Pretty much I've come to the conclusion ANY RV travel trailer coming out of Northern Indiana are not of good quality. On youtube there are brands such as Jayco that they build in 6+ hours. Real thin wood, small screws, etc. There are countless issues coming in to dealerships about sub par mfg of many travel trailers. Many of the workers are paid by piece (not by hour) and literally RUN as fast as they can all day to crank out as many units as possible for maximum $. It's just REALLY gone sub par. The brands I've noticed are pretty much anything owned by Forest River, Jayco, KZ etc. etc. This includes a PLETHORA of smaller brands. Also most brands produced by thor, except for Airstream because I think Airstream customers would probably have a revolt. LOLMany dealers that push the "junk" out of Indiana factories can have customers leave their unit from 4-5 months to administer the warranty fix... It doesn't take long to realize the warranty period is being used up in this time frame, the customer loses the use of the RV, and the RV is getting older. So what brands of Travel Trailers today have REAL quality?Preferably Aluminum wall (studs). Built well. Doesn't have to be "light". Just something that can last and not have problems for the most part.Thanks!

get ready for a ton of opinions....here is mine. wife and i are on our 2nd TT. first was a forest river wildwood. aluminum siding. 33ft , one living room slide. owned it 18 months, towed it up and down east coast, niagara falls, georgia, mountains to the coast. only had one issue which was easy fix. self leveling caulking crack on rear roof corner which i found in a timely manner by doing my monthly roof inspection. recaulked it myself. it is considered a cheap entry level TT sold by a company that gets slammed all the time by bad reviews. we enjoyed the heck out of it. current TT is a keystone laredo 3 slide, 37ft TT. keystone also gets slammed for bad quality. we chose it because of floor plan. 6 months into it we have had no issues. i learned a long time ago how to do most of the upkeep and maintenance on it myself. have no desire to leave it at a rv dealer for 2 months waiting for service. RV systems.. plumbing, electric, fridge, heat, hot water heaters etc are not that complicated if you are willing to learn.in my opinion no RV is built to specs and regs as a stick and brick home. i hear about problems with "high end" units all the time.the customers controls the market.... and the majority want cheaper units. you get what you pay for.

Probably want to get away from the typical trailers and maybe look at the fiberglass clamshell designs; Bigfoot, Oliver, and the several other smaller ones.The ones built in the west suffer the same issues too, but I would still consider them. Lance is high on my list. Northwood & Outdoor RV build them stout at least.

Northwood Mfg. in La Grande, Or. makes Arctic Fox, Nash, Etc. We have owned 2 A.F. fifth wheels and loved them. They are heavier and a bit on the pricy side but well built for either going down the paved highway or off road boondocking.

We have to be reasonable with our expectations. They have to be relatively light weight to be driveable and keep costs within reason yet are subjected to a lot of stresses an s&b never sees. Some are built better than others but none are bulletproof so maintenance becomes key.

crasster wrote:Many dealers that push the "junk" out of Indiana factories can have customers leave their unit from 4-5 months to administer the warranty fix... As long as we keep buying junk, they will keep building junk.

What brands of Travel Trailers are NEW & Quality

53 Replies

lhenry8113
Explorer
May 08, 2019
Northwood Mfg. in La Grande, Or. makes Arctic Fox, Nash, Etc. We have owned 2 A.F. fifth wheels and loved them. They are heavier and a bit on the pricy side but well built for either going down the paved highway or off road boondocking.
TurnThePage
Explorer
May 08, 2019
Probably want to get away from the typical trailers and maybe look at the fiberglass clamshell designs; Bigfoot, Oliver, and the several other smaller ones.

The ones built in the west suffer the same issues too, but I would still consider them. Lance is high on my list. Northwood & Outdoor RV build them stout at least.
sgfrye
Explorer
May 08, 2019
get ready for a ton of opinions....

here is mine. wife and i are on our 2nd TT. first was a forest river wildwood. aluminum siding. 33ft , one living room slide. owned it 18 months, towed it up and down east coast, niagara falls, georgia, mountains to the coast. only had one issue which was easy fix. self leveling caulking crack on rear roof corner which i found in a timely manner by doing my monthly roof inspection. recaulked it myself. it is considered a cheap entry level TT sold by a company that gets slammed all the time by bad reviews. we enjoyed the heck out of it.

current TT is a keystone laredo 3 slide, 37ft TT. keystone also gets slammed for bad quality. we chose it because of floor plan. 6 months into it we have had no issues.

i learned a long time ago how to do most of the upkeep and maintenance on it myself. have no desire to leave it at a rv dealer for 2 months waiting for service. RV systems.. plumbing, electric, fridge, heat, hot water heaters etc are not that complicated if you are willing to learn.

in my opinion no RV is built to specs and regs as a stick and brick home. i hear about problems with "high end" units all the time.

the customers controls the market.... and the majority want cheaper units. you get what you pay for.

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What brands of Travel Trailers are NEW & Quality

53 Replies

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