Who are the better 5th wheeler manufacturers?

I agree about Forest River (so far). We've had our Sabre for three months and are very happy with it. Sure we had some minor problems but they were taken care of buy our dealer with no problems. In fact the service manager at American RV actually went out to the lot and turned on our refrigerator so it would be cold for us when we picked it up for a weekend trip after a repair of a leak on a tire caused by a small screw I picked up somewhere (no charge).

Mik68 wrote:
Sorry, should of mentioned we are looking for a FW with triple bunks and preferably under 35ft.
All of the above already mentioned don't fall into this category, but thanks anyway for responses.
Have found some in the Forrest river range who seem to make a trillion different brands and Palomino. Can anyone comment on what these manufacturers are like?
JRS & B, For travel use in USA.

We have a Cedar Creek, built by Forest River. We really like the Cedar Creek; we had work done on our 5th wheel at the forest river factory, and the people there were great to work with. I couldn't recommend Forest River highly enough.

ken and sue

Several years ago I did an extensive comparison of different 5th wheels and narrowed the selection down to 5 or 6 manufacturers. All but two of those are now out of business, people couldn't afford to pay for the higher price of quality build. I narrowed my selection down to Northwood's Arctic Fox. We are on our 2nd AF, outgrew the first one and still happy with the value for the price. Northwood builds their own frames from "I" beam steel. We have traveled some extremely rough roads and temperature extremes and never had any problems...except the ones I caused myself..!

Mik68 wrote:


This is a good point actually. We had pretty much decided the warranty is worthless to us as we will be travelling around the country constantly with limited time. Certainly no time to wait around for warranty claims. We are hoping we can purchase an insurance of some type to cover breakdowns so we can get it repaired anywhere & hopefully quickly. Obviously depending on what, and I hope nothing major of course, needs repairing. If there is no such insurance? Then we could be potentually in for an expensive holiday I guess.
Which is why I need to find a manufacturer with a good reputation, and yes I know they all have there faults, especially if built on aMonday or Friday ;)
Maybe a used one of a couple of years could be a safe option? Most, if any problems have been sought end out?

With a used unit you would need to purchase an extended warranty, really it is just insurance and it doesn't need to be purchased thru the dealer. Advantage is that it can be used at any RV repair facility that will accept it rather than just dealers selling your specific brand. Also, independent RV repair facilities will be more responsive than mega dealers focused on putting new units on the road. Problem is finding a good, responsive policy issuer. Sometimes delays in getting approval for repairs and then getting payment to the repair shop is worse than the time needed to actually make the repairs.

FWIW, I've been fulltiming in a 2007 NuWa Hitchhiker for the past 6 years. There have been zero major issues during that time. It's been around the country several times (currently on cross country trip) and is holding up very well. The only negative in your case may be they don't have the specific floor plan you're interested in.

Our first 5th wheel was a 2001 Keystone Cougar 281ESF which had three bunks, which we purchased as a entry level RV.......we had years of enjoyable travels......quality issues that the local dealer could not make a lasting repair included a slide out that would fail to retract and major tire issues with the china bomb tires. We just bought a Northwood mfg'd Arctic Fox and looking forward to new features e.g. 4 point leveling, 5500 Onan gen, wireless back up camera.......excited to try it out.

Mike coming in to LA wehicles has more pollution gear and also FW and trailers sold ther has got different builds to what is sold on east coast. I don't know what sort off budget you are planing on and if you plan on bringing back to Australia after your holiday in USA. New can be purchased with som hefty discounts spesialy if it has sat at dealer for a while and new models hawe ariwed,30% and more is not unheard off. In regard to warranties the most important thing seems to by from a good dealer by recommendations for fat fix ups, but as you wil be traveling you are at the mercy of other dealers and the manufactures not so good. I am a Ausi with a FW back in Australia but currently liwing and working in Florida. If I can help any more you are welcom to contact me. By the way som Australians are weary negative as to quality with American builds FW.
Cheers Frank.

Mik68 see my PM regarding importing 5vers in Australia

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll throw this line out there & see if I can catch anything.
If any of you are thinking of selling your bunk house rig even With the tow vehicle around March next year, keep me in mind. Most likely arriving into LA.
Cheers again
P.S. what are you guys using over there? I've read many posts suggesting to re-caulk the external seems at least once a year. I haven't had to re-seal my 2003 Aussie TT once in the 10 years & we have a killer sun.

I have a Wildcat by FR. 312BHX. We love it. 3 bunks and a small dinette that makes the 4th bunk in the rear bunk room. 34 feet, 8,700 lbs dry. Tows great. This is by no means a Mobile Suites, but it has a much lower price point as well. It is just what we need with2 kids who always bring a friend. Oh, and we have not had any problems with ours other than operator error.

Good luck with your search.