Slowmover wrote:
gmw photos wrote:
Regarding the post about "regular" travel trailer being ready to s**** out after six years, that's not been my observation or experience. There are literally tens of thousands of RV's that are twenty years old or older still being used. And as to an Airstream being superior in that regard, that's wishful thinking. They deteriorate like any other RV. Their steel frames rust away, suspension sacks out, the wood floor rots away, components ( furnaces, fridge, etc ) are the same as what the rest of the industry uses, so they fail at the same rate as in other trailers. Honestly, at the end of 25 plus years, that brand is simply a shiney shell, with all the underpinnings needing restoration. Some of those folks go back in and spend from $20K to $40K to restore them.
Let's face it, all of these RV's require constant attention and some level of work to keep them usable. Just like a sticks and bricks house....you have to take care of your "building".
You've no experience with the type, have you? Zip, zero, nada. Nor I'd imagine have you ever looked into it even though the Internet makes that easy as can be. Design, construction and maintenance. They all matter.
I'm third generation on this trailer type. Mines a quarter century old and has none of these problems you cite. Appliance cost is meaningless compared to structural rot. Given even minor maintenance it's the common condition to have no serious problems. Not so for the boxes. They were never intended to be anything but disposable.
The cheapest trailer is the one that lasts the longest. Plenty of good used examples of this type all over the country. Easier to tow and with a wider range of vehicles. So that cost can be comparatively lower as well.
...a little followup to this thread. I'm sitting in a CG right now because it's close to a horse show we are showing in. Just did a little walk about with my dog, so I thought I would count and estimate the age of trailers here. For what ever it's worth, in this little sampling, unfortunately for this discussion, there are no Airstreams, Avions or other "cousins" like that. All 47 units here are "other white boxes". Out of the 47, 15 are "stick and tin", in the age range of 10 to 20 years old. The rest are "smooth side" laminate type construction. Most are in the 10 to 25 year old category ( hard to guess on some of these ). Most are faded, but still functional. I see none with obvious signs of delamination, etc.
The rest are newer stuff ( some class A's and class "C's" and a few newer higher end like DRV MS, etc.
Point is, there are a "lot" of older trailers here that folks are using, and most look to be in workable functional order. Yes, a bit faded, and showing their age, but if you gave me a day with the boys, and a buffer and some compound/wax, I could make them look pretty darned good again.
There are many, many brands of various construction that can be used for decades. A walk around any CG you stay at can confirm that.
