What 5 R's are Aluminum Framed

Gulfstream Canyon Trail (which we have) and their identical Sedona are aluminum framed.

Primetime Crusader and Sanibel are aluminum framing.

Our Jayco Eagle is aluminum framed

Sunnybrook has alum. framing and the entire units are very strong. Nobody has a stronger frame and that keeps the rest of the rv from flexing to pieces. Even our 2000 25'er had a 12" boxed frame. Our 98 31'er had 14" and our 08 31'8" has 16". Quality went down their last few years (about 2010 and later but our 08 is great. We had to go up to this nearly 32'er to get all the creature comforts we wanted. Big corner shower, bed slide, two recliners, more storage and huge basement. We also love the rear kitchen and the Morryde makes it ride awesome. We paid $25k from a friend who took great care of it and he added a bunch mfgr options and his own. Good stereo, speakers, solar, 2 - 6 volt, fantastic fans in all the vents, power monitor and on and on... Good luck! Craig

Personally I am not be bothered by an aluminum framed wall, I just wish they could come up with something besides aluminum windows. They are the worst offender of heat/cold transfer.

More to ponder on wood or metal framed sidewalls. This is a paste and copy from nuwaowners.org (HH II) website a few years back;
NUWA
Why doesn't NuWa use an all aluminum structure like popular Indiana manufacturers?

NuWa made the decision to begin the use of aluminum structure based on marketing and the fact that many people were concluding that an "aluminum caged" product was superior in construction technology, weight and strength. Our 40+ years of experience as a leader in 5th wheel design suggests that may be "flawed" information. We have proven that wood construction need be no heavier or less strong than aluminum construction, that is built properly. We now build both materials, and are comfortable doing either, however our opinion is still that wood construction provides a superior product, and today we use both in the construction of our trailers. The strength of the NuWa trailer is actually created by the superior and light weight Blue Dow foam lamination concept.

NuWa uses an aluminum substructure in the sidewalls and ends of the coach only. No aluminum in the floors or attics, where metal promotes conduction of cold and moisture resulting in condensation.

90% of the walls are Blue Dow Structural Foam, rather than wood or aluminum. This creates a superior insulation and the only product with a guaranteed sidewall R Factor. (Water absorption in standard white foam reduces R Factor over time, and the use of Blue Dow Structural Foam eliminates this problem.)

NuWa's aluminum substructure sidewall is actually a "hybrid" wall, as we core fill the aluminum with wood in those areas where additional strength is required, because aluminum will not hold a screw. Not so with the lower priced brands. With NuWa's combined use of wood and aluminum substructure, you get a superior product because of NuWa's unique Blue Dow foam vacu-bond process, which makes the sidewalls virtually resistant to water penetration.

Thanks for all the replies. Wow. It will take me some time to digest it all. Reply to some of what the comments:

Budget: thinking used, $20K to maybe $30k.

Wood being a good building material: I agree, am a structural engineer and do most of my projects with wood. But living in the Northwest where it is known to rain occasionally (200 plus overcast or rainy days a year). Arctic Foxes had wood roof trusses.

Thinking of about 30 feet max, would love longer but want something that fits state park sites easier.

Wife an I will retire end of Jan or mid Feb 2015. will do a 10 to 15 day road trip in our Lance 950S camper. that probably will get the 5 VR hunt in high gear.

mine also.

Lillyputz

n7bsn wrote:
FYI
Its really about quality not materials. Many good rigs are built with Aluminum framing because it's easier to get consistent quality.
But some of the best, say like most (all?) New Horizon and Excel by Peterson are wood.

Don't walk away from an excellent rig simply because it's wood

New Horizons website says "full aluminum caged". I don't believe they've used wood for quite some time.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
All NUWA HitchHiker II models have aluminum studs but use wood rafters
:B

Not all. My HHII 2005 has wood studs. Not sure what year they switched to aluminum.