Newmar and Thor Motor Coach Plant Tours

We have left Elkhart and are in Sunman, IN at the Indian Lake Thousand Trails Park. Before we left, we did plant tours at Newmar and Thor Motor Coach. The Newmar plant is in Nappanee and Thor is in Elkhart. I can see why Newmar rigs command more money after seeing them being built. The walls and roofs are stick built on 16 inch centers like a house except the studs are aluminum I beams. Wiring is installed and inside walls are glued and screwed in place. Then lots and lots of batt insulation is put in place before the Fiberglas goes on the outside. Similar process in the roof structure. The chassis are placed on rolling air jacks and moved sideways through the plant. Three or four men move the rigs effortlessly across the plant from station to station. There was lots of attention paid to quality control as well. I believe they are as well built as any we have seen so far. There was an underfloor moving belt on which trash was swept constantly. Very impressive!

I wish I felt so strongly positive about the Thor plant. It was the dirtiest and most cluttered of the six plants we have toured. I saw cabinet frames installed in a rig with cracked wood frames where the screws were driven without drilling holes. I saw holding tanks with the old style thru wall sensors. That's all they use. Much of their work is sourced out to other shops including painting. That's a recipe for poor quality. I like their floor plans, but I will never have a Thor product.