I have a screws loose…. & on the coach too

[Ottosails]

Any advice or tips on replacing the screws in the cap sidewall seam?
2021 Magnitude SV34.

I can feel 3 screws that are backing out pushing the trim out on the street side.

I’m planning to:
* Remove the cap sidewall seam trim
* Install longer/bigger/stainless screws
* Reinstall trim with Geocel 2300 MHRV or ProflexRV

We have a few trips coming up and need to get this baby tightened up…

[Judge]

I have bad news for you.... its not just loose screws. I reported a couple years ago (along with many other Omni / Magnitude owners in the past 12 - 18 months) about the front cap not being properly attached on the Omni / Magnitudes.

When driving and leveling these is enough flex between the house box and the front cap attachment points that screws start to break and pull out. Thor did not use the proper screws and process for attaching the front cap to the coach. The attachment issue is on both sides of the coach, the roof and the cab attachment. To do it right it is more than just using some bigger screws in my opinion.

If you are under warranty (and the Structural Warranty should still be in effect for you), I would consider contacting Thor and taking it to the Factory Service Center for repair... unless you have the capability to do it the right way yourself.

Myself and others had the front cap attachment issues repaired at the Thor Factory Service Center in Wakarusa. The guys there were well aware of the problem. Here is my original thread about the issue:

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4...sue-22547.html

Some guys like Pillbox and Kwplot34 did their own repairs. Here is the thread of the excellent analysis and repair that Kwplot did on his coach. I am sure he did a far better job than what the Factory Service Center did when they repaired my coach.

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4...fix-28874.html

You can search for Pillbox's thread on his repair of the previous Thor Super C's that had the same issues and they didn't fix before they built the Omni / Magnitude.

You do want to get this addressed quickly because you will get water intrusion in the coach... especially when driving in the rain.... and water makes its way behind the trim and into the walls, etc.

Good luck!

[Ottosails]

Thanks for the excellent feedback as always Judge. I have read both of the linked posts numerous times but thought if I caught it early enough I could prevent further damage at least for a time. I do always manually level as gently as possible.
Warranty is not available through Thor as I'm the second owner and the transferable warranty ended 3 days before I bought the coach. I did have the curbside seam addressed at a dealer here in Phoenix last summer (covered under the transferrable extended warranty) and its still looking good. I guess plan B will be to get this side tightened up until I can get it repaired locally or make a trip to Wakarusa 1,800 miles away. Fortunately I have covered storage and it rarely rains here. If running in the rain I'll put some 100MPH duct tape over it...
On another note: Have you taken your coach out of storage yet? How's that Vroom holding up? I started talking with Brian at Vroom right after you had your slide done and have my install appointment in a few weeks. looking forward to checking that off the list.

[Pillbox]

Welcome to the club.
Good luck.
I followed Judges write up and repaired mine.
Not that hard, just be patient.
Terry

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Ottosails

Thanks for the excellent feedback as always Judge. I have read both of the linked posts numerous times but thought if I caught it early enough I could prevent further damage at least for a time. I do always manually level as gently as possible.
Warranty is not available through Thor as I'm the second owner and the transferable warranty ended 3 days before I bought the coach. I did have the curbside seam addressed at a dealer here in Phoenix last summer (covered under the transferrable extended warranty) and its still looking good. I guess plan B will be to get this side tightened up until I can get it repaired locally or make a trip to Wakarusa 1,800 miles away. Fortunately I have covered storage and it rarely rains here. If running in the rain I'll put some 100MPH duct tape over it...
On another note: Have you taken your coach out of storage yet? How's that Vroom holding up? I started talking with Brian at Vroom right after you had your slide done and have my install appointment in a few weeks. looking forward to checking that off the list.

Depending on the year of the coach, you may have some of the 5-Year (or 12-year for models 2021 - Present) of the Structural Warranty, which is separate from the 12-Month Warranty. It might be worth investigating.

Pillbox and Kwplot both have good write ups on theit repairs.

If you just replace the bad screws now, the others will eventually follow. You’re better off attacking it now and getting ahead of it once and for all.

I just finished the two day drive back to PA from Florida. I plan to get the LiFePO4 batteries out of storage a d back into the coach early next week. I’m also do ling an Inverter upgrade so I can run one of the A/C units and also have a better charger for my batteries. Plus I’m going to do some wiring to use the new Inverter to work on any AC circuit. I have a new Freedom XC Pro 3000 I had on backorder for months that finally got delivered in February to install. Glad I ordered it when I did as the price is $300 higher now.

I’ll report back on the slide as soon as I exercise it!

[pohoda]

Originally Posted by Ottosails

Thanks for the excellent feedback as always Judge. I have read both of the linked posts numerous times but thought if I caught it early enough I could prevent further damage at least for a time. I do always manually level as gently as possible.
Warranty is not available through Thor as I'm the second owner and the transferable warranty ended 3 days before I bought the coach. I did have the curbside seam addressed at a dealer here in Phoenix last summer (covered under the transferrable extended warranty) and its still looking good. I guess plan B will be to get this side tightened up until I can get it repaired locally or make a trip to Wakarusa 1,800 miles away. Fortunately I have covered storage and it rarely rains here. If running in the rain I'll put some 100MPH duct tape over it...
On another note: Have you taken your coach out of storage yet? How's that Vroom holding up? I started talking with Brian at Vroom right after you had your slide done and have my install appointment in a few weeks. looking forward to checking that off the list.

In case you didn't know Thor does allow the transfer of all remaining warranties to the 2nd owner only. I am also the 2nd owner of my 2020 BH35 and I went on to the Thor site and downloaded the transfer of warranty document, filled it out and submitted to Thor. Once processed I was added as the primary owner in their database and have utilized the warranty from Thor to have the front cap fixed. Mine was well outside of the 12 month warranty and Thor still covered that. Worth a look.

[Ottosails]

Originally Posted by pohoda

In case you didn't know Thor does allow the transfer of all remaining warranties to the 2nd owner only. I am also the 2nd owner of my 2020 BH35 and I went on to the Thor site and downloaded the transfer of warranty document, filled it out and submitted to Thor. Once processed I was added as the primary owner in their database and have utilized the warranty from Thor to have the front cap fixed. Mine was well outside of the 12 month warranty and Thor still covered that. Worth a look.

Thanks pohoda - I'll definitely look into it. I'm guessing you had the cap repair done locally in California rather than Waukarusa. All good with the cap now and what did they end up doing if I may ask?

[pohoda]

Originally Posted by Ottosails

Thanks pohoda - I'll definitely look into it. I'm guessing you had the cap repair done locally in California rather than Waukarusa. All good with the cap now and what did they end up doing if I may ask?

Yes I had it done in CA at J&L RV Repair in Fontana, CA. They replaced all of the screws with the correct and larger versions and applied some type of adhesive/bonding foam around the seams is how they described it to me. It has been fine ever since and no issues after 1000+ miles and even some offroading.

[Zenith]

Originally Posted by Ottosails

Any advice or tips on replacing the screws in the cap sidewall seam?
2021 Magnitude SV34.

You caught it early, so you will probably be fine like I am if you add a ton more screws. I did just that and we're past 14k miles now - over 6k miles on the repair - and it still looks good.



Here's my post on what I did and tips; https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4...tml#post321763 and I'll just copy it below too, save you a click:

My steps:

1. Carefully cut the sealant on the trim top to bottom, cutting through it on the top - and using caution on the house side when cutting to go parallel to the ground so you don't cut through the roof membrane.
2. Peel the rubber cover trim back. It's painted - but your paint will be fine if you're gentle. It is C shaped and grips around the metal strip the fasteners are in.
3. Add screws, lots of them. I used hex head galvanized self-tapping screws that were a size thicker than what was on there. The factory screws are 1" long #8 screws, I used 1" long #10 screws. For every broken screw, I put 2, doubling the screws.
4. Clean the existing sealant using alcohol wipes and clip the rubber trim back in.
5. Seal it back up.

That took less than 2 hours, so much better than having a shop do it. If it fails again, I'll figure out what else needs braced over the cabover above the cab, but I think there's enough in there to be a permanent fix.

I just used a fresh razor and stood on a ladder to chop it. For seal, Geocel will be perfect.

[Ottosails]

Originally Posted by Zenith

You caught it early, so you will probably be fine like I am if you add a ton more screws. I did just that and we're past 14k miles now - over 6k miles on the repair - and it still looks good.



Here's my post on what I did and tips; https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4...tml#post321763 and I'll just copy it below too, save you a click:






I just used a fresh razor and stood on a ladder to chop it. For seal, Geocel will be perfect.

Thanks Zenith - I ended up doing the exact same thing a few days ago. Turns out that one screw had sheared off and two others were backing out (all in the same area). I went with a little wider longer screws and pre-drilled. All other areas, top, bottom and curb side of cap appear good for now. I'll monitor all areas closely and see how it holds up over the next few trips as I contemplate a more thorough repair to address the problem.

[chunker21]

Or you could be like me and realize it's a horrid thor POS and dump it for something better built. The front cap is just one of many substandard build quality that is used and some like the A/C and heating ducting can't be fixed short of taking floor and ceiling apart. You may or may not realize or accept at this point that you bought something very expensive and very poor quality. I did and made a change. My threshold for incompetence, and that extends to RV build quality, is low. It's pretty, has a nice chassis, but the house?????

[Ottosails]

Originally Posted by chunker21

Or you could be like me and realize it's a horrid thor POS and dump it for something better built. The front cap is just one of many substandard build quality that is used and some like the A/C and heating ducting can't be fixed short of taking floor and ceiling apart. You may or may not realize or accept at this point that you bought something very expensive and very poor quality. I did and made a change. My threshold for incompetence, and that extends to RV build quality, is low. It's pretty, has a nice chassis, but the house?????

Happy for you Chunker. Upgrading is just not in the cards for me right now and this coach is so much better that what I had.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by Ottosails

Happy for you Chunker. Upgrading is just not in the cards for me right now and this coach is so much better that what I had.

I understand and it wasn't cheap to upgrade but I'm too old to deal with crap and want my remaining RVing to be pleasurable. Wish you the best in your endeavors.

[Zenith]

Originally Posted by chunker21

Or you could be like me and realize it's a horrid thor POS and dump it for something better built.

My Thor has been just fine. All RVs have issues, you fix them and enjoy it. It's a house on wheels, there will ALWAYS be something to fix.



Life's too short to hold so much frustration. You've moved on - find something better to do than let your old RV take up so much of your time and thoughts.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by Zenith

My Thor has been just fine. All RVs have issues, you fix them and enjoy it. It's a house on wheels, there will ALWAYS be something to fix.



Life's too short to hold so much frustration. You've moved on - find something better to do than let your old RV take up so much of your time and thoughts.

But it's so entertaining to read and participate in this. Especially entertaining are the newly anointed omni and magnitude owners who discover an issue that's been beat around here for a long time and seem surprised.

And the beat goes on. You are correct than in any RV there will always be things to fix, tighten, seal, and adjust. But when the build quality of a product is so low that reconstructing it is necessary, that goes beyond "normal". One might say I got an extraordinarily bad omni but in reality I got a normal run of the mill one. I just investigated and found out how bad it was and decided my RV experiences deserved better and made a change. Oh so happy I did. But to each their own and your mileage may vary as they say.

[chunker21]

I know some people here hate seeing me make a post or comment. I don't make comments to an Ace, Axis or other thor products because I haven't had them. But the omni which thor seems so proud of and the fact it's poorly made I sometime feel obligated to reply to someone who has issues. For those who don't want me to post, I believe this forum has the "ignore" feature. For those wanting to hear a dissenting opinion, read on.

Disclaimer; I have had 2 Keystone Raptor toyhaulers, a 2011 300MP and 2020 356. Both were pretty good RVs. Not perfect but far superior in build quality to the thor omni. I sold the 356 not because of issues but because I wasn't going to travel with a motorcycle anymore and wanted to go with a diesel C. Thus the omni. Thankfully for Keystone, thor for build quality in the TMC doesn't yet go into the Keystone product line.