Quote:
Originally Posted by Boerne RV
Less than 10,000 miles on it. Haven’t torn into it yet so I don’t know what all the issues are.
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So I started this thread several months ago because my 2020 Magnitude had issues with the front cap beginning to flex and cause the attaching screws under the trim to snap and then gaps to form around the cab area. Mine started to look just like these pictures.
https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4...sue-22547.html
Apparently this is a problem going back to the older Thor Super C's. I took the coach to the Thor Service Center in Wakarusa to have this addressed under warranty.
The Tech assigned to my coach was great. He said he handles most of the front cap issues (especially where customers are threatening to bring in lawyers). He attributed it too the factory using attachment screws that are too small and not enough of them as well.
He ended up removing the trim around the front cap as well as the headliner in the cab. Then he removed whatever screws didn't break or fall out and replaced them with larger screws and more of them. He also used a heavy duty truck bonding sealant around the inside of the seam.
The repair looked very good to the eye when I picked it up but I won't know how well the repair holds until I get some miles on it this coming season.
I'm not an engineer but I have worked on enough things over my life to know how things work. From my perspective this issue is commonly occuring for two reasons.... manufacturing process and overall design.
Manufacturing Process
It s very obvisous they are using the wrong screws during assembly but this is common on many parts of the coach. The unskilled labor also used screw guna set at max torque and over tighten most screws opening the door to premature failure.
The right way to do it would be to aluminum weld the front cap seam to the house body but that would cost too much time and money. They should be using heavy duty fasteners screwed into an aluminum backing plate and heavy duty sealant around that front cap seam during assembly.
Design
These full wall slides (on Class A's or Super C's) are a bad recipe as it reduces the structural integrity of the house walls. Once you get to these coaches over 30 feet in length the driving, parking and leveling cause an incredible amount of flex and torsional strain. These full wall slides eliminate vertical studs that would provide more support and minimize flexing. If the body flexes too much or at extremes over time, screws will break or pull out.
Next the cab-over cap is just too big and heavy. It should not extend past the windshield. As a result there is an incredible amount of flexiing of the front cap when driving from the long overhang. This puts a lot of strain on the attachment seam from the continured bouncing up and down.
Finally, I believe the placement of the leveling jacks also comes into play. The Super C has the jacks separated by too much distance in my opinion. As you start leveling the front or the rear, it puts a lot of stress on the front cap seam because the pivot point is right around the seam. If the front and rear jacks were slightly closer together, the pivot point would be moved further away from the seam so as not to put as much stress there. As a result, I no longer use Auto Level and only manual level. Auto level can cause more torsional strain and flexing than is necessary. The Thor Tech also agreed manually leveling is a better way to go.
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