Funfinder, negligent manufacturing defects

[Agnitio]

The fridge venting is different on your FBR versus my FDS. Your trailer has a refrigerator vent out through the roof so you shouldn't have this problem. Mine on the other hand has the refrigerator in the slide out and vents through an upper wall grill. The real problem is that cruiser RV did not follow the installation requirements specified by Dometic.

[PaintyLiz]

Ah! True! We have no slide . . . . we just climb over each other haha

Liz

[Chirpz]

Well, I don't know about all the rest, but I do know that the recent problem I discovered with my Black Tank Vent was definitely a manufacturing flaw....a pretty bad one.

Overall, I'm happy with the trailer.

[Bill Sorensen]

I had nothing but problems with my funfinder. It was a 2014, bought it new in 2013. Traded that piece of junk in last year for a 2017 Lance. Well documented here.
Update:
My 2017 Lance has been a dream! Haven't had one problem with it. Great trailer, well built.
No comparison between my Lance and Funfinder! Like night and day!
Can't believe Cruiser RV is still in business!
Sorry to offend but just being truthful, Cruiser RV's are garbage.

[Eagle]

The Lance toy haulers floor plan doesn't hold a candle to the FunFinder IMO.

[Bill Sorensen]

I'll give you their floor plans, but other than that, no comparison! I've had both. Hard to enjoy the floorplan when it's broke because of their shawty workmanship.

[Eagle]

Originally Posted by Bill Sorensen

I'll give you their floor plans, but other than that, no comparison! I've had both. Hard to enjoy the floorplan when it's broke because of their shawty workmanship.

I've read your tirade of issues you experienced and that is very unfortunate and unnecessary.

I have not had such issues so very pleased with my unit and to me, it was a great purchase and excellent value.

[Michigantraveler]

Bill, did you only have one Cruiser rv trailer? Can you really say they are all junk? Every product has its bad reviews. Was the cost of your Lance the same as your Fun finder? I'm sorry you had problems with your trailer. We all have had bad experiences but why come back here and gripe again? Sorry, I just don't get it. We have had only one issue with our 2008 and are not even sure if its a manufacturing defect. We are happy.

[Bill Sorensen]

Wait, what? I thought all you guys liked me. Just thought you all were wondering what I was up to so I thought I would say hi.
Seriously, the 2 years I had that piece of crap were two of the most frustrating year of my life, dealing with the countless issues with the trailer, ruining vacations, and Cruiser RV, the worst company I have ever dealt with did nothing to help.
So, I'm here because I don't want anybody to make the same mistake I did.
If you haven't already, don't by anything made by Cruiser RV.
Bite the bullet, pay a little more money and buy a Lance or Airstream!
You won't regret it!
Love my Lance!

[gmw photographics]

The failure in your theory here Bill, is that one can go over to the Airstream forum, or the Lance forum, and hear the same tales of woe as you have typed out here. Or any other brand specific forum for that matter.

I'm glad that you found a camper you like, and hopefully it will provide you many years of trouble free service. Just like many of us have with our cruiser product.

Safe travels and happy camping to you in whatever brand makes you happy.

[michellep]

Hey, Bill - I did some research for you - these days, you might want to think about parking your keyboard over there. You've amply made your point here.

Lance Owners of America

[Travels with Yoly]

Maybe all the Cruiser RV defects were limited to the 2014/15 214 WSDs (like ours). I see quite a few older units talked about here with no problems. I'm sure both Bill and I would have loved nothing better than to rave about our FunFinders, but we both had issues, and we both described them truthfully for the sake of documentation. I agree that other brands have issues as well but that doesn't fix the ones we had. Fundamentally, if all brands have issues then the burden of satisfaction lies with our dealers ability to make it right (or not). My biggest beef was that every time I took it back to the dealer, the dealer told me that it would be months before they could get to it. I asked them why it takes so long and their reply was that they are just swamped with Cruiser RV warranty repairs as it is .... kinda backs up what we are saying. That is if you can believe what dealers tell you (and I don't). I still think a good dealer can make all the difference.

I also can't deny what my eyes saw. The wiring bird's nests (balls of wire hanging in the air) behind panels and the haphazard plumbing routing and connections have to be considered an indication of the amount of care (pride) in production. Our other trailers were very similar. However, the Adventurer 80RB that we have now looks completely different than the others. Wiring is nicely bundled, routed and secured along logical pathways. Plumbing is installed professionally with clean and straight entries into all the fittings. Anyone can see the difference.

And if I remember correctly Michelle, you didn't hold back when you had your issues with your fridge installation. If this club is only interested in promoting one side of the story then that's kind of sad. Telling people to "go elsewhere" if they haven't consumed all the Kool-Aid is really judgmental. That being the case, I guess I'm not welcome here either so this will be my last post here. Thanks Jaime, Bill, George, Eagle and all those who were accepting to all.

[Michigantraveler]

Is there an Adventurer forum? Maybe a better fit for you now than Fun Finders?

[Michigantraveler]

https://lance-campers.pissedconsumer.com/

[michellep]

Originally Posted by Travels with Yoly

...And if I remember correctly Michelle, you didn't hold back when you had your issues with your fridge installation.

You are absolutely right - I did not hold back, and NOT just on the fridge.

However, I persisted in trying to make things right, and now I'm pretty darn happy. Had I been unhappy enough to sell it and get another brand, I would not have come back here to beat a dead horse. Whole different ball of wax.

[gmw photographics]

I've been fortunate enough to use my camper in many different places over the last five years. I've talked to many different owners of different brands. I've heard it all....stories of having no problems at all, and stories of guys that spent so much time back at the dealer or the factory getting repairs, that they felt like they lived there.
And this was on everything from the least expensive stick 'n tin travel trailers to million dollar plus motorhomes.

You wanaa hear some really unhappy folks, go over to the Airstream forum and read about some of the folks that have spent $100K to $140K for a new A/S Classic, and having arrived at the campground to literally find cabinets fallen to floor. Or bathroom mirrors that fell off ( that had been attached with two sided tape ), scratching cabinets and flooring as it crashed down. These folks paid big money for a trailer thinking they were getting higher quality, and then they suffer these kinds of failures.

I'm glad my little 189FDS only cost me $13,999 out the door brand new. I'm delighted that apparently I got "lucky" and got a good one.

EDIT: ps, here is my point on much of this. Take the example of the thread on airforums about the bath mirror falling off. A few people chimed in about this failure on their trailer. A couple of guys "fixed" the fault themselves by fabricating a fix to the problem by making and attaching a nice piece of trim to hold the mirror on securely.

Should they have had to do this on such an expensive trailer ? No, they should not have. It should have been done correctly at the factory.

So you have two guys here....one with a damaged trailer that required lengthy time consuming repairs ( damaged cabinetry, etc ) and another guy that simply fixed the issue before it became a failure. Guess who is happier overall ?

"some assembly required". An rv is only partly for camping....it's also an opportunity to get your tools out and have a little one on one with your new purchase.

And before folks say, "but I'm not a mechanic".....I am a retired machinist. My last ten plus years was also in the capacity of trainer and manager. I trained numerous folks that had never done any work with "tools". Men and women. They all got it. They all became good at it, and were a real asset to the department. So there ain't no real magic to any of this, it's mostly down to whether you really want to learn how to pick up tools and use them.
Over and out....

[APD]

Good points.
One of the reasons we bought a used/repaired unit was cost. Having read many posts on many different forums that dealt with the problems some buyers were experiencing we decided that our first jump into a TT would be a learning (read expensive) experience.
We were still somewhat blind sided by our undersized axle problem. We had expected a certain level of speedy (read shoddy) manufacturing that may or may not have been repaired by a PO.
I have to say that our axle problem was not shoddy work.
When someone in Cruiser RVs manufacturing management makes a cost cutting decision to order and install a maximum 2200# axle under a 3150# GVW trailer, a trailer that weights over 2200# ready to camp. Then they also, as proof that it was a conscious decision, special order those undersized axles with larger brakes than would normally come standard on that size axle then it's more than just hurry, hurry shoddy workmanship.
I believe it's a form of consumer fraud. And it shows the true nature of the companies leadership.
Maybe that's why, in the RV industry, management/owners and companies are rolled over on a regular basis.
If you have a great FunFinder and are happy, believe me I am glad. But as a current owner who will have to spend quite a bit of cash to make ours right all I can say is I'm very glad we bought used and budgeted for the unknown.
Lastly I'll say, we like our little T139. We just wish it had been designed and built by people who cared.

[Michigantraveler]

Was there a recall of all of the 2005 T139FK for that axel problem?
I may have missed your post talking about this before? What was your resolve?
Did they replace it? Or do you have to?

[APD]

Originally Posted by Michigantraveler

Was there a recall of all of the 2005 T139FK for that axel problem?
I may have missed your post talking about this before? What was your resolve?
Did they replace it? Or do you have to?

I've seen some recall info on-line relating to later Cruiser RV models but nothing for an older trailer. If there was a recall for 2005 models in the past I've not found any mention of it anywhere.
Before we settled on the FunFinder I never saw anything but good news about the T139/X139 models. I should have done more research.
I'll be replacing the axle myself.
I've got a plan to build a sub-frame with a new leaf spring axle mounted to it. That sub-frame will then bolt to the trailer frame.

I'd really like to know if anyone else has this problem with this year/model.
I may need to start an axle thread.

[Michigantraveler]

That sounds like a good idea. Is it possible other owners just never noticed the problem and are unaware?