Omni/Magnitude front cap fix

[kwplot34]

Took it out for a drive today about 40 miles round trip on some 2 lane country roads and on the 4 lane and I am happy to say no squeaks, rattles or noise at all from the cap, the cap is very quiet now and very little movement from it, about the only way to get rid of any movement from the cap you would have to remove that big heavy glass in it.
Stopped by the fuel station and put a little diesel in it and when I got it home gave it a much needed bath.
Very happy with the fix on the cap

[The Mr Beaumont]

[The Mr Beaumont]

Originally Posted by Gmthrust

I come from the flying world and cargo carrying capacity is important but it means nothing if you aren’t given the vehicles weight to start with. I am only concerned about my max gross vehicle weight. When I go to the scale I get my vehicles weight. That’s where I start. I can then figure how much fuel, water, black and gray water I’m capable of holding…Or, of I have to reduce the fuel, water…
It may be important to someone who is looking to buy and have a bunch of stuff they want to take. If that’s the case then disregard all of the above.��

I ran all the numbers and made an excel sheet where I can add weights to different tanks and such. I then decided I shouldn't do this as I can't control all the 'stuff' my girlfriend crams in it. It reminded me of the first weekend after getting my Commercial Pilot's License. I got a job at a drop zone flying a C-182. I did a weight and balance. I was then told that the airplane has been doing this for 10 years, it'll be fine.



I'm not saying that I ever exceed any weight limitation! Check the max rear tire and axle weight. I was more concerned with that. There isn't much buffer.

[Pillbox]

Looks good Kevin.
Terry

[kwplot34]

Originally Posted by Pillbox

Looks good Kevin.
Terry

Thank you Terry.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Thank you Terry.

I'm seriously thinking about replacing my front cap with a Force or Valencia. Permanent quality fix. Not only will I have a new cap but everything behind and under the cap will suddenly improve.

[kwplot34]

Originally Posted by chunker21

I'm seriously thinking about replacing my front cap with a Force or Valencia. Permanent quality fix. Not only will I have a new cap but everything behind and under the cap will suddenly improve.

Have you researched what the price of the cap will cost? That is certainly one way to fix the issue, but I would think just the price of the cap itself would be very expensive. If you go this route take lots of pics and measurements to see what kind of fabrication and modifying will be involved to make it fit.
Either way sounds like a challenging job and I like challenges, the bigger the challenge the bigger the reward and smiles when it's finished.
I just finished an upgrade this summer that was a HUGE challenge and took me 4 months to finish, still have a few small things to finish up that are really no big issue, just bolt on parts.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Have you researched what the price of the cap will cost? That is certainly one way to fix the issue, but I would think just the price of the cap itself would be very expensive. If you go this route take lots of pics and measurements to see what kind of fabrication and modifying will be involved to make it fit.
Either way sounds like a challenging job and I like challenges, the bigger the challenge the bigger the reward and smiles when it's finished.
I just finished an upgrade this summer that was a HUGE challenge and took me 4 months to finish, still have a few small things to finish up that are really no big issue, just bolt on parts.

Yes replacing the "cap" will be expensive but I won't have to deal with deteriorating A/C ducting or open to the subfloor heating ducting which would be impossible to repair. A Dynamax rep on that forum has already given me rather detailed explanation of how they attach the front cap. I'll get the same info from Renegade before I commit to them. On the surface the Omni and Magnitude are great looking RVs. It's when you start peeling back the layers of the onion you seen disturbing stuff. My "RV life" is too short to waste on crap and although it will be costly to do it right, I'm willing to do that.

How will I know that I won't be jumping from one poorly built sinking boat to another?? Any RV can be the "built on the Monday after Superbowl". Thor apparently has a week full of those days. I may cool off after a while and if on my spring trip I don't have to stop along the side of the road and pick up the front cap that fell off, may keep it a while. We'll see but in the meantime I'm doing serious search and research.

Meanwhile I'm glad you are happy with the job you did and at least that's one major issue you won't be having to revisit. Shame it wasn't designed and built correctly the first time though.

[deezrvz]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Say it isn't so. You mean there are quality built coaches out there for about the same price or less than Thor? Well that shoots a hole in the entry level price gets you entry level workmanship.
I'm sure the usual suspects will be along to straighten this out and shed some light on it for us. Or maybe they should quite making excuses for Thor and admit, Thor is lazy, they don't give a crap about the crappy built product they shove out the door and their employee's have no talent and no pride in their work. I could go on but one of the usual suspects would come along with his dead horse meme.

I decided to check actual employee opinions at Glassdoor to see if the problems were not just worker pride. Now I have a better idea of what's going on in Elkhart. https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Thor-Moto...itle=Assembler

[kwplot34]

Originally Posted by deezrvz

I decided to check actual employee opinions at Glassdoor to see if the problems were not just worker pride. Now I have a better idea of what's going on in Elkhart. https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Thor-Moto...itle=Assembler

Seems like they have a management problem, pay problem and a reoccurring theme of fast paced which explains a lot of the poor work found and broken screws and stripped screws and.... and no training.

[kwplot34]

Originally Posted by chunker21

Yes replacing the "cap" will be expensive but I won't have to deal with deteriorating A/C ducting or open to the subfloor heating ducting which would be impossible to repair. A Dynamax rep on that forum has already given me rather detailed explanation of how they attach the front cap. I'll get the same info from Renegade before I commit to them. On the surface the Omni and Magnitude are great looking RVs. It's when you start peeling back the layers of the onion you seen disturbing stuff. My "RV life" is too short to waste on crap and although it will be costly to do it right, I'm willing to do that.

How will I know that I won't be jumping from one poorly built sinking boat to another?? Any RV can be the "built on the Monday after Superbowl". Thor apparently has a week full of those days. I may cool off after a while and if on my spring trip I don't have to stop along the side of the road and pick up the front cap that fell off, may keep it a while. We'll see but in the meantime I'm doing serious search and research.

Meanwhile I'm glad you are happy with the job you did and at least that's one major issue you won't be having to revisit. Shame it wasn't designed and built correctly the first time though.

I don't think the heating and a/c duct work will be impossible to fix. I am going to look into my heating first since it does raise the vinyl flooring in a couple of spots and I felt cold air blowing up through the front vent behind the drivers seat when it was windy out, not having any issues with a/c duct at this moment, but plan on running the scope down those also.

I now get what you're saying about the cap, read it to fast the first time, you're going to replace it and everything behind it, a new coach, when I first read it I thought you said you were going to replace the cap, my bad.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

I don't think the heating and a/c duct work will be impossible to fix. I am going to look into my heating first since it does raise the vinyl flooring in a couple of spots and I felt cold air blowing up through the front vent behind the drivers seat when it was windy out, not having any issues with a/c duct at this moment, but plan on running the scope down those also.

I now get what you're saying about the cap, read it to fast the first time, you're going to replace it and everything behind it, a new coach, when I first read it I thought you said you were going to replace the cap, my bad.

From your reply I figured that's how you initially interpreted it and I figured my follow up would clarify it. I'm going to be forced into a trip to the "happiest place on earth", no not the thor factory, in mid December. I'll check out the Lazydays in Tampa and the Villages. They advertise having the Force, Valencia and Verona. Give me something to look at and think about. See how much those "caps" are.

Reading that link I guess I'm not surprised with the comments about management. I'd add that that sorry management goes right to the top. If it were my company and I was in that chain of command I would be very embarrassed and take steps to fix it. But "sorry" doesn't see that in itself so the pattern continues.

[kwplot34]

Originally Posted by chunker21

From your reply I figured that's how you initially interpreted it and I figured my follow up would clarify it. I'm going to be forced into a trip to the "happiest place on earth", no not the thor factory, in mid December. I'll check out the Lazydays in Tampa and the Villages. They advertise having the Force, Valencia and Verona. Give me something to look at and think about. See how much those "caps" are.

Reading that link I guess I'm not surprised with the comments about management. I'd add that that sorry management goes right to the top. If it were my company and I was in that chain of command I would be very embarrassed and take steps to fix it. But "sorry" doesn't see that in itself so the pattern continues.

Lazy Days in Tampa is where we purchased our XG32 last May. Their lot is big and they have a lot to choose from, we were pleased with the way they treated us, over all a good experience and spent 2 nights there and if you have an issue with anything while camping they have techs that will come to your spot and fix it. Our coach that we traded in was parked next to us, pulled it in nose first which made transferring our gear over to the coach very easy. They actually sold our trade in while we were still moving stuff over, I think it took them less than 4 hours to sell it, probably helps that I take care of my equipment and it shows when you look at it.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Seems like they have a management problem, pay problem and a reoccurring theme of fast paced which explains a lot of the poor work found and broken screws and stripped screws and.... and no training.

I am almost fell out of my chair laughing so hard when I went to the Indeed employee review site and saw this slogan.

The reviews from the employees is certainly telling. Sounds like a real culture and management problem at Thor.

When I took a Director of Professional Services job about 20 years ago, I had a parade of people coming to my office complaining about a lot of things but the common theme was the company giving a damn about them and holding everyone to the same standards to quality of work.

It wasn't hard to fix the problem. I started a quarterly employee recognition program. I gave them comp time when they had to work weekends or they were on call and had to take customer calls at night.... I didn't care what HR had to say about it. I took time to thank them for the work the work they were doing and made sure to pass along customer feedback to them. We would have lunch cook-outs on Fridays occasionally as well.

In about 6 months the same people who came to me complaining were much happier in their work and were doing better jobs. Some would then come to me and ask how they could "climb the ladder." I would tell them to do what I did..... whatever job that's in front of you.... give 100% and do the best job you could do and it would be recognized. Many of them went on to get promotions and move through the company.

Good management is important but so is the culture. I had the backing of my VP and ownership so it all worked together.

Sounds like Thor could use a good house cleaning top to bottom.

[chunker21]

[QUOTE=Judge;324304]I am almost fell out of my chair laughing so hard when I went to the Indeed employee review site and saw this slogan.




Sounds like Thor could use a good house cleaning top to bottom.

In real estate it's called puffing and is a claim so wild or obvious opinion that it's obvious that no person would interpret as literal. Example, "Best view of the lake". Thor and the "best quality" are taken from real estate advertising training manual. Perhaps a notch below used car training manuals.

Thor should adopt what I've said in a couple of posts.


THOR INDUSTRIES, King of Bling, Pauper of Quality

That would be a plausible description going along with the statement to shareholders about entry level.

There is about as much chance of thor fixing their inept management issues as having congress adopt laws that they have to abide by. They have no motivation because they are making $$$ hand over fist. What I or any other detractors say is blown off because we don't have the bully pulpit.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Lazy Days in Tampa is where we purchased our XG32 last May. Their lot is big and they have a lot to choose from, we were pleased with the way they treated us, over all a good experience and spent 2 nights there and if you have an issue with anything while camping they have techs that will come to your spot and fix it. Our coach that we traded in was parked next to us, pulled it in nose first which made transferring our gear over to the coach very easy. They actually sold our trade in while we were still moving stuff over, I think it took them less than 4 hours to sell it, probably helps that I take care of my equipment and it shows when you look at it.

How damaging was your trade offer? I generally advocate against trading but sometimes it makes $$ sense. A dealer has the audience a private seller doesn't. I'd say most buyers are primarily concerned with payment and a dealer can offer a buyer an array of financing options that a private seller can't. In today's market of crazy pricing a dealer can flip a good unit without lifting much of a finger so a trade becomes instant profit. You saw that with yours. There is the tax difference but Alabama has a 3.08% for my county on vehicle transactions which while real money, not like a state that would charge the full % such as 9 or 10%. Then the tire kicker avoidance factor any seller has to contend with, the ridiculous low ball, scams, "help-u-sell" offers, etc that dealers either don't have to deal with or don't waste their time with. High dollar vehicles are much easier for a dealer to sell than private individual. About 8 months ago I sold my Ram dually to a dealer for more than I paid for it a few months prior but sold the 5th wheel toy hauler to an individual also for more than I pad for it a year prior. When I was looking at the Omni, trade offers were poor so I sold the TH myself.

PAIN and what is my pain $$ threshold in a transaction. My son will do well when I kick off and he might like an RV rather than all that nasty money in an account.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all and let's be traditional not PC in our observations and ramblings.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

I don't think the heating and a/c duct work will be impossible to fix. I am going to look into my heating first since it does raise the vinyl flooring in a couple of spots and I felt cold air blowing up through the front vent behind the drivers seat when it was windy out, not having any issues with a/c duct at this moment, but plan on running the scope down those also.

I now get what you're saying about the cap, read it to fast the first time, you're going to replace it and everything behind it, a new coach, when I first read it I thought you said you were going to replace the cap, my bad.

I figured difficult to "impossible" because the A/C is in the attic area and I imagine the styrofoam is laid down before the roof sheathing and TPO. No way to access it without either tearing out the roof or ceiling. From my previous limited inspection using flashlight and inspection mirror, I know the ducting has gaps. From what I read on another thread the heating ducting isn't enclosed in any actual ducting, just using the open space between the floor and under floor area. Next week I'll use the borescope and confirm the situation. The 3 floor registers are already off as I was trying to clean up the construction debris sawdust so I'll "see what I can see". I hope that what I see is better than what I fear.

PM sent.

[kwplot34]

Originally Posted by chunker21

How damaging was your trade offer? I generally advocate against trading but sometimes it makes $$ sense. A dealer has the audience a private seller doesn't. I'd say most buyers are primarily concerned with payment and a dealer can offer a buyer an array of financing options that a private seller can't. In today's market of crazy pricing a dealer can flip a good unit without lifting much of a finger so a trade becomes instant profit. You saw that with yours. There is the tax difference but Alabama has a 3.08% for my county on vehicle transactions which while real money, not like a state that would charge the full % such as 9 or 10%. Then the tire kicker avoidance factor any seller has to contend with, the ridiculous low ball, scams, "help-u-sell" offers, etc that dealers either don't have to deal with or don't waste their time with. High dollar vehicles are much easier for a dealer to sell than private individual. About 8 months ago I sold my Ram dually to a dealer for more than I paid for it a few months prior but sold the 5th wheel toy hauler to an individual also for more than I pad for it a year prior. When I was looking at the Omni, trade offers were poor so I sold the TH myself.

PAIN and what is my pain $$ threshold in a transaction. My son will do well when I kick off and he might like an RV rather than all that nasty money in an account.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all and let's be traditional not PC in our observations and ramblings.

Trade was pretty good, we got a little over $5k less than what we we asked for, but we did aim a little high.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Thor is just another manufacturing company beholden to an investment firm. Just follow the ladder upwards, taking note of compensation levels on your way. You'll soon find the source of cultural rot... works for every corporation with a structure of low paid disposable drones at the bottom. The so called "service industry" including fast food is chock full of the same culture. Mom & pop companies have a distinct culture advantage in treating employees well, but they can't compete economically.

There are just too many positions at the bottom to keep up the fairy tale of "entry level" jobs. For example as large insurance firms continue buying up hospitals and healthcare facilities, it's going to get FAR worse. You think wait times are bad now...

[LarryD]

Originally Posted by kwplot34

Took it out for a drive today about 40 miles round trip on some 2 lane country roads and on the 4 lane and I am happy to say no squeaks, rattles or noise at all from the cap, the cap is very quiet now and very little movement from it, about the only way to get rid of any movement from the cap you would have to remove that big heavy glass in it.
Stopped by the fuel station and put a little diesel in it and when I got it home gave it a much needed bath.
Very happy with the fix on the cap

out of curiosity, what would you guess the job would cost to have done? Not your cost but what someone would have to pay in time and materials to do the same....