Why are Truck Campers so poorly made?
So I bought a new hard side truck camper recently. I'm not going to say which. Before that I had a pop-up, so this is my second camper. I looked at a half dozen more campers before my purchase, but...
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We have a custom made teardrop trailer with an all aluminum frame and I was involved in it's design and performed inspections during construction. I supplied some of the things like marine LED lights and hinges and my wife designed the galley. All of the woodwork is furniture grade oak with dovetail drawers etc. Even so there were teething problems and a number of things not done well.
We periodically attend RV shows and quite frankly I am appalled at what I see. Yes you can find quality construction but you will pay for it. We did a tour of the Airstream factory and I was impressed.
I think this is much like what was happening with the big three auto makers before Japanese imports forced them to to improve their quality control, but there is no impetus for RV manufacturers to improve, witness an RV that cost more than our house and has a one year warranty, that is often toothless if there is a problem.
We periodically attend RV shows and quite frankly I am appalled at what I see. Yes you can find quality construction but you will pay for it. We did a tour of the Airstream factory and I was impressed.
I think this is much like what was happening with the big three auto makers before Japanese imports forced them to to improve their quality control, but there is no impetus for RV manufacturers to improve, witness an RV that cost more than our house and has a one year warranty, that is often toothless if there is a problem.
