Thor Super C (Chateau/Four Winds) improvements and mods

[Sites]

Hey folks,

I purchased a 2014 Thor Chateau 33SW last August and right from the start I experienced the new RV owner blues. In short, after driving back to San Diego from where I flew out to purchase it in Texas, it spent its first 3 weeks in the shop with about a dozen issues, ranging from minor to major.

That said, aside from all of the issues, now that I've resolved most of them either through warranty or just fixing it myself after the local Thor service dealer either did a half-assed job fixing a problem, or just flat out didn't fix it after it sat in their shop for weeks, I like this motorhome. I wanted something fairly nice and that could reasonably tow 10k+ LBS, since I have a desert prerunner truck and several motorcycles to trailer out with the family. Dynamax's were nice, but out of the $$$ range I was willing to invest on a first MH. I also looked as used medium duty chassis Super C's (older Show Haulers, etc.) but anything close to $100k was too dated looking and generally VERY used. So I saw the F550 chassis based Thor 33SW and bit the bullet.

After owning it for about 7 months now, my impression is that Thor came up with a great layout and mated it to a good chassis, but as a result of both production line quality assurance issues and the general feeling that everything beneath the surface was designed to speed up build time, there are many improvements that can be made by owners to make this coach better. And frankly, should have been done at the factory before shipping off to the dealer! 🙂

The reason I'm starting this thread is because I've noticed a few other Thor Super C owners on here and other forums, that have all mentioned having similar issues (house water pump leaks, front fuel tank filling issues, front hydro jacks too low from the factory, poor house battery capacity, etc.) I've also noticed a few very cool modifications and improvements by others on here as well, such as relocating the house batteries to one of the storage compartments and switching to a bank of four 6v batts. I figured it would be useful to try and centralize the communication of issues encountered, how to resolve them and suggestions to improve the coach.

I've done a few already and will post one of them shortly. Hopefully other Thor Super C (33SW, 35sk, 35sg, Etc) will chime in as well.

[RobbieH]

mbacfp30 wrote:
Hi Robbie,

Good to hear from...hope the house is coming along and you are enjoying your new rig. I got 2 from Amazon at $220 each. I will have to check FedEx postage to ship (which I can email you)...what is your zip? What were you thinking on price?

Oh man I would have sold you the pair for $200. And I think I'm ok with paying the shipping at that price.

78636

We love the new rig but may sell it. We are now in the house and settled, and really just need something like a 25' tag trailer (bumper pull), since we already own a truck that will easily tow it. We camped in the coach over the week, and it's friggin' awesome, but boy it's a lot to drive.

[mbacfp30]

Hi Robbie,

Good to hear from...hope the house is coming along and you are enjoying your new rig. I got 2 from Amazon at $220 each. I will have to check FedEx postage to ship (which I can email you)...what is your zip? What were you thinking on price?

[RobbieH]

mbacfp30 wrote:
I hope everyone is well. Wanted to give an update. One of my slide motors died. Turns out there was a screw coming out from the inside of the slide and it was binding on it. Assuming it has been running that motor hot which lead to its failure. So, when you fully extend your slide go outside and look at both sides to make sure nothing is coming loose.

I still have two of the high-torque motors, they are brand new and never used. I'd make you a good deal on them, make me an offer. 🙂

[mbacfp30]

I hope everyone is well. Wanted to give an update. One of my slide motors died. Turns out there was a screw coming out from the inside of the slide and it was binding on it. Assuming it has been running that motor hot which lead to its failure. So, when you fully extend your slide go outside and look at both sides to make sure nothing is coming loose.

[RobbieH]

That is why we traded. We lived in it full time and the 33SW wasn’t big enough for the two of us and two border collies.

[dnhill]

I will be trading in the 35SK in January. After flooding out my home in Beaumont (Hurricane Harvey), I am going to live in a motorhome for the next two years. The 35SK was not large enough for me to live in long-term. After a few years, I finally have all of the problems sorted out, so watch for it at Motor Home Specialities in Texas. Based on what the trade-in worked out to be, it should be a great buy. There were upgrades to the batteries (4 6-volts), digital thermostats (they work so much better than the stock ones), and a Traveler DirecTv dish installed. My new coach will be delivered in January.

[RobbieH]

Yep, my new coach has a Caterpillar C9. 🙂

[kszach]

RobbieH wrote:
We ended up buying an "already built" house. It was originally built in the 60s as a farm house, and was taken to the studs inside and out in 2005, so everything inside looks and feels brand new. We are on 5 acres but share all but 2 acres with the owner of the 15 acres between us and the road, so it feels much larger. His horse comes up to our fence, and we have a lot of deer that hang out in that area too. We are completely isolated and absolutely love it here.

RV has been doing fantastic. Since we have been busy moving and living in it, we have only put about 3,000 miles on it so far. But not a single problem has popped up, even after living in it for almost 3 months. It's not as easy to get around in as the 33SW, and certainly not as peppy even though it has the 400hp 1150ft/lb Cat C9. The 33SW would run circles around this one, but it weighed half as much.

Just had the first service done, really not too bad at $450, considering I had them service the generator and driveshaft while they were at it, since I don't have my tools and a space to do the work on my own right now. Transmission will be next year and is more expensive since the big Allison takes a very expensive fluid, but lasts 3-4 years. It was pretty crazy watching them put 34 quarts of oil into an engine!

34 quarts into an engine??? 6.7L Powerstroke takes 13 quarts. I just did my oil change and that is all it took.

[mbacfp30]

Forgot to give update on upper oil pan repair. Got truck back and everything is working great and no leaks. The warranty bill to Ford was $2,700 or so. Big relief all is normal again. Also glad it was under warranty.

[mbacfp30]

So glad to hear all is well. Thanks for the update. Until next time...

[RobbieH]

We ended up buying an "already built" house. It was originally built in the 60s as a farm house, and was taken to the studs inside and out in 2005, so everything inside looks and feels brand new. We are on 5 acres but share all but 2 acres with the owner of the 15 acres between us and the road, so it feels much larger. His horse comes up to our fence, and we have a lot of deer that hang out in that area too. We are completely isolated and absolutely love it here.

RV has been doing fantastic. Since we have been busy moving and living in it, we have only put about 3,000 miles on it so far. But not a single problem has popped up, even after living in it for almost 3 months. It's not as easy to get around in as the 33SW, and certainly not as peppy even though it has the 400hp 1150ft/lb Cat C9. The 33SW would run circles around this one, but it weighed half as much.

Just had the first service done, really not too bad at $450, considering I had them service the generator and driveshaft while they were at it, since I don't have my tools and a space to do the work on my own right now. Transmission will be next year and is more expensive since the big Allison takes a very expensive fluid, but lasts 3-4 years. It was pretty crazy watching them put 34 quarts of oil into an engine!

[mbacfp30]

RobbieH, glad you are still on here. Hope your new rig is great and the house construction is moving along. Take care.

[mbacfp30]

I agree Robbie...it was rumored 12-13 F550 had ceramic ball bearings...some point they went back to steel ball bearings. No ones knows for sure. Biggest thing to keeping turbo going is proper cool down before shut off.

[RobbieH]

The turbos vary from year to year, not all of them had issues.

I wouldn't mess with the engine's computer, not me. They have plenty of power even with 8,000 lbs behind them in the mountains. Leave well enough alone so that you aren't straining the components. This 6.7 is a whole world different than the 7.3 could ever think to be. I cruised through the Rockies with the trailer and rock crawler (heavy) Jeep behind me and never slowed down on any pass.

If my sig line confuses you, I had a 2014 33SW for 3+ years.