Tishomingo to Tiffin

Who forgot to turn the heat on?  Dang it's way too cold here.  Woke up to frost on the car windows and steam lifting off the lake.

Even all the geese were honking and complaining.

It sure was a cold and brisk morning for a walk around the park with the girls.

We were soon piling into the truck for the 9:30 tour of Tiffin Motors in Red Bay, Alabama.



Got to Red Bay a little early and went into McD's for breakfast, Bill's treat.















First on the tour was the Cabinet and Lumber Shop.  Most of the wood used is oak and alder.  They make all their own trim, cabinets, etc.

Phaeton and Allegro Bus trim for the ceiling.

 Television and fireplace cabinet.


Next building was the Chassis Shop

 For me and my limited mechanical (nil) knowledge and interest, the only thing I found interesting was the wheels.  I learned that the tag axel only has two wheels...not four, so no inside wheel.  You may all know that and I feel real proud that I know what a tag axel is....so there.

This is a gas chassis.

 I also found the slide mechanism interesting.






We moved on to the assembly area.  I didn't have a strong understanding of which way the rigs were moving, except to the sequential stations.  How they maneuvered them around was unclear.

Inside this building at station 1 it was incredibly loud.

This machine is cutting patterns for all the styrene insulation on the floors and roofs.








Below is the floor of a 42 Phaeton.



This is a roof with the same styrene insulation cut for a specific rig and layout.

The exterior wall of the rig are also cut by the laser for precision fitting.  Large openings are obviously slides openings.

 Here's a bedroom slide being installed.

Another bedroom slide with the bed platform and headboard.

A kitchen cabinet and counter components being set into a slide.

A living room with fireplace and dinette cabinet installed in a slide.

They say this is the only time you'd see the back part of a front end cap.

 An entire wiring system with pull outs being prepared in one length.

Depending on the length of a rig the wiring is between 2 and 3 miles in length.  When the rig has completed the assembly shop it is driven out of the building with a gray body color as seen below.  It is then sent to Belmont, MS, about 7 miles down the road in another state.

Our one hour tour took two hours.  It was very informative.  We were encouraged to go to Belmont, which was on our way back to the park.  Belmont is where all the beautiful colors and details get put on the outside.




There wasn't a tour for the paint shop.  You asked to go see, they give you a map and a visitor's badge, protective glasses and ear plugs and tell you to have fun.  Wow, so basically if the door isn't locked, have at it...go see.  Enjoy.

And we did.  We roamed all over this shop.  Couldn't believe no one cared where we went or saw.  It was a lot of fun.


First stop, taping for the primary color.

This rig will have some white in the body.  It seems they cover and tape where the paint won't go.  It's hard to figure out which comes first but the rigs do go through a sequential series of paint barns.












There are up to 10 barns a rig can go through.  It depends on the complexity of the paint design.

 Lots of taping and prepping for the paint barns.

Getting that pretty shine coat.

Look what I found.  The paint store.

Buffing out the second trip through the gloss barn.

There are hundreds of rigs, all models, all sizes, parked around the buildings.  All were open and in various phases of completion.  When the paint goes on the interior is done.  There is a final, final stage where after inspection if any flaw is found in the paint it goes into another barn for repairs.

There is always something that needs tweeking.  We went into many that had "fix this" lists.  Everything from the bedroom slide has no power to the television won't come on.

We came across the Tiffin Repair Lot just up the road from the factory.  There are 92 sites with full hookups and and dozens of bays for repairs.  People can bring their rigs in for repairs.  A lot of the repairs being done are under warranty but the time involved waiting must be rough.  There are dozens and dozens of rigs waiting for repairs.  During the tour today the guide told everyone if their rig was a 2003 to 2010 that Tiffin was replacing the support floors under the tanks for black, grey and fresh water.  Amazing.  What other manufacturer warranties their motorhomes like this?

We were worn out so we headed back.  When we returned to Tishomingo we drove down to the cabin area.  It was an area I'd not seen yet and it was beautiful.

Just down from our sites is this cute Pioneer Cabin.

A rental cabin.  I've never know a State Park that rents cabins.

A Swing Bridge.  Five people maximum.  No swinging the bridge.

This bridge was a great find.  Except for the guys jumping up and down on it.  I'm glad we made it back in one piece.

Arrive back home and immediately built a fire and sat around until we got too cold.  Again had dinner around the fire and talked about Tiffin Motors.  A fun evening.  Tomorrow we're off for Tupelo to visit Elvis' hometown.

Thanks for visiting...come back soon.