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New Alliance 30BH - Barn Door Issue

EB1959

Member
Greetings all. My wife and I are retired, and have been doing the RV thing for 35 years. We've had the following. Tent (one and ONLY time wife did that),
Colman Pop-up trailer, 24 foot Jayco Travel Trailer, 35' Class C Jayco Jamboree motor home, 37' Damon Class A motor home, 41' 5" KZ Durango 5th wheel.

This past week we traded the KZ in for the Avenue All Access 30BH. So far, we've have 2 issues. One I've fixed myself. While bringing it home on a 200 mile trip, we used the bathroom a few times. Got home, leveled, and began to check the systems closer. I drained the black tank, and hooked up to flush the tank. Black tank valve was open, and I began to flush it out. I noticed water dripping from some pipes, coming from under the bathroom. To shorten the story, I had to tighten up the plumbing as all the connections were loose. Leak, fixed.

Barn door.
This model has a "barn door" to close off the bunk room. As you watch Alliance's videos on this model, they boast about it being the "largest in the industry". It has 4 mounting brackets. The center left had only one of the two screws in it and was stripped out. The main left side bracket looked like it had been re-done, and those were popping out. Before we left the dealer, they put larger screws into it. Well, those too popped out of the wall as we were going down the highway. So, I'm trying to figure out how to remount the door rail to hold up a door that was too heavy for it in the first place.

Other than that, every thing else works. We yet to do a full camp in it, but hopefully soon.
 

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M and E

Well-known member
Congratulations on the new rig! Regarding the barn door, perhaps a bead of 3M VHB tape behind the rail? I’m positive it has the holding power but unsure if the substrate is sufficient for the load. In combination with the other fasteners, I’d bet it would do the trick. However, it’s very difficult to remove if ever needed.
 

7426TRISS

Well-known member
Being the dealer made the mistake, I would call a mobile tech and have them make the repair and sent the dealer the bill.

Putting a big screw is not the solution, theirs more too it.
 

M and E

Well-known member
Being the dealer made the mistake, I would call a mobile tech and have them make the repair and sent the dealer the bill.

Putting a big screw is not the solution, theirs more too it.
Better approach than mine for sure. I missed that it was under warranty.
 

EB1959

Member
I've been working with both the dealer, and Alliance. Alliance sent me a schematic of the wall that door is mounted on. Further detailed examination shows there are 2 "main" mounting studs MISSING. No tape is going keep this door up as it'll just rip if off the wall. There are 4 brackets. the 2 to the right are secure to a a mounting block, the 2 on the left, there is nothing but 1/8 inch paneling that the brackets were screwed into.

The delivery trip shows where the screws on the left side actually pulled a slot down the paneling, which was not visible upon inspection and walk through. I also didn't notice the left center mount only had one of the 2 screws in it.

This, in my view, is a manufacturers defect. We are now waiting to hear back from Alliance as to what our next move is. In our view, we are due a NEW trailer, which either a dealer is going to deliver to us, or Alliance is, and take the defective trailer back.

I have been working with a Leslie Larsen, at Alliance, and waiting to hear back this morning. Leslie said to re-locate the rail up further, that may be the issue, but once I took the rail off, I used a flexible probe and there is no mounting block there. The areas in question are circled in RED in the attachment. This door weighs 46 pounds with out the rail.
 

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Chaseweston

Well-known member
Best of luck with getting a replacement trailer. I do think that is a tall ask for something like this.

That said, I also would not accept them asking you to move the rail up to fix their QC miss. They should at very least, pay for a mobile mechanic to pull the wall skin and install the correct blocking in the wall and remount the barn door rail as intended. I recommend a mobile tech because in my experience, they care a hell of a lot more than dealerships do. maybe your selling dealership will stand by the sale though.

I'm not sure of your skill level but if you have a crown stapler, air compressor (if air powered), some sort of saw, and a mini pry bar, you should be able to get this done yourself without too much effort and destruction. Granted, I fully agree this should absolutely not be something you should have to take on after picking up a new unit under warranty. Just having gone through a warranty repair that Alliance forced me to take the unit to a dealer for ended up worse off for us and only kind of fixed the issue that it went in for. We had already stayed in an airbnb for three weeks at this point so I took the unit back after they said everything was "fixed" and we went on our way.

Whichever way you go, hope you get it worked out!
 

EB1959

Member
We have a mobile RV tech coming out on July 7th to look at it. I can, 99% guarantee, he's going to tell me there are in deed MISSING wall components to hold that door on. If that's the case, it would mean removing the trim and that one wall panel to add the missing studs. We live an hour and half away from a dealer, and if we have too do that, I doubt we'll even get to use our trailer for another month or 3.
 

2 Allies

Well-known member
Keep working with Leslie and hopefully you can work out a better arrangement. Maybe letting the tech correct.

Good luck,
 

EB1959

Member
A few days ago, I took additional photos, with the barn door and rail off this time. You can see where the door was ripping the paneling during it's delivery trip to the dealer. Had we known the extent of the damage, we would never have taken this trailer. Where the rips are, are supposed to be STUDS for the door rail mount to screw into. The left rip is at 6 inches from ceiling, the 2nd rip is 5 inches down. Schematic shows both studs as
2x3's, 8 inches long.
 

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7426TRISS

Well-known member
Can't understand how the dealers technician would even not know that there was nothing for the screw to go into.(Brain dead maybe)

If there are no supports, that's all on Alliance, but the dealer, has to also take responsible for there mistake!
 

EB1959

Member
I would like to keep this post updated until this is repaired, but maybe this can all be moved to a different section of the forum? Not sure who runs this.
Anyway, the mobile tech came out this morning. And low and behold, he came to the same conclusion as I did, MISSING STUDS. I forwarded the emails I've been sending and getting from Leslie at Alliance. He sent her and me as a CC, explaining what will be needed to make the repairs. Her response.. "Which concern is this repair for? Do you have any photos to provide?" Really? She KNOWS what it's about, the work order/case number or whatever, are on the emails, and she has photos. I called her today at 1:40pm, asked for a call back, still waiting.

The plan now is, both wall panels have to come off, trim has to come off, studs have to be installed, and "NEW" wall panels installed. BUT, will Alliance comply or give us the run around? Will they dodge this whole thing or are they an honest manufacturer like they advertise. We'll see. We need this done before the 2nd week in August. Taking it to a dealer will mean it sits there, for 2 or 4 months.
 

Oregon_Camper

Forum Admin
Staff member
I would like to keep this post updated until this is repaired, but maybe this can all be moved to a different section of the forum? Not sure who runs this.
I am an Admin, so I will move this to better section to align with the wall issue.
 

EB1959

Member
First, thank you Jim for moving the thread.

I wish I could work with someone else at Alliance. Leslie asked for measurements and photos, again. So I took photos, and on each photo I put the measurements. He/She, I don't know, said why do I need any corner or baton trim when only the 2 walls are damaged? I explained that the trim has to come off in order to remove the walls and the trim may not come off with out damage. I was told the trim isn't damaged in the photos.. but she agreed to send the following. This was what the RV Tech wanted as well. I'm pretty sure HE knows what he's talking about. I've pulled trim off an RV before, it's either stapled, nailed, or glued on and if you're not careful, it' will get damaged.

(2)wall panels at 91” x 31” and 91” x 18 ½”

(12’)Batten trim (actual total length is 24 feet)

(19’)Corner batten trim
(really? 19 FEET of corner when I only need 92 inches)??
 

M and E

Well-known member
No tape is going keep this door up as it'll just rip if off the wall.
VHB has a vertical shear load of 90 pounds per one square inch and certain tapes flex increasing that, but I was suggesting to use it in conjunction with the screws.
I wish I could work with someone else at Alliance.
Have you asked? Simple request that I’m sure they’d accommodate.

Mistakes, misses, accidental omissions occur in every industry. Respectfully, I’m missing what you seem to think makes this so terribly egregious and how this rises to a level where you feel the entire rig should be replaced. I see the thread has been moved so maybe I missed something that has been deleted as part of the move. It does seem like an inconvenience and a somewhat meaningful repair but really not that big of a deal.
 

7426TRISS

Well-known member
I know your frustrated with this, been there, Have the mobile tech take the lead, and keep Alliance in the loop.

Alliance in the end will make it right.

Take lots of pictures and forward them to Alliance.

They will make it right!!
 

EB1959

Member
Update: Barn Door fixed.
 

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BryanValRox

Well-known member
Update: Barn Door fixed.
Great work validating the issue and working the problem thru to resolution.
It is unfortunate that the line workers don‘t recognize that the screws don’t bite, or maybe choose not to.
Imagine an RV company,where the worker are empowered to stop the line and they are rewarded for reconigizing a problem.
Screw guns need treated with respect, otherwise the potential for stripped fasteners is a reality.
Someone on the line knew there was a problem, but chose quantity over quality.. In my humble opinion of course!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a Alliance fan, but these basic mistakes should not tolerated by the company and certainly not the consumer.
 

EB1959

Member
Great work validating the issue and working the problem thru to resolution.
It is unfortunate that the line workers don‘t recognize that the screws don’t bite, or maybe choose not to.
Imagine an RV company,where the worker are empowered to stop the line and they are rewarded for reconigizing a problem.
Screw guns need treated with respect, otherwise the potential for stripped fasteners is a reality.
Someone on the line knew there was a problem, but chose quantity over quality.. In my humble opinion of course!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a Alliance fan, but these basic mistakes should not tolerated by the company and certainly not the consumer.
All true. We suspect this was a Monday/Friday build, meaning "lets get it done and hit the bar" or "I hate Mondays".
CS refused me access to anyone in management such as regional sales or in the plant. If you're going to tout
"Obsessed with providing the best rv ownership experience", you better be willing to stand behind it 100%. In my view, Alliance doesn't.

So far, we had 13 issues with this RV. Some were dumb design flaws that I fixed or modified, some still need to be resolved, and the rest have been fixed.

Will be adding a 14th issue by the end of today. Propane regulator possibly not working as intended. Both tanks open, ran gas through the lines, and the regulator shows RED no matter what tank I have the switch pointed too.
 

Lantley

Well-known member
Great work validating the issue and working the problem thru to resolution.
It is unfortunate that the line workers don‘t recognize that the screws don’t bite, or maybe choose not to.
Imagine an RV company,where the worker are empowered to stop the line and they are rewarded for reconigizing a problem.
Screw guns need treated with respect, otherwise the potential for stripped fasteners is a reality.
Someone on the line knew there was a problem, but chose quantity over quality.. In my humble opinion of course!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a Alliance fan, but these basic mistakes should not tolerated by the company and certainly not the consumer.
Unfortunately the workers are rewarded by the speed they operate not the quality they produce. They are paid by the piece!
Stopping the line would ultimately cut their piece count and reduce their pay. Don't count on the line stopping for quality reasons anytime soon.
They have more incentive to speed up the line than to stop it:eek:
 
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