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Old 04-20-2018, 08:46 PM   #1
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THOR #11321
Check your cargo bay door panels

Bought a "PRE-OWNED" 2017 THOR CHALLENGER 37 BT WITH 5,040 MILES, last Friday, ya Friday the 13th! First stop about 75-80 MILES to our first night in our nearly New Challenger. All was well until I tried to put out the bedroom slide, it wouldn't extend. This floorplan allowed us to still be able, to use the, King Bed.
Then on to our next destination, about 75 miles up the road, near Lebanon Tn on I-40W I hear a loud noise outside, look in the mirror and see, what I thought was the Battery Compartment Door flapping in the breeze. I pull off at the exit I was approaching, into a Home Depot parking lot. I get out and look, and find the Door Skin on The Battery Compartment Door had peeled back, the only thing keeping it from flying off, was the flange of the Door latch ! ! !
I bent the sheet metal back into place as best i could, and secured it with self drilling sheet metal screws, and proceeded on to, our destination. A great looking Motorhome with a crappy, bent up CARGO door ! The Campground is full and everyone that asks what happened, I tell them it's just Thor Quality Craftsmanship ! ! ! Thinking about painting Thor Quality, in big Neon green letters on,that,door for our trip back to the dealer and home ! ! ! Click image for larger version

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Old 04-20-2018, 09:16 PM   #2
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THOR #2983
I notice the inner door is bent. Is is possible that some debris from the roadway (maybe a tire tread) caught the underside of the door and pulled it away?
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Old 04-20-2018, 09:55 PM   #3
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This is the second thread that you've started about this occurrence...

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f8/...nce-11743.html

Did you think that we didn't hear you the first time?
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Old 04-21-2018, 12:45 AM   #4
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THOR #11321
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
This is the second thread that you've started about this occurrence...

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f8/...nce-11743.html

Did you think that we didn't hear you the first time?
Is there a limit?
I sure wish I'd know of this potential before I dolled out the bucks, I'd probably went to a different manufacturer ! And I sure wouldn't have to deal with Someone Trolling my posts !
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Old 04-21-2018, 12:48 AM   #5
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THOR #11321
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bowe View Post
I notice the inner door is bent. Is is possible that some debris from the roadway (maybe a tire tread) caught the underside of the door and pulled it away?
Nope , the force of the Panel being ripped backwards caused it to buckle. Nothing on the road .
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Old 04-21-2018, 12:54 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bowe View Post
I notice the inner door is bent. Is is possible that some debris from the roadway (maybe a tire tread) caught the underside of the door and pulled it away?
You can see where the sheet metal is torn down the sides of the latch, that where the outward force was applied, buckling the inter Panel.
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Old 04-21-2018, 01:36 AM   #7
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i think you hit something on the road, the inner is pouched out at the bottom, the top is straight, the outer skin would not bend the inner door panel on one side (bottom) and not the top.
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Old 04-21-2018, 11:37 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by captmetal View Post
i think you hit something on the road, the inner is pouched out at the bottom, the top is straight, the outer skin would not bend the inner door panel on one side (bottom) and not the top.
Nope, nothing was hit, but a gust of wind !
The only thing holding these " SOLID FOAM CORE CARGO DOORS" Skin on is a strip of Double Stick Tape and a thin bead of some sort of adhesive. Since this happened, I've found 4 other Thor owners that had the same issue ! One guy had Two panels come off, and upon checking his other door found a total of 9 either loose, or already off !
Not sure where you got you ENGINEERING DEGREE, BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK ! ! !
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Old 04-21-2018, 01:01 PM   #9
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THOR #3761
Did you notice anything about the doors during your pre-delivery inspection? Or did you not check that they all worked as expected? Did you do a test drive? Buying any "pre-owned" rig means doing a very thorough inspection as who knows what was done to the unit prior to the previous owners trading it.

I get that you are angry about the skin peeling off but calling people names just because they are asking questions won't help you on this forum.

Good luck in your resolution and I hope that Thor and the dealer steps up for you.
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Old 04-21-2018, 01:40 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by jpmihalk View Post
Did you notice anything about the doors during your pre-delivery inspection? Or did you not check that they all worked as expected? Did you do a test drive? Buying any "pre-owned" rig means doing a very thorough inspection as who knows what was done to the unit prior to the previous owners trading it.

I get that you are angry about the skin peeling off but calling people names just because they are asking questions won't help you on this forum.

Good luck in your resolution and I hope that Thor and the dealer steps up for you.
Who's calling names? But to answer your question, yes I opened each and every door , several times to insure proper operation, and in comparison of the basement storage, with another coach we were considering. I never specifically inspected each door for signs of separation, as I never dreamed it would be so poorly designed/manufactured that it would be a concern ! It's not just me having this problem, as stated there are 4 others had this same incident that I found out about after posting pictures.
Talking to a RV Body Technician with years of experience , HEsays this is a growing problem, and he's seeing more of them.
Looks like everyone should check the Cargo Bay/Basement Doors for signs of Debonding !
I apologise, but it's darn flusterating to spend the kind of money we do on these, and have this kinda crapp happen !

Who KNEW !
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Old 04-21-2018, 03:14 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Maxjr758 View Post
Who's calling names? But to answer your question, yes I opened each and every door , several times to insure proper operation, and in comparison of the basement storage, with another coach we were considering. I never specifically inspected each door for signs of separation, as I never dreamed it would be so poorly designed/manufactured that it would be a concern ! It's not just me having this problem, as stated there are 4 others had this same incident that I found out about after posting pictures.
Talking to a RV Body Technician with years of experience , HEsays this is a growing problem, and he's seeing more of them.
Looks like everyone should check the Cargo Bay/Basement Doors for signs of Debonding !
I apologise, but it's darn flusterating to spend the kind of money we do on these, and have this kinda crapp happen !

Who KNEW !
Well, you did call Bob a troll and told CaptMetal that he needed to get his money back for his engineering degree... pretty insulting.

I would bet most people don't think to check for separation or delamination unless they have experienced it before.

The doors on our Hurricane are different from the doors on the Challenger, they are actually thicker and have trim around the edges of the panels themselves. Since we full time, we do check them at every stop to make sure the contents didn't shift and knock the doors out of place or rattle loose.

I can't say that Thor is awesome at their workmanship. We have had several items that are just nit-picky and easier to fix myself. Some of them should never have left the factory floor but they weren't deal breakers. On the other hand, it was an awesome value and I would buy another Thor product but would inspect it VERY carefully. We have parked next to much higher end units that have all kinds of issues so most of these problems aren't unique to Thor.

Anyway, you did a great job on the temp repair (very functional) and I do hope that you get everything resolved to your satisfaction. Since it is a 2017, is it still under warranty? Did you get a 30 day or 90 day warranty from the dealer?
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Old 04-21-2018, 04:00 PM   #12
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THOR #11321
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Originally Posted by jpmihalk View Post
Well, you did call Bob a troll and told CaptMetal that he needed to get his money back for his engineering degree... pretty insulting.

I would bet most people don't think to check for separation or delamination unless they have experienced it before.

The doors on our Hurricane are different from the doors on the Challenger, they are actually thicker and have trim around the edges of the panels themselves. Since we full time, we do check them at every stop to make sure the contents didn't shift and knock the doors out of place or rattle loose.

I can't say that Thor is awesome at their workmanship. We have had several items that are just nit-picky and easier to fix myself. Some of them should never have left the factory floor but they weren't deal breakers. On the other hand, it was an awesome value and I would buy another Thor product but would inspect it VERY carefully. We have parked next to much higher end units that have all kinds of issues so most of these problems aren't unique to Thor.

Anyway, you did a great job on the temp repair (very functional) and I do hope that you get everything resolved to your satisfaction. Since it is a 2017, is it still under warranty? Did you get a 30 day or 90 day warranty from the dealer?
Well I guess your right but with nearly 3000 comments on every conceivable subject that may very well be a fitting title for BOB !
I apologise for pointing out this fact, and for questioning Capt-Metal's understanding of engineering, and can see how he might deduce that it was hit, I assure you all it was not.
The Trailing edge door frame extends toward the front just past the door latch, providing an degree of stiffness, and an anchor for the latch. As the door skin metal rolled backwards, it met the resistance at the latch frame, rotating the latch and frame sections outward, buckling the panel underneath, until the metal Fatigued, and tore on either side of the latch. The only thing holding the panel is a section of sheet metal under the latch! Imagine one of these panels detaching completely, striking a windshield, or worse yet a Motorcyclist [emoji50] !
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Old 04-21-2018, 08:55 PM   #13
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THOR #8860
Some folks just aren't happy; unless they're mad about something.
But my concern about multiple threads for a single issue stems from the difficulties in knowing where the good answers might be.
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Old 04-21-2018, 10:28 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by bob denman View Post
some folks just aren't happy; unless they're mad about something.
But my concern about multiple threads for a single issue stems from the difficulties in knowing where the good answers might be.
good answer bob
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Old 04-21-2018, 10:30 PM   #15
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THOR #8860


I was just trying to give a bit of what I thought was decent advice...

But some folks like to start fights: that's their problem, and not mine!
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Old 04-22-2018, 12:30 AM   #16
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if you calculate correctly assuming wind force at 60 mph and sq footage of the door 7.25, the bending force, will be applied evenly over the mating surface and a high load in one area would nearly impossible, leaving a road hazard as the only possibility to supply sufficient force at a localized area, resulting in impact bend.
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Old 04-22-2018, 01:03 AM   #17
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I guarantee these separations are not from impacts. I will send some pictures of the double sided tape starting to separate. On the nine I had fixed with panel bond, they had separated anywhere from a few inches, to a whole side or bottom. You could tug a little and a 1/2 gap would result. My challenger was 18 months old at the time, and I think that over time more of this will show up.
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Old 04-22-2018, 03:24 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxjr758 View Post
Well I guess your right but with nearly 3000 comments on every conceivable subject that may very well be a fitting title for BOB !
I apologise for pointing out this fact, and for questioning Capt-Metal's understanding of engineering, and can see how he might deduce that it was hit, I assure you all it was not.
The Trailing edge door frame extends toward the front just past the door latch, providing an degree of stiffness, and an anchor for the latch. As the door skin metal rolled backwards, it met the resistance at the latch frame, rotating the latch and frame sections outward, buckling the panel underneath, until the metal Fatigued, and tore on either side of the latch. The only thing holding the panel is a section of sheet metal under the latch! Imagine one of these panels detaching completely, striking a windshield, or worse yet a Motorcyclist [emoji50] !


You are not alone on your Troll comment........Feel the same way......
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Old 04-22-2018, 12:29 PM   #19
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It's always nice to know that folks are thinking about you...
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Old 04-22-2018, 12:56 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sroyer View Post
I guarantee these separations are not from impacts. I will send some pictures of the double sided tape starting to separate. On the nine I had fixed with panel bond, they had separated anywhere from a few inches, to a whole side or bottom. You could tug a little and a 1/2 gap would result. My challenger was 18 months old at the time, and I think that over time more of this will show up.
Thanks sroyer !
Maybe I was wrong about capmetal after all, it seems he may just be, Educated beyond his ability to comprehend, the obvious ! ! !
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