Our Grand Design RV is Falling Apart - Big Updates

As a retired mechanic what I find interesting is taking a unit in for repair to the people that didn't do a very good job of building it in the first place. But maybe that's just me...

I watched a video of an RV technician who explained different parts of rvs that the owners should keep an eye on to stave off costly repairs. At the end of the video he said something profound because it is the truth. He said that rvs are not meant to be lived in, to replace your conventional home. They are exactly what they say they are, "recreational" not permanent. He said that dragging your house down the road at 60 mph, with all that jostling, will shake everything loose. It was a "duh" moment and I really appreciated his honesty. I'm not sharing this to discourage anyone (not that I think I could) or disrespect the adventure. I'm just sharing what a professional was brave enough to share.

Two happiest days of your life, the day you get your RV and the day you sell it.

We had a 2003 41ft diesel pusher with a Honda CRV dingy. Different from a fifth wheel, but at least as miserable. Premium coach with three slides, granite counter top, fire place (fake), 500hp engine, 1700 ft/lbs torque. Amazing looking. Piece of cr@p. CONSTANT MAINTENANCE! ALL SYSTEMS. Most miserable experience in my life. We had to keep it as at my daughter’s house, which was 30 miles away. And I had to drive there EVERY SINGLE weekend for a year to fix something. (Since I was working at least 50-60/hours a week, that was misery personified.) But then the real fun began. My daughter and husband loved RV’ing. So my wife’s goal was to go out during the summer with her daughter and her husband. Then he died suddenly. At that point, my wife and I decided to sell the RV and move on. And that’s where the real fun began. To sell it, we had to fix the issues. Misery. I found out the the front end had never been aligned - lots of toe-out. Which was why it was twitchy to drive. $1,500 for alignment and fluids, and it great to drive. On the way back the daughter’s house, I scraped a curb slightly. BLOWOUT! $800 for tire. (Bus tires) And then the final hit - it is easy to by an RV, but insanely difficult to sell them for a decent price. Net-net, we lost $55,000 on the sale. But at least we got out of it. Bottom line is that many people dream of retiring and seeing the United States. This shattered our dream. I was finally able to retire four years ago at 73 years old. And no traveling. We’re financially stable now, but an RV was the WORST mistake of our lives. Words to the wise: Rent first. Go small, not big. Talk to everybody you can. And RESEARCH THE HELL OUT OF RV’ING. Good luck!

Rear axle and tires wear is due to being nose high. Overloads the axle which causes it to flex, increasing camber. When you get new tires, go up a load rating as the tires that come on most RV's are barely adequate to carry the listed GVWR. Most RV's are overloaded, so most tires are as well, particularly if the trailer is not towed level. Holes in the sidewall above the trim don't need to be simply re-caulked, they are a sign that the floor that they are screwed into is moving relative to the Filon sidewall. That, coupled with the gap opening up by your dresser in the front bedroom are both classic signs of the excess frame flex issue that many trailers, particularly 5th wheels are currently experiencing.

Woodworker here. Short term repair for exposed plywood. Use rattle-can spray shellac immediately, and ASAP follow up with rattle-can spray polyurethane spar varnish. Here's why: the shellac dries almost immediately and gives SOME protection which penetrates well. Think of it as a primer - it's super thin, so use several coats. The spar varnish can go right over the shellac - just wipe it down with alcohol first. The spar varnish is a marine-grade (as in sail supports - spars) polyurethane varnish. It's thick and viscous and stinks, but it's dense and thick and is a VERY good moisture barrier that interferes with nothing a tech might want to do later on. You put on a coat, let it sit and ruminate overnight, then spray on another layer until the can's pfft stops. RVs are not made to be used - they are made to be sold and to be fixed. We are relaxing after replacing the toilet floor flange today.

I stayed at that campground in 1975ish coming back from a middle school backpacking trip to the Smokies. Our buses got there at about 10pm. We had to set up our tents in the pouring rain. I slept on my backpack frame to stay out of the water. Every hour a train passed, blew the horn, and woke up a rooster that started crowing. It was miserable and still one of my best memories.

Getting ready to retire, watching the RV industry very closely too see how they handle this mess from the last few years of unrest. I may not go ahead with my plans. I don't want to haul a box of troubles to try to tour our country. We've been waiting all our lives. I hope the industry can get it together. Sad state of affairs.

ALL my friends that own 5th wheels have the same exact issues. Fenders missing from blowouts, tires randomly coming off at highway speeds, uneven tire wear (axles not aligned or welded wrong), broken springs, delamination of sidewalls and the list goes on. All $100K+ rigs too! My friends say that the key to owning one is keeping the mindset that it will always be in a constant state of repair. I wish you guys the best of luck with repairs at the manufacturer, I know from experience how LOOOONG it takes to have just ONE item fixed.

My takeaway after hearing about all the little issues is that he has a really solid rig. Upgrade the tires if you can and rotate/maintain them in the future. Spray some sealant and remove the tape you put in to cover for the damage of the blow out. Just swap out range/oven with a new one. Don't try to pay someone to repair it. Swap out the shower head and so on and you're good to go. Other than the road damage everthing I saw was just wear and tear. Stuff needs maintenance. Congratulations on buying such a solid rig.

It’s ok to share, people like me appreciate that. We won’t abuse our knowledge promise 😊

I never realized what a beating an RV takes until we got our first class A. You will drive slower when you are sitting inside your RV and can feel and hear the beating it is taking on certain roads.

This was oddly reassuring. Sometimes it seems like influencers have a nice RV with none of the struggles that I am experiencing. Seeing those little things falling apart, help me realize it’s the same for everybody.

As you know, RV stands for Repairs Vary. You wanted to hear about my RV tire issues. I had china bombs on my original 2018 Heartland product and after 4 years I replaced them with Goodyear endurance STs. Then I started to have blowouts. I am close to 5200# on a single axle so I ran them at the recommended 80 psi. That's when things started happening. When the blowouts took out the fabric underlayment, I replaced it with aluminum flashing material. I also learned from Nascar how to laminate foam in between the flooring to make my own safety wall. I repaired the floor, doubled it, laminated high density foam that is protected by aluminum. Even though mine is a pre-COVID baby, it still is an Elkhart Indiana vinyl covered cardboard travel trailer. I enjoyed your video 😊

So, we have been part time RV people since 1991. We found that any part brand that starts with "L" will fail. Just junk in our experience. Taking an RV into a dealer or repair center, to us andyway, is like taking our cat to a slaughter house to make it well again. Two years or 6000 miles is the max we would ever run any RV tire. And still, blowouts are just a thing. Cabinet issues and slide out gouges in the floor? The whole RV is flexing too much. And any repair you do yourself will be better than any "professional" repair. Take heart in the fact that you don't have a motorhome, which would make everything even more expensive. And thank you, really for all your great videos. They bring back many memories of the good old days!

When confronted with having to crawl under the RV for electric hookups, just tie a ball of yarn to your electric cord, roll the ball under the RV to the other side, go around and pull the ball/yarn to you. No crawwling on the ground necessary!

I love trains. A train horn is like a lullaby for me. 😊

Look old guy here. If you are planing to put a lot of miles on your RV in my opinion the first thing people need to do to their RV is to upgrade the suspension. Spend the 10 grand on an upgraded suspension system . These RV’s take an awful pounding just on the interstate highways never mind gravel roads.Iinstalled an independent suspension system on my 5th wheel and it is money well spent. My wife and I have crossed the continent from west to east and from Alaska to the Baha in Mexico.. We live in northwestern Ontario and our children live in western Canada so we spend a lot of time on the road. We haven’t had anything major go wrong and I am constantly going around with a screwdriver tightening loose screws. If you are not mechanically inclined an RV might not be for you due to the constant repairs required. These rigs take a pounding due to the flexing and jarring that they receive on a daily basis. The suspension is pricey but worth the money in the long run. It can also be reinstalled on a new trailer if needed. If you plan on seeing the continent spend the money and upgrade the suspension. Money well spent.

Liz Amazing is a consumer advocate helping people who have had problems with their new RVs.

We live full time in a 26 ft, 2000 (yes, 24 years old!) Jayco Eagle 5th wheel. No slideouts. Just finishing our 7th year in August. We still have the original shower head because we tried one of those oxygenated water savers and used MORE water and ran out of hot water!! Took that back and put the old one back on. After our 1st year out, we discovered soft wood in the frame on the backside. The leak that caused the water damage prior to us purchasing it, had been repaired, but not the water damage itself. That was our first repair when she was 18 years old. Had to replace the fridge in 2019. Inverter was replaced in 2023. Other than that, we replaced all the lights with LED's, removed carpet and laid click n lock plank flooring. Took out the old fabric window valances and built wood ones. Mostly cosmetic stuff by choice. We clean the connections on the propane stove burners periodically. Tires get checked and replaced as needed. Some tire brands hold up better than others. Our girl is pretty basic...no digital anything, except the newish fridge. In short, we have no regrets buying a well-cared for, older rv. We have taken good care of her too. All the decals are gone and painted the door red and added blue shutters to the windows. She's been through a LOT, including hail and tornadoes, and below 0 temps with no power for 15 hours, except from hooking up the truck and letting it idle to keep batteries charged, so we had heat, could cook, and had water. Not looking forward to having to find another rv. "Faithful Faith" will be hard to replace! As for needing to do repairs and maintenance...stick and brick houses need that too, and usually costs more. We love full-time RVing! ❤