Jayco X20E opinions?

any update on your thoughts OP?

our 6.0 sub has no problems at all. the half ton drivetrain in the trailblazer was a poor performer with the 3.42 rear. We drove 190 miles today for a beach vacay hotel weekend. The sub got a solid 14mpg.

We bought our '07 Rockwood ROO 23SS from RVW in OH and live in TN....never had a problem getting service. DH has always been a sticker for fit and finish and the older I get the more I'm turning into him....just downright picky about some things. We never had problem #1 with our ROO and would have it sitting in the ROOport right now if age had not crept up with us much faster than we realized. We made the change to another FR Rockwood product and are equally as pleased. We have had 2 very minor warranty issues since we bought it in May and both have been resolved lickety split. Many thanks to RVW and Laurie in warranty dept.

Do not buy into the story that if you have a FR product, especially a ROO!!, that you'll not get service...absolutely not true. We shopped our local dealer who sells the Shamrock - same camper, different trim details - and he is PITA when it comes to $$$$....wants you to think he's darned near giving it to you. We walked. When we needed a recall service on our ROO, he knew where it came from, but we had an appt for the next day and was in and out in less than an hour. Still avoid him like the plague if we can.

Personal opinion time.....if you're planning to keep this camper for several years, plan ahead now. Kids grow....do you want to make up the dinette or sofa every night for one of them to sleep??? I'd be looking at a 3 bed model. Refrigerator size.....the bigger kids get, the more they eat - you'll need every square inch you can find. DH and I can pack it pretty well for a 3 - 4 day trip. BTW, don't cram it completely full because the air doesn't circulate as well and therefore doesn't cool as well. I don't even try to shop for more than 4 days for the 2 of us....you know there'll be a Walmart at the next exit anyway. Suggest you go as big as your tow vehicle and budget will allow. Also, suggest you take a look at the ROO line on RVW and request a price on something that looks possible. Whether you buy from them or not, you'll have a good negotiating tool with their price quote in hand. BTW, we bought both of ours from them and saved over $4000 on the ROO and even more on the new TT. Happy shopping!

Friends don't let friends buy Jaycos or GM products. (Lets see what THAT starts! :) )

Counter space in what's probably a 16' body? Ain't gonna happen in any brand.

Small single door refrigerator? No excuse for this in my opinion. Even the "big" refrigerator with separate freezer barely meets our weekend requirements.

"Blast from the Center" air conditioner? Hallmark of small and low end campers.

Small, low capacity 13" tires are a liability as they have minimal capacity and everyone however unintentionally overloads their campers.

Dealer refuse to service your camper? Not sure where that happens. The local Jayco dealer is happy to service our Roo every spring.

Listen to the experience of others and don't push your maximum towing capacity. 5200 pound capacity is fine for a 3500 pound popup and not much more.

-- Chuck

i have to disagree with some of Mike Up's opinions.

first, i've had my Roo for nearly 7 years now and have had some minor issues that were all fixed under warranty. still no bunk leaks.
second, i bought mine in Chicago and towed it out to California. i contacted FR, who found me numerous local dealers that were happy to do the warranty work. one didn't even sell FR products, but did warranty work on them.
third, FR isn't the only manufacturer that can't force their dealers to do warranty work on units they didn't sell. it's a pretty common practice, no matter the brand. i've even read posts from Jayco owners who have found the same issue.
fourth, we found the Roo/Shamrock hybrids to be as well built as the Jayco and Starcraft ones. many others agree.
fifth, FR does offer a 2nd year factory warranty for an extra $150. they make it optional for the customer.

i don't want to diminish Mike Up's bad experiences, it can happen.
but all brands have their lemons and fans and haters.

for us, we've had the complete opposite experience with our Roo, as MIke Up did.
just wanted to offer a different perspective.

I personally would buy a Jayco or StarCraft, as I have, any day over a Forest River product.

I've had a Forest River Rockwood camper and never again. Build quality, customer service, and quality control are about as bad as it gets. Go look at some on the dealers lot against any other maker that's not Forest River and you'll see their inferior build quality, it won't be hard to see. I seen this on Rockwoods and Wildwoods. Wildwoods were the worst by far! Go look and make your decision. Unfortunately, I didn't find this as important as I should had. I went for the low price and the saying is true, you get what you pay for.

If you buy a Forest River Roo, make sure your dealer is good because, as I found, no other dealer will want to do warranty work on it if you didn't buy it from them. Warranty work pays a lot less than normal none warranty work because the dealers have to agree to go by their set lower labor wages if the dealer wants to carry their products. If the dealers service department is very popular, GOOD, and busy, they don't want other dealers low pay warranty work. Forest River told me flat out, that no one is required to do warranty work except the selling dealer and they will not get involved if you're having issues with your dealer. They will repair the camper at their factory as a alternative solution, if you have a way to get it to North Central Indiana on "YOUR DIME".

After having StarCraft and Jayco, it's was like heaven next to Forest River. StarCraft is owned and operated by Jayco. StarCraft campers are even made side by side with Jayco campers.

BTW, Jayco's warranty is 2 years and Forest River's warranty is 1 year. Jayco has a dealer network that is required to do warranty work on any Jayco whether it was bought at that dealer or not. They legally can't force dealers to comply, but can limit stock to a none cooperating dealer.

It's your money so you need to make up your own mind but I will tell you from experience, there's nothing worse than getting burnt with a camper that's in the shop more than the campgrounds or even my driveway, then to have an incompetent service shop that can't repair things correctly and do more damage than good.

Good luck on your decision.

BTW, as you, I was a loyal tent camper that got tired of lugging all the items and wanted them more easily accessible in a camper. At that time, having a mattress was a plus as I slept on cots (not the 'stick ya in the back' root riddled ground). :) The Rockwood Pop Up camper was the next logical step for me as I need something new but inexpensive, and simple.

PAThwacker wrote:
We have a v8 tb . We towed equal weight pup/ hybrid.
The trailblazer could not maintain 60 mph going downhill on a 6% GRADE. BARNDOOR effect and our HTT is a narrow body, low height model. Has fine ground clearance, leaf spring suspension, and off pavement prowess. Many jayco htt, do not share the same attributes.





rn

Wow, my V8 Ford Sport Trac pulled my 19BH with no problem at any speed. It had the 4.6L 3 valve, 292 HP and 300 lbs of torque.

Your statement doesn't surprise me as you were driving a 'Chevy'. :)

GMs are really bad about using the worst transmission gears and the worst axle gearing. My Sport Trac had a 3.55 axle with a 6 speed auto with a 4.17:1 1st gear. I will just say it had a lot of power for what it was. Nothing compared to my newer 2012 F150 5.0L 4 Valve but was pretty strong.

We have a v8 tb . We towed equal weight pup/ hybrid.
The trailblazer could not maintain 60 mph going downhill on a 6% GRADE. BARNDOOR effect and our HTT is a narrow body, low height model. Has fine ground clearance, leaf spring suspension, and off pavement prowess. Many jayco htt, do not share the same attributes.





rn

popupcamping wrote:

at a 4750 GVWR the TW will need to be 620 lbs plus the hitch weight.

their TW limit according to manufacture specs will be 520. If disregarding specs is something you do not mind doing that is fine, again your choice but I am just here to give an outside opinion to their setup and only THEY can decide how safely they want to tow

Doug

Doug, I never suggested to the OP or anyone else to ignore ratings. That said, the 520# is the "dead hitch weight" for the Traverse. With WDH its 780#, which is actually better than my Trailblazer. So they will be well within their TW rating.

BTW, I don't "avoid" going anywhere. I know what the limits and capabilities are of my vehicles and I work within them. Our decision not to tow in the mountains and long trips anymore was made several years ago, when we had our 3500# Kiwi 17a, long before we seriously considered a larger trailer. It had everything to do with limited vacation time on my current job and the price of gas. That decision was in fact why we decided to buy the bigger trailer, because I knew it would tow perfectly fine, and more importantly, safely in WI and surrounding states.

Look, I'm not trying to be adversarial. I've been towing camping trailers for 25 years so its not as if I'm guessing at what I'm doing. I'm with you on the notion of helping people understand their limits and what that can do to them and their vehicles if they go beyond them. Conversely I'm also supportive of people who have an opportunity to do something like this so long as they are aware of what the limits are, and are staying within them.

Roscopcoletrain wrote:
I think one big difference in tire size is ground clearance. I know on our 02 Jayco Kiwi with 13" tires, it sits low. Ive scraped a support jack once or twice on the ground. Big worry is my sewer pipe. I'll be looking at going to 14" tires in the future just to get that inch or so of clearance.

Our '03 Kiwi had the same issue. The X20E sits about 4 inches higher than our old Kiwi did. And it doesn't have the lift kit either. So its not the tire size that was an issue with the Kiwi, it was the axle height. Its still not as high off the ground as competitors, but its far better than our Kiwi was. More important, I don't worry about the sewer pipe anymore!