Multiple problems with my 5th wheel, has anyone else had as many problems as I have? I did not realize that vanleugh was going out of business when I bought this POS! I’m getting ready to be in a huge battle with LA MESA RV. Any help on what problems you are having would be great. Is anybody else in a legal battle? Thanks for input. I have never posted on a forum before not sure if it works or not?
We have a 2020 Beacon 39FBB, although not problem free (it is an RV 
) , we’ve found it is better than others we’ve owned. Any problems I encountered were handled directly with Vanleigh under warranty, and I repaired them myself or had the Tishomingo Service Center do the work and avoided the dealership as they were a source of the problems IMO.
It was disappointing to hear about Vanleigh shutting down, but Tiffin still honors the warranty and I’ve been able to get parts through them.
What sort of issues are you encountering? What’s the model year you have (is it still under warranty)? Have you contacted Tiffin/Vanleigh about the issues?
The Tishomingo Service Center was used as a warranty service provider for Vanleigh and I had good experiences using them. There are probably other good RV service centers available outside of the typical dealer ones.
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Although Vanleigh went out of business Tiffin is still in business and will support your unit. Seeing it is a GSB I am assuming you have a 23 unit and still under the 3 year structual and possibly the 1 year limited?
We have had extreme issues with our unit and to date Tiffin has put $60k in repairs and our personal costs for getting to those repair exceed $23k. Although that speaks highly of Tiffins commitment to customer service it also speaks volumes to the state of my unit as it came out of the factory. Many of our issues were larger structural issues that could not be corrected at a dealer or locally to our home base so we had continued visits to service centers which was our preference but ideally would like to have had time to travel between visits. Of course all RVs require continual maintenance and I would have been delighted if that was my situation.
I would offer a piece of advice - bypass the dealer. We purchased our unit and have not been back to the dealer and primarily have used Tishomingo RV in Mississipi or the Tiffin Servce Center in Redbay Alabama (just 21 miles apart). If you have the ability to take your unit to either of those service centers it does exceed the drop and wait at a dealership that usually parks your unit on their back lot for long periods of time. Tishomingo is by appointment and Redbay has historically been FCFS (first come first serve) but has recently changed that model to include appointments. Either of those places you are onsite and they work on your unit giving a quicker resolution. Tishomingo usually is a couple day experience (although I recently spent 20 days onsite).
If you continue using your dealership I would still start the communication with Tiffin so you can expedite the communication and receiving of needed supplies or approvals. Tiffin dismantled their Vanleigh support team this past year so unfortunately communication has become a bit more complex. When calling in for service now you do get to the call center that services all Tiffin units and my last call the rep told me that he has never even been in a 5th wheel. However they are still learning how to service the 5th wheel line they can often provide quicker resolution than what you may receive from your dealer.
I would be interested into hearing some of your issues.
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We purchased our 41FLB Vanleigh Beacon 1 year old in September 2021 mfg date September 2020.
First owner bought at Lazydays Tampa, spent winter in it, drove to Lazy Days in Mesa AZ & traded in on Class A!
Since I wasn’t first owner I took out service insurance policy with AWG.
Prior to taking possession 2 of the 3 heat pumps failed so Lazydays replaced with 2 Furrion FACR14SA-BL air conditioners. 14.5 BTU rooftop air conditioners at their cost. Heat pumps were unavailable due to supply chain issues!
Our issues have mostly been Lippert related. After struggling with front jacks on level up 6 point dropping under pressure they ( Lippert) replaced the entire hydraulics including. See other post in forum.
Lately Front living room slides failed - see post in forum. A design flaw by VanLeigh because there are no flor roller supports under the heavy sleeper sofas, on bumpy roads all flopping stress is in the wall “ H” frames.
Frame flex repair near front cap. See other post in forum.
These units take a real beating on US Roads with I-39 from Rockford to Bloomington IL among the worst!
If you want to see a total lemon by VanLeigh Beacon watch the YouTube Videos “ midlifedetour”, those poor folks had every failure imaginable. They have a website as well - midlifedetour.us
We still like our 41FLB which is our second 5th wheel- 1st was a used 2012 Landmark Mesa we bought in 2015.
Hi regarding your Beacon is one of the problems with the frame? What are the biggest problems with it?
We had a frame separation at the front cap area. Had it reinforced at Robert Crist RV in Mesa AZ.
The main frame has not provided any problems.
The folks that had massive problems with their Beacon posted a series of YouTube videos - search for Midlife Detour to view.
Oh wow! My thoughts exactly on this 2023 Ambition. We have had and are having more issues then i have time to write in one post. I am literally in tears because the workmanship is so bad. Both of our outer doors are bowed and we can’t shut them without really slamming them or pushing them shut from the outside. Both doors kept coming open as we were traveling. Our awnings kept coming out about 2-3 feet while going down the road. Almost all the screws in the metal trim around the bottom of garage have backed out, as have the ones on the stairs. On the happy jack, almost all the screws have come out of the bunk. The dimmers on the light panels stopped working, to dim we have to use the master spyder panel. On the outside if the galley slide the outer skin is separating and there is approx a 5 inch long (not wide) gap.we still cannot get our generator to work. The aqua-hot was broken and we had to pay an RV repairman to replace the broken switch. The ceiling above island which has the lights and the a/v vents and intakes was not put on straight, and it is starting to sag, so the cupboard door rubs on it, which means we cannot open the door all the way.
The heat in the l/r and the garage do not come on unless we turn the bedroom heat to 72°, and it is still cold in both rooms, while cooking in the bedroom. We have had errant water puddles just hapopen on the bedroom floor and in the kitchen, with no clue where it comes from. The glue on the 1/2 bath in garage let go and the wall panel is bowed way out beyond where it is taped. The cabinets are beginning to sag.
There are many more issues that we should not be having on a brand new unit. This was the first trip we have taken in it, and sadly the last as we are looking to trade it in on a better made unit. But no more Tiffin products for us.
Holy smokes I am sorry to hear about your troubles and extensive list! I understand that feeling. If you decide to keep the unit (which sounds not to be the case) you should work with Tififn to get it to Redbay Alabama to address every issue at their service center on their dime. Many will make the drive ( I have done it 5 times personally) but if I wasnt full time I would make them pick up the unit and transport it. They have done this for many owners. With a list of issues like that it may be hard for a dealer to get through them without holding onto the unit for a long period of time.
So sorry to hear-takes the fun out of RVing!
Since we had Front living room Schwintek slides on both sides repaired I put plastic leveling bolocks under each-gotta remember to remove before extending. Seems to be a good work around for a bad design. Should have support rollers under each like present under bed in rear bedroom.
We also broke a leaf spring in MN & driver side rear tire wore down to steel belt! This was a Friday at noon. The gang at Hilltop RV 2 exits north of Rochester, MN ordered new 8k leaf springs for each side of rear axel which arrived Monday morning & they had us back on road by 2:30!
Spent weekend across the road at Tilly’s RV park (self serve).
Made it back to AZ with no more problems.
I’ve always wondered why the screws on all the trim work themselves out-why can’t they tighten?
I am always amazed when we set up at the end of the day that anything works! I’d like the US Secretary of Transportation, and each State DOT Chief ride a day or 2 with us to see the status of our Interstate & US road system is in.
I’ve mention in other post to avoid I-39 from Rockford to Bloomington at all costs!!!
Bob