Since I am scheduled to have the welder repair my cracked frame/tongue a few days from now I decided to pull the underbelly on my 2018 16TBS.
This is what I found- none of the wiring is secured in any manner- they depend on the flimsy underbelly to hold it all up!
I spent about $60 on split loom tubing and rubber lined clips to secure it all. I had to cut, extend and splice about 5-6 wires that ran under holding tanks and weren't long enough to relocate. Hours of work.
I also found numerous penetrations through the floor that weren't properly sealed- some up to 2" diameter weren't sealed at all. Talk about putting out the rodent welcome mat.
Wow! My 2013 21BHS, which does not have the cover, has the wiring neatly secured with the rubber lined clips, passed through conduit, and routed in a neat fashion. I do have two openings through the floor but they are pretty stuffed with wires and tubing. I always mean to get some of the foam insulation and fill it; but it hasn't caused a problem in 6 years.
Ack! And at least one of those in the far back left looks like a 120V wire.
Yep! None of the several 120VAC wires were secured in any way...you have the fridge, the water heater and the main panel all with 120VAC.
Get this- the heater thermostat was wired with very small solid wire- maybe 22AWG? I wonder how many miles of road vibration will part that?
As for the non covered bottom units having the wires secured- they'd have to do that- turns out to be a big disadvantage to get the so-called "heated underbelly" if they are going to slop out on the wiring.
I'll post some other pics in a new thread about what they did with the fresh water tank....
Unbelievable.....but maybe not. You've been THORed.
It's hard to know which emotion to go with- >:( or :'(. I salute you on being able to take care of the mess! GK
Quote from: GrampaKilt on June 02, 2019, 12:16:39 PM
I salute you on being able to take care of the mess! GK
I actually kind of enjoy it but jeez this is ridiculous :P
Quote from: charliem on June 02, 2019, 10:59:23 AM
Unbelievable.....but maybe not. You've been THORed.
Well I was previously FOREST RIVERed although I think this one has them beat in the poor quality department.
If I ever get rid of the CL I will just build my own next time. Should have done that prior to the FR product- that was my plan but wife didn't approve.
When I sold my FR product I told the buyer he was getting a better unit than it was new, unfortunately that is worthless on resale value.
This is proof that manufacturers only use an underbelly cover to save money. It takes time to route, bundle, and secure wiring, with a few bucks worth of plastic and some self tapping screws there is no need to neatly bundle the wiring.
Then they route a heater tube down there and presto! heated underbelly for 4 season use!!