2022 Grand Design Reflection

We purchased the coach fall 2022. First major trip was in summer 2023. The main slide out failed (stopped working halfway out and would not extend or retract) the second night of camping. There was not a local repair facility available. A mobile repair person was able to get the slide out retracted. He informed us there was only one screw holding the main slide out frame in place. We wrapped a ratchet strap around the coach to hold the slide out in so we could at least continue our trip. A remote repairman at out next stop reported this is a common occurrence on this coach and it would need to be completely rebuilt. We noted that during transport there was sawdust on the cabinets and floors which we have been informed is evidence of excessive frame flexing. We took the coach back to the dealer from which we purchased the unit. The slide out had to be completely rebuilt (new rails, new slide blocks, new motors). We have little confidence that the slide out will not fail again. We noted that the rear tires were wearing at a rate of more than 4 times faster than the front tires. The excessive wear was accompanied with concern that we would blow a tire on the road and cause an accident and/or injury. A Lippert representative was consulted who advised that the front axle was defective and had to be replaced. Our extended warranty did not cover the cost of the axle. The next major trip was in summer 2024. The main slide out failed again. A repairman noted that the motors and rails needed to be replaced again and that the frame was at the limit of being within specs and may have contributed to the problem. During that repair the repairman noted cracking in the roof seams at the major junction at the front of the camper and around AC units and vents. Each of those areas had been resealed just 5 months earlier. We were informed that this was also evidence of excessive frame flexing. The repair facility diagnostician reported that the roof needed to be scraped and resealed.

While returning from a recent camping trip my wife while following the trailer home noticed the house structure was swaying and bouncing too much. She had thought the rig would fall apart. We arrived home and notice that the slide was out 2-4 inches, the cabin door had opened, an interior wall had separated from exterior wall and a side wall had flexed 2 or more inches out by another slide. There was bends and creases in the exterior metal side skirting that needed to be secured for travel. on approximately 11/04 we turned in the rig for repairs to Happy Daze RV. They Have since made us aware of frame cracks through out the trailer. We have not been notified of who or how the repairs will be handled.

There is an issue with the structural integrity of the front upper deck where the walls are bolted to the frame. The only fasteners that I could find are loose and stripped out with no way of tightening them. There is also a lot of creaking and popping noises from the front upper deck area when hitching and unhitching the trailer from the tow vehicle. This is the same issue as with the Solotude and Momentum product series, also manufactured by Grad Design.

The welds for the rear wall framing have broken loose and the rear wall is shifting side to side. I assume after time it could fully detach from the trailer and fall into the roadway. The trailer has not been inspected yet, but there are other cases documented on the internet. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Both sidewalls on my 5th Wheel have broken frames at the top of the walls and the walls need replaced. The side doors and compartment doors come open going down the road. The large side window exploded going down the road from the frame twisting. The RV has to be sent back to the factory to be repaired and have the walls replaced

-Entry door of travel trailer opens during travel even with both deadbolt & handle locks in locked positions. -This could allow items inside travel trailer to be sucked out onto roadway. That could lead to property damage, injuries, & even death to myself, my passengers, & any other vehicle on the same roadway as me. Potentially making impact with road signs, other vehicles, bicyclists, or even pedestrians on side of roadway. This has also allowed diesel exhaust soot to be sucked inside the travel trailer, coating the ENTIRE interior. Created slip/fall hazard (I nearly fell) as it made the vinyl flooring incredibly slick. Harmful to health (covered the toilet seats, furniture, cookware, etc. I had to clean EVERY surface of the trailer interior to prevent harm to myself & my labradoodle (began to lick himself to remove soot picked up from interior surfaces). Multiple albuterol inhalations required during cleanup due to my asthma. -Multiple occurrences even after multiple dealership service visits. Issue first appeared within 100mi. of purchasing travel trailer brand new. -Adventure RV Cheyenne, WY (Blue Compass) verified issue & replaced under warranty entire entry door. -I contacted Grand Design to open a complaint ticket. I requested permission to have trailer inspected and issue resolved at Windish RV in Longmont, CO as the Cheyenne dealership was incompetent, dishonest, & failed to fix this. Windish RV was fantastic, but Grand Design refused to authorize further action for the issue. Windish RV suggested I should upgrade the door handle to a high quality replacement, as the factory handles are mostly plastic junk & same keys as every other trailer (not very secure). On my own dime I replaced the handle for $300+ labor with USA made RV Lock V4. -Appears door frame is separating from trailer wall, trailer currently at Windish RV for another repair attempt.

-Baggage compartment doors, when latched securely and locked with key, would open during travel down the highway at random. Luckily no cargo was lost (I take turns very slowly and noticed flapping baggage doors in my side view mirrors pretty quickly). This has happened on multiple occasions, and continued to happen after multiple dealership service visits that supposedly rectified the issue. This issue first appeared within 100 miles of purchasing this travel trailer brand new. -Yes, Adventure RV of Cheyenne, WY (now Blue Compass) verified the issue and eventually replaced under warranty the baggage door latches, and then after issue persisted and I complained, replaced the baggage doors entirely. -The issue persisted, contacted Grand Design corporate to open a complaint ticket. I requested permission to have trailer inspected and issue resolved at Windish RV in Longmont, CO as the Cheyenne dealership was incompetent and dishonest. Windish RV was fantastic, but Grand Design refused to authorize anything else for the baggage doors issue. Windish RV suggested I should upgrade the latches/locks to a high quality replacement, as the factory latches are mostly plastic junk, all the locks are keyed the same, and issues with them are almost guaranteed. On my own dime I replaced all of the baggage door latches with RV Lock (Utah, USA small business) replacement handles and locks (nearly $500 plus labor). This resolved the issue (around 5k mi since install). This was very expensive and time consuming but the safety and peace of mind is priceless. If items from the open baggage compartments fell out onto the roadway it could have caused massive property damage, injuries, and loss of life to my occupants and anybody else on the same road at the same time as me. -I can provide the warranty repair attempts documentation at a later date, as that paperwork is currently inside the trailer at a repair facility for other issues currently.

The large slide that has the fridge and dinette has a inadequate schwintek slide mechanism that fails and leaves the buyer to fix out of their own pocket. About all of the floor plan 28BH has this problem. Grand Design may attempt to fix it but it's a bandaid. I have had to pay out of pocket to get the VROOM system to replace the schwintek system along with everyone else that has it. The schwintek slide system is weak and problematic as it strips gears, looses timing and burns up motors. We have only used our camper for going on three years.