• Click here to access some of the presentations made during the 2022 National Rally

Alliance 32RLS shower

We are close to purchasing an Alliance 32RLS, but noticed substantial deflection of the shower floor when stepping inside. I am concerned that the deflection will result in plumbing leaks or cracking of the shower floor. Can any current owners or Alliance representatives comment?
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
I have noticed this in our shower also. We are fulltime and have been in our 32RLS for 6 months with no issues with the shower........just hoping it stays that way. The only plumbing leak we have had was a connection under the bath sink that was not fully tightened and resulted in a slow drip down into the storage area.
 

PeteInNJ

New member
I also noticed the shower deflection on a 32RLS at a show last month. It was pretty bad when I bounced my weight (250#) in a certain spot close to the door, actually moving part of the bottom shower door trim.

It was almost like they forgot to install a spacer or something. In contrast, the Paradigm was rock-solid, as was the GD Reflection we were comparing the Avenue to.

I asked a dealer rep about it and he agreed it didn't look normal, and suggested I come to his dealership to see if their display model did the same thing.

Maybe someone from Alliance can comment on this? It was my SO's first choice of all the RVs we looked at over the past year, and other than the shower sag I think it's probably the one we'd get.
 
An Alliance rep told me they had improved this in later models, but we've seen two units with different manufacturing dates and they were both the same. I don't see why they used a raised floor shower in this application, as they are usually used to make room under the shower floor for plumbing, but in this case, they have a straight shot to the basement. Use of the raised floor also reduces the headroom so that my head has to protrude into the skylight.
 
According to the factory rep I emailed with, the only practical way to fix this would be to remove the shower, put in the support, and re-install the shower. After spending a little more time in a unit yesterday, it isn't just the area around the drain, but also has movement around the sides if you step close to the side. We recently remodeled our bathroom, using a raised floor tub, and even the steel tub installation instructions called for support under the tub floor.
 

Todd80

Well-known member
I have a SOB (some other brand) camper with this same type of plastic shower. Mine has these "soft spots" too. The floors with these plastic showers are uneven which results in slight raised spots which you feel when you step on it. With fiberglass showers such as what's used in the Paradigm, you won't have that.
 

PeteInNJ

New member
I did some googling on "rv with soft shower floor" and there's a bunch of solutions that will probably apply to the Avenue. Forestriverforums has a few threads on the topic and someone else has a youtube video on it.

Basically you need open the access port under the shower and build a support structure out of wood or hard plastic. Doesn't look that hard and can probably knock it out in a few hours.
 

sleepyT

Active member
I took delivery on my 32RLS in October and have also noticed the soft spot in the shower...The soft spot is from and including the drain to the outside wall which is right where you would stand while taking a shower...As Mike in post #6 stated, I had a mobile tech say the same thing that the shower needed to be taken out completely to be fixed...Half my warranty is gone and still have not been able to use the camper with all the issues I have been dealing with...
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
Sorry about all the issues with your 32RLS. We are full time in ours and have to repair/fix a ton of stuff. We have been using our shower for over 6 months and despite the soft area around the shower drain have not had any issues.....yet. I am keeping a close eye on it. I really don't want to have to yard out the shower and replace it. Alliance has been responsive to my requests, but it still falls on us to get things fixed, thus the reason I have not gone down the road of replacing the shower.
 

sleepyT

Active member
Sorry about all the issues with your 32RLS. We are full time in ours and have to repair/fix a ton of stuff. We have been using our shower for over 6 months and despite the soft area around the shower drain have not had any issues.....yet. I am keeping a close eye on it. I really don't want to have to yard out the shower and replace it. Alliance has been responsive to my requests, but it still falls on us to get things fixed, thus the reason I have not gone down the road of replacing the shower.
dwcfish
Through talking to a customer service rep I was informed the shower pan is fiberglass and not plastic...Also this issue can not be addressed from the basement area...
 

PeteInNJ

New member
dwcfish
Through talking to a customer service rep I was informed the shower pan is fiberglass and not plastic...Also this issue can not be addressed from the basement area...

Sleepy, did you ask them about fixing it with some shims using what appears to be an access panel directly underneath the shower door? (so not from the basement, but from within the bathroom itself)

See below for one of several youtubes on the topic. There are also some threads on the Forest River forums outlining various approaches.

How to Fix a Flimsy RV Shower Floor

I'm surprised the floor in the Avenue is fiberglass and not plastic given the amount of flex I witnessed. The floor in the Paradigm (which is definitely fiberglass) had zero give.
 

sleepyT

Active member
Pete
I don't have an access panel under the shower door....Not sure how it has to be address at this point but there is only about an 8 inch hole in the basement with the shower drain in the middle of it...
 

KJohnston722

New member
I have this same issue and actually talked to Jim Bonacci at the Texas Rally he said the shower need to be pulled completely out and the floor reinforced. he said they did not originally enforce it enough due to the the different type of shower pan used in the other models not needing it. he said the other models have a solid shower pan where the avenue is an rv type so it does need more enforcement. he says they have made this adjustment on the production line.
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
Interestingly I asked Bill at Alliance to respond to this and he is saying that they would only address this flaw through a warranty claim "This is something we would review and would be addressed thru warranty". So if Jim is saying the shower needs to be pulled and the floor reinforced it appears that is on us unless the floor fails, even though they are correcting this in newer models.
 

KJohnston722

New member
Interestingly I asked Bill at Alliance to respond to this and he is saying that they would only address this flaw through a warranty claim "This is something we would review and would be addressed thru warranty". So if Jim is saying the shower needs to be pulled and the floor reinforced it appears that is on us unless the floor fails, even though they are correcting this in newer models.
I understood it to be a warranty issue as this has caused my shower drain to leak… I have it at a dealership right now so we shall see in the coming weeks what’s determined
 

sleepyT

Active member
PeteinNJ, KJohnston722, I addressed this issue in my post in the "Warranty Issues" thread...The issues I ended with (addressed) were taken care of under the warranty... The issues that end with (not addressed yet) are issues I am still trying to get fixed...Sorry for the tardy post, just went back and reread this thread...
 

PeteInNJ

New member
Wanted to circle back and say I checked out a 32rls at the Hershey show and the shower pan was fine. I didn't think to take a picture of the manufacture date but I think it's safe to assume Alliance made an improvement to fix this. Difference was night and day from the one I saw back in February.
 
I recently reviewed one in Richmond Hill and found it fixed as well. They had 2, one was fixed and one was not, so I assume there was a cut in date where it was fixed.
 
Top