What the RV Industry needs and how it works.
I haven't posted for a while. Mostly happy trouble free camping has kept me a lurker. Trouble free however must have context, i'm a handy guy. A small insurance claim and having a kid has me assessing...
Forum Discussion
Gonna be odd man out again.
Quality ? Those that think older trailers were "better" ( or RV's in general ) are looking at the past thru rose colored glasses. I spent enough time in stick and tin campers of the sixties and seventies, with their crank open jalousie windows that leaked in a driving rain. Let's face it, sealants ( I use that term loosely ) were not near as good as modern polyurethane caulks are today. Etc, etc.
Competition ? There are more companies building RV's now than ever before. Does Thor and FR own a lot of them ? Sure they do, but in truth, in an overall sense that probably brings more advantage to the marketplace than disadvantage. Larger corporate purchasing tends to lower costs overall, and whether we want to admit it or not, that helps translate into lower retail pricing ( also increased corporate profit I admit ).
I've been dragging various trailers around behind a lot of different tow vehicles since the late 1960's. I'll take any of my four current trailers ( one camper, two horse trailers and one equipment trailer ) over any of the stuff I owned in years past.
I say it again: buy one you like, mod it to fit your needs, and you'll have a customized trailer for far less dollars than it would cost you to have it built to spec. Use the saved dollars to go camping/traveling.
Respectfully submitted for y'alls consideration.
EDIT: the only people who really think Airstream and Lance are any better, are the "fans" of those brands. Any one of us can go look on either of those marque forums and see they suffer the same problems as the rest of the makers. I know people with both of those brands. I've looked the trailers over closely. I've heard their complaints about quality, leaks, etc. Same old story. Just a higher price tag.
Buy what you like, what fits your needs, but don't expect magic just because of the name on the side of it.
EDIT two: The "best" quality trailer I have been in belongs to a couple I met in Arizona two winters ago. It was very nice indeed. Fifth wheel by New Horizons. Bring money. Lots of it. And they are using a Freightliner MDT to pull it. So bring some more money.
Quality ? Those that think older trailers were "better" ( or RV's in general ) are looking at the past thru rose colored glasses. I spent enough time in stick and tin campers of the sixties and seventies, with their crank open jalousie windows that leaked in a driving rain. Let's face it, sealants ( I use that term loosely ) were not near as good as modern polyurethane caulks are today. Etc, etc.
Competition ? There are more companies building RV's now than ever before. Does Thor and FR own a lot of them ? Sure they do, but in truth, in an overall sense that probably brings more advantage to the marketplace than disadvantage. Larger corporate purchasing tends to lower costs overall, and whether we want to admit it or not, that helps translate into lower retail pricing ( also increased corporate profit I admit ).
I've been dragging various trailers around behind a lot of different tow vehicles since the late 1960's. I'll take any of my four current trailers ( one camper, two horse trailers and one equipment trailer ) over any of the stuff I owned in years past.
I say it again: buy one you like, mod it to fit your needs, and you'll have a customized trailer for far less dollars than it would cost you to have it built to spec. Use the saved dollars to go camping/traveling.
Respectfully submitted for y'alls consideration.
EDIT: the only people who really think Airstream and Lance are any better, are the "fans" of those brands. Any one of us can go look on either of those marque forums and see they suffer the same problems as the rest of the makers. I know people with both of those brands. I've looked the trailers over closely. I've heard their complaints about quality, leaks, etc. Same old story. Just a higher price tag.
Buy what you like, what fits your needs, but don't expect magic just because of the name on the side of it.
EDIT two: The "best" quality trailer I have been in belongs to a couple I met in Arizona two winters ago. It was very nice indeed. Fifth wheel by New Horizons. Bring money. Lots of it. And they are using a Freightliner MDT to pull it. So bring some more money.
