Sides, Slides, and Other Fun Things

The shift officially starts at 6am, which means we had to get up at 4!  Yuk,  But we got to the factory and found our RV Fetus at about 5:50 and they had already been working since 5:15!  Tiffin now has 4 productions lines going which results in 13 new RV's coming off the line each day.  Different types of motorhomes have different numbers of stations.  The more luxury models had more stations so they take longer to make.  But not all motorhomes take the same amount of time at each station.  For us, our station 1 time was about 2.5 hours, but the smaller unit behind us only needed 1.5 hours at that station.  And you can just skip ahead, because there is another unit already at that station.

So they reallocate workers to stations as units move through the plant.  We met Diane, the materials lady early this morning.  She goes up and down the line making sure that all the components and materials are ready.  Tiffin makes most everything except the chassis, electronics, and appliances.  They own many small production companies scattered around to create the items like the dash boards, shower enclosures, etc.  Diane makes sure everything is available when needed.  She even scheduled the cabinet, slides, and roof builds.  

Remember to click on the pics to enlarge them.....

Since they started early, they had already loaded some of the cabinet items before we arrived.  Here you can see the refrigerator cabinet and some of the half-bath cabinets.

We ordered a stackable washer/dryer and here the two are bolted together and placed on a jack.  The jack then lifts these into position and they are slid in and bolted to the floor and cabinet walls.

The toilet in the full bath is waiting for installation while Manny connects up the water manifold.  The manifold should allow someone to be in the shower while water is also used elsewhere without them noticing it.  Time will tell on that one!

While Manny is connecting plumbing, the washer & dryer are lifted into position.

Here you can see one of the workers putting screws along the underside of the edge of the floor.  As the side wall is installed later, these will be tightened and will help hold the base of the wall in position.

Time for the kitchen sink & cabinet to be placed into position.  These cabinets were made in the wood shop which is in the building behind the main plant.  All the cabinets come over on a cart and are placed in the station for installation.  The drawers will be made the day before needed and installed down the line.

Meanwhile another worker is busy setting up the driver and passenger areas.  Here he is connecting up the heating and AC ducts to the various outlets along the dash.

Here he has installed the dash and begun connecting the myriad of cables, wires, connectors and whatever.

This side's cabinets are all installed.  From left to right, there is the bedroom cabinets and wardrobe, the half bath enclosure with vanity, the space for the residential refrigerator, and you can partially see the kitchen counter.

We are now able to climb up and in as we wish.  Here you can see the kitchen sink and counter.

This is the passenger side wall for our RV.  It was made at a Tiffin subsidiary company and placed along side our rig at station 2.

The sidewall is picked up by the overhead crane and the guys guide it into position and secure it.

Meanwhile the microwave/convection oven is installed.  We didn't order the propane oven because we wanted the additional storage space and we use the convection function all the time.  We will have a propane cooktop but we also have an induction burner which we use the most.

Here is a good picture of the overhead crane.  It can move in two directions - right & left, forwards and backwards.  The winch on this crane can then go up and down.  The entire unit is controlled by a hand held remote.  Most of the time we saw it used, only one person was performing the related task!  The driver side wall was also installed using the crane.

The crane is used to hoist the overhead cabinets that go above the windshield into position.

Our residential refrigerator is on a scissor lift cart and is now raised up and pushed onto the floor.  It has wheels under it and glides ever so smoothly.  It will actually be put in the cabinet for it at another station.  I think that is because the roof has to go on first but it is way easier to get the unit inside the RV now through the slide area instead of having to manhandle it through a window later.

The bedroom slide comes over on a cart and the crane is used to lift it off and then into position.  Installing the slides is a one-man job believe it or not!  And the bed and accompanying cabinetry and lights are already installed in the slide!  Earlier in the day, I had wandered over to another quadrant of the factory where the slides are made and found ours.

Here the bedroom slide is in position and being connected to the mechanism.  

Next the main slide goes in.  The cabinetry is already installed in this one before it goes in.  And the accompanying furniture is in there too.

That was three stations worth of work today.  I walked over and found the crew that was building our roof.  They make the roof with the ceiling material on the other side and make the cutouts.  They actually make all the roofs for each line the day before they are needed.  And even though our roof goes on first for our line, it was made last so that it would be sitting on the top in the storage cradle.

Here they have tilted the roof up on an angle and are installing the light sockets and other wired items.  Then a huge crane will pick this up and slide it about 100' feet or so to our station #4 where it will be installed tomorrow morning.

One thing Carol and I were talking about at dinner.....here we have completed the first day on the main production line and everything is connected, plumbed, and placed so that she could actually do a load of laundry.  The fresh water tank is full and the gray is empty.  All she needs is some soap!