OP - In your mind what makes a TT "rugged" ?
Durability (long life with no issues) is nearly impossible to see and only extremely experienced RVer would know what items to look for.
Some durability "enhancements" are just not practical. Any first or second year Mechanical Engineering student would tell you to triangulate all the corner in all directions, but that would eliminate the rounded fronts and rears and make your TT even more "boxy".
The one thing that I AM surprised the industry has not done a better job of doing, is joining the roof to the sides. Either the roof need to be a one piece material (aluminum, fiberglass, EPDM) that wraps OVER the side and joins on a vertical plane(with Z-flashing OR it needs pitch (like the Jayco Magnum roof) and over hangs the edge.
