LM365 KeyWest fulltime, 1 year later

gandmrv

Member
First I want to say that "generally" we love our LM! We love the floor plan, appliances included, layout of the bathroom/shower, the 3 A/C's, the overall appearance of the rig. You must admit LM365's are beautiful rigs! That being said, I'm going to "rant" a bit about what I'll call "acute lack of attention to quality control" on the things that aren't readily noticeable before the purchase.

We bought our unit in Ohio, drove there from Wyoming to pick it up.1st thing, Door going into bedroom wouldn't shut, they "factory" cut the latch plate hole about 3/4" to low. Then 1st time I cleaned the a/c filters (there are 7 little round ones) I notice sawdust on the filters so I ran my hand into one of the bedroom ducts as far as I could reach and pulled out a 1/2 eaten granola bar left by a factory employee in my a/c duct. So then I took my phone and took pictures of the inside of ALL the ducting. and found very shabby finish work inside the ducts where the A/c's enter the ducting and lots of sawdust. The Cabinets are good quality, but the installation is mediocre at best. The frames inside the cabinets that hold the back of the drawers, I found several drawers that had no screw in the back holding the drawer guide, which let the drawer sag when you loaded it, I fixed that myself. There is a soft spot in the floor beside the dining table under the vinyl flooring, right at the edge of the slide out carpet, I'm scared to think what it might be. Id have to pull the flooring up to look at it, so we just try not to step on that spot. After our first week, we discovered the fitting behind the Refrigerator for the ice/water was leaking, it flooded the cabinet floor beside the frig. I pulled the frig myself and repaired that. (which was quite a job by the way). The first time I pulled in the rain, I thought my tanks had ruptured! when we stopped at rest area it looked like the thrermoplast was going to fall out from under the rig and water was pouring out from every where it could. I got on forum and found that it was a common problem, well, It wasn't a problem with my 08 Sunnybrook, and it was 1/2 the cost of the 365. They SHOULD be able to do better. Today, and what pushed me to publish this "rant" (which is not something I would normally do) my front and center ac's quit again, guess what, another blown fuse to the thermostats. I replaced fuse, fired up the center ac worked fine, but when I went to start the front ac, (which has been making some unusual noises when the compressor starts lately) the fan came on fine, but when compressor tried to start I immediately smelled hot wiring so I shut it down and shut off breaker. I then went up on roof, pulled cover to check wire connections, and inside the cover I found a "snickers candy bar wrapper". Un believable to me on a 100k rig! Oh, and I almost forgot the reason I checked the wiring was because 4 months ago my hot water heater smelled like it was going to catch on fire (hot wiring). when I had it checked by mobile tech he found the hot wire in the wire nut, but the neutral was not in tight causing a loose connection and heat which completely melted the wires in the junction box. All this was done (I assume) at the factory and was passed by quality control, (If the have it at Heartland) or maybe they just had a bad day or week when they built mine, IDK, But attention to the "unseen" quality as the rig goes through the build process would be a big improvement to what could be a great, not just good, RV. ALL THAT Said, I'm still glad we purchased our LM365 Key West, We live in it full time and love the life. I'll be calling the warranty people tomorrow about my AC.

Greg and Mary, and Molly (min Schnauzer)
2016 LM365 Key West
2014 F350 Lariat, 6.7 PS, SC, DRW
 

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
This seems to be the case on most of our LM 365's I don't get it....
Somebody needs to have a talk with there crew.
I don't understand how it could be do bad.
I guess MADE IN THE USA doesn't mean much to these people building our RV's.
Especially a $100K unit.
I'd like to take a trip to the factory and watch them for a few days. But then again maybe I shouldn't do that. I'll just leave there aggravated.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

gandmrv

Member
Jesstalkin, I agree, made in USA just doesn't seem to mean much to workers anymore. I to would have liked to "hang out" on the assembly line for a few day before i bought my rig, but time would not permit. I would still like to take a tour of the factory now, I'm sure the tour guide wouldn't like me sharing with the group my "first hand" experience with their "commitment to quality". I know the things I mentioned in my post are relatively small things, but they are an indicator of the mindset at the factory of the people building our rigs.
I'll say it again, we love our Key West! I just wish the people building them took pride in building them, if they did, the issues we've had would be and exception and not common.20150714_174517.jpg
 

jayc

Legendary Member
gandmrv, you should make plans to attend next years national rally in Goshen IN. We always take factory tours and you will be able to see the plant for yourself and have some big fun with other Heartland owners.
 

davebennington

Senior Member
I believe that part of the problem is the factory is asking the employees fo crank out 15 to 20 units a day, our "old" Landmark was made when they only turned out 5 a day. For the most part it was a trouble free coach. I will have to agree that there does not appear to be pride in workman ship. JMHO

dave
 

SNOKING

Well-known member
After 4 plus months of ownership and now living in our 2017 BH3575el I would say the AC ducking is an area that REALLY needs attention. Sky lights being cut into ducting, holes and gaps. I have found numerous issues in that area, beside the total lack of a vacuum cleaner system being used during construction. In boats it is a really big no no to use wire nuts yet I see them used in my trailer in numerous areas???? Who ever installs the coax cables and fails to tighten the connectors should be taken out behind the barn.

We however LOVE the trailer, floor plan, large windows, theater seating, large rectangular shower, bathroom storage, butlers pantry area/counter and looks etc etc.

Here is a picture of a large hole in our rear AC duct that I had to seal up. Just one of the leaks I found.

 

gandmrv

Member
We would love to attend a rally, but I'm not retired yet, still work about 8 or 9 months a year. We live in rv while I'm on the road woring, so time of year would be critical to whether we could attend or not. But it's definitely on our to do list...
 
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