Interesting Find

[210craig]

When I walked into my 2021 momentum 397 I had an interesting find. My TV was hanging down in front of the fireplace. I thought that can’t be good. Started inspecting and I notice the panel behind the TV was all pulled loose. I removed the TV from the arm and the arm was flopping in the breeze as well as the back panel.

I knew something had failed behind the entertainment unit. I removed the arm and the doors and all the surrounding trim. I also removed the fireplace. After the fact I realized the unit is in 2 pieces. It took a little time to figure out how it was installed. The biggest hassle was on the pantry wall. The entertainment unit was installed prior to the pantry wall. So there were about 20 staples fastening the wall to the unit. The trim is put on with 3/4 brads so they are pretty easy to deal with. The staples are a lot tougher. Finally broken them all free the unit came out.

Thats when I discovered what happened. There is a pretty good structure back there, but a failure in design. They used a 3/8 inch piece of plywood as a backer for the TV arm. Not the greatest, but something. The problem was the wide construction staples. If you have ever worked on RVs you learn quickly that manufacturers use them a lot and they are horrible. It’s a quick and easy way to join 2 pieces of wood, but they just don’t hold up. Especially in this application because the forces of the TV is pulling the plywood away from the wood support and pulled the staples right out. Without the staples you basically have a paper thin piece of Luan holding it all and obviously not well.

Since it out it’s getting completely rebuilt more wood, more screws. In place on the plywood I added a 2x10 sunk into the side framing with 2.5 inch pocket screws. It is not coming out again. The small supports above and below the brace is for the bathroom which is on the other side. Notice they have staples. I added L brackets on both to hold them in place. The vertical braces are screwed into the supports for the bathroom walls. I added more screws. I added more screws everywhere.

Now I’m to the place of rebuilding the entertainment unit. That’s a little tougher as it’s all vinyl wrapped MDF. Lot more screws and glue and a whole lot less staples. I attached some pics of the wall behind the entertainment unit. I don’t know why they are sideways. You can see where the staples failed, since it’s a 2021 they failed pretty quickly. The unit has been used 4 times.

Will update when done.

 

[boyscout]

Can't argue with you about staples being completely inadequate for some of the jobs that GD applies them to. Inadequate if you're planning to actually tow your trailer on roads, that is.

However a bigger burr in my saddle is Grand Design's use of pin nails to attach much of the trim. Tiny headless pieces of wire shot into wood pieces holds trim for about as long as it takes to get the trailer sold.

We have trim pieces on each side of our window valances, each piece weighing about a pound but that's too much for the pin nails holding them; almost every one of them has fallen off in our trailer after about two years. So too has a large and relatively heavy piece of trim spanning our dining area.

So, I'm here to make the argument that pin nails are even MORE useless and inappropriate fasteners than staples are for use by Grand Design. And to warn you that your falling-apart problems may not be over.

Good luck. Thanks for the post.

 

[210craig]

Agree. The trim is so thin the nails wont hold. The 1/4 inch staples would be much better but leave a larger hole to putty. They overcome this by putting 30 nails instead of 4 or 5 well placed staples. Of course they know this because they use staples anywhere they dont show.

 

[210craig]

Update: I got it all repaired and put back together. Took me about 6 hours total. Completly rebuilt the structure in the rear. I can do chinups off the tv arm now. The wiring was a mess. Must thave been 8 ft of coax just rolled up in the wall. The heater was installed incorrectly. Its self contained, Im not sure how they pulled that off. The facing which is typical in a rv is core wood wraped in mdf wrapped in vinyl. Better than the old days when everything was pure MDF would not hold worth a darn. They are held together with pocket holes. They drilled the holes but did not put screws in them. On the whole assembly they left out 8 screws.

I was concerned about buying 2021 because I knew they had been closed for the virus and plus they are in high demand. I was concerned about speed over quality. It is what it is just have to deal. I added pics of final work.

 

[jjbbrewer]

Really good post! Thanks for the update and the details. Very much something to watch for.

I don't know why this forum rotates pictures. It seems it rotates whatever it determines is taller than wider.

 

[SGT ROC]

It sure helps to be handy when you own one of these things. Your "project" was way more involved than mine. The only thing I had to rebuild/re-design was the door guide for the rear facing barn door to the bunk room. The plastic one that came with it tore out of the wall on our 3rd trip. I put it back on with longer screws. I happened again, so I made one out of wood attached to the floor.