3 weeks in beautiful (?) Red Bay Alabama, home to Tiffin Motorhomes

We escaped from the Tiffin Service Center after three long weeks of repairs, improvements and just sitting around.  Boy is that all tiring!

We pulled in the day after Veteran's Day to learn there wasn't room, even though we had called and there was before we made the short ride from Tunica, Mississippi.  Even more disheartening was when they told us it would be 5 weeks before getting us into a bay.  We had a couple of emergency issues like our front propane heater wasn't working and the temps were expected to drop to the teens in the next day of two.  The first impression was not the best to say the least.  We started making phone calls to other repair spots in Red Bay as there are several that specialize in Tiffin repairs.  We camped across the street for $20.00 per night at Detail Depot, a unique use for an old gas station.  The Detail Depot has a few spots with hookups, an RV wash and wax service, a barber, a beauty salon, a pet groomer and sandwich shop.  You could almost live there!

Our list of repairs included a couple of cosmetic touch ups where we came into contact with immovable objects, haha.  So of we went to McKinney RV Paint Shop across from the Tiffin plant.  Not a bad place to stay when the temps were below freezing as we had to stay in the paint bay and the temp inside was a toasty 75.  The down side was the smell.  I turned on our air purifier full blast to lessen the effects of the paint.  It was weird sleeping inside but there was not an alternative.  

We got the heater mother board repaired and our new slide out toppers installed across the street at McKinney RV.  It took them less than two hours to complete the work and we returned to Tiffin Camp Service Center.  We waited patiently for an express bay to do the smaller work on the Beast.  I learned early on you could get lost in the 100 plus coaches waiting for repairs.  So every morning I would pop in to the scheduler to make sure I could schedule items on our list with the other facilities in town.  Finally after a week and two days we were in a bay!  

The Beast gets new headlights

Getting ready to install the new slide toppers

The headlights were a struggle, at one point we had 6 techs looking at them at once.

Tiffin has three 'silent recalls' going.  The cap rails, the wet bays and the driver slide out floors were not installed using proper materials and they have experienced several failures. Good news is if you can get to Red Bay, they will repair them.  Most only need one or two of the repairs, but lucky us, we got all three.  I was amazed at the organization of getting these major repairs completed.  

Getting ready to put the new cap rails on

replacing the wet bay floor with a plastic material instead of wood

This was our wet bay floor.  The wood just crumbled

Huge cranes lift the slides out and swing them away from the Beast

The Beast missing it's slide

The slide out on its side with the floor removed

lifting the slide back up

Getting the slide lined up to go back in

Bay Diesel was our (almost) last stop.  We wanted them to service the generator, check a vibration we had in the front and replace the shocks.  We also had them complete all the service items to get everything up to date and checked out.  While we had thought Camping World had completed all the checks, it was apparent they had not.  We had developed a flat spot on the new tires, so the recommendation was to rotate the tires and have them properly balanced and aligned.  We walked out of there with a hefty bill, but the ride and performance was noticeably improved.  Worth the investment I say!

We got into the paint bay for the cap rails which only took a few hours.  We were set free at 1:30 and on the road by 2:30 after paying our bill and checking out of the camp.  We drove on past Birmingham and even past Atlanta at 8:30 at night to avoid the traffic there.  That was a good move as we hit no traffic and breezed right through.  A night spent at a truck stop was worth the noise as we were tired and ready to sleep.  We usually don't do that, but if we want to avoid traffic or get past a big city sometimes it is the only place to stop.  

Next up-The adventure continues after that brief break for business.