17' Series Bubble in floor

[VDJ200R]

Long time lurker , thought I would let you guys know on my experience I had this week on having my 17.56-1 Expanda in at Care-a-van Canning Vale for it's first service. I had them look at a few warranty issues as well as the usual first service stuff. One of the warranty issues was a bubble in the lino running across ways in the floor from the fridge side to the stove side about 20 cm in length. Care-a van say Jayco know of the problem which is caused by the join in the ply wood running across the floor coming apart with movement in the vans chassis and letting in moisture which inturn has caused the floor to slightly bubble. I have been told Jayco have devised a bracing kit to be retro fitted under the van to stop the movement in the van floor join to remedy the problem. This is being done next week when the kit arrives from Jayco. Now to fixing the bubble in the floor I had two options. Option 1 was to completely gut the van to replace the floor covering as most would know this is put in at time of manufacture before all the interior is fitted (big job). Option 2 is to inject some glue into the affected area and hope that this fixes it. I am going with the latter option as I'm not real keen on gutting the inside of a brand new van and then nothing ever seems to go back the way it was originally.
I'm also getting the rear mattress replaced under warranty as the small section of the mattress is impossible to sleep on unless you weight about 20kg. It is like the springs in the small section have collapsed and as others had mentioned that they tried to claim on warranty on which I did and Jayco has agreed to. Mattress is on it's way and should be here in a couple of weeks so time well tell if any better than the original.
Care-a-van Canning vale have been great and I would recommend them but make sure you book ahead as they seem to have a lead time of 3-4 weeks before you can get in.
Cheers
Jason

 

[dagree]

Good to hear positive feedback for a local agent @VDJ200R .
I am booked into Northside Caravans in Wangara in two weeks time for some minor warranty work and a check over. Hope to get the same service!

 

[Joanne]

Jason, Interesting to hear about your problem with the floor. We have a similar problem to yours. Our floor "bubbling" was noticed when we accidently (Jayco's fault infact not rejoining up water pipes when they did a warranty job and we filled the tanks to go away for the weekend and in turn flooded the van out terribly BUT that is a whole other problem). When we returned after the weekend we noticed the same bubbling that you have reported thinking it was the water had gotten under the vinyl and caused an issue. All up we have all the 3 joins in the floor do the same thing We reported it to Jayco and they wanted to inspect the van. We arranged for them to pick up the van and they had it for a few days and reported that in fact it was the very same issue that you have experienced (apparently it is not from the flooding of the van). We were also told that they would gut the van and relay the vinyl after "fixing" the floor with levelling compound to even out the floor then put everything back and it will "be like a custom made van" once done. I was most concerned with this as I could not see that we would have a van "better than what comes out of the factory".
To cut a long story short lol:
This was a couple of months ago and we have been waiting for the Vinyl layer to be available to lay new vinyl and fix the floor along with 4 other vans who are experiencing the same issue with the floor. This is a known issue at the moment as Jayco have changed the Supplier of the floors and are using a different flooring to what they used to. It is thinner which is causing the bulging apparently in the joins of which we have all 3 joins coming apart. We have been advised that the vinyl guy will lay a new floor without gutting the van. Apparently they cut the vinyl edging on an angle and pull up the edge stripping, which is around all the joins to the floor, and it slips under this edge stripping. We were also told they will sand the floor and also lay a screed over the joins so it doesn't move again (hopefully). Nothing has been mentioned about bracing from the underside, which I will ring tomorrow and have a chat to find out what is the go.

I have also negotiated with Jayco that any repairs they undertake with regards to the floor issue and also with the flooding (any future damage that may arise from their fault) is covered for the lifetime of our van whilst it is in our possession. This I also have in writing.

Cheers

Jo

 

[VDJ200R]

Joanne, I also had the option to have the vinyl cut around the cupboards but as mine is barely noticable I thought I would try the easiest fix first. I was told by Care a van Canning Vale that this brace kit had just been developed and would be retro fitted to all vans that present with this problem. I have a one to two week wait on the bracing kit to come from Jayco and will know more once it's fitted. From what I understand it braces the joins in the floor to stop any movement or to stop them coming apart as in your case. Let me know How you go with Jayco tomorrow so I can compare to what my van repairer has told me.
Thanks
Jason

 

[Joanne]

Hi Jason, I have had a response from my contact at our local Jayco and this is what he has responded with

Hey there Joanne

Yeah I will forward on however I think you will find this was jaycos first initial response to the problem but has since been deemed not successful. We have only had success with this other method but certainly I will look into this just incase there is something they haven't told us yet.
Cheers

 

[VDJ200R]

As mine is quite minor I will try the bracing first before going down the path of gutting the van

 

[Joanne]

Our van is not being gutted either as it is now not an option we wish to proceed with and the vinyl will be getting replaced.
Not sure the bracing is available as an option anymore so we are waiting to see what other options are available as well.

 

[VDJ200R]

Got the van back and thought I would give a update. The brace kit is 6 pieces of C channel welded in between the cross beams already their. The floor was jacked up slightly to take the weight off it then the braces welded in. Floor is now very sturdy, no bounce or flex in it at all but the bubble in the floor covering is still their even after having glue injected under it. Still not overly happy with the end result and where to from here ? Care-a-van has been great in their approach to this problem, their advice was to pull the floor covering and fix the floor from the inside but not sure if I want to go down this route with a van that's still new. The way Jayco bang some of these vans together is beyond me, I know their not a high end van but their not that cheap either ! Ok rant over now.

 

[Joanne]

Hi our van is being fixed tomorrow and I had our dealer enquire with Jayco themselves about the bracing method and the response was

"After speaking with Jayco and our own service department it looks as if different workshops all carry out their own individual method of repair.
The method we have used on about 10 vans now has had no come backs and has been the most successful to date from any repairer around Australia. "

So our van will be getting this treatment below:

"the repairs we currently carry out here are as follows:

Remove all cabinet doors and drawers, cut away vinyl, lift and clean floor timber under vinyl, resecure floor timber, cut and fit new vinyl, refit all doors and drawers. Underlay floor timber if required (not known until van seen)
We have been doing this on all vans with the floor ply lifting issue and to date have had no vans returned with ongoing concerns."

Our van has 3 areas that have bubbled quite badly.
This is quite a known issue with the most recent vans where they have gone to a thinner floor to save money, this was verified with our Dealer who is most annoyed as they now have the responsibility of fixing them.

There is no need to gut the van at all.

We will be inspecting it once it is finished and I will update you on how it goes and looks.

 

[VDJ200R]

Thanks Joanne, I wait to hear how this goes. Will probably end up going down the same path.

Thanks

 

[rodney]

Jayco have a std procedure to repair the bubbles
So that should be followed as they have done quite a few to see what worked
Basically it is a full over lay with the area of concern fixed before bein out back and the brace kit

 

[VDJ200R]

Jayco have a std procedure to repair the bubbles
So that should be followed as they have done quite a few to see what worked
Basically it is a full over lay with the area of concern fixed before bein out back and the brace kit

Care a van were in contact with Jayco and I was told this is their first port of call to fix the floor was the brace kit. Mine was the join in the floor was starting to separate and moisture coming up through the join in floor causing the flooring to bubble. Mine will be going back in as the bubble is still their in the floor and I'm still not happy with the out come. Maybe I should try going back to Caravanland where I purchased the van from 8mths ago brand new and see what they suggest.

 

[dagree]

@VDJ200R ... I think @rodney just replied with the same answer you will get when contacting Caravanland

 

[VDJ200R]

@dagree I know he works for caravanland but wouldn't have thought they would undertake this kind of repair their and more likely farm it out to one of Jayco's service agents as I was told when I rang Caravanland for my first service, hence why the service and warranty work was done at Care a van.

Their seems to be conflicting opinion between Jayco , Dealers and their Service agents as to what should be done and to which order it should be done in. Doesn't give one a lot of confidence.
@rodney Jayco instructed my service agent to fit the brace kit as a first off fix and to inject glue under the floor covering to rectify the bubble.

 

[rodney]

The service repair was sent out on Tuesday with part numbers etc

We don't currently carry out big repairs like this and send them to another repair agent that can

 

[Joanne]

After 2 weeks wait the van is ready to pick up on Tuesday. We will be inspecting it fully before we take possession once again but have been assured the job has been done to perfection. Will let you know how it looks when she is finally back home. We have been assured that once this is done it will not happen again and the previous 14 vans they have repaired have had no problems since.

Also Jayco have now gone back to the thicker flooring due to all the problems their $100 saving per van has caused.

 

[Smirke]

Hi Joanne, I have been following this thread with a lot of interest. Our van is due in Dec, and after hearing of the flooring problems, we were considering looking around for something else. I mean you expect little things, but for me the floor is huge. (Plus my first house was cheaper than what we are paying for our van! not including the mods that I've seen on here and are going to copy, they are awesome)
So I was really happy to hear that they have reverted back to the thicker floor. Plus, with 4 boys, the thicker the better!

 

[Joanne]

Hi @Smirke we were devastated when we saw what happened with our floor, especially when Jayco's mistake meant our van flooded because they didn't hook up the water pipes and when we thought we were filling the tanks it was actually pouring into the inside of the van. We assumed the floor bubbling was a result of this but it would have been impossible for that to happen. We are still not happy that they have had to repair it but I do have some confidence with our dealer that they will have the problem rectified. We would liked to have hoped this would be our last van for a while, as this is our 4th Jayco, but now we are not so sure how long we will keep this one and it is not even 12 months old.
Good luck with your van

 

[jeff]

@dagree I know he works for caravanland but wouldn't have thought they would undertake this kind of repair their and more likely farm it out to one of Jayco's service agents as I was told when I rang Caravanland for my first service, hence why the service and warranty work was done at Care a van.

Their seems to be conflicting opinion between Jayco , Dealers and their Service agents as to what should be done and to which order it should be done in. Doesn't give one a lot of confidence.
@rodney Jayco instructed my service agent to fit the brace kit as a first off fix and to inject glue under the floor covering to rectify the bubble.

When Caravanland has their own service department and is responsible for the vans they sell we will see a huge improvement in WA. At the moment we rely on agents to deal with JAYCO with our service issues, when these issues don't personally affect the agent (eg dollars spent, inconvenience etc ) it makes you wonder how we as customers are being represented

 

[VDJ200R]

@jeff whilst Caravanland has the monopoly as WA's only Jayco dealer I don't think things will change to much. I asked the salesman when I bought my van from them as to why there were no other Jayco dealers in WA unlike on the east coast. The reply was that there will never be another Jayco dealer in WA because of an agreement between the owner of Jayco Australia and Caravanland. The story goes that Jayco in it's early days ran into financial difficulty and the owners of Caravanland bailed Jayco out under the understanding their was never to be another Jayco dealer in WA. This is what I was told so don't know how factual it is. Stands to reason why there has never been another Jayco Dealer in WA. I love the idea of the Expanda Caravan but like @Joanne once my floor is fixed properly I don't know how long I will keep it for even though it's only 9 mths old or weather I would consider to buy another Jayco.