Dealing with design quality and build quality, there always seems to be a trade off all relating to cost. The end result is the customer wants the highest quality at the lowest cost. Working as quality control on large aircraft, I see this issue all the time. Designers have to at some point compromise in cost, weight, space, available materials etc. Other times they have to anticipate the most popular accessories so they can design them in. Build quality on the other hand is one of those annoying things that all manufactures attempt to keep under control, and one of my main jobs, but happens when dealing with humans. Case in point, a mechanic is stapling a wire run through the interior. Out of 100 staples, he misalignes the staple on the wire and cuts through the insulation. 5 years later, corrosion eats through the exposed wire and it breaks at that point. The owner then has to go through the system to find the broken wire and fix it. Other example, the seal on the outside keeps the unit from leaking. Current technology has a life of 10 years before the chemical makeup of the seal breaks down. One section wasn't noticed and water leaked through to the structure, causing it to rot and fall apart. Who's fault is that? Seal is only good for so long, so long, so the owner is somewhat responsible. Why are rv structures build with materials that fall apart when they get wet? almost like they're made with cardboard. Mostly cost, weight and workability. Wood is cheep, relatively light, strong and easy to work with. Some higher end coaches use aluminum frames, which makes for a better product, but is much more expensive and still susceptible to corrosion and failure. I'd love to see a coach built out of the cfrp we build airplanes with, but that stuff is incredibly expensive, difficult to work with, and usually needs titanium stiffeners in critical places. Aluminum corrodes when in contact with cfrp.
So a lot of what I see people doing are correcting manufacturing defects, which really can't be eliminated, even robots screw up once in a while.
Another thing is with mass produced units, you can't make everyone the perfect coach, everyone has different tastes. my unit for example. LED light replacement -- technology upgrade. banks power pack -- upgrade from manufacture compromise. TV install -- technology upgrade, customer preference. wheel stud replacement -- design error. Fresh water sensor fail -- unsure, can't locate sensors to determine where the problem is.
Seems also that sometimes it's cheaper to add accessories after market than by factory as well. upgraded stereo wasn't available from manufacture.
in the end, some people just like to tinker with stuff, probably do the same thing with the house
1998 Class C Lazy Daze 26 1/2 island bed
banks intake/exhaust
wifi/4g/siriusXM/DTV/DirecTV/CB
2xGeorbital electric bike conversions
