The 5th wheel is still in the repair shop. We stopped today and it's coming along pretty good. When all is said and done the 5th wheel will have an all new roof and better then the original. I guess driving under the branch worked out for the best in the long run. Today was another day of sightseeing. We spent the morning running around to some of the many RV salvage places around Elkhart to see if we could find a replacement for our bedroom window awning since the vinyl is starting to separate from the fabric. But nobody had one our size so we'll probably have to break down and buy a new one.
This is the first day of Fall and the leaves here are starting to change. This picture was taken from the silo at "Das Dutchman Essenhaus" in Middlebury, IN. It's a hugh complex of Amish restaurants, gift shops, a convention center, hotel and even a covered bridge. We stopped to check it out on our way to tour the Jayco RV Manufacturing Plant. The tour was really interesting. We went thru their fabric plant where all the fabrics used in the production of Jayco RVs are produced. 75 to 80% of the employees are Amish from the nearby towns and the work force has an average of 10 years with Jayco. A lot of the people have fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins or other relatives working so there's a very stable workforce. They start at 5:00AM and work until the day's work schedule
is done, usually about 1:30PM so they can get home to do their farm work and chores before it gets dark. Not only don't the Amish drive motor vehicles, they don't have electricity in there homes, so work has to be done before dark. They have a very strong work ethic and hardly ever leave once they start working at Jayco. We were able to follow the construction of a 5th wheel from frame to finish through the plant. It was quite interesting to see how an RV is built. They start with a frame and after putting it on the floor, they turn it upside down and then put all the components that go under the floor in place before they put the under belly on the frame. It then proceeds to the cabinet installation area where the flooring and cabinets are installed. This is followed by the walls which are built in their lamination plant right on site. After the walls are installed,
the inside finishing is completed followed by installation of the roof. The unit then moves down the line for installation of the slide outs which are constructed from the pieces cut in the side to make the slide openings. The fit is much better using the exact cutouts. This operation pretty much finishes up construction except for the final trim work and checking out all the systems to be sure the all work properly. They pull about 1 in 4 units out for further quality control tests and have a rain booth where they test about 1 in 8 for leaks. We didn't get to see the actual attachment of the walls to the floor or roof to the walls but based on the rest of the process we saw, it is a very well built RV and we'd consider purchasing one if they have a floor plan we like and A DOUBLE REFRIGERATOR OPTION. From start to finish, it takes 4 days to complete the building of a 5th wheel and have it ready for delivery to the dealer.
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