Highwalls
Looking at hiwall pups again, but I seem to remember a few companies built them. Is forest river the only builder now? I talked to one dealer that used to carry Columbia's, which were like the old Fle...
Forum Discussion
We have a Rockwood Highwall (made by Forest River), 2011. From reading beforehand there's a lot of variance in quality from all highwalls/pups, I saw they are hand made (by all manufactures) so one can come off the line and be way out of spec, and the next be great. You seem to be correct, aren't too many highwalls Jayco used to make them when I was looking (I was looking at the 14HW) now I see no HW Jayco models.
The floors on Rockwoods do seem soft, but Rockwood uses all marine grade plywood. Marine grade plywood is designed to be flexible so it can contour to ship hulls and the like. Used in the floor like Rockwoods on one hand the floors are rot resistant and the adhesive fully waterproof, but on the other using plywood designed to be flexible does not lead to "solid" feeling floors.
We looked and had decided on a Jayco but then went and decided on a Rockwood 276HW picking mainly because (and I don't know if you're like us but we believe using disposable eatware and camping is an oxymoron... like walking/jogging while smoking) the Rockwoods have a much better setup for cooking/cleaning since the counter is between the sink and stove, so whether you're cooking or cleaning you can use the counter. The Jayco's have no counter next to the sink, which would drive us crazy (unless you use the stove for the counter... no thanks).
When looking, some things we found are a must are heated mattresses (it gets cold here at night sometimes and a pup has the bottom of the bed exposed to the outside so it's cold. I never knew how nice heated mattresses were in a pup). Next the light/fan combo's that can go in the bed ends are also nice as some nights are incredibly hot and humid here and I can't sleep with the AC kicking on/off so I shut it off. Having the ability to have a 12v DC light/fan is really nice, especially on sites with no electric. Lastly some days are unbearably hot and humid and some campgrounds only have 20A service. We need 30A to run everything, but if the site only has 20A we have the option of either run the AC only (and everything else is propane and 12v DC) or run everything else and not the AC. I like having that option. I will switch over to the AC during the day and everything else goes to 12v DC and propane, and at night switch it so the AC goes off and everything else gets power (awning lights, etc.) many campers if they don't have a 30A hookup they can't run the AC at all.
The floors on Rockwoods do seem soft, but Rockwood uses all marine grade plywood. Marine grade plywood is designed to be flexible so it can contour to ship hulls and the like. Used in the floor like Rockwoods on one hand the floors are rot resistant and the adhesive fully waterproof, but on the other using plywood designed to be flexible does not lead to "solid" feeling floors.
We looked and had decided on a Jayco but then went and decided on a Rockwood 276HW picking mainly because (and I don't know if you're like us but we believe using disposable eatware and camping is an oxymoron... like walking/jogging while smoking) the Rockwoods have a much better setup for cooking/cleaning since the counter is between the sink and stove, so whether you're cooking or cleaning you can use the counter. The Jayco's have no counter next to the sink, which would drive us crazy (unless you use the stove for the counter... no thanks).
When looking, some things we found are a must are heated mattresses (it gets cold here at night sometimes and a pup has the bottom of the bed exposed to the outside so it's cold. I never knew how nice heated mattresses were in a pup). Next the light/fan combo's that can go in the bed ends are also nice as some nights are incredibly hot and humid here and I can't sleep with the AC kicking on/off so I shut it off. Having the ability to have a 12v DC light/fan is really nice, especially on sites with no electric. Lastly some days are unbearably hot and humid and some campgrounds only have 20A service. We need 30A to run everything, but if the site only has 20A we have the option of either run the AC only (and everything else is propane and 12v DC) or run everything else and not the AC. I like having that option. I will switch over to the AC during the day and everything else goes to 12v DC and propane, and at night switch it so the AC goes off and everything else gets power (awning lights, etc.) many campers if they don't have a 30A hookup they can't run the AC at all.
