Forum Discussion

MN_Ben's avatar
MN_Ben
Explorer
Feb 15, 2017

Mfg order of quality

My wife and I recently went to the Minneapolis Convention Center to see the 2017 MSP RV and Camping Show. I was specifically interested in looking at 5th wheel rigs. One day I see ourselves moving from a truck camper to a 5th wheel to spend winters somewhere warm and away from the great state of MN.
We saw a few, but I did not recognise some of the manufacturers, except for Jayco. For some reason I had a bad taste in my mouth when it came to Jayco campers. Maybe it is because I saw a lower price line of one of their campers years ago and it stuck with me.
I looked at their 2017 36 FBTS Pinnacle and was quite impressed. For me it was the interior craftsmanship. The representative was also in their bragging up their 2 year warranty and strongest in the industry sub-structure as well as the strongest roof on the market.
So this put me in my place of not knowing a thing about which manufacturer has the best quality rig out there.
Do they all use the top of the line welded aluminum skeleton? Do they all use the best roof membrane? If so, does it all come down to the interior craftsmanship of residential equivalent doors, knobs, appliances, and the like?
I am probably going to start a brand war, but could some of you educate my on which manufactures, maybe year 2012 and later, puts out the the most quality rig in the industry?
Ben
  • topjimmy's avatar
    topjimmy
    Explorer
    Feb 15, 2017
    Pick a floor plan you like and a good dealer and go with it as they are all pretty much the same in Quality with the exception of New Horizons,DRV and the other high end 5er's
  • FLY_4_FUN's avatar
    FLY_4_FUN
    Explorer
    Feb 15, 2017
    I think the "best" rig for somebody is so subjective. The best rig in the world will never be on my driveway if the floorplan doesn't meet my needs.

    With that in mind, set a budget, know what your gonna tow with....and be honest about what you see when touring different rigs. Theres some awesome entry level rigs and some awesome high end stuff and many of each that just plain SUCK!!! In all my years on here just about every MFG and rig has been trashed publically at some point so just understand it can happen.

    As to Jayco I had 2, and would have bought one again if they had a plan I liked. Maybe some day I will buy one again in their Pinnacle line or whatever comes next. Good luck in your search.

    Daryll
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Feb 15, 2017
    Second Chance wrote:
    ScottG wrote:
    WolfFox wrote:
    I'm not going to say anything negative about other brands. We've been looking at 5th wheels since 2004. We retired in 2011, and purchased a motor home from a friend, because it was a deal we couldn't pass up. After looking at every brand out there , some not even made any more we finally made our decision last November and ordered a Grand Design, Solitude 5th wheel with the Residential and Weather Tek Package. For the Money, Quality and probably the best Customer Service in the industry Grand Designs products are hard to beat. There are other good manufactures out there. I would suggest, you look, research, ask those that own the product, Google "Brand Name" "Reviews". There are some manufactures out there that truly have some horrible track records, with obviously no quality control and the owners have told some real horror stories. On our POI with our Solitude we didn't have one issue. The are really solid built units.


    If I were going to buy a new trailer today, it would be a GD. I think they are about the best out there right now.


    We've been full-time in our Grand Design Reflection since August, 2015, and really like it. I'm not a Lippert "fan boy" (chassis, suspension and other components), but GD does have tremendous customer service - and you'll find Lippert components underneath 85% of everything made these days. In terms of quality, though, none of the mid-range brands are in the same category as the high-end "residential" units such as DRV Mobile Suites, New Horizons, and others. But then again - you get what you pay for...

    Rob


    When we were at the Settle RV show, they had an "engineer" there so I asked him a few questions..
    I asked him if there was luan behind the outside fiberglass and he said no "It's just a thick layer of fiberglass". According the brochure I found on-line, that isn't true.
    I also asked him about the frame and specifically whether it was made by Lippert. He said it was not. He didn't seem to really know what I was talking about.
    So it is made by Lippert? (which isn't a deal killer).
  • Second_Chance's avatar
    Second_Chance
    Explorer II
    Feb 15, 2017
    ScottG wrote:
    WolfFox wrote:
    I'm not going to say anything negative about other brands. We've been looking at 5th wheels since 2004. We retired in 2011, and purchased a motor home from a friend, because it was a deal we couldn't pass up. After looking at every brand out there , some not even made any more we finally made our decision last November and ordered a Grand Design, Solitude 5th wheel with the Residential and Weather Tek Package. For the Money, Quality and probably the best Customer Service in the industry Grand Designs products are hard to beat. There are other good manufactures out there. I would suggest, you look, research, ask those that own the product, Google "Brand Name" "Reviews". There are some manufactures out there that truly have some horrible track records, with obviously no quality control and the owners have told some real horror stories. On our POI with our Solitude we didn't have one issue. The are really solid built units.


    If I were going to buy a new trailer today, it would be a GD. I think they are about the best out there right now.


    We've been full-time in our Grand Design Reflection since August, 2015, and really like it. I'm not a Lippert "fan boy" (chassis, suspension and other components), but GD does have tremendous customer service - and you'll find Lippert components underneath 85% of everything made these days. In terms of quality, though, none of the mid-range brands are in the same category as the high-end "residential" units such as DRV Mobile Suites, New Horizons, and others. But then again - you get what you pay for...

    Rob
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Feb 15, 2017
    WolfFox wrote:
    I'm not going to say anything negative about other brands. We've been looking at 5th wheels since 2004. We retired in 2011, and purchased a motor home from a friend, because it was a deal we couldn't pass up. After looking at every brand out there , some not even made any more we finally made our decision last November and ordered a Grand Design, Solitude 5th wheel with the Residential and Weather Tek Package. For the Money, Quality and probably the best Customer Service in the industry Grand Designs products are hard to beat. There are other good manufactures out there. I would suggest, you look, research, ask those that own the product, Google "Brand Name" "Reviews". There are some manufactures out there that truly have some horrible track records, with obviously no quality control and the owners have told some real horror stories. On our POI with our Solitude we didn't have one issue. The are really solid built units.


    If I were going to buy a new trailer today, it would be a GD. I think they are about the best out there right now.
  • WolfFox's avatar
    WolfFox
    Explorer
    Feb 15, 2017
    I'm not going to say anything negative about other brands. We've been looking at 5th wheels since 2004. We retired in 2011, and purchased a motor home from a friend, because it was a deal we couldn't pass up. After looking at every brand out there , some not even made any more we finally made our decision last November and ordered a Grand Design, Solitude 5th wheel with the Residential and Weather Tek Package. For the Money, Quality and probably the best Customer Service in the industry Grand Designs products are hard to beat. There are other good manufactures out there. I would suggest, you look, research, ask those that own the product, Google "Brand Name" "Reviews". There are some manufactures out there that truly have some horrible track records, with obviously no quality control and the owners have told some real horror stories. On our POI with our Solitude we didn't have one issue. The are really solid built units.
  • blofgren's avatar
    blofgren
    Explorer
    Feb 15, 2017
    The Pinnacle is a very nice unit. We were very close to pulling the trigger on one a couple of years ago and probably would have if we hadn't found the used unit in my signature in very good shape. The Pinnacle would still be on my short list today if I was still looking as would be the Grand Design units.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Feb 15, 2017
    I'll probably get flamed for this but I know what you mean about Jayco. In previous RV shows they're units were of dismal quality. They couldn't even get the steps lined up under the doors. There were many other issues we found when looking at them too. They were clearly bottom of the line.
    Fast forward to last weekend at the Seattle RV show where I was pleased to see that not only has Jayco improved tremendously, all brands seem to be doing a better job.
    We were very happy to see some change finally coming to the industry.

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