T@B 400 2021 BD lower table rail fell off the wall

TABNewbies

Our first shakedown item and wanted to ask if others had this issue and what the solution was.
After only 3 or 4 moves of the table up / down the lower table rail fell off the wall completely as the screws were only going into the wall and there appears to be no obvious backing plate to take the screws. See photo. Luckily the sofa bed still works just fine.

We are taking the T@B to the dealer this coming Wednesday for diagnosis and I hope warranty repair but this does not look an easy place to access behind the wall. Thanks.

manyman297

You could try something like this:

Your friend has shared a link to a Home Depot product they think you would be interested in seeing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TripleGrip-10-Blue-Anchor-and-Screws-2-Piece-172SD/310227787

Just not sure how well that would work with something that needs pullout strength. Toggle bolts could work as well and are metal and much better at resisting pullout.

It looks like that ledge rests on the top of the wooden buildout for the alde vent so downward force on the screws is minimal.

My guess is they have overdriven the screws so they were just spinning around in a stripped out hole. Whoever is on drill and driver duty at that factory needs to chill out. I’ve found so many stripped out screw holes in our cabinetry and elsewhere. 

Pretty crazy there’s not solid wood for that ledger to grab into. Just another questionable build practice.

qhumberd

This is clearly a quality or design issue for the 2021. Hope they are paying attention. But from prior posts I was thinking that only @manyman297 was taking the hits for the rest of the group. My wife always used to say that she always got the "lemon" products so others could have the good ones.

manyman297

qhumberd said:

This is clearly a quality or design issue for the 2021. Hope they are paying attention. But from prior posts I was thinking that only @manyman297 was taking the hits for the rest of the group. My wife always used to say that she always got the "lemon" products so others could have the good ones.

Not that I’m happy that others are finding quality issues but it does make me feel better that I’m not being singled out. My latest theory is that they put the B team on our trailer build…maybe we got a smoking deal (we got an ok deal) and they save on costs by using less experienced craftsmen…I’m kidding, kind of. 

rhyno

We have the same issue with our bottom rail. Taking it to the dealer soon. 

85Redwood

We had this exact issue...the lower rail was only attached by a couple of screws on the left side...the rest of the screws didn't connect to any backing within the wall.  We returned ours to the factory for warranty work...our rail is fixed now.

ChrisFix

85Redwood said:

We had this exact issue...the lower rail was only attached by a couple of screws on the left side...the rest of the screws didn't connect to any backing within the wall.  We returned ours to the factory for warranty work...our rail is fixed now.

@85Redwood
Any idea what the fix involved? Are some of the 400s missing the backing support behind the wall or are is the rail being attached in the wrong place and not connecting to an existing support? Certainly the Azdel wall panels aren't going to support any real weight by themselves.

TABNewbies

I connected with our dealer today and await to hear the fix for this. With the same issue with @rhyno and @85Redwood for this, it is clear this is running wider than our TAB alone and nuCamp should have a clear answer for the dealers. @ChrisFix - the rail is in the correct place, just no backing support.

TABNewbies

So new news from nuCamp for those interested
As for the lower table rail ... there is an aluminum tube that should be running from side to side across that area.  It is part of the roof frame.  You might be able to tell where the tubing is located just tapping or pressing on the wall in that area. 
Will see how the repair goes at the dealer.

rhyno

I took mine to the dealer this morning and he found thar the lower table rail holes are about 1/4 inch bleow the aluminum frame rail biting into nothing but azdel. It is a wonder we didn't rip the whole thing out of the wall.
He drilled a small hole to find the rail, then did new pilot holes above the old. Rail is sturdy now and  our "sofa" is back in business. 

manyman297

You’d think the installer would’ve felt the difference as they drilled into the wall. 

TABNewbies

To finish this story, thanks for all the contributions. Like @rhyno, the solution was to remount about 1/4 in higher into the frame and the rail is now firmly in place and ready for the next trip. Good information from the forum helped our dealer, got our T@B fixed quicker and nuCamp aware too.

Katlehker

We just picked our new tab 400 up Thursday aug 12 and on our first outing the lower table rail also came out of the wall.  I was very disappointed given the cost of the camper and Nu camps reputation.  We need that area for my son to sleep and we have more camping plans.  I don’t want to fix it only to have it happen again.  Seems like a very big flaw.

TABNewbies

@katlehker - the fix listed above works fine - tested again last week by my son and all OK and secure. At least the sofa bed also works when 'broken'

Binghi

Katlehker said:

We just picked our new tab 400 up Thursday aug 12 and on our first outing the lower table rail also came out of the wall.  I was very disappointed given the cost of the camper and Nu camps reputation.  We need that area for my son to sleep and we have more camping plans.  I don’t want to fix it only to have it happen again.  Seems like a very big flaw.

Same here with our 2021 400 picked up in April. It is a big flaw, and not one we all should have to deal with. We like our Tab, but come on…

ChrisFix

It sure seems like NuCamp either moved the structural cross brace a little bit, or they have some how started to use the wrong dimensions to secure the lower table brace in the current production. My early 2021 T@B 400 has the lower brace/bracket very securely attached.
And I understand everyone's frustration with a new RV with this rather obvious production glitch.

rhyno

For reference, the bottom of my rail now sits about 8mm above the wood shelf that run between the benches, and my table top is now flush with the benches from front to back.

I have noticed another issue with the bottom rail due to it sitting at a different angle than the top due to the curve of the front wall. If you set the table into the lower rail without coming in at a high angle, the locks don't fully engage, and the table rocks and clicks against the rail.

*EDIT* To fix this: Connect and then lock the table to the bottom rail while holding the table up about 45 degrees. Once locked in place, drop the table down and it should be much more stable.

CJax

Our T@B has finally been delivered to the dealer (ordered Feb, promised June 28, delivered Aug 11), and we are picking it up next week. Because of all of you and this forum, I've directed the dealer to pull on this rail, and if it has the same disease as described here, to fix it before we show up. I've also told them to check the brake wires and the cabinet alignments before we show up, based on other threads in this forum.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences that others may benefit. We will surely reciprocate as we embark on our adventures.

Cheers,
C

manyman297

@CJax If you've got a good dealer then this is great. If not, they may end up making it worse. The under sink cabinet drawers didn't even latch from the factory. I spent 30 minutes with the tech at our dealership while he tried to fix it. He gave up and I ended up fixing it later. 

@rhyno Ours does this exact thing in the bed configuration any rocking a person does on the dinette causes those latches to click. Drives me nuts. What's the fix? You can PM me if you want.

Binghi

When I attached the dinette tabletop to the rail the first couple of times I did not notice that the spring-loaded retaining clips (that are part of the latches) did not fully engage on the rail. I pressed the top of the clips down to get the latches on the rail but they didn’t pop back up to lock as designed and I didn’t notice. So the table top was unstable and a little loose on the rail. I finally figured out that I could pull the top of the retaining clip up by hand. Once I did that the latches were fully locked on the rail and the tabletop was stable. Don’t know if this helps, but maybe.

rhyno

@Binghi - I tried the pull-up method with the latch buttons and didn't have the same luck. I edited my fix above to hopefully make it clearer after fielding a few PM questions.