David At The Wiring Station
Day One:
We started our day at 6am at the wiring station in 18 degree weather. (Note the layers of bulky clothing.) This is where they make all the wire that goes into the coach and loop it all together.
Wire Rack For Our Tiffin Allegro 45LP
Wire Rack For Our Tiffin Allegro 45LP
Their is literally miles and miles of wire that goes into making of just one coach. This rack, both front and back, is most of the wire that is just going into our 45LP. Crazy right?
Every Wire Is Printed With A Label
Some Of Our Wiring Team
And yes, every wire is printed with the label of what coach it goes into and where or what it’s for. Their is a whole team that does nothing but measure and pull wire from a giant loom and put ends on them. They then place all these wires on the rack for the next team. Then the next set of team members lay them all out on this giant (and long) peg board. Every wire has it’s place. It seems like total chaos but their definitely is a system.
David Working Along Side Chris Running Wire
David Checking Things Out
David, as you all know, loves to get his hands into everything. So he helped run some wires and was able to add some extra cables that he wanted run. Some to the roof and others to the back bedroom.
David At The End Of Our Wiring Day
The team can have an entire 45LP coach laid out, bundled up in wire loom and set into a bin with our order number on, all in 2 hours!
Our Giant Wire Bundle Going To Our Bin
Our Wire Bin With Our Order Number On It Ready To Go
The Empty Loom Waiting For The Next Wire Run
All the wire bins are labeled with the order numbers. This is what it looks like at the end of the process. Our wire bin over-flowing with all our wire and cables.
The wire loom is empty and ready for the next run of cables.
We finished just over the 2 hour mark. Not bad.
Then we wandered around looking for other items that had our order number on it.
David Signed His Name Right By Our Order Number
Our Wall Panel With Our Order Number On It
We ended up across the factory floor in the area where they weld the frames for the floors, walls and ceiling. After talking with the guys there they pointed out our actual wall panel that they were working on. We got there just in time!
If you look closely at the first picture (click picture to enlarge), with the guy welding the frame, David signed his name on it. He’s too funny.
Inserting Foam Insulation
Applying Wall Panel To Frame
Once the frames are all welded they head to insulation. The insulation is all cut to size right there at the station. Once all the sections are insulated, the wall panels go through the glue machine and get placed on top of the frames. The panels then go into another machine that presses the wall panel onto the frame, fully seating it into place.
Pretty interesting to see our actual panels be built. The ceiling and floor panels will be built tomorrow. Trust me, they do have a system. You don’t mess with the system.
OK, so now we’ve seen our entire wire harnesses be built and some of our wall panels. It was on to see what else we could find.
Remember yesterday how we found one piece of our shower? Well, we decided to go and see if it was done and what it looked like.
Our Shower Being Built
Well, if you haven’t figured out by now, with Tiffin, they fabricate almost every piece that goes into a coach. Our shower was mostly done at this point. A lot of the time for these types of things, I believe, is the curing of all the pieces together. As you can see, the shower is on the floor in a 90 degree mold. Braces are used to keep everything tight together as it all cures and dries. This shower will be done by the end of the day.
Our Shower Being Built
And keep in mind, they are not just working on our shower. That would be terribly inefficient. Their are many showers, sinks, counter tops, etc that they are making, sanding, extending and putting together all at once.
There’s nothing like sitting around and watching glue dry, so we moved on at this point.
By this point in the day, it’s only noon or so. Yup, when you start you’re day at 6am you can really get a lot done.
Our final stop for the day was our chassis. It was built a few days prior, by Tiffin, as they use their own chassis on the Allegro Bus. So they really are built from the ground up by Tiffin. Today was the day it went into the mechanics shop to get a thorough check over and fluids topped off. (No, they did not do the 150 gallons of diesel fuel. Sigh.) Once it leaves their it heads to the welding shop. For us, this is scheduled for tomorrow. So our chassis is sitting outside somewhere in this freezing cold Alabama day.
Our Chassis!
Wandering around in 20 degree weather is not our idea of fun. However, we were on a mission. To find our chassis. And at last, we found it! Our actual chassis. As you can see, it’s clearly identifiable by our order number.
Yeah!
Our Chassis!
Our Chassis!
David Trying To Steer
Somehow we thought these things came with seats. I guess that was an add on that we missed.
On tomorrow’s agenda…
Our chassis goes into the welding shop and we have a meeting with the paint guys.
Friday is when the real exciting action starts. When the coach will actually start to take shape.
We are getting more and more excited as the days go on and we can’t wait to watch our new home take shape.
Here is the full photo set from today…Click “Show PicLens” for best view.
It is like they build a Space Shuttle every day. Worth the time to learn what they do.
Oh my…You are so right in that thought! One thing we never really thought about is the number of people involved in the build. It is amazing to see the process and what it actually takes.
This is going to be a fun ride. You guys are doing a great job of documenting this. Keep up the good work!
Our chassis was the last one for the day (like yours would have been since it started at noon also. They just let it sit in the Aqua Hot Prep area over night and took it to station #1 first thing in the morning. Don’t be surprised if they’ve done the same thing with yours since leaving it inside will keep it warm enough that the diesel in it won’t gel and it will be easier to start tomorrow.
DAVID – Notice my email is .reagan.com now and NOT comcast.net anymore
Fairly certain you mixed up the pictures, the chassis is I believe for transporting Titan Rockets.
Great pictures. I will follow along on the build. We have an 11 Allegro Bus and want to visit the factory and take the tour. Best of luck and have fun! Keith & Christine
Ok, so I just caught up with your Winnebago ordeal. OMG..you guys had to be heartbroken. I was so angry after reading the post. But looking at your happy faces going through the Tiffin factory almost makes it seem worth it. I can’t wait to see the photos of your new coach put all together. Yay for Tiffin for being so proud of their work that they allow the owner to be there during the build process! When we move up to a coach, I will put them first on my list!
When they bring in the wood framing and lay it on the chassis, check for ANTS! We were on a tour a few years back and were the only non-Tiffin owners in the group. There was a steady stream of ants running up and down the framing. One of the ladies commented, “So that’s where my ants came from!” Wishing you well on this rig and will follow-along.
Hi, no ants in the floor. Compressed wood floors usually they do not like so much based on the glues etc that are in the wood for bonding. Over and above that…it has been in the teens here…so no ants. LOL :)
Wow! That is super cool. I really like how they let you in to take pictures and see the product. That kind of transparency makes me want to buy from them one day!
Shortly after the purchase of our 2014 Allegro Bus (May 24, 2014) a friend sent me a link to your video. The wife and I truly enjoyed seeing the build of an identical unit. We have had two shake down short trips and we really like the Bus. Like any new coach there are a few things to have the Dealer fix, but for the most part they are minor. Thanks for your excellent video and if you ever get to Oregon shoot us an e-mail so we can meet up. Hiwayman
Glad you liked our logging of the build. I take it you had seen the final blog entry with the walk thorough video and the enter build time lapse in 11 mins. If not, you can find it here on the site. Enjoy you new bus, we surely enjoy ours.