhart to try to get an appointment at their repair facility but keep getting "go through your dealer" resistance. Dealers do nothing with your rig for weeks waiting to see if GD will cover their costs (ours has been in the shop for two weeks without a single repair done) and we have very little confidence in the competence of dealer repairs. We'll be very interested in hearing about your experience.
Thank you for sharing, we too feel better knowing it's not just us having these problems. Our point too was the lack of confidence from dealerships to resolve (the correct way) a major problem such as a frame repair and the months it takes to get in line. We will continue to update and wish you luck as well with your RV problems.
I hope your rig is out an rolling. Also, in Texas. We purchased a new 2022 Imagine 2600RB on 11/2/22 and the undercarriage was rusted - everything - more than I would have every thought could rust - did not notice it until 7 weeks later, and reported it to the dealer and GD on 1/2/23. It is at the dealer now to be evaluated, 4 weeks after being reported, and hoping the assessment is completed quickly. I think the only solution is replacement, and do not feel a dealer is ever setup to return it to new condition as in Elkhart County (where 80% of all US trailers are manufactured). If you have any GD contact info, or attorney recommendations, please pass it along. I received my CEO "Welcome to the Grand Design RV family letter yesterday, the day after returning my trailer to the dealer. Timing!
@@markphillips590 I'm so very sorry to hear this. Our rig is back home and we're readying it for this year's travels. We are beyond our year of ownership and are resigned to being on our own for repairs. Fortunately there are many resources, such as UA-cam, to DIY. You are in a time where you are constrained to following warranty processes of GD and Lippert. Keep actively pushing--no one is going to be a better advocate for you than you! I have the GD Customer Service number which should be in your manuals. Do a search of YT for "RV Lemon" for advice. I would be happy to connect if we could figure out how through offline means.
We spent five days each year, the first two years we owned our Double Tree Mobile Suite at the factory in Howe Indiana... They only had electric hookup at the time, this was 2005 and 2006... They would take the RV in the plant at 8AM each morning for repairs and return it at 5PM... We had Lippert hydraulics that required six different repairs... NEVER AGAIN!!!!
It's terrible that you had issues but nice they worked with you by giving your rv back each night. I bet it was still a huge hassle though. We have to take all valuables out and winterize our home to turn it into Grand Design service. Probably going to rent a storage unit for our belongings but not sure yet. Thank you for watching!
Just wanted to let you know that there is hope. I had my upper deck rip apart. I contacted Lippert and they jumped on the problem and rebuilt my upper deck, and did the replacement in the field while we were in Goshen area. This problem has been ocurring across many manufactures for some time now. It is very likely that Lippert will do the repair, but know when it is done you will have a solid upper deck when completed. Good luck, and it will work out. My only advice is make sure that you can tow safely with a broken upper deck.
Thank you for your comment. We have had several others reach out with the same issues and said they were taken care of. That is our understanding from others that Lippert will come in and do the repair at GD. We were so disappointed with the Grand Design customer service but hopefully this repair process will go smoothly. Very glad to hear that you have had no more issues since the repair. That gives us hope. Safe travels!
I'm having a similar issue on a 2016 Forest River. Getting anything from LCI is a pain.
Sorry to hear that you are having troubles too. Hopefully you will get it repaired soon. Please keep in touch and let us know what comes of your issue when it is finally repaired. Thank you for watching!
@@TravelsAbound I just posted a simple video on YT showing the movement when I connect to the truck.
We'll check that out! Thanks!