HMS Beagle
Napa, California
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Joined: 08/22/2003
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The flanges where trimmed so they no longer overlap. This left almost no flange on part of the plumbing vent cap, but I am confident it will never leak, until gravity fails and the water can climb over the tube bonded inside.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/THn4agN.jpg)
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HMS Beagle
Napa, California
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I eliminated over 30 screw holes - many of which were stripped at the factory anyway - and I think any leaks associated with these penetrations. It could have been done so much easier at the factory with minor mods to their mold. If they simply put a molded plinth of about 1/2" tall under each penetration, they would eliminate probably 99% of the leaks, even with the cheap caulk and all the screws, because water runs downhill.
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edited 10/16/20 02:38pm by HMS Beagle *
Bigfoot 10.4E, 2015 F350 6.7L DRW 2WD, Autoflex Ultra Air Ride rear suspension, Hellwig Bigwig sway bars front and rear
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TxGearhead
Texas
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I thought my vent looked bad.
That Heng's doesn't last very long. I've redone mine 3 times in the short time I've owned it, 5 years?
There is no reason, none, that they can't fab a curved base for the skylight.
I've thought if I ever ordered a new Bigfoot I would delete the skylight.
2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
2018 Landmark Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4
2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
2016 GoDevil 18X44 35HP Surface Drive
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Vw triker
Millboro, va
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Good job, excellent write up!
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notsobigjoe
southeast
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OP,
Very nice work and pro finish! The 5th picture down you said "Note that they somewhat missed the hole required of the shower." What were you referring to?
Thanks, Joe
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HMS Beagle
Napa, California
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TxGearhead wrote:
There is no reason, none, that they can't fab a curved base for the skylight.
I've thought if I ever ordered a new Bigfoot I would delete the skylight.
The only excuse I can think of is that they use the same mold (I think) for the 10.4 and 10.6, with the shower in different places. This is easily handled with a mold insert. Honestly with a weeks work on the mold they could improve their product significantly. It would cost them very little extra for each camper. I did order a new one years ago, a 9.6 and told them I wanted no roof penetrations: no rack, no antenna, no ladder, etc. It came with the ladder, required for fire egress I was told. This one, purchased new-old-stock, has a bunch of extra potential leaks.
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HMS Beagle
Napa, California
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notsobigjoe wrote:OP,
Very nice work and pro finish! The 5th picture down you said "Note that they somewhat missed the hole required of the shower." What were you referring to?
Thanks, Joe
I suspect that this camper, built in 2008 but purchased new by me in 2013, was very early in the 10.4 production. Maybe the first. If you look at the picture there is a 5 inch gap between the opening in the shower (covered by plywood in the picture) and the roof, and the skylight flange only overlapped that side by 3/4". On the other side, 3". Basically, they missed. When I did the living room remodel on the other thread there were some similar boo-boos hidden under the carpet. They had cut a piece of floor away, realized they went too far, then stuck it back together bridging the cut with a million staples. By the time you've built the 5th one or so, you probably don't make these mistakes.
I'm not ragging on Bigfoot, still the best camper made in my opinion (at least for less than 100K). It's just that the bar in the RV industry is so very low, you don't have to do much to be above the bar.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/RRBGB3i.jpg)
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TxGearhead
Texas
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Yes, it's the best quality of about any type RV.
I doubt they're very motivated to do anything different with people standing in line for the campers.
I've thought about selling mine and buying a 10.4 a little further down the road.
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notsobigjoe
southeast
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I thought that's what you were talking about and yes they were a bit off! I've gotten very close and personal to my Lance 1181 and have seen many goofs like the one you pictured, especially in the basement. It seems when they ran out of ideas they simply covered it up. Love the camper but I've put so much into it that I'm Leary of ever starting over. I know every square inch of it. It's almost become a crutch instead of an enjoyment.
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HMS Beagle
Napa, California
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I know what you mean. I've got a fair amount of work into fixing the issues with this one and making it more useable for me. A new camper would be starting all over again. That's why I've thought about building one from scratch, that is also a very large effort. But it would be designed not to leak and be maintainable, both are qualities lacking in the commercially available offerings.
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