Squeaks and Rattles in New Sunstar 29NPF

[allroadCole]

Hi all, first time poster. We've never owned an RV before, but we have rented a couple.

We test drove a few brand new ones yesterday. Our favorite layout/style was the Winnebago Sunstar 29 npf.

It was the only class A we test drove. We also test drove two similarly sized class Cs.

We were ready to put down a deposit on the Sunstar, but were concerned with the squeaks. It was significantly noisier than the class C's. And it had one squeak to the left of the driver's head that was pretty obnoxious.

I asked the sales guy about it, he said they all do that...

We plan to go back and test drive another Vista/Sunstar to see if it's as noisy. (We had two little kids with us yesterday and ran out of time.)

Just curious what others experiences are. And curious if it's reasonable to expect that we could quiet the worst squeaks. I still would like to buy it, but we'd need to quiet down a few of the problem areas. Possible, or hopeless?

This exact same Sunstar also had the seal on the shower door peeling off, and a broken master bedroom sliding door, seemed strange for a brand new RV..

Thanks,

 

[be happy]

Welcome to the world of RVing!
The noise coming from the left of the drivers seat could be a number of things, from loose weather stripping to the slide not seated all the way the list could go on and on. I had a unit that when you drove over 50 there would be a loud whistle. It ended up being the front grills design, mfg sent out fixs for it.

If you are expecting a quit ride (like in a car) I do not think you will get that. Once you start loading your new coach up with pots, pans, glasses, dishes you will soon learn of ways to stop all that from rattling as you go down the road.

No RV be it a trailer or motorhome comes from the factory 100% ready to go out the sales door. The closer you get to purchasing a unit the closer it gets to being 100% ready.

Your last chance to make the coach yours and all correct is a PDI (pre delivery inspection). This is done before you sign on the dotted line. Its where you and the dealer go through everything on the unit, every nut, bolt, screw, light etc. There are PDI forms out there to use as a guide, my last PDI took over 3 hours.

Instead of how the unit drives lean more towards how you and family will live in it for hours at a time. I hope this helped

Good Luck

 

[dkoldman]

When we bought are brand new 2019 Sunstar, during the Test Drive and 6 hour PDI we didn't notice any noises or squeaks. I guess we were just too nervous, because they were there. We had a 15 hour shakedown drive from Florida to Dallas on our 1st trip; so we had 4 days. By the time we got home we noticed everything possible with coach.

The most obvious was the painful bumping when hitting pot holes on the road, it was as if it had no shocks, and a tendency of RV to veer to the right, and of course squeaky noises. The dealership we tried to use locally was basically useless, they knew we bought RV in Florida. They rode in RV several times and said they heard nothing, even with me riding with them once. I have not been back to that Dealer i 3 1/2 years (since they charged me a $110 check out fee) because they could not find a random issue with my steps retracting. I found the problems and fixed myself about 2 month later.

But back to your noises, over time I figured out what some of it was, but there will always be some noises. Here is what I found.

1. The weather stripping on the can slide up and down. So the vibration make it rattles. I often thought about gluing it down, but was afraid I may make it worse.
2. Some metal rattling inside that same door (I never took apart to find)
3. The screens on the window driver / passenger windows will rattle as metal is vibrating on metal. It got so bad that I took the screen off the driver side. I have yet to come up with a fix to put back on where it will not rattle. I really need that screen, and I fear I will damage it where it is stored now.
4. When I pull out and everything is quiet you, will hear every conceivable noise, sometimes I think it is slide, but the slide is steady and secure, but I am no expert to evaluate. It is just like walking up wooden stairs, they will squeak.

I did add a Safe T Plus and it fixed the veering to the right
I added Sumo Springs and it stopped the RV from bouncing so much.

All in all, after 5 years we nailed it, it is the perfect coach for us. I have done so much to it that it is impossible for me to even think about buying another.

They will fix your shower door seal, and the broken slide door in a new RV does not surprise me, because when people / kids are viewing that is one thing they all like to do open / close that door. They will fix or replace.

IMO, I highly recommend doing a very deep dive on PDI. Assume nothing, make sure everything works. I am at odds with most, but I view it better to do your own PDI than hiring the professionals. if you were buying some older model an inspector may have some value. Get you an extensive checklist and make the dealer allow you time to check it all. The only thing I did not physically do myself was get up on the roof. But I watched the Dealership tech go up on the roof he spent 10 minutes.

All in all, I love WBGO, I would be scared to buy from another Mfg if for no other reason WBGO's customer support. Gosh they just took care of things. So my worry / phobia of being a newbie just kind of went away.

Good luck

 

[Morich]

Something often missed is the value of NOT buying a new house or RV!
We have only had one totally new RV and it took so long to work out the small points that we will never buy new again. We let somebody else work out a bunch of those problems, just like in a new house!
There is just no way to find some small points until you take an RV out and actually live in it and use all the parts. No way you find there is a drain problem until you put the normal load in the black and grey tanks! You don't get to use the shower until AFTER you buy it! You don't find there was a screwdriver left in the top compartment until you find what is making that odd noise when you turn right and brake, etc.

A nice year old RV has lots of things that have been fixed! Then you get the duty for the rest of the time you own it! RV and calm are often not in the same world!
It's nice when you are setting outside in the chairs but it often stops when you go back inside and may hear the vent on the furnace making a noise you can't locate!

If odd noises are problem, you may not be quite ready for an RV yet!

 

[dkoldman]

Something often missed is the value of NOT buying a new house or RV!
We have only had one totally new RV and it took so long to work out the small points that we will never buy new again. We let somebody else work out a bunch of those problems, just like in a new house!
There is just no way to find some small points until you take an RV out and actually live in it and use all the parts. No way you find there is a drain problem until you put the normal load in the black and grey tanks! You don't get to use the shower until AFTER you buy it! You don't find there was a screwdriver left in the top compartment until you find what is making that odd noise when you turn right and brake, etc.

A nice year old RV has lots of things that have been fixed! Then you get the duty for the rest of the time you own it! RV and calm are often not in the same world!
It's nice when you are setting outside in the chairs but it often stops when you go back inside and may hear the vent on the furnace making a noise you can't locate!

If odd noises are problem, you may not be quite ready for an RV yet!

Point 1
I actually experience when RV was new we took a trip with the kids and gray tanked had filled because of the shower, we had not learned to conserve at the time. Anyway the gauge told us it was full, so I told everyone to no longer use the kitchen sink and shower. At the time I incorrectly assumed the bath sink, right next to the toilet drained to the black tank On the way home at a gas station I noticed water dripping from under the coach. I opened a compartment door to learn that it was gray water I made it home and drained the gray tank. The next day, I called WBGO (Not the local dealer) I never forget the WBGO CS Rep knowing how hesitant I was to go back to the dealer, almost giving me a direct order to take it back it to dealer. I did and to my surprise it ended up being the best service I ever got from that Dealer, they fixed it same day It was a 90 minute drive one way so my wife and I had to schedule time to go back to pick up. It has worked fine since but I don't think we have ever had it full again. Off topic, but to this day replumbing the bathroom sink to the black is something I have always wanted. I surmise we use gray to black 2.5:1.

Point 2
When we bought our RV new, we found 2 others that preowned about a year old. Both were about $10k more than what we bought the new one for and both had things that the previous RV owner had did that I did not like and/or were missing something that the newer coach had i.e. for some reason the Sani Flush system and the HDMI wiring was only in the new coach. I am not against buying a clean preowned RV as I buy a preowned vehicle that looks brand new most all the time. While I know it most common among seasoned RV operators, I can't see myself buying an RV because I trust that the previous owners fixed problems. If I had that concern, I would be willing to pay to get items fixed based on price I paid, or not buy that RV at all. I similarly would NEVER by a extended warranty. If someone could convince me why I must have service contract, I would pass on buying that RV. Maybe I just got lucky and maybe WBGO just took care of me, but it worked out very well. That is why if I ever had to buy another RV it would have to be a WBGO. There were a lot of things that came with my coach that I didn't know I needed or wanted until I had a year or two under my belt. i.e. like the MCD Shades, flat floor from driver seat to rest of coach etc.

Point 3
I agree with "If odd noises are problem, you may not be quite ready for an RV yet", it is somewhat related to my perhaps misguided view that one can save the money on a RV Inspection on a new RV. If one is not able or willing to do a thorough 4 - 6 hr PDI inspection, they may not be ready for RV ownership. If it passes the cosmetic & eyeball tests, if everything works using a very good PDI checklist you should be good but more importantly you know how everything works before driving off the lot. When / if things do fail, that is what the WBGO warranty is for.

 

[creativepart]

Lots of good advice in this thread.

We bought ours brand new. Sure there were a host of issues, all were eventually solved. It took me a good 8 months to realize that the dealer was a total waste of time. Once I started fixing stuff myself and hiring some independent tech people for the things I couldn’t tackle it was easy to keep the rig running and available on our schedule not waiting for some dealer to give me my rv back.

Noises are both a given and fairly easy to fix. I hear everything while my wife says “what noise?” But I send her on noise hunts as I drive and we’re pretty good at quashing the odd noises.

Don’t ever think buying a new hundred thousand plus dollars or even a million dollar RV will get you a trouble free RV. There is no thing. You can buy a new car and have few to no problems but that’s just not the case with a RV.

And remember a used RV not only as all the same potential issues as a new RV but also has all the previous owner’s mistakes and janky fixes as part of the deal.

 

[RayIN]

3. The screens on the window driver / passenger windows will rattle as metal is vibrating on metal. It got so bad that I took the screen off the driver side. I have yet to come up with a fix to put back on where it will not rattle. I really need that screen, and I fear I will damage it where it is stored now.

Good luck

Scotch tape on the screen frame quiets metal on metal in this instance.

 

[dkoldman]

Scotch tape on the screen frame quiets metal on metal in this instance.

I will try this if I can do neatly. I do like to open that window. It seems like it should have felt some where. Very annoying

 

[powercat_ras]

Some things I did to address squeaks and rattles in my 2015 Vista 27N...

The most annoying ones on my Vista were all from the passenger side at the door and the slide...

I found that the long passenger slide slideout would make noise because it would not stay tightly closed when driving, the Swintek / Lippert motors did not hold the slide tightly closed. I made 3 slide locks out of 2x4 material and place them inside the RV, 2 in front next to slide rails and 1 in back centered to prevent the slide from creeping out and making noise. I also have a small piece of plastic held with velcro that I place under the passenger side slide switch when the slide is locked so I don't forget to remove the blocks before opening the long slideout. I don't have this noise problem with the short slides, only the long one.

I found that the coach door would make noise at the latch point. I initially found that putting a piece of black electrical tape around the latch post would stop the noise but the tape has to be replaced often. I recently tried moving the latch post in very slightly by giving it a few whacks with a 3 lb sledgehammer and this has worked so I no longer need the tape fix.

I put felt pads so the screen door would not make noise against the outside door when traveling.

Another thing you may find that makes noise that can be fixed is if any of the plastic wind deflectors have fallen off the weep holes on the driver's and passenger side windows. You can order replacements from Lichtsinn RV or your local Winnebago dealer.

 

[Hermes2]

Ditto on the PDI! Drive it around for 30 to 60 minutes. Don't sign any sales paperwork until everything on the PDI is fixed. Ask if you can "test camp" it before buying (can't hurt to ask). Don't drive it directly home after buying -- go camping somewhere nearby -- then take it back to have the dealer fix all the new stuff you've found that's wrong with it.

I've fixed a lot of the squeeks and rattles and so forth over the past three years. My biggest complaint is that the Class A generates more engine and road noise in the cabin than our previous Class C (which I was able to add noise insulation to relatively easily).

 

[kcgrant43]

Squeaks rattles in 2015 Winnebago Vista 35F

Some things I did to address squeaks and rattles in my 2015 Vista 27N...

The most annoying ones on my Vista were all from the passenger side at the door and the slide...

I found that the long passenger slide slideout would make noise because it would not stay tightly closed when driving, the Swintek / Lippert motors did not hold the slide tightly closed. I made 3 slide locks out of 2x4 material and place them inside the RV, 2 in front next to slide rails and 1 in back centered to prevent the slide from creeping out and making noise. I also have a small piece of plastic held with velcro that I place under the passenger side slide switch when the slide is locked so I don't forget to remove the blocks before opening the long slideout. I don't have this noise problem with the short slides, only the long one.

I found that the coach door would make noise at the latch point. I initially found that putting a piece of black electrical tape around the latch post would stop the noise but the tape has to be replaced often. I recently tried moving the latch post in very slightly by giving it a few whacks with a 3 lb sledgehammer and this has worked so I no longer need the tape fix.

I put felt pads so the screen door would not make noise against the outside door when traveling.

Another thing you may find that makes noise that can be fixed is if any of the plastic wind deflectors have fallen off the weep holes on the driver's and passenger side windows. You can order replacements from Lichtsinn RV or your local Winnebago dealer.

Same problems with my Vists. I have 25K miles on it with 20K of that on three round trips from Georgia to California. I would say my RV is more like a reliable mule than a race horse. I think of it as a good place to call home away from home after a day of driving more so than a pleasure to drive. Excellent phone help from Winnebago while traveling. Also good on parts needed for DIY stuff.

 

[chromeronzo]

Here!...Here!...Here is to fixing things right and properly yourself and at a fraction of the dealership.

 

[dallasrules]

I have found that I just got used to it over time and my brain tends to tune it out now.

 

[kcgrant43]

Good attitude. Just enjoy the ride and scenery.!

 

[BCam]

Make sure you line all cabinets and drawers with non-skid pads. Pieces of pool noodles are great for keeping thing from rattling and to keep things like liquor bottles from toppling over. If it doesn't keep your cabinet doors from closing small rubber or felt buttons will dampen some of the noise.

As others have mentioned, the first drive is the noisiest. Aside from getting used to it, I think empty cabinets rattle more than those with something in them.