jdtrotter wrote:
Just read this entire thread and I see several votes for the ORV/Northwood trailers made in Oregon. After a totally horrible experience with a Forest River R-pod, we did a lot of research. Our son guided us toward the ORV and we would have bought one, but the smallest one they make was bigger than we wanted, and we definitely did not want a slide. Thus, we turned to other company started by Ron Nash, RIP, Northwood RV. The Nash 17k seemed perfect for us, so we found a dealer 200 miles away who had one, and we bought it!
We had no plans of camping in winter weather, but an unexpected medical problem has us camping for 2 months away from home in winter weather and we are mostly glad we have this trailer. It is so well insulated and built so that the propane heater keeps the holding tanks warm enough. We bought a blue heated hose and added extra wrapping to the connection and the small faucet and so far, all is well. The quality of everything is so superior to what we had before!
But we do have a couple of problems with the wiring that should not have happened and we will get them fixed after we leave here. We need to either find a good dealer somewhere, or we will go back to the factory. In our small town, our local RV repair people could not find the problem. When the heater turns on, it blows out the little fuse in the digital thermostat. Since we had to have heat, and needed in NOW, they pulled the two heater wires out of the digital thermostat and attached them to an old analog thermostat. It works. We also have to run the cable TV through the kitchen window. These things WILL be fixed under warranty and meantime, we LOVE the full size queen bed with a great mattress. :-)
For a small trailer, it is heavy, but it follows well behind our Tundra even while it sucks gas.
Overall, we recommend a Northwood product and our son has been extremely happy with his ORV.
BTW-- many years ago we owned a fiberglass Casita and it was trouble free. We took it across country and way down into Mexico and more. If they only made one a bit bigger, we would have bought another one without hesitation.
Oliver & Big Foot.
I don’t understand the desire for “new” when older can be found that is distinctly better. And always will be.
No one is any longer making trailers the quality of Streamline (1974), Silver Streak (1997) or Avion (1990). Airstream ain’t in the running at this level and never was. Never meant to be. SS never made more than six trailers per week. AS is General Motors by comparison.
That said, an AS ten years or a bit more has depreciation gone. And may need only some cosmetics to be like new. Plenty of them out there. Huge owners group. Tow beautifully.
Mine’s thirty years old this year. I’ll put it against anything from the generic box manufacturers that’s five years old. As the 1989 boxes hit the landfill before Obama took office.
If I were in the market for brand new, a BIGGER Big Foot would be my default. But they don’t make one a full-timer like me wants. Lacks size, amenities & storage (that the aluminum trailers don’t).
ORV is okay enough. But they all need conversion to DEXTER Tor-Flex independent suspension. Today’s trailers with slide-outs for fatties ride FAR higher on ready-to-roll leaf spring suspensions that wear out quickly.
Conversion to anti-lock disc brakes is the other upgrade.
And, as the
hitch rigging is EQUAL in importance to the two vehicles, get a aHensley-patent hitch at the start. It’s a requirement for a pickup as tow vehicle.
That disc brakes & a sway-eliminating hitch aren’t topics with FAR more threads than tow vehicles shows the ignorance level of supposedly “seasoned” RVers. The new guys with their twenty years.
The he number one cause of trailering accidents is loss of control. And that loss of control is due to wind. The worst combo on the road is the tall teeter-totter box of today. (5ers worse; toyhaulers worst).
Pay attention to what really matters: Steering control & braking.
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