So, we bought a 2023 Beacon 42RKB 12 days ago. We had it inspected before we purchased so I knew of the few issues that it had. I was able to correct those very quickly.
Now we are traveling to South Dakota (There tomorrow), and I have had a couple other things to gain knowledge of as I learn our coach. I am pretty surprised at how sloppily these units are thrown together. I had the grenade pin apparently disappear on the gray tank Valterra valve. I of course opened the wall in the front bay and was shocked at the mess of wires, ductwork, cabling and such that I was confronted with!
Workmanship is totally missing. I will have to straighten up and rerun pretty much all of it under there to meet my personal standards. I suspect that this is pretty common across 5th wheels, but I was shocked none-the-less.
Yes it is unfortunate but it is pretty much the standard across all brands. I have been in over 20 Brinkley units and have been impressed with how they keep it clean but still some opportunity. Luxe does a really good job on their mechanical / plumbing area but of course that comes at a higher price.
I spent a lot of time cleaning up my basement area but I sill have things I need to do. I had a lot of leaks at the flex hose connections and intended to change to PEX throughout but once I had control of the leaks that task has been back burnered. A recommendations is get yourself some Govee leak detectors. I have them in every area in my unit where there is a water connection. They operator and alert both by sound and by an app. If you get the gateway it can be on the wifi and you would get an alert while away from your unit (although I always turn off city or pump when I leave).
The grenade pin falling off is a common issue. It does have a small rubber cable attached so it likely isn’t far and laying close by. Often the tabs that hold it in place get broke as well. Most owners will zip tie the handle into the actuator arm.
There are some pretty experienced folks in this group so as you continue to learn your unit ask away.
FWIW had an oops with the trailer and was at the “body shop” getting it fixed. Damage was to the metal skirting below the fiberglass walls only so wasn’t a big deal. However asked the tech when we picked it up what he thought about the construction relative to the other 5th wheels he’s seen, answer without much thought at all was VanLeigh did a better job than the other production units, lots of little things. So hope that helps. And yes there are better units but at 2-3X the cost.
And a no cost water leak detector is to turn off city water and use the water pump, if it cycles after building pressure water is going somewhere…