Yahoo Message Number: 61880 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/61880)
Some time ago I posted looking for a replacement motor for my Carefree Mirage awning. The in-limit adjustment quit working and Carefree said that I could not replace parts and needed to buy a new motor--$1200. Well a good member of this forum, Richard Lucas, had replaced his motor with a new one and disassembled the old one to see how it worked. He kindly sent me the internal parts from the old motor assembly and many pictures of how it went together. I then proceeded to disassemble my motor to see what went wrong. This is one for the books. Without too much detail, inside the adjustment module are two thin, long plastic rods with bulbous ends that lock into slots to keep them in place. They are the adjustment rods that can be accessed from the end of the roller tube to set the in and out limit power shut off. One of the ends of one of the rods was gone and had been replaced, presumably at the factory, with a brass fitting that one normally uses inside the end of a 1/4 inch water hose before crimping down on the feral when tightening the water connection. With the bulbous end of the adjustment rod gone this allowed the brass piece to slip over the remaining end of the rod and the brass flange then slipped into the slot that the normal rod end would have been locked into. Over time the brass flange wore out and broke off. Thus the adjustment rod slipped out of place and could not be adjusted. With Richards old parts I was able to R&R parts and all is well. A really dumb thing for the factory to do and an egregious act against the buying public. They should be ashamed.
Lyle Wetherholt
04 Intrigue 11740
Yahoo Message Number: 61899 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/61899)
Now who but one (or two in this case) of this lists members would go this far? Probably what the guy on the CareFree production line was thinking when he jerry rigged a defective part. Who would ever know?
It will be interesting if the Chinese diesel pushers mentioned elsewhere here today on this list become available in the US. While Chinese products certainly have had problems, just like another Asian country who sought to do business with the US they are learning that quality is important. I have said many times it will take something like that to force the RV industry to actually take quality control seriously. I would like to live long enough to see it. Think of it, true quality control in an RV and RV component suppliers! We should not have to put up with what is actually a form of dishonesty.
To paraphrase something an old friend once said: There is nothing defective about my money (current political problems aside) so there should be nothing defective in what I pay for. Or that should sure as heck should be the goal.
Bob (rthandren@...)
'05 Inspire 51178
Yahoo Message Number: 61906 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/61906)