Birthing of a Mobile Suite

[Vern]

Hi all:

I thought some of you might be interested in our DRV Factory experience. We are purchasing a 2010 Mobile Suite 36' TK3 from RV's For Less in Knoxville, TN and just spent almost two weeks watching it being built at the factory. Hence the title: Birthing of a Mobile Suite. DRV is working four days a week from 5 am to 2 pm and our factory rep Kyle Miller took us in every day after 2 pm to take pictures and video. Starting Oct 10 DRV is going to up production. So things are looking up somewhat.

I am sharing some of my thoughts and reflections on the mfg. process, without dwelling, too much, on things like the 15" frame, exterior grade tongue and groove PLYWOOD floors, 3.25" walls and some of the highest insulation R factors in the industry. Most of you are aware of these facts and more or can easily learn about them. These are observations you will probably only be aware of if you have been to the factory. I will try to keep this from becoming too long or boring.

Where to begin?? The production area itself is one of the most efficient I have seen. The work stations are laid out well and can be added to easily when production goes up. A unit starts life at the rear of the plant, where the frame and running gear are assembled, and moves forward thru the stations to the dock at the front where the finish trim, window valences,furniture, etc. are installed and then rolls out the door and waits to be taken to the paint shop. Yep, no stinking decals on a Mobile Suite! The permanent scaffolding in the rubber roof and roof area work really well. The rubber roofing is up in the air on a BIG roll at the rear of the unit, where two workers can grab it and walk down each side, on the scaffolding, to the front. They really make short work of putting on a rubber roof. We did two factory tours that were during working hours and could observe the workers . Everyone seemed quite experienced at their job and just did it. The work areas were kept clean and uncluttered (sure can't say the same for the men's room). When a unit comes back from paint the awnings, reflectors,final trim, etc. are installed and goes to Service where the unit is weighed and a thorough PDI is done. It then goes outside, where it will get picked up for delivery to the dealer.

Every day, after the workers left, I observed someone going around and inspecting all units on the line. When he got to ours, we chatted for a couple of minutes.Turns out he was a quality control person and seemed to know what to look for. I suspect he had been a good service tech somewhere along the line. He made a rather astute comment, I thought. After leaning over and picking up a screw off of the floor he said, "That worker looked at it and saw a penny, I look at it and see a possible $200 floor repair." He put the screw in his pocket and went on to the next unit. He uses a red marker on the outside and a strip of red tape on the inside to highlight areas that need attention or repair. But you know, the fact remains that the perfect RV hasn't been built and never will be. I'm sure I'll find some little thing to moan and groan about like we all tend to do. I'm also just as sure that if it is a BIG thing DRV will fix it for me. We set out in the corner of the parking lot in our current fifth wheel while we were there and met and talked to several Doubletree owners. Some of which I now consider friends and am sure I will see them down the road somewhere. Some were there for repairs, some for upgrades, and even some for both. I did not talk to the first person that said they would not buy another one! The service people seem to bend over backwards to help. People were commenting that they were getting things fixed that were not even on their punch list. If something is seen that can become a bigger problem, it only makes sense to fix it now. I was told, that a couple of the service techs have 25 yr. experience in the RV business. A final thought on quality. DRV has engineered some great units and seems to continually try to make them better but ANY time you have to depend on other vendors and companies to provide components you are going to have a glitch now and again.

Our RV is our home and we have been on the road for eight years now. We use solar equipment so that we can more easily park where we want to. We spent five months on the Coastguard base in Key West last winter with NO electric hookups. So, early on I asked Kyle Miller if we brought our solar components to the factory would they install them for us. He said sure as long as they are new and still in the box. So, working closely with Pat Murphy, their engineer, and Mark Alleshouse, their electrician we made it happen. Everyone was really nice and willing to take the time to do it right. One note of caution. If you take them something to install you should have some idea of how to do it. Don't expect them to be familiar with equipment they don't normally use or install. Someone came out to our RV and got me more than once. That aside, it turned out great. Pat was interested in some of the AM Solar equipment we took up and I would not be surprised to see them use it in the future.

Wow! I didn't manage to keep it very short did I? This has been a great experience for us and we really enjoyed watching it being built. For those of you who made it to the end, here is a link to pictures of our unit being built.

www.picasaweb.google.com/vernt57702

[orkirk]

That is a very good and informative post. I hope I can take some photos of our 36tk3 as it's being built when the time comes.
Do you have to roll out the power cord all the way before connecting it to the 5/w plug side?
Great photos for future reference.
Kyle Miller is a very good factory rep. We have enjoyed working with him.
Good luck with your new MS!
orkirk

[Huck]

Nice story and pics.
I'm sure you will be very proud of your new baby.

[Vern]

No, the reel works the same as a garden hose reel would.

[Vern]

Thanks Huck. I sure hope we have it by the end of the week!!!

[Delaine and Lindy]

Vern it sure is exciting to see the Birth of you home. We ordered a 2010 38 RSSB 4 while at the Rally in June. We did see our Frame on line when they are just a naked frame. We didn't get to witness what you did, your very lucky.

I agree Kyle Miller is a great asset to Drv, hope he is being paid well. If it hadn't been for Kyle we probably would still have our 2009. I really believe if people would go to other manufactors and could see what you seen, but its not allowed at other manufactors, been there and done that. They would for sure buy the Drv Suites line of 5th wheels.

We had to wait a little longer to get our Suites because of the changes that Delaine wanted and they had their 2 week break in July. However we think the wait was well worth the time. The option you got we almost went with the 50 amp electric cable reel we had one once before, and it worked great. However I was concerned what would happen if it didn't work, what do you do with 25' of 50 amp cable and a reel it in for some reason? But I really haven't heard of any complaints. Good Luck and hope you get you 5er this week. GBY....

[orkirk]

Originally Posted by Vern

No, the reel works the same as a garden hose reel would.

Thanks Vern, I couldn't see the end of the 50 amp power cord.
I'm glad I asked Kyle about a backup option in case the power cord reel malfunctioned. When Kyle said to build it like Vern's, I wasn't exactly sure how that was. With your pictures I know now how they built it for you. Looks good to me.
Good Luck with the end of week delivery.
orkirk

[hitchup]

Enjoyed the pictures. Looks like it's going to be a beauty. Even in it's plain vanilla wrapper, it still looks like a Suite.

We managed to find the time to take the factory tour in July 2008. While we have a good idea how everything is put together, it's nice to have a refresher once in awhile. Plus it's nice to see changes from year to year or what options other owners have picked out.

Drawers on the nightstands. MMMM, hadn't considered that possibility. I'm always working on modifications in my head and on paper, so it's really nice when someone shares pictures. We haven't been able to make any of the Suite Rally's because of timing and work.

We made a few modifications to our 2006 ES. Kent sent us doors and stiles to redo the fireplace at a reasonable price. They were a perfect match. But it would really be much nicer to take a trip to Indiana to get some of our mods done all at once. Maybe in the next year or two!

[RGordon]

Congratulations on your new Suites! Enjoyed the pictures and see some improvements since our 2007 #3698 model. Still see they are including some problems areas that has given me much grief since I ordered mine. They are:
Same light fixture over dining table that I have had 4 to break and finally dealer found another design that did not hang down; looking at the hole they cut for the hydraulic pump so you could use drill motor in case power failure is to low and not in center of where it needs to be; same old design of the flimsy one strap holding the sewer pipe allowing it to work back and forth breaking fittings and loosing clamps on tanks. Good to see the four step design that I had to go out and buy later. I do have a question, how do they keep the insulation bats from falling to bottom of the areas due to movement and what methods do they use to secure them? Something else that needs to be done at the factory is to install 90 degree grease fittings on the spring hangers so you would not have to remove wheels just to apply grease.
I know you are as excited as we were when ours was on order and couldn't wait until it was delivered. Thanks for all the information and was not running down your new unit, but just sharing some of the problem areas that are will have to addressed sooner or later.

[Vern]

Thank God for factory tours. Our new home is way too big of an expenditure to not try to make the most informed choice we can. We went to Elkhart this summer and toured Heartland. They lost me as soon as I saw the waferboard flooring they are using. Next, we toured the Newmar plant. In my opinion they no longer build a fulltiming unit. The Torry Pine is the top of the line now and sure doesn't compare to a Suite. However, I do recommend the tour. It was very interesting. They run both motorhomes and fifth wheels down the same line. The cabinet shop uses some CNC Machines. It was fascinating to watch them cut out cabinet parts. If we had been buying a motorhome their Dutch Star would have to be at the top of our list. When we were going back thru Elkhart we saw some Suites at a dealers at stopped to take a look. We were impressed enough to take a factory tour the next day and as they say, "The rest is history."

Thanks for the heads up Ron. I was already wondering about the tank dump line. I'll make that one of my first projects.

Later, Vern