wood or metal trusses
I know sales people will sometimes say whatever they think will sell the trailer- but are metal trusses really that much better than wood? What do you think?
Forum Discussion
djsamuel wrote:desiphil wrote:
By the way. I do like the Livin Lite construction. Price (for what you get) can make it a tough sell though.
the LivinLite (Camplite TT) is what I was referring to. They have no wood at all. The floor is tongue and groove aluminum planking. They provide carpeting and you can add insulation as an option. The frame is all aluminum (welded), and they do a nice job with the welds. The interior walls are azdel, and the cabinets are aluminum frame; built as part of the trailer frame, with Azdel panels. The outer walls are aluminum as is the roof.
You are defintely correct, the price is the point of hesitation. The other campers were a good bit cheaper, which is why we kept looking after seeing the Camplite. However, the more we looked, the more we liked the Camplite. Perhaps it was the engineer in me, since I kept focusing on the construction, the weight, the overall design. We felt that what we were giving up in luxury, we were gaining in durability. Time will tell, but the camper does tow great, and we really like it. Plus, I gave the dealer a low offer based on what I found by searching online around the country for the cheapest price (a sale price). So, we ended up not paying a whole lot more than we would have for another camper.
But with all of that said, the other campers were really nice too, and it boils down to personal preference. I'm really glad we made the choice we did, but it all boils down to proper maintenance (barring poor design).
You made a good choice. Like I said its just a tough sell considering most of the costs are tied up in stuff you will never see/enjoy.
What makes it worse is that many salespeople in this industry describe all products with aluminum framed sidewalls as "complete aluminum framed trailers" making it difficult for potential buyers to know the difference between products like Livinlite and pretty much everything else.
A good rule of thumb is too look at brochure cutaways of construction. Anything that is hidden like front caps, rear caps, floors, slideouts... just assume its put together using the cheapest materials and methods possible.
