2017 JAYCO PRECEPT — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

The contact owns a 2017 Jayco Precept built on a 2016 Ford Motorhome Chassis. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, there was smoke coming from the rear of the RV. The contact pulled over to the side of the roadway and stopped the RV. The RV was towed to the local repair center, where it was diagnosed and determined that hydraulic fluid had leaked onto the exhaust pipes, causing the smoke. The contact was informed that several support welds had fractured and caused the hydraulic fluid lines to fail and leak hydraulic fluid. Additionally, the mechanic informed the contact that several support welds located at the rear of the RV had sheared off, causing the body of the RV to lower. The RV was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 29,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Jayco Precept built on a 2016 Ford Motorhome Chassis. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, there was smoke coming from the rear of the RV. The contact pulled over to the side of the roadway and stopped the RV. The RV was towed to the local repair center, where it was diagnosed and determined that hydraulic fluid had leaked onto the exhaust pipes, causing the smoke. The contact was informed that several support welds had fractured and caused the hydraulic fluid lines to fail and leak hydraulic fluid. Additionally, the mechanic informed the contact that several support welds located at the rear of the RV had sheared off, causing the body of the RV to lower. The RV was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 29,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Jayco Precept built on a 2016 Ford Motorhome Chassis. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, there was smoke coming from the rear of the RV. The contact pulled over to the side of the roadway and stopped the RV. The RV was towed to the local repair center, where it was diagnosed and determined that hydraulic fluid had leaked onto the exhaust pipes, causing the smoke. The contact was informed that several support welds had fractured and caused the hydraulic fluid lines to fail and leak hydraulic fluid. Additionally, the mechanic informed the contact that several support welds located at the rear of the RV had sheared off, causing the body of the RV to lower. The RV was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 29,000.

I recently purchased a used Jayco Precept 31 UL motorhome that is on a Ford F53 chassis. After the purchase I found that the vehicle handled very dangerously when being passed by a large trucks, or when there were crosswinds or medium strength winds. The problem was bad enough the I narrowly avoided accidents caused by being pushed around by passing 18 wheel trucks or crosswinds, or both. After doing some research on this vehicle, and others on the Ford F53 chassis I found that these handling issues are the number one problem with these units. I subsequently had to invest over $6K to correct these handling problems as they were the result of the ineffective stock suspension configuration from the factory. I had to install a steering stabilizer (Safe-T-Plus), a rear track bar (SuperSteer), front radius rods (SuperSteer), new special damping shocks (Koni FSD shocks) and an adjustable drag link (unsure of the manufacturer). All these modifications collectively changed the handling of the RV from a huge safety hazard to a well heeled and safe handling vehicle. These changes should have been included as standard safety equipment directly from the factory. It is incomprehensible to me that a vehicle of this size should be allowed to be leave the factory and be on the road with such dangerous handling issues. If you do the research you will find many owners of these units who struggle with the same issues and who have had many near misses or accidents on the road as a result. Recreation Vehicles built on the Ford F53 chassis need to be highly regulated and inspected to ensure that they leave the factory with the safest configuration of suspension, chassis and steering equipment available. These vehicles should all be placed under a recall to have the manufacturer(s) install, at their expense, the handling modification I outlined above.

I recently purchased a used Jayco Precept 31 UL motorhome that is on a Ford F53 chassis. After the purchase I found that the vehicle handled very dangerously when being passed by a large trucks, or when there were crosswinds or medium strength winds. The problem was bad enough the I narrowly avoided accidents caused by being pushed around by passing 18 wheel trucks or crosswinds, or both. After doing some research on this vehicle, and others on the Ford F53 chassis I found that these handling issues are the number one problem with these units. I subsequently had to invest over $6K to correct these handling problems as they were the result of the ineffective stock suspension configuration from the factory. I had to install a steering stabilizer (Safe-T-Plus), a rear track bar (SuperSteer), front radius rods (SuperSteer), new special damping shocks (Koni FSD shocks) and an adjustable drag link (unsure of the manufacturer). All these modifications collectively changed the handling of the RV from a huge safety hazard to a well heeled and safe handling vehicle. These changes should have been included as standard safety equipment directly from the factory. It is incomprehensible to me that a vehicle of this size should be allowed to be leave the factory and be on the road with such dangerous handling issues. If you do the research you will find many owners of these units who struggle with the same issues and who have had many near misses or accidents on the road as a result. Recreation Vehicles built on the Ford F53 chassis need to be highly regulated and inspected to ensure that they leave the factory with the safest configuration of suspension, chassis and steering equipment available. These vehicles should all be placed under a recall to have the manufacturer(s) install, at their expense, the handling modification I outlined above.