18' Series Another cracked yellowed shower wall

[Jeepnjayco]

Hi all, first post so please be gentle. We bought our 2010 Expanda 18.57-6OB early this year and are already away in it. The van is great to tow and very comfortable but on the last leg of our trip we noticed a large crack in the shower wall appeared, this was all highway driving and no rough roads.

I've searched the forums and found some people have had Jayco replace the walls out of warranty and some have had no luck, the most recent I could find was denied by the service manager
http://expandasdownunder.com/threads/so-many-different-things-going-wrong.4605/page-2#post-147876

For anyone who managed to get Jayco to come to the party, how did you do it? It looks expensive to replace the walls

Thanks, Tim.

 

[Jeepnjayco]

Thought a picture would be helpful. Taped up so we can still use it

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Reading through a few posts on similar issues, it seems that Jayco are more likely to say yes if you were the original owner.

Certainly worth talking to the factory about the issue.

Unfortunately the Australian Consumer Guarantee only came in 2011, so may or may not assist.

 

[Jeepnjayco]

Thanks Bellbirdweb, I'll contact Jayco and see what they say. Unfortunately we're 3 weeks into a 14 week getaway.

 

[Jeepnjayco]

Jayco aren't willing to repair the wall outside of warranty or subsidise the repair I any way. Does anyone have experience repairing the wall, or replacing the wall entirely? Has anyone had this done at their own cost or had it repaired under insurance? Thanks again.

 

[Michael Watterson]

Hey,

I had the same issue, (prob read about my rant in some posts).

I had no luck with Jayco, I even brought it to the attention of the CEO (have to love social networking for email addresses).

I think they have a new service manager who is a complete dick.

Seems a lot of the ones that were replaced may of been approved by someone else.

Anyway, I just put silicon over the crack in my shower and it works a treat. Does not leak at all - been like that for over 12 months now.

I was going to get it plastic welded, but never got around to it.

Interested to know how you go

Cheers

Michael

 

[bigcol]

as @Michael Watterson said, may be your best option

drill a small hole (1mm) at either end of the crack (this will help it STOP cracking)
then fill with silastic

also, get underneath and have a look at the floor under the shower area
maybe moving while your in the shower, hence the crack

 

[Jeepnjayco]

Thanks Michael, I wrote a polite email to Jayco saying that some had been fixed under warranty and others hadn't, and asked what Jayco would be willing to do for me. The response from the service manager was pretty blunt, basically tough, I bought a second hand van, he doesn't know why it cracked, and Jayco isn't interested so I should contact my insurance company. I wrote another polite reply saying I understood why Jayco would choose not to cover the repair under warranty, but expected a helpful response especially from a service manager that might direct me to a convenient Jayco service centre to quote for repair and even offer a token discount on labour to keep an indirect Jayco customer happy. I didn't get another reply.

I'll look into plastic welding when I get back, and will get a 3rd party to quote for replacing the wall entirely.

Thanks Bigcol I'll have a look under the van when someone is in the shower, it actually wouldn't surprise me if the door frame is flexing as the crack radiates from it.