Another Tiffin Factory Tour - 2018

One of the fun things to do in Red Bay is to go on the factory tour and see the motorhomes in various stages of production.

I'm not sure how many times I have done the tour, but it never gets old for me.  I learn something every time.

It begins every day (Mon-Fri) at 9:30 AM from the Visitor's Center.

Two people take the group on the tour through different buildings and they do an excellent job.

The tour takes you past the headquarters/main office building with Bob Tiffin and his three sons work.  At the other end of the inconspicuous warehouse-looking building is the entrance to the cabinet shop.

Tiffin uses mainly alder wood or cherry wood with different stains.

When we got into the main area, we saw planers, sanders and lots of saws cutting all kinds of wood to length.  They have a state of the art air filtration system to remove the sawdust.  What struck me was size of the woodworking area.

It seemed to me that it had double in size from six months ago when we were last there.  It was pretty amazing.  It always is.

We went past the sold surface area where the counter tops, sinks and shower units are put together.

Large computer-driven cutting tools make precise pieces for subsection unit of the motorhome.  I was thinking a study in systems management would be interesting to sort out how they tag each component of the motor home and assemble it during the build process.  It is a wonder!

There are 18 stations during the motorhome build process and showers, cabinets, or drawers show up on a cart for the unit that is being built.  It all runs like a well oiled machine.

Plumbing and wiring harnesses are tagged and threaded through the frame of the motorhome before the floor is attached.  The young man I watched wasted no motions and was working vigorously pulling this piece and stuffing that piece along its prescribed route through the frame.  Another interesting phase.

A thirty foot motorhome takes about two miles of wiring.  A 44 foot motorhome takes about three miles.

 The wiring harness area is another section of the plant that seems to have doubled.  Tiffin uses the concept of continuous process improvement and are not shy about expanding areas or moving work area to more efficient places.

A few years about we saw the Tiffin-produced Powerglide chassis being built in the area where some of the solid surface work is being done.  Since then, the chassis building process has moved to a build all its own that was erected on the north end of the plant property.

The tour ends at the punch list and cleaning station where each coach is checked over before delivery.   While walking by a 2019 unit, the cargo bay doors were open.

The first one had a slide tray with an automatic switch just in case you need some help pulling out the tray.

The other thing that was new were motion-sensor lights.  If the door are open the lights come on when motion is detected.  Nice touch!

That's a brief recap of the tour of the factory.  Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!~

Great Days in Ocala

Ocala is about an hour away from our site at Rodman Campground but we have been over there a few times in the last week.  The first time we went to check out Salt Springs and visit the historic Ocala downtown area.  One thing we came away with was the notion that this area is big on horses!  There are a lot of horse farms in this part of Florida.

We have an appointment scheduled later in month at the Cummins Repair Center so we found where it was and saw that they have a number of pedestals and water sites for an overnight stay.

The Ocala RV show was in town and we got tickets on the BOGO day (Buy One Get One free).  Last month we visited the Tampa RV show.  That was a big one.  This was much smaller.  Last year they had about 5000 visitors.

It was a rainy, blowing kind of day and a little cold so there wasn't a big crowd.  And we got there a little early.  Later when we left lots more people were showing up.

The entrance tent had the typical selection of tables and booths.  We didn't see any new products this time.

We are always a little intrigued by the smaller Aliner campers.

And I like to check out the Class C RVs.

But the real surprise for me was the Vanleigh 5th wheel by Tiffin.  I didn't realize they had gotten into the market but sure enough.  They brought the Vilano model to the show and it was impressive.  We are not in the market for a new RV but this really surprised me.

Since it was still a little early in the day, I was able to talk with the salesman some and he indicated they have built 85 and have 61 sold and in the campgrounds throughout the Southeast.

Tiffin Motorhomes bought an old mobile home plant in Burnsville, Mississippi and currently employs over 125 people. We look forward to going through the facility in May when we are planning to get some work done in Red Bay.

By far the highlight of the day was getting a chance to stop by and see Howard and Linda Payne.  We have known them for years.  They have been very generous with advice and information about this lifestyle on RV-Dreams.com.  Anytime I talk to someone about RVing, I send them to their web site first.

They both are doing well and we got a photo before we left.  We are big fans...

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Red Bay Repairs Recap - Aug 2015

I always like going to Red Bay.  Red Bay is the home town of Tiffin Motorhomes.  We have found it to be the quickest and easiest place to go to get our motor home (the Roadrunner) serviced.  Since Pam's sister and brother-in-law live in Maynardville, TN we are in this part of the country each year. Getting to Red Bay only takes about 6 hours from there.

We usually don't have to wait a long time to get things done and we learn a lot.  We get a chance to talk with people in the Allegro Campground

to hear the latest on what's getting fixed we find new things to buy in the Parts Store.  We also take advantage of the Tiffin factory tours and learn lots, no matter how many times we take the tour.

This post summarizes the highlights of what we got fixed this trip.

We left Maynardville and arrived at the Allegro Campground on a Saturday.  We have found the earlier we check-in, the sooner we get on the list to be seen in the 'Express Bay'.  So we were ahead of those that checked in on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Our fix-it list in Red Bay looked something like this:
Tiffin
- Heater/air conditioner thermostat (front temps often go to 103 degrees)
- Sink drawer need to be tightened
- Keyless entry:  front door and a bay door sometimes would not lock

Bruce Deaton Custom Paint Shop
- Check the rails for cracks
- If there are no cracks, spray on new Clear Coat (Clear Coat was peeling on top of rails)
- Install a new wind strip / black deflector piece near the hinges on the main front door

Bay Diesel
- Check why engine appears to 'chug' a little going up hills
- Amber light comes on going up hill, then goes off on the down hill.

On Monday morning we checked in with Bruce Deaton to make sure we were on track for our Tuesday appointment.  We were and next we went over to Bay Diesel to schedule a Thursday appointment for the Roadrunner.  Next we took our time and went over to the Tiffin factory and walked through some new models.

On Tuesday we left the campground and were over at Bruce Deaton's a little before 6:00 AM.  We dropped off the coach and then went over to Jack's for breakfast.  They finished up a little before 11:00 AM.


Then we got a call from the Express Bay and were in by 11:30.  They moved quickly through our list and replaced the front heater/air conditioner sensor in the ceiling in the front of the coach.  It fixed our thermostat problem.

Next, they sanded off the metal contacts inside the door opening near the hinges.  They also sprayed some cleaner on them.  That also worked.  While they were at it, a QC guy came by and check the rails and wet bay.  No problems there.  And they check the floors on the slide out.  Big problem there.
Yikes!

Yup, the DS slideout floor needed to be replaced.  They told us they could get us in the repair bay as soon as the next day or as late as 10 days....It all depended on how many work orders came in before closing time.  None did and we thankfully got in the next morning at 7 AM.

More bad news. They pay for the floor repair for units 6 years old and under.  The Roadrunner is 8 years old.  They wanted to be sure I understood it was going to cost me $950 to repair the floor before they started working on it.

I didn't see a) how it was going to get any better if I didn't get it repaired, b) how I would ever find someone else to do it cheaper or better somewhere else.  So we gave them the go ahead to proceed.
While they were doing that, I was going through my options on how to get them to cover the costs or at least reduce them.  I figured if I saved $100 or $200 it would be worth it.

I started with the techs and asked if there were 'magic words' or some approach I could should use with management.  No ideas there.  Next I talked with the supervisor.  He wasn't very helpful at first
but after I asked if he had any 50% coupons laying around he started to be a little more interested on doing something for us.

After they got the slide out and laying on its side, a number of them were looking over things and then the supervisor walked by en route to talk to his boss say, "I think we may be able to do something..".  False alarm he came back and said he talked with his boss and we had two issues that we probably couldn't overcome:  the fact that our paperwork was stamped "Not Original Owner" and it was over two years out of warranty.

Next I went to go see Wade and talked with him.  It was a short conversation.  Cordial to a degree but when I heard him say, "I am just going by what 'they' told me to do -- the customer pays half and we pay half".  I asked if he didn't have some leeway, or if there wasn't something he could do, or if he could work with us?

He replied with the same thing he said before. I knew I lost him when he got that '1000 mile gaze' through the window for the third time and we sat there in silence.  So I dusted myself off and said 'thank you' and went back to watch them fix the floor.

Some days are tougher than others when you try to negotiate from a position of weakness and zero leverage.

They finished up the floor and put the slide back in and we were out of there before noon.  We went back to our campsite and went over to Bay Diesel the first thing (7:00 AM) Thursday morning.

It took them a while at Bay Diesel to get going on it but moved it into the Service Bay and put the diagnostic gear on the engine and ran some tests.  From that they determined we needed a new lift fuel pump.  They put that in, we took it out for some test drives with the diagnostics hooked up and it did not solve the problem.

We spent the night parked outside of their shop and took another run at it on Friday morning.  They were not successful in finding the issue and ran out of ideas so they called a repair facility in Tupelo, MS (100 miles away) and got an appointment with one of their Cummins engine tech for 7 AM on Saturday morning.

So that's a recap of the repair work we got done and tried to get done on our 7th trip to Red Bay.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Sunday in Red Bay

If you have been in Red Bay AL in December on the weekend, you know there is not much going on. It turned colder again yesterday but the sun came out so it was a pretty nice day.

I got up my usual early hour and made a big pot of coffee like I usually do and set down for some reading and quiet contemplation.  I love those hours of the day.  It gets me motivated when I get some things settled in my mind and heart.

By the time Pam got up at 6:30ish I was already into my main task of the day -- getting some work done online.  I have some online end of month reports to compile and write up.  Most of the inputs I need on different projects had come in over the first few days of the month so I spent all day working on them.

It was great to take a break here and there.  We had a great Sunday morning breakfast of blueberry pancakes and eggs and sausage.  Then took some time to download a sermon for a session at the Roadrunner Chapel and set up my blue tooth Bem speaker.

These things are amazing.  And even I can set it up and use it.  It is such a better sound than listening to things off my laptop speakers.  Like many of you, I added an Amazon 'one click shopping button' on the side bar of the blog.  If you start from there when you buy, we get a small commission.  I like to do that with other peoples blogs.  They get a few cents from my purchase, while it doesn't add any cost to me.  A real win-win.

Our friends Kevin and Ruth do it and it makes a difference at the end of the month.  So you might give it a try.

After listening to Lon Solomon for a while, I got back to my work and steadily stayed at it most of the day.  Pam went for a nice walk and then came back to watch the Golf Channel and see how things were shaping up at Tiger's tournament in Florida.  A motorcycle company is the new sponsor.  Ever  heard of Hero motorcycles from India?  Me neither.  The Invitational tournament only had 18 men in the field.

New sensation Jordan Spieth won the tournament by 10 shots for his second win in a row.  Last week he won the Australian Open, flew 9000 miles to Florida to win yesterday.  He is definitely on a roll.  He picked up $1M for the win.  Last place (18th) was worth over $100K.  Nice way to pick up some extra cash before the holidays.

I finished up work in the mid-afternoon and then dumped the tanks on site here.  The sewer dump is about 20 feet away but it only took a few minutes to get out my extra hose, change the fittings to connect two lines together and get it down.  While it was draining I hooked up the water and filled up the clear water tank again.

Pam fixed a fantastic dinner of chili-mac and we watched some football.  I made some phone calls in the early evening and watch some more TV.  Before I new it, it was past 9:30 PM and time to hit the rack.

That's how we spent our Sunday at Red Bay.  Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Another Tour of the Tiffin Factory

We love going to Red Bay and taking the Tiffin Motorhome factory tour.  We learn something every time we do it.

It begins daily at 9:30 AM.  We were getting the Roadrunner painted (cap ends only) at Bruce Deaton's which was near the Visitor's Center where the tours start so it was convenient.  We got there a few minutes early after grabbing some breakfast at Jack's.

We got to the Visitor Center a little early.  It is starting to be the busy season at for visitors because many stop off at the factory en route to their winter stay in Florida.

We had a good size group and had four tour guides.  Only two traded off the duties in our tour and the other two were there just in case they had too many at the start for one group.

The tour guides happen to be retired Red Bay school teachers.  They were very well versed in the history of the company and details at each stop along the way.

The first building we went into was the cabinet shop.  They cut and plane the wood here.

Then they make just about everything you can imagine.  Below we looked at ceiling trim that was cut out from a larger piece of wood that had been glued together.

As woodworkers of sorts, Pam and I find this fascinating!

We could watch this work for hours!  I like the heavy duty HVAC set up they have to do away with the dust and fumes.

The noise however, is another thing.  Very noisy in there and everyone I saw had on ear protection.

Everytime I take the tour I have a few questions.  It is hard to absorb all the work stations and what they do in all the buildings.  Today I wanted to learn exactly how they put the whole kitchen unit into place inside the motor home.  How they build the doors, put together the cupboards etc.

I asked one of the guides where they actually did this and he pointed out the first place on the tour where he saw a couple of kitchen units getting worked on.  This seems to me as one of the more delicate pieces to build because it covers such a large area of the inside of the motor home.  Lots of angles and moving parts to get squared up and plum.

Another mystery to me is building the chassis.  We have seen the building in earlier tours where they build the Tiffin Powerglide chassis.  I guess it is not anymore complicated than other areas of the motor home but it sure seems to me like it is.

It is football season and I saw more than one SEC footballs poster around the plant keeping track of who Alabama played and how they did.

From that side of the yard, we went over to the main production line and saw them take the bare chassis through the different stations.  The first area is over where they make the walls and roof from installed materials.

Heavy duty manufacturing with the computer run machinery going on here.  

We wandered through up and down all the lines and watched them cut holes in the flooring for pipes and connections, move and install the side walls and roof. 

It was another interesting time on the factory tour and I look forward to doing it again.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Day 1 at Red Bay

We are back again at Red Bay, AL home of Tiffin Motorhomes and our Service Center of choice to get things done on the Roadrunner (our 2007 Allegro Bus).

We arrived yesterday afternoon and got a spot on our favorite end of the campground.  There are a few changes since we were here about this time last year but nothing major at this point.

The first thing I noticed was the completion of four new service bays on our end of the building in their paint department.  They did a nice job of extending then on the end of the building.

At the other end of the service building there is a new customer lounge under construction.  The current one in the middle of the service building will be converted into more offices.

Another thing I noticed is the turnover in the Camp parts store near the front office.  The ladies that were there for years have moved on.

Next, we got the wash done at the laundry facility and checked that off the list.

Looks like the technicians working on the motor homes are getting new work shirts with their name on it.

Quite a few have them and others are on order.

We took the Roadrunner over to Bay Diesel for to get some things done including yearly maintenance.

We also had the coolant receptacle replaced and got new fuel filters.  We also had a belt replaced, the generator serviced and got the ride height adjusted.  Nothing major except the cost: $1622.34.  In our book, not surprising and something we budget for.  We are very happy to have them do our maintenance and they completely know what they are doing.

While that was getting done, we visited Jack's a couple of time for a quick breakfast also for lunch.

Next, we stopped by Bruce Deaton's Auto Body and Paint shop.  We have an appointment with him and wanted to see if he also could work on the front end where we had the flying window hit us.

We are scheduled first thing at his place and hopefully we can get it all done in one day.

Around the corner is the Tiffin Visitor Center where the tours of the production line start.  We checked in with security, got a badge and then wandered through a couple of new 2014 motorhomes - an Allegro Bus and a Phaeton.

It is always fun to see the latest and to wander through the new units.

It looks like they are going back to the cherry and alder wood look and away from the darker walnut and mahogany.  The tile looks great.  Beautiful new and shiny, but it doesn't take us long to be content with our paid for 2007 Allegro Bus.  Fun to see but not something we want.

We picked up the Roadrunner back at Bay Diesel mid-afternoon and made it over to our site before the 3:00 PM end of the day and mass exodus from the service bays.

Later in the evening, Chris Berry stopped by and we lined up an appointment at his workshop to have a few things done on Friday.

That was our Wednesday at Red Bay.  We still have yet to see Norris and get an idea of when we will get into the Express Bay for service but it probably will be the first of next week.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...