Looking for information

Agree, I'm working my way up!
I have seen a lot on cabinet quality on the boards.
These forums are extremely helpful and appreciate everyone's feedback

You are concentrating on frame and suspension, but to me the interior cabinet work is just as important also. Like how many screws are there in the slides to the drawers, how the back side of the drawer slides are supported, the quality of the wood used, the quality of the fit and finish etc. Just one mans thoughts.

Butch50 wrote:
When NUWA was still in operation I believe a lot of their frames were made by Young's Welding. Very good frames. Young's Welding just happens to be located in Chanute, KS. Pretty handy for NUWA.

If it's painted "WHITE" it's a Young's frame. NUWA did have some Lippert I believe in their lower cost units.

I'm very confident in the integrity of my 2014 Lifestyle frame. My Big Foot jack controls are on the street side. One day as I was lowering the front landing gear I did so without realizing that only the left was working. I lifted the rig off the hitch before realizing it. I was surprised tat I never heard a creak or pop from the frame or saw any thing out of the ordinary.

When NUWA was still in operation I believe a lot of their frames were made by Young's Welding. Very good frames. Young's Welding just happens to be located in Chanute, KS. Pretty handy for NUWA.

Most people equate size of the main beam as a determining factor in strength. While this may be true to an extent the biggest limiting factor in todays frames is the substandard quality of the steel. Most lippert frames are Chinese steel. The welds early on were terrible but I have seen to many(not just Rv's but other Lippert frames) tear because of the putrid forging process that is so full of impurities that it tends to act like Iron. It rusts from with in. I have a Newmar with a beam frame. I have cattle trailers, horse trailers, flat bed gooseneck trailers and heavy equipment haulers that all have beam frames. Not a single one has ever failed. They all have U.S.A grade A steel with beam cross members unlike the cheap ladder cross members of most RV frames of today. My Alpenlite had a C-Channel with box underneath that never failed. All the custom RV rigs have beam frames. Box frames do not make it better. None of my Semi trailers have box frames, etc. I just got a Northwood Arctic Fox because they make the frame. It is not Chinese steel. Looking used you can look at Space Craft, New Horizon, Forks, Alpenlite, NUWA, Teton, Citation, Travel Supreme, Newmar, older Sunnybrooks, Alfa, Automate, Excel, Carriage, Lifestyle to name a few. They all made there own frames or had someone down the road make it for them. As far as an engeneering standpoint and grade of steel I think the Lifestyle frames were the best other than the customs. Very stout and well designed. Actual improvements over Carriage. Good luck.

Askwines323 wrote:

4x4ord wrote:
One of the top quality rv manufacturers is Continental coach. They use a combination of tubing and I beams. Their total frame depth ranges from 18 to 22 inches deep. As posted earlier DRV uses stacked tubing for a total of 15" depth. Augusta RV uses a 12" I beam with a 2x2 tubing tuning underneath. My Citation has an 18" deep C channel frame with 2x3 tubing welded underneath where the axles attach. My brother in law has a Phoenix 5th wheel which uses a 10" I beam frame as do some Cedar Creek 5th wheels. Are you purchasing a new or used 5th wheel?

Not sure about new and used. Lots of variables. Going for build and floor plan. Then price. Understand the value of buying used and immediate depreciation of new.

I think looking at the frame construction is a pretty good indication of quality. It is probably directly proportional to both price and weight of the trailer. I think the RV's with 12" I beams such as Red Wood are of a medium quality. DRV and maybe Luxe could be a step up. The custom high quality units such as Continental Coach and Space Craft are extremely heavy and expensive.

4x4ord wrote:
One of the top quality rv manufacturers is Continental coach. They use a combination of tubing and I beams. Their total frame depth ranges from 18 to 22 inches deep. As posted earlier DRV uses stacked tubing for a total of 15" depth. Augusta RV uses a 12" I beam with a 2x2 tubing tuning underneath. My Citation has an 18" deep C channel frame with 2x3 tubing welded underneath where the axles attach. My brother in law has a Phoenix 5th wheel which uses a 10" I beam frame as do some Cedar Creek 5th wheels. Are you purchasing a new or used 5th wheel?

Not sure about new and used. Lots of variables. Going for build and floor plan. Then price. Understand the value of buying used and immediate depreciation of new.

Rob_Fla wrote:
DRV Frames are well built and strong, they are also built by Lippert Industries.
Just shows if the RV Company specs a good, strong frame and demands quality, Lippert can build it !!!

People blame Lippert for poor quality frames. It's the RV Manufactures that are demanding "LIGHT" frames. So ya can't just blame Lippert.

DRV specifies what they want and there have been very few problems.

Rob_Fla wrote:
DRV Frames are well built and strong, they are also built by Lippert Industries.
Just shows if the RV Company specs a good, strong frame and demands quality, Lippert can build it !!!

Sure, they can =build= it, but what's the build quality? THAT has been one of the main issues with LCI frames over the years, from what I've seen and read. It's easy to make very pretty welds, but if there's little to no penetration, it's not even as strong as super glue. There've been plenty of pics posted here like that, where an entire 4" long weld broke free along one edge. On top of that, you'd think that LCI would be smart enough to CYA by reviewing specs that they're sent to be sure that what the mfr wants will actually work for the application. They don't seem to do much of that, either. I know that if I'd had the funds, I'd've kept the old Zieman frame under my now sold Komfort and built a whole new coach on top of it. One heavy SOB and =solid=!

Lyle