Who makes the best trailer ? - my answer
Nobody. What i have learned so far is - all trailers are junk, just of varying degrees. One could easily assume from that comment i have a horror story to tell, i don’t, i love my trailer. I’m just...
Forum Discussion
As a relative newcomer to the TT lifestyle, I have only been an active member for 15 months. However, we're already on our third trailer and have traveled approximately 18,000 miles in that time and spent maybe 120 nights in them. My observations keep coming back to a simple point.
It's not the brand, it's not the cost, it's not the materials nor the industry standard equipment. That's pretty much the same generally speaking. It seems to me that it comes down to the individual human doing that particular job on that particular day on that particular unit (regardless of brand or cost). It's the declining work ethic in this country where no one seems to have any pride in workmanship.
My first trailer was a good example. Normal materials and equipment sold at an average price. I can accept that. What I found astonishing was the fact that the furnace didn't work at all because the wall thermostat was wired backwards. The collapsable dinette table was mounted backwards on the frame turning it into a quasi-bear trap. The nice Jensen stereo was held in with 1 woodscrew since the mounting hole was cut too large so the other 3 screws simply split the wood along the edges. One of the rear speakers had about 6 feet of extra length of speaker wire just coiled up behind the speaker. Many structural fasteners were installed without any washers of any kind (this included the tongue jack and LP tank mount).
Our second trailer was built of the same materials with same equipment for the same average cost of comparably sized trailers. This one had about 1/3 of every screw overtightened and stripped out. The water heater didn't work on 110V because the entire wiring bundle was wrapped with the rubber band its shipped with, just laying on the floor behind the water heater. The worker just bolted it in and didn't bother to hook it up. The fridge labored to get cold because the installer hadn't bothered to isolate the coils in the venting area. All the heat from the system was trapped under the counter where the fridge was which basically gave me a giant gridle in place of a counter-top.
In both these cases, it was the individual on the job that day that just didn't give a darn about his job, the customer or any ethics he may have had previously. It wasn't the brand, it wasn't the materials used. It may have reflected on the cost but these things could have been done correctly, just as economically as they were done incorrectly. These workers just have no pride in workmanship. It's a human thing regardless of brand etc. Manufacturers need to train their people better and actually care about QC (which again, as humans with no pride in workmanship, they simply don't).
I might add, that it filters down to the dealer personel since none of these things were addressed, found or fixed by any dealer. Having finally found a dealer that actually cares about their customers and reputation, we've just taken delivery of our third TT and it's immaculate, with 100% functionality. I don't attribute that to the brand or cost as much as the dealer's technician's pride in his job with the PDI process .... again, it's a people thing.
It's not the brand, it's not the cost, it's not the materials nor the industry standard equipment. That's pretty much the same generally speaking. It seems to me that it comes down to the individual human doing that particular job on that particular day on that particular unit (regardless of brand or cost). It's the declining work ethic in this country where no one seems to have any pride in workmanship.
My first trailer was a good example. Normal materials and equipment sold at an average price. I can accept that. What I found astonishing was the fact that the furnace didn't work at all because the wall thermostat was wired backwards. The collapsable dinette table was mounted backwards on the frame turning it into a quasi-bear trap. The nice Jensen stereo was held in with 1 woodscrew since the mounting hole was cut too large so the other 3 screws simply split the wood along the edges. One of the rear speakers had about 6 feet of extra length of speaker wire just coiled up behind the speaker. Many structural fasteners were installed without any washers of any kind (this included the tongue jack and LP tank mount).
Our second trailer was built of the same materials with same equipment for the same average cost of comparably sized trailers. This one had about 1/3 of every screw overtightened and stripped out. The water heater didn't work on 110V because the entire wiring bundle was wrapped with the rubber band its shipped with, just laying on the floor behind the water heater. The worker just bolted it in and didn't bother to hook it up. The fridge labored to get cold because the installer hadn't bothered to isolate the coils in the venting area. All the heat from the system was trapped under the counter where the fridge was which basically gave me a giant gridle in place of a counter-top.
In both these cases, it was the individual on the job that day that just didn't give a darn about his job, the customer or any ethics he may have had previously. It wasn't the brand, it wasn't the materials used. It may have reflected on the cost but these things could have been done correctly, just as economically as they were done incorrectly. These workers just have no pride in workmanship. It's a human thing regardless of brand etc. Manufacturers need to train their people better and actually care about QC (which again, as humans with no pride in workmanship, they simply don't).
I might add, that it filters down to the dealer personel since none of these things were addressed, found or fixed by any dealer. Having finally found a dealer that actually cares about their customers and reputation, we've just taken delivery of our third TT and it's immaculate, with 100% functionality. I don't attribute that to the brand or cost as much as the dealer's technician's pride in his job with the PDI process .... again, it's a people thing.
