Spent several hours at the Starcraft plant waiting on a repair to be done. I walked away feeling like anyone with a 7th grade education and the ability to hold an air gun can do pretty much 95% of the trailer assembly work.
wa8yxm wrote: Be aware you may have been watching "magic RV assemblly show" that's where they uyse the magic of not shooting every step to speed up the process. They skip boring stuff like quality control inspections.
On the other hand, considering some of the true stories I've seen on these and other forums........
Exactly. I had the chance to follow a unit being built from beginning to end one time at a fairly large/established manufacturer. The frame came on the line at 9:00 AM, they worked until about 2:30 that day (they start at 5:00 AM), and then it finished up and was pulled out the door around 12:30 the following day. So it took about a day and a half to complete everything, which this show tried to condense into an hour or so show. That time doesn't include everything that crews made up on the side, like cabinets, plumbing assemblies, etc. That was just simple assembly/general construction time.
2007 Sunline Solaris SR T-286SR, Cherry/Granola, 1200# Reese HP DC, Dexter Ez-Flex
2008 Sunline Solaris SR T-286SR scale model, built by KanyonKitty
2005 Ford Excursion Limited V10/4R100/3.73LS
Here is the link to the program that was aired on PBS. You can watch it on your computer. If you want to get to the section where they are building the RV then start watching at the 1.5 hour mark. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/amish/player/
Not all done that way. I've been through a plant where the sidewall frames were built in jigs and welded by robots. Robots cut the insulation and all utility channels. People handled putting the skins on, then it was pressed and the openings cut by robotic machinery.
I've been in other plants where the same jobs were done by hand taking 4 to 10 times the labor and process time, to produce a similar product at higher cost.
I would want to visit the plant before buying any particular brand of RV. How things are done determine how the product comes out. There is more variation of manufacturing methods for RVs than most customers imagine. In the final product, the structure is mostly hidden and the salesman points out the decorative glitz when arguing quality.
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