"EYE" opening of how Jayco S&S are made!! Good Grief.

[Gary LaBombard]

He guys, take a gander at this.  A little over 6 hrs for the making of one trailer, I been 15 years now trying to get mine done!!  Gotta hire some guys like this.  NOT!!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXMJrRQ3SVk

[jmblake]

Gary, We toured the Jayco, Golf Stream and the Monaco plant about 10 years ago when we were out in Elkhart shopping for bus stuff and by far the Jayco plant was the worst. When I seen them slide the cabinets down and they smacked the bottom of the slide I couldn't believe they did that It was defiantly a eye opener.
Jason

[dtcerrato]

SCARY STUFF :-/ Why we own a very old bus. It still has a few salvaged componants from the 73 wrecked class C S & S. The bus WILL out live us. Thanks for the entertainment Gary. Knocked some memories loose.

[Astro]

Its appalling how reckless their quality and accuracy is. Slamming parts around, drilling crooked holes, installing crooked fasteners, etc. No wonder they all eventually leak and rot. I can't believe they are proud of their product. If they visited a commercial aircraft factory they'd be ashamed of their work and that video would be burned. We put out one plane every 3 days with over 2 million parts and most were located with 4 decimal point accuracy. And that my friends is why I would never buy a stick and staple. I prefer metal thank you.

[chessie4905]

If they were designed to fly, I'm sure the quality would be different. Can't call them s&s anymore. I saw some screws. S,S, and S now.....If they were designed to meet govt. crash standards like cars and trucks, they would cost twice as much. Competition to provide the most for the lowest price drives this. Also the reality to have to provide trailers that don't need a Super duty truck to haul doesn't help. Or a mega cube engine to pull or push RV down the road. A lot of the smaller units are only kept a couple of years to be traded up to longer units with more features. Many bus conversion owners have moved on to traditional RV's because of the issues of maintenance and repair. They just want to enjoy the destination with no worries of large unexpected repair bills. Most RV owners just use them and only deal with an oil change or occasional tune up with few mechanical issues. Yes, they disingrate in an accident, but since the incidents are so low, majority aren't concerned. Also much easier to trade in for a different model. How many used bus conversion dealers take trade ins?
You saw the thread on the 4106 damage from the accident? That was from a Honda, not a necessarily large vehicle. Consider what a mid or full size SUV would have done. Also look at all the issues with the insurance company he dealt with.
I'll always have a bus conversion over an RV, but we have plenty of issues with ownership of our own. A little like Harbor Freight.....low cost, but possible issues with quality or not. Some have problems, some don't
Maybe those videos of the cheesy manufacturing may drive an outcry for better quality, but I doubt it.

[richard5933]

For a compare and contrast, check out the difference in how Jayco builds in Australia. Takes 3 days instead of half a day, and they do quality audits along the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrLUD5xfr4A

Not sure what explains the difference, but apparently there are different priorities for them in other places.

[luvrbus]

Thor the outfit that builds Jayco built buses for years now that is scary,but I like their 44 ft Entergra it's a nice rig for a motor home at $500,000.00 though

[chessie4905]

For that price, I'll bet they use stainless steel screws and staples.😀

[luvrbus]

For that price, I'll bet they use stainless steel screws and staples.😀

Lol I have a good friend with a 2 mil Prevost that has glued on fiber glass siding

[buswarrior]

For a compare and contrast, check out the difference in how Jayco builds in Australia. Takes 3 days instead of half a day, and they do quality audits along the way.

Not sure what explains the difference, but apparently there are different priorities for them in other places.

Market driven?

Aussies won't buy crap???

Americans do?

Just imagine what an automobile manufacturing outfit might look like without regulations...?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Geoff]

The mentality of RV manufacturers is that people are only going to use them 2 weeks out of the year.

[lostagain]

Good friends of ours have a 20' Jayco bumper pull that serves them well. Nice lay out with a slide. Yes it is cheaply made, and yes it is light (cheap) so they can pull it with their half ton pick up. But they like it, it works great for them. It will eventually rattle apart I am sure, but meanwhile they are having as much fun as any of us on the road. He is not mechanical at all, so he likes the newer pick up on warranty, and not too much to fix (yet) on the trailer.

JC

[pabusnut]

I recently bought an old 23' tandem axle S&S to make a utility trailer.  Demolition was easy, since it had a roof leak previously.  One 8 lb sledge hammer will make short work of everything.

What is funny is that some stuff is actually well made, like the windows.  And some parts were very hard to get apart(I am trying to salvage all the aluminum for "clean" scrap.)  The 2x2s that are fastened to the roof are hard to remove, since all the square drive screws are too rusted to remove, but still firmly fastened to the aluminum after 40 years.

The steel frame underneath is very solid, as is the floor (where there wasn't water damage), and there was(still is) an aluminum sheet between the steel and the plywood floor.  Unfortunately this actually helps the floor rot faster when there is a roof leak, as it traps the water.

If the motorhomes of this vintage are built similarly, I would not even think about riding in one!

Just my $0.02

Steve

[Geoff]

My wife used to be a service writer at a big RV dealer and she says Jayco is one of the better built ones.

[muldoonman]

Lol I have a good friend with a 2 mil Prevost that has glued on fiber glass siding

That's why I love my rivets.