Lifestyle Fifth Wheel/ Steel Frame

anaroll123 wrote:
Any comments or knowledge would be appreciated! We are buying our first fifth wheel. We are full timing 5 to 8 years. Putting on approx. 7 thousand travel miles each year touring the country and the rest we will be parked. Using a one tone desiel to pull. My question is this. In searching for our rig, we have looked at Forest River Cedar Creek, Keystone Alpine, and yesterday we found a new breed called the Lifestyle. Lifestyle bought Carriage. I toured the manufacturing plant and they showed me that it is built on a SOLID steel frame and showed me how the other fifth wheels are built. How can it be that this is the only steel frame out there. We are talking head to toe steel frame. The man of course selling his product was quit biase however he made great points on the construction and durablity. The weight actually is not an issue either. So how is it that so many other companies can get buy with less? The man explained to me, if i am going full time for that long i need this base structure, Help, now i am really confused. thanks

I would take the time and do some more research. Take a few more plant tours, look at what some of these Mfg's you mentioned use and how they build their RV. Of course they're all going to be biased towards their product but the thing is look at how they're being built. Do the various Mfg's meet YOUR expectations? Asking questions on here is a great start but you really need to see for yourself.

I was pretty impressed with the tour we took a few years ago at the Montana plant, we already had a Montana but I just wanted to see how they went together. Early this spring my wife and I took a tour at the DRV plant, that was an eye opener. I can tell you from my our observation the build between the two wasn't even close, of course neither was the price! But I'm learning "you get what you pay for".

IMHO the best advice would be to go to several campgrounds/RV resorts and ask owners (face to face) what they like about their units and what they DON"T like about their units, you should be able to make an assessment after that sort of research.

Good luck and don't be in a rush, this purchase will be one of the your biggest , do it right the first time.

Dan

kennethwooster wrote:
I have a 2011 Cameo, and my next unit will be the Lifestyle. NO doubt there, as I have had to trailers with Lippert frame. Both were 38.5 ft long, and both had a ton of problems. 1st one looked like 1st Ag. students when they were learning to weld. Rusty and just junky. Next one had several problems that were just poor frame design. Finally had to fix it on my own design. We have been looking at Lifestyle, and plan to buy around 38'. We bought the truck this year, and maybe next year the trailer. Could be our last purchase. Do no buy Lippert frames.

So your 38.5' RV's were DRV's?

Nothing is perfect but there are really no DRV's that have had problems to speak of.

Lippert builds to what the MFG wants. Most want light and cheap!

DRV's tripple stacked frame is he!! for stout.

I have a 2011 Cameo, and my next unit will be the Lifestyle. NO doubt there, as I have had to trailers with Lippert frame. Both were 38.5 ft long, and both had a ton of problems. 1st one looked like 1st Ag. students when they were learning to weld. Rusty and just junky. Next one had several problems that were just poor frame design. Finally had to fix it on my own design. We have been looking at Lifestyle, and plan to buy around 38'. We bought the truck this year, and maybe next year the trailer. Could be our last purchase. Do no buy Lippert frames.

hook47, I did not include the 3" high sub frame that MS adds in areas. If you look closely at the diagrams, the 3" is not over the full length. Mobil and Elite use this frame construction. Th Tradition is built to a lower price point.

Lifestyle uses a similar construction for the frame with a stacked frame construction.

I wish DRV would find another frame supplier. From the QC at Lippert, they can still take a well designed frame and due to poor QC build a poor product. I looked at one 2015 Mobil Suited recently and saw some really poor welding.

Ken

hook47 wrote:
TXiceman, not sure where you got your information on DRV products but if you go to their website you will find that they use a triple boxed 15” frame on the MS and ES. My 38’11” MS has a GVWR of 18.5K, the same as the LS39FB 42’11” which has a 18.5K GVWR. I questioned DRV about my GVWR because similar sized Elite Suites were rated at 20K and their answer was it was a matter of paper work and my Mobile Suites is built on the same frame/running gear and I can go to the 20K rating. I don’t care who makes the frames, in house or Lippert. The important thing is if the frame is spec’d appropriately to do the job. Can’t recall reading about frame problems on DRV products. DRV

You have not read everything because some have had problems but I have not read any lately. Not every rv problem is on rv.net.

chevman

anaroll123 wrote:
So how is it that so many other companies can get buy (sic) with less?

Cost.

C Schomer wrote:
FWIW, Lifestyle would be high on my list cuz I liked the construction of the Carriages and I think Lifestyle is similar. I think the boxed frames are the best. Mine is 16" triple stacked and it's the most ridged of any RV I've had. Craig

Your SunnyBrook has a 16" triple staked frame?

C Schomer wrote:
FWIW, Lifestyle would be high on my list cuz I liked the construction of the Carriages and I think Lifestyle is similar. I think the boxed frames are the best. Mine is 16" triple stacked and it's the most ridged of any RV I've had. Craig

Your SunnyBrook has a 16" triple staked frame?

TXiceman, not sure where you got your information on DRV products but if you go to their website you will find that they use a triple boxed 15” frame on the MS and ES. My 38’11” MS has a GVWR of 18.5K, the same as the LS39FB 42’11” which has a 18.5K GVWR. I questioned DRV about my GVWR because similar sized Elite Suites were rated at 20K and their answer was it was a matter of paper work and my Mobile Suites is built on the same frame/running gear and I can go to the 20K rating. I don’t care who makes the frames, in house or Lippert. The important thing is if the frame is spec’d appropriately to do the job. Can’t recall reading about frame problems on DRV products. DRV

Lifestyle is owned by Evergreen and they hired the old Cameo people to build them. The use a stacked 2 x 6" rectangular box frame where the other folks use a cheap and thin C channel section that is 10" or 12" high at the most. DRV (Mobile and Elite Suites uses a similar construction.

All manufacturers use a steel frame base. From there they will use either wood or aluminum for the walls, floor and roof.

I would not put Redwood or Bighorn, Landmark in the same classification as a Lifestyle. Most of the others use a Lippert frame and there has been issues with welding and cracks.

Our HitchHiker Champagne has a 14" channel frame that was built by Youngs welding and it is powder coated.

Check out Kansas RV Center. It is the old NuWa plant that was reopened as a sales and repair center. HitchHiker is having their trailer built by Excel and sold under the HitcHiker name. They treat the customer very well and they also sell Lifestyle and DRV.

The DRV Tradition is a series built to compete with Redwood, Landmatk, Big Horn, Cardinal and Cedar Creek. It has a channel frame.

Ken