2024 Vegas 26.1 Review

pwoods

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
345
Introduction
Our primary criteria when getting a motorhome was the ability to park it between our garage and a retaining wall to avoid storage fees. This means 96” max width and 18’ or less from entry door hinge to back bumper. When we found the Axis/Vegas line we knew we had a winner.

Review:
Fantastic floor plan, especially the walk-around queen bed (RV queen size, but at 5’11” it’s ok for me). Some may miss having both a dinette and sofa/recliners, but we needed narrow and short so it would fit next to the garage. Having the recliners face the TV was great for watching the Tour de France and Olympics while on vacation. The recliners are manual push back so it takes some work and getting used to. Would like to upgrade to electric someday.

Good looking and lots of light from the large windows in front.

The electric driver’s seat is very nice. The only problem is while moving back to get my knee around the steering column the pressure from chair popped off the slideout trim. Turns out that there wasn’t much glue and maybe not enough pin nails. Gorilla glue and screws from the back to the rescue.

Was originally concerned about the 12v refer but really like that it’s not nearly as sensitive to being level as a propane refer. Just concerned about high electrical usage while dry camping. While stored, the standard 100w solar panel kept the battery charged but didn’t seem to keep up with the refer. We’ll see what lithium will do next year.

We towed our Ford Maverick 2,500 miles over 5 weeks and 2 days and felt we could keep going. The E450 tows great. Added a Safe T Plus steering stabilizer which made a big difference. We had hookups every night so this review does not cover any dry camping issues. We will upgrade to lithium next year so we can do some dry camping.

Got 9.77 mpg over 3,000 miles after subtracting 0.5 gals per hour of generator use. Being on an E450 chassis means smaller 16” tires which is a lower cost for replacement. Lost 2 chrome wheel simulators (hubcaps) on the trip and I will probably not replace to save weight and make it easier to check tire pressure.

The pullout grill is very nice, but it needs locking slides to keep it from being pushed in accidentally. A piece of 1x2 solved that problem.

Design flaws or cost saving cheapness.
The pop-up electrical outlet in the kitchen counter is too close to the window and doesn’t allow the shade to go fully down. You have to remember to pull the shade down first.

The large round sink makes a statement but is a water hog. I’d like to have a sink in the shape of a Rubbermaid dish pan so I can nest a pan in it and then dump it in the toilet rather than the gray tank. A rectangular sink would give 4-5” more counter space and who can’t use more counter space.

Hey Thor, why is the 26.1 the only model without a fold-up table next to the kitchen sink? It was really handy in our old 25.3.

The wireless chargers are cheap and not useful. Just used our plug-in chargers.

Nice that some lights can be controlled by the BMPro app on the phone, but there are 9 other light switches not controlled by the BMPro. It’s nice that the BMPro controlled lights can be dimmed except you can’t dim the awning. Wish we could.

The vent vans are all the cheap bathroom type and we replaced the bedroom and living room fans with MaxxAir with remotes so DW can operate them.

Refrigerator lock is poorly designed. It does keep the refrigerator from accidentally opening fully, but the magnet doors are a little on the side and the corner did allow stuff to push out the door to the limit of the lock. Added baby locks which are really secure.

I have this complaint on both my Axis and Vegas: maybe it’s just because I’m tall but it’s a pain to contort my body under the medicine cabinet to spit after brushing my teeth. In the new Vegas the medicine cabinet is huge and I’d prefer a mirror on the wall over the sink with just half the cabinet. I often used the kitchen sink instead.

And finally, Thor keeps using the stupid Girard instant water heater. Just search for other threads on this topic. Would much prefer a 6 gal propane/electric version.

Conclusion
This is probably our last motorhome. Just right for two people. Our daughter saw the recliners and said, “Where are the grandkids going to sleep?” Uhhh, in your tent?? Actually there is a dropdown bunk in the cab and an air mattress on the floor could work too for those rare times.

We look forward to a lot of camping!
 

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The large round sink makes a statement but is a water hog. I’d like to have a sink in the shape of a Rubbermaid dish pan so I can nest a pan in it and then dump it in the toilet rather than the gray tank. A rectangular sink would give 4-5” more counter space and who can’t use more counter space.

Our ACE 30.1 came with a (plastic) round sink. I prefer a rectangular sink for similar reasons. So I replaced it (actuall, I replaced the whole counter top as I also removed the stove/oven for a cooktop only and added drawers underneath).
 

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It's nice to read about someone who knows of pin nails and gorilla glue and babylocks.
Others will have their rv in the shop for four months for these repairs.

Nice write up.
Thanks.
 
Taylorbob1, thanks for posting the floorplan. For some reason it’s not showing the table you can set up in front of the recliners. We were able to put 2 camp chairs in the living area which allowed four of us to use the table for card games when it was too cold or raining.

And don’t look for the floor plan in the 2024 Vegas brochure, it’s not there. You can see the specs in the 2024 Axis brochure.

I got 32.4% off MSRP.
 
I got 32.4% off MSRP.

The RV market has gone through a complete cycle. In 2020 I ordered a 2021 Axis 24.1 and got 30% off of list. Two years later list had gone up 15% and the discount was only 15% resulting in 30% more.

Today the discount has gone back up, but the MSRP is still way up there. Of course general inflation has gone up about 20% in that period.

David
 
But wait, there’s more!

Because first owners are the quality control of the RV industry. I should let you know the issues that have come up. These issues are not Thor specific since they can be found in most RVs. The warranty issues have included:

Adjusted overhead cabinet door by refrigerator so it didn’t scrape on refrigerator cabinet.

Adjusted screen door to close fully.

The under bed drawer would slide out during breaking. It also fell off one of its tracks. I added Velcro to keep it closed and warranty fixed the track.

A broken wooden frame member under the bed was repaired.

The freshwater gravity fill hose fell off the filler connection and the relief hose was too long and kinked. I fixed both on the road.

The vinyl covering on a couple of wood pieces is bubbling and there’s a stress fracture on one piece that are all being replaced under warranty.

In the bathroom and access panel would not stay on. They added Velcro. The cover panel in front of the sink came unglued and they use screws to fix it.

One shower panel needs to be re-glued.

The heater distribution box was bent, which meant a lot of air was going into the cabinet instead of back to the bedroom and bathroom. We have the warmest silverware in any RV.

The SiriusXM radio antenna was not connected. And the cable TV switch in the cabinet is broken.

The dash fan speed number two did not work. It was repaired, but stopped working again.

The passenger cupholder trim piece kept falling off and it had to be reinstalled.

The outside shower dribbled and had to be cleaned. The shower door and generator door locks didn’t work.

On the trip, in hundred plus degree weather, the RV made a terrible banging noise on startup. While driving to find a shop, it went away. Long story short, it turned out that the exhaust pipe was banging against the chassis whe it was cold and Ford Fleet Center in Roseville, California adjusted the hangers for free. Just glad it wasn’t the engine.

I noticed rust on the bumper shortly after purchase and Thor denied it because they don’t cover rust. I should have caught it on PDI and had the dealer fix it.

And finally, the sewer dump design. This may be a Thor Vegas/Axis issue because the F450 chassis means the RV is lower than most. Also the installed the tank valves at a 45 degree angle and you have quite a reach to connect to the downward pointing bayonet fitting. I made a connector with a 90 and a 9” clear extension. This worked great on my 25.3 because the valves were parallel with the rig. In the 26.1 with the bayonet turned 45 degrees my connector pointed 45 forward or rearward. So my biggest modification to date was turning the downwards bayonet sideways. I then added another valve, a 45, a 5-inch extension and a 90 pointed down. I had to cut a hole in the sewer bin so the 90 down is now between the propane tank and the bin wall. It is much easier to reach too. I also swapped the key lock on the sewer door for a thumb turn.

You may ask why the extra valve. My father-in-law taught me a black tank flushing technique that helps a lot (this was in the days before flush systems). First dump black tank. Then hold up the slinky and open the gray water which backfills the black tank. Close gray and drop hose and you’d be surprised how much more crap comes out. Rinse and repeat. Now I have that valve that eliminates lifting the slinky. Very handy if you don’t have water for the flush system or if you are holding up people at the dump station.

I may have missed something, but for now That’s All Folks!
 

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