mileshuff wrote:
The Texan wrote:
Believe me, unless you have been to Australia and traveled some of their roads, you can not begin to understand what Robert is talking about. Americans think 15 miles off the pavement is a LONG ways....Aussies think nothing of traversing 1500 Kilometers of dirt and muck, which are in much worse condition than our forest service haul roads, and that is where American made equipment fails....
My point is that there are more pave roads in the USA, not fewer dirt roads. In the USA you aren't forced to take dirt roads to get anywhere as you are in AUS. However, if you wish to traverse dirt roads in the USA they are plentiful, especially the western states. In my younger years I rarely stayed on the pavement when RV'ing. If you haven't RV'd in the back country of AZ, NM, CO, UT, NV, WY, ID then you don't know what you're missing!! Incredible locations if you are willing to travel down 100's of miles of dirt roads. Much of which only accessible with a small 4x4 capable trailer.
I think the issue isn't if USA trailers aren't good quality. It is where the money is put based on demands of people buying them. If a trailer is used 100% on pavement then little need to put money on making it handle dirt roads. Same concept where a typical car is still good quality even though it isn't 4x4 and would fall apart driving on dirt roads.
Biggest issue we're having is that many of our "paved" roads are starting to resemble "roads" in the outback and our FW's simply are getting pounded to death. A small bump at 60 can do a hell of a lot more damage than a large bump at 20. I believe that there =is= a market for "off-road" RVs here, but nobody's building them, or even offering "heavy duty" options. I think if an RV company here in the U.S. offered an option package of heavier axles, bigger wheels/tires, beefier suspension and extra frame bracing/heavier duty frame, they'd be absolutely inundated with orders wanting that package. I know when we bought our Komfort in '04, they had a dedicated "off road" 19' travel trailer. Extra ground clearance, BFG All Terrain TA tires (overkill, IMO), outside kitchen, diamond plate all around the lower 1/3 of the box, and other "rough country" items.
Lyle
