No PDI.... really???!!!!

[Jerryr]

pawsitivedivetraining‘s posting reminded me about my dealings with the finance guy at LazyDays. The finance guys at LazyDays are sharks.

The closing agent finance guy I dealt with at LazyDays was the pushiest guy I’ve ever run into. Worst than any car salesman. He was trying to up-sell me overpriced extended warranties and other overpriced tires and wax packages. He initially was very polite and personable up until he realized I wasn’t going to buy anything extra. Plus we were paying cash so he couldn’t sell me financing either. Once he realized he wasn’t going to get any commission sales from me his attitude changed instantly. He then just wanted us out if his office.

This was right after the 2016 Presidential election and just before the inauguration. He had a red MAGA hat proudly displayed on the shelf behind him, pictures of the president elect and he was bragging that he was going to attend the inauguration flying there with some friends in a chartered private jet. As my wife and I were both pilots and aircraft owners for over 30 years that didn’t impress us.

[bikeopath]

We purchased a 2020 351M in november 2019. Our very first trailer of any sort. We went thru the dealers presentation at time of delivery and never gave a thought to the brakes. Just assumed that they would work since the unit had been towed several hundred miles from the factory to the dealer. We towed it the 70 miles to our house and the brakes felt like they were barely working. I thought that there was a problem with my brake controller. Got home and checked all the electrics and found no problem. Looked online and there were several mentions of brakes not working well until they "bedded in" which might take up to 1000 miles. Decided to give em time and drive very carefully for a few more miles. After the next trip of around 200 miles there was no improvement. Decided to pull the hubs to inspect and guess what? Both brale assembly's on the left side were coated with grease! It looked like whoever greased those Dexter axles had given em about a dozen extra pumps. I cleaned everything and adjusted properly and the difference was night and day! I can now stop the entire rig with trailer brakes alone. Much safer!
Some may question why I didn't take it back to dealer for warranty work. 2 reasons: 1) I didn't have the time and 2)When we bought the trailer we were mentally prepared to fix things ourselves and I have the skills to repair most anything that might come up. After this experience I would highly recommend a brake pdi .

[orbiker]

My dealer here in Oregon allotted only 1 hour for the PDI / walk thru. The tech talked and talked about nothing. His normal bs. I found the inverter switch for the residential refrigerator. It didn't work. I don't think he even knew what it was.
I took it home as is and had GD send me a new inverter. WAY EASIER then dealing with the dealer bs.
It's a sad world sometimes. KEN

[Bearii]

There seems to be some confusion as to what a PDI actually means. In the RV service it is the pre delivery inspection. This is where the tech should hook up with water to test all aspects, fill the LP tanks and test all appliances and do a pressure test on the system, open/ close doors, drawers, cabinets, etc. Then these things either get repaired or parts ordered as needed.

How Joe Public understands PDI is THEIR pre deliver inspection, when actually you are doing what we call a walk though. Yes you are inspecting it before delivery but you are learning how to use the features and functions of the appliances and such, having any issues repaired and/ or documented for later. Your walk through can be extensive or short and sweet, up to you.

Maybe Bearii this is where you and your sales person are having those "fuzzy" issues, Lazy days may call the walk though just that and he's thinking you want to do what the tech actually does in getting the unit ready for you?? And if you do have them take the wheels off, make sure you have your torque wrench with you so you can check the lugs after you've pulled away about 100 miles.

I think you're right about terminology. The PDI did go well, our PDI I mean, ha ha. Only very minor issues.

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[Walaby]

Did they remove the hubs and inspect brakes/allow you to watch?

Mike

[Bearii]

Did they remove the hubs and inspect brakes/allow you to watch?

Mike

They claim they inspected it before I got there. Pics looked ok. They said dexter axles don't have the problem. I'm leaving today, I'll definitely be testing those brakes first thing.

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[Wicked ace]

They claim they inspected it before I got there. Pics looked ok. They said dexter axles don't have the problem. I'm leaving today, I'll definitely be testing those brakes first thing.

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My 2 cents...the first time pulling away from the dealer I was on a secondary road that was flat and pretty much straight so I went about trying to adjust the brake controller. I started where my old trailer was at medium about mid scale. I could feel something grabbing but not enough to stop effectively. I kept increasing to get more brake but I could feel one wheel getting more and more grabby. So from the factory the brakes were not adjusted at all. Where they were is where they were. I knew after the first run I would be returning to the dealer so I put it on the punch list. Their solution was to back them off completely telling me they are self adjusting and will find their place in time. Effectively they sent me down the road with no trailer brakes. When I got home I jacked up each wheel and adjusted the drums just like when I was a teenager working on my Dad's cars. I backed off and then turned the adjuster on each wheel until I could just feel the brake shoes drag while spinning the tire. From there I could feel very good brake action. I took it out to set the brake controller and found I could set the output to the light setting at mid scale. I started at 4 then 4.5 and now with over 3000 miles I felt the need to increase the setting to 5.

[Dick Noble]

All these replies have, once again, convinced me that I did the right thing to have disk brakes installed.