imq707s wrote:
We have a 24ft 2011 Crossroads Zinger that we bought back in 2016. Since we got it, we have put around 15,000 miles on it towing it all over the country. I’ve also spent a ton of time just doing maintenance and repairs on it. When we got it, I had to put a new floor in the rear of it because the previous owner didn’t notice the leaky window seal for year(s). I was shocked at how cheap and shoddy the camper was thrown together…..the boards that make up the structure of the floor was some of the worst quality, oddball sized 2x2’s I’ve ever seen….only held together with some staples, and maybe a little glue spot here and there. At least I was able to reinforce everything with more wood and make it much more solid.
Then a year later I had to replace the entire front end of the camper because the front marker lights started leaking, and caused the front of the camper to start looking wavey and delaminating. The wooden frame on the front of the camper was the same way…..the cheapest quality wood you could imagine, just held together with a few little staples.
Not to mention the constant maintenance on all of the calking joints that seem to split, crack, or pull away. I’m sure the vibration from pulling it down the road, along with the summer/winter temp swings here in Missouri don’t help that.
When I first got out camper, I thought that maybe I just got a lemon….but the more I read and researched, it seemed like the majority of campers are like that. They are thrown together as quickly and cheaply as possible. I remember seeing that Youtube video where a team of 4 or 5 guys literally throw a 28ft camper together in a matter of hours…..after seeing that, it’s no wonder my camper is such a maintenance headache. Even my buddies triple axle 43ft luxury toy hauler is starting to fall apart on him….so it’s not just the smaller trailers.
So…fast forward 10 years. Are they built any better today? Do they use any better construction materials and/or techniques? I know there are a few high end brands like Airstream that are built to last…..but are most of the standards Thor/Crossroads/Coleman/Jayco etc, etc….still built as cheap and fast possible? At this point, I’m not sure if I’m better off to just keep repairing ours, or get something newer that “might” not be as maintenance heavy.
Sorry, RV and "maintenance free" do not belong in the same sentence.
Everything you have mentioned that has gone wrong with your RV is due to lack of maintenance.
You can buy a multi-million dollar RV and have it rot out in the same time as a $20K RV if you don't check the caulking, seals and such for water intrusion.
No amount of exotic materials or labor will prevent a RV from leaking.
RVs unlike a sticks and bricks has to be flexible, it bounces, it twists, it must survive potholes, curbs and bad roads, that creates a lot of places that must use flexible caulking and seals..
If a RV was built as rigid as a sticks and bricks you would be breaking structural items so it HAS to be built with flexibility in mind.
That flexibility is a major player in how it is built, what materials they use including caulking..
While you might find some "improvements" in materials, I doubt "workmanship" has improved. To earn a profit, costs must be held closely and the basic place to hold down cost that is controllable by the manufacturer is LABOR.. So, they build on assembly lines, walls, roof assembled on big tables with built in templates and then all are hoisted into place like modules.. It is done fast and efficient, that sometimes leads to quality issues but those are typically resolved in the first yr of ownership under warranty..
If you want a new RV, then find what you like and buy it, don't get caught up in the "better materials" thing, they are all built using same or similar materials, same or similar methods.. But be aware, yearly maintenance (often called "PMs" or Preventative Maintenance)is on you and while not required for warranty it is what makes a RV last a long, long time.
