The Schroeder Handicap
The short and sweet of it is, that the bodywork at large and integration of the cabin is top notch. However, pursuant to some testing and trips and as early as at the time of picking up Wohni, flaws started to become apparent when “looking a bit closer”, the sum of them bordering on being a nuisance. Would I do it again? Yes, but only the bodywork together with the basic joinery and interior work. The rest, especially technical extras, water, electricity, etc., I would rather do myself and/or have them done by specialists close by.
When we picked up Wohni:
I had taken loads of stuff with me to Jeffreys Bay when I delivered the vehicle for conversion, which now had to be stowed away and/or tied to the roof carrier. It turned out that the carrier was fabricated with three struts on the top only. With only one strut in the middle, there were obviously few items that could be tied to the carrier. Utilising Schroeder’s workshop and staff I swiftly solved that problem myself by fabricating and riveting four plywood boards onto the carrier. Our beloved camping table, sturdy and hence rather heavy, was leaning quite lazily in the rear compartment. Not only would it have been rattling around while driving, but one would have had to remove it every time when accessing something in the back. That too was quickly solved by mounting it on top of the spare wheels.
On our maiden trip:
Secured with cable ties
Making camp the first night, it turned out that opening and especially closing the pop-up roof was a bit tricky, to say the least, and that you have to be quite the contortionist to make the main bed on top. We still don’t understand why they didn’t come up with a slide-out solution for the bed’s extension board, rather than having to lift, squeeze, pull and shove at the same time, in order to get the board stowed under the mattresses and bedding (Doris still cannot do it on her own). As for the pop-up roof, you also need some practice and knowledge of applied science in order to open and/or close it. The main problem is the rear roof carrier which has been positioned way to close to the roof frame and thus more often than not is in the way of the pop-up roof’s rear edge. We usually close the roof together, with Doris pulling down from the inside and me pulling forward while sitting on the spare wheels. A rather worrying phenomenon are the clips at the front, securing the roof in its down position, which had to be mounted on the outside due to the fact that you cannot reach the front closing mechanism in the cabin’s nose where the bedding and mattresses are stowed away. The way the clips are positioned, they pull the roof more forward than downward and by now, with the roof and sealing properly settled, the downward action is close to non-existent. Schroeder’s words are still ringing in my ears: “I suggest you make a plan with those clips, once you’re back home, as I don’t trust them fully”. Huh?
Two-night test camping at the dam together with the kids:
The middle part of the kiddie bed, which according to Schroeder would stay in place once the mattress pieces are puzzled together, kept on crashing down. In order to avoid the boys potentially hurting their heads on the protruding slide-out support, I installed a simple locking mechanism, right there and then.
Five-day trip to the desert and coast:
The Middle Of Nowhere
Fully loaded with water and supplies for five days and fuel filled up to the brim, Wohni actually provides a very pleasant ride, although the ride height at the rear is a bit low for my taste, also causing the steering wheel to feel somewhat “sluggish” when traveling on gravel. 300km out of Windhoek, in the middle of nowhere at 40 degrees in the non-existing shade, we accessed the Engel fridge for the first time to quench our thirst. Trying to slide it back in, it wouldn’t travel the last two centimeters, which also made it impossible to lock it in place. Try as I might, I wasn’t able to locate the problem there and then and with the spot, we picked for camping that night only two hours away, we decided to continue. Doris had to hold on to the slide-out, preventing the monolith from becoming a destructive furniture basher. At the camp we had to empty the fridge for trouble shooting and found out the the slide-out floor bends downward under heavy load and gets stuck on a way to closely mounted cable duct right underneath. The only option there and then was to simply remove the duct. Back home I would spend more than a day to fix the slide-out and to properly support the weight of the Engel, by not only replacing and reinforcing screws, mountings and fixture, but also by adding screws which seemingly had been simply “forgotten”.
No comment
On day three, or rather night two, I ended up inside the cabin with the door handle in my hand. I decided to let this be tomorrow’s worry, only to learn that having to climb over the kids and out the front, with a close to bursting bladder at two o’clock in the morning, is a very unpleasant experience. What I assumed would be a minor effort, to simply replace the handle, would eventually become a two hour makeshift ordeal accompanied by swearing and sweating. Some of the fine-thread screws had been tightened with pliers - and obviously broke - others, such as the ones holding the handles in place had yet again been “forgotten”. At our last camp, at a cozy and secluded spot near the Brandberg, we realised water dripping out the bottom. One of the two main tanks had come loose due to a broken (very bad) weld and, probably rubbing against the before mentioned, had chafed a small hole through its skin. I spent the better part of the next morning securing the tank back in place with the aid of ratchet belts and wire and also fixed the hole in the tank.
Summa Summarum: The above is a rather brief synopsis of the surprises and flaws we found and/or experienced. I presented a 12 page list/report to Schroeder hoping he would be co-operative, considering that we had already paid the full amount for the conversion. Pursuant to some hick-hack and arguments and once I had made it clear that I WOULD NOT COME TO JEFFREYS BAY to have the issues rectified and/or addressed (especially not at our own costs), Claus Schroeder apologised professionally and showed a very service orientated attitude. As per his suggestion, we are now in the process of gathering quotes from workshops and specialists here in Windhoek. The work and materials used will be reimbursed by Schroeder Motorhomes.
Even with the happy ending in sight, we still have that bitter sweet taste lingering in the back of our throats. IMHO most of the issues could have been avoided and/or were really unnecessary.
Cheers & Beers
Tommy