full timer rigs?

The Mad Norsky wrote:

Atom Ant wrote:

bigmichael wrote:
I do agree with those who say you can FT in anything. We have been FTing 6 years, and have found FTers in many different kind of set ups. There will be differences in comfort and how well things hold up over the years, but people make it work for them.

But I think its at least wise to consider all of your options, and not underestimate the difference FTing can make in wear on your rig. Anyone who thinks there is not a MAJOR difference in wear and tear when you live in a rig 24/7 vs vacationing, weekending, or even snowbirding, is fooling themselves. And as the OP mentioned, they are considering moving a lot. Again, this is significantly different in use than even a FTer who sits still 5 or 6 months in the south in the winter and 5 or 6 months summering in the north.

Delightful read - but all nonsense

:h

What pray tell is nonsense about this??????? I'd consider this to be an excellent point.

Mind you, I have no idea about the rest of the quoted statement, as I have never read the RV consumer groups literature.

To imagine or suppose that there is no difference in wear on a unit, no matter how it is used, is indeed false.

It was the rest of the quote that was the nonsense. It was a theory at best as to what criteria RVCG uses, which does not align with the fact they listed blackwood in the full time list and not some of the others. RVCG is just outdated and poorly managed, making their conclusions irresponsible to the customer that pays for that junk. This is not my first issue with them.

Atom Ant wrote:

bigmichael wrote:
I do agree with those who say you can FT in anything. We have been FTing 6 years, and have found FTers in many different kind of set ups. There will be differences in comfort and how well things hold up over the years, but people make it work for them.

But I think its at least wise to consider all of your options, and not underestimate the difference FTing can make in wear on your rig. Anyone who thinks there is not a MAJOR difference in wear and tear when you live in a rig 24/7 vs vacationing, weekending, or even snowbirding, is fooling themselves. And as the OP mentioned, they are considering moving a lot. Again, this is significantly different in use than even a FTer who sits still 5 or 6 months in the south in the winter and 5 or 6 months summering in the north.

Delightful read - but all nonsense

:h

What pray tell is nonsense about this??????? I'd consider this to be an excellent point.

Mind you, I have no idea about the rest of the quoted statement, as I have never read the RV consumer groups literature.

To imagine or suppose that there is no difference in wear on a unit, no matter how it is used, is indeed false.

bigmichael wrote:
I think there is a bit of confusion on this thread regarding RV consumer groups rating of FT rigs vs manufacturers that don't void the warranty if FTing. The people who are disputing the RV consumer group rating seem to be doing so based on the fact their warranty allows FT use, or the manufacturer claims 4 season use.

If I understand correctly, RVCG does not do their ratings based on the warranty. They do them based on the rig specs. Thus they assign a "weekend" or "vacation" rating to some, a "snowbird" rating to others, and a "full-time" rating to a few. They explain all of the items that go into their rating, things like frame, axels, other chassis components, actual insulation and where, solid wood cabinetry vs vinyl wrap, sidewall structure and build design, use of particle board, residential carpeting and pad etc. etc.

The RVCG material is expensive, so if one doesn't want to purchase it, it can be found in many or most libraries. Its good as another tool.

I do agree with those who say you can FT in anything. We have been FTing 6 years, and have found FTers in many different kind of set ups. There will be differences in comfort and how well things hold up over the years, but people make it work for them.

But I think its at least wise to consider all of your options, and not underestimate the difference FTing can make in wear on your rig. Anyone who thinks there is not a MAJOR difference in wear and tear when you live in a rig 24/7 vs vacationing, weekending, or even snowbirding, is fooling themselves. And as the OP mentioned, they are considering moving a lot. Again, this is significantly different in use than even a FTer who sits still 5 or 6 months in the south in the winter and 5 or 6 months summering in the north.

kakampers wrote:
If that was the case how did the Blackwood make their list?? .

X2

Delightful read - but all nonsense

duplicate

We just purchased a new 2013 Landmark San Antonio in March. After months and months of research, we chose Landmark. We had a Cameo Carriage, and finding a suitable newer model was almost impossible. The dealers and private sellers were keeping the prices too high. Since Lifestyle is a re-invented Carriage, they were priced higher than our budget for the options we wanted. We couldn't get a DRV down in price with the options within 15K of the Landmark. The same with the Redwood. We purchased our Landmark with all the options including the double pane windows, fulltimers package, yetti package, and more and 2/5 year warranty. If you put these options of any of the others, their price would be even higher. Yes, some options on the Landmark are standard on some of the others, but not many. So add it up and the better option IMO is the Landmark.

There is a fulltimer in the park with a New Horizon. It's a beautiful unit with 4 huge slides, Whirlpool fridge, Whirlpool separates W/D, and a 60" TV in the back. I think their are 3 or 4 tv's in this thing, but here is the kicker, he is towing it with a Volvo. Hmmmm! Don't think I want to go that way. Unit yes, truck no. Small Freightliner maybe.

We are fulltimers now for 15 months with plans for quite a few more years, and my main concern was build and customer service. If you go on the DRV owners forum, Redwood forum, and the Heartland forum, look and see who is most satisfied. We picked up our unit in Colorado Springs, and are now in Kenai, Alaska. Talk about rough roads on the Alcan near Destruction Bay, but the Landmark came through with minor problems. Called Heartland and ever item was Fedex'd within days. If you read the Heartland Owners forum, you'll see the DIY Mod section, and guys have come up with some very inventive mods to their rigs. You will see the Heartland company rep come on and comment, and they even in-cooperate some of those mods into their units. So take a look a deeper look than just frames and options, look closely at customer service. Good luck

with all this GREAT information from this forum and the research i have been doing for the past 6 months, i'm gonna stick with the rv consumer group ratings for full timing as we will be on the go A LOT, not staying for more than a month at one place. i heard that travelling with the fiver is like a mini-earthquake each time (lol), so i want to get it right regarding the building of it. can't afford the 100k+ new, so used it is and i know we will be happy being able to get all the bells and whistles we want without breaking our retirement fund. afterall, our 2 vehicles are used...we haven't bought new in sometime, and the layton we had back in the 80's was used and we were happy then when we were weekenders. i enjoyed reading the post about the rv consumer group and the manuf ratings...makes sense to me. since i purchased the rv consumer group ratings online if anyone wants to know a rating, give me a shout. thanks ya'll.

Double post...

If that was the case how did the Blackwood make their list?? .

I think there is a bit of confusion on this thread regarding RV consumer groups rating of FT rigs vs manufacturers that don't void the warranty if FTing. The people who are disputing the RV consumer group rating seem to be doing so based on the fact their warranty allows FT use, or the manufacturer claims 4 season use.

If I understand correctly, RVCG does not do their ratings based on the warranty. They do them based on the rig specs. Thus they assign a "weekend" or "vacation" rating to some, a "snowbird" rating to others, and a "full-time" rating to a few. They explain all of the items that go into their rating, things like frame, axels, other chassis components, actual insulation and where, solid wood cabinetry vs vinyl wrap, sidewall structure and build design, use of particle board, residential carpeting and pad etc. etc.

The RVCG material is expensive, so if one doesn't want to purchase it, it can be found in many or most libraries. Its good as another tool.

I do agree with those who say you can FT in anything. We have been FTing 6 years, and have found FTers in many different kind of set ups. There will be differences in comfort and how well things hold up over the years, but people make it work for them.

But I think its at least wise to consider all of your options, and not underestimate the difference FTing can make in wear on your rig. Anyone who thinks there is not a MAJOR difference in wear and tear when you live in a rig 24/7 vs vacationing, weekending, or even snowbirding, is fooling themselves. And as the OP mentioned, they are considering moving a lot. Again, this is significantly different in use than even a FTer who sits still 5 or 6 months in the south in the winter and 5 or 6 months summering in the north.

We looked at dozens of RVs, and there isn't a spit worth of difference in the full size 5th wheels with the 12" Lippert Frame and 6 point leveling. The are identical on the Landmark, Bighorn, Montana, Sanibel, Redwood, Avalanche,.....etc. If there were engineering specs used, they copied each other. Even the gussets over the spring hangers are the same.

DRV does us 15" I beam, but it is a heavy dude. Given the additional weight, it's probably no bigger advantage than my 12" when it comes to weight to frame height ratio (which is exactly how they are engineered).

If you are looking at any with Lippert frames, whether it is warranted for full time or not doesn't seem to have anything to do with the design of the frame.