Best brand 5th wheel

[fireboat0203]

Hi everyone, I have just bought a new f250 diesel and I am looking for a 5th wheel camper. Most reviews for the brands that I have been looking at are described as junk. What is the best brand for quality? Recommendations anyone?

[Road_Phantom]

We had good luck with the three Keystone 5th whls we had, but I read about problems others on this forum have had with Keystone, so its more of a hit and miss of having good luck. The industry is not fail proof.

[WTP-GC]

From our recent shopping experience, I'd have to say that GD is comparable in interior quality to other manufacturers in the same price range. They are far better than those in the lower price ranges, but not nearly as good as those that are in the higher price ranges. My observation of this may differ from someone else's observation because we might place more worth in certain things over others.

Our new GD has Dexter axles, rather than the Lippert axles they were using just a year earlier. Now some folks may still question the current quality of Dexter components, but when/if something breaks, I know I can find parts almost anywhere.

[goducks10]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

goducks10 wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

memtb wrote:

ReneeG wrote:

memtb wrote:
We did a little research on the Grand Design. Much of what they had to offer seemed pretty good....but, they use the notoriously problematic Lippert components.

Lippert is the leading OEM of RV components. I think their past reputation unfortunately has stuck whereas their quality as vastly improved.

I would love to believe that to be true, but, in following several RV forums and Facebook Groups .....this dosen’t seem to be the case!

Lipperts quality has vastly improved??????

That sure is breaking news LOL.

Only one thing is going to make Lipperts or the Industry as a whole improve quality and that is when they get an economic kick in the teeth. Even then don't get all excited and expect much. That day is overdue. The recession ended in June of 09.....its been 9 years. The US has never went more than 10 years between recessions, and only has done that once. Borrowed time. They are going to ride out the good times by sucking every dime from the RV buying suckers that they can. Wish in one hand...**** in the other.

Well being 65 years old I have to say I've seen all kinds of economic forecasts over the years and I've come to the conclusion that most don't come true. What used to be normal isn't any more.

I can't, nor won't, argue with that goducks but I will say if you look at the cyclical nature of the RV Industry, they've been on a fairly good run for a good amount of time. When it tanks, and it will, as it always has eventually, the retiring boomer cash, that is their current livelihood, is what is going to dry up first and in a hurry. The whole Industry is structured on reaction. Proactivity is not in the playbook.

I won't deny a down turn is coming and as history has shown it's over due. Everyone seems to be jumping on the 'Worst crash ever' bandwagon. I guess we won't know until it gets here. If we do have a big crash I still don't think that will make the RV industry change gears. I'm not convinced that they want to flip things around and go a different way. It would cost millions to retool and without incoming revenue from poor sales during a crash or even several year after, I think they'll just continue with business as usual.

[austinjenna]

Pick the layout that works best for you. I think they are all made like garbage anyway, no matter what the brand is.

[Ralph_Cramden]

goducks10 wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

memtb wrote:

ReneeG wrote:

memtb wrote:
We did a little research on the Grand Design. Much of what they had to offer seemed pretty good....but, they use the notoriously problematic Lippert components.

Lippert is the leading OEM of RV components. I think their past reputation unfortunately has stuck whereas their quality as vastly improved.

I would love to believe that to be true, but, in following several RV forums and Facebook Groups .....this dosen’t seem to be the case!

Lipperts quality has vastly improved??????

That sure is breaking news LOL.

Only one thing is going to make Lipperts or the Industry as a whole improve quality and that is when they get an economic kick in the teeth. Even then don't get all excited and expect much. That day is overdue. The recession ended in June of 09.....its been 9 years. The US has never went more than 10 years between recessions, and only has done that once. Borrowed time. They are going to ride out the good times by sucking every dime from the RV buying suckers that they can. Wish in one hand...**** in the other.

Well being 65 years old I have to say I've seen all kinds of economic forecasts over the years and I've come to the conclusion that most don't come true. What used to be normal isn't any more.

I can't, nor won't, argue with that goducks but I will say if you look at the cyclical nature of the RV Industry, they've been on a fairly good run for a good amount of time. When it tanks, and it will, as it always has eventually, the retiring boomer cash, that is their current livelihood, is what is going to dry up first and in a hurry. The whole Industry is structured on reaction. Proactivity is not in the playbook.

[Ralph_Cramden]

IndyCamp wrote:

topjimmy wrote:
Why do ya think GD sold out to Winnabago?? because they did not have the Capitol to keep up with Warranty claims like Forest River and Thor And they needed to step it up with better Quality Components because before Winnabago they really cheaped out on a lot of things compared to other brands in their price range

Ummm, that is not why they "sold out" to Winnebago (correct spelling).

Do you have any proof of this claim that they were going bankrupt due to warranty claims, and had to be bailed out by a bigger manufacturer?

I don't see where GD has made any major improvements, and are now installing better components since Winnebago is at the helm. The only thing I have seen them do of merit is drop the use of Lipperts running gear but they had huge issues with that stuff, everything else is all Lippert junk just like my Rockwood, or most other brands. The workmanship on the trim, and materials used both interior and exterior are no better or worse than most any other manufacturer. You still have cabinet doors made from solid wood although it's all #3 scrap, that could not be used for anything else duevtobits length, with cabinet frames themselves made of vinyl wrapped fiberboard. A close friend has his underbelly coroplast laying on the ground on his Reflection right now, trying to address all the loose electrical connections that made half the running lights go on and off at every bump in the road. Granted their warranty service is better than most, but once the warranty period is over then that's of little help in the long run.

One thing however is by being tied in with Winnebago they might survive the next industry downturn, which is coming sooner rather than later. That's not guaranteed either becuase Winnebago, including GD, only has something in the order of 8% to 9% market share if that. Forest River and Thor with their acquisition of Jayco run over 80% share. When the **** hits the fan you're going to see many brand names go by the wayside as has always happened. Winnebago got into towable to begin with because Sunnybrook could not survive the last downturn.

[IndyCamp]

WTP-GC wrote:

When we were in process of getting a new rig, I had a candid conversation with a tech at the dealership (very large dealership, MANY brands). He had no skin in the game regarding any particular manufacturer, but he said that of all the units that come through there for any kind of service, GD is by far the one they see the least. If I remember correctly, he said the ratio is like 1 GD coach for every 10-15 Forest River products. Now I'm sure his math isn't exact, but the point is that he had no reason to tell me this or make up a story a that time.

This was my same exact experience. I talked to a tech at my local dealership and asked him which brand they were seeing the fewest problems out of, and he said Grand Design. Furthermore, he said they were having the fewest amount of warranty claims denied from Grand Design.

I was previously a Forest River owner (Rockwood), and I really liked that camper, so I am no blind fanboy.

Stepping into a Grand Design camper sold me on the quality of the brand. Go to an RV show and see for yourself. Everything about the Grand Design trailers feels better built and more high end.

Trust me, I would love to spend $10K less and get equal quality. I looked at every other brand and just didn't feel I could, so I was willing to spend the extra money.

[IndyCamp]

topjimmy wrote:
Why do ya think GD sold out to Winnabago?? because they did not have the Capitol to keep up with Warranty claims like Forest River and Thor And they needed to step it up with better Quality Components because before Winnabago they really cheaped out on a lot of things compared to other brands in their price range

Ummm, that is not why they "sold out" to Winnebago (correct spelling).

Do you have any proof of this claim that they were going bankrupt due to warranty claims, and had to be bailed out by a bigger manufacturer?

[goducks10]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

memtb wrote:

ReneeG wrote:

memtb wrote:
We did a little research on the Grand Design. Much of what they had to offer seemed pretty good....but, they use the notoriously problematic Lippert components.

Lippert is the leading OEM of RV components. I think their past reputation unfortunately has stuck whereas their quality as vastly improved.

I would love to believe that to be true, but, in following several RV forums and Facebook Groups .....this dosen’t seem to be the case!

Lipperts quality has vastly improved??????

That sure is breaking news LOL.

Only one thing is going to make Lipperts or the Industry as a whole improve quality and that is when they get an economic kick in the teeth. Even then don't get all excited and expect much. That day is overdue. The recession ended in June of 09.....its been 9 years. The US has never went more than 10 years between recessions, and only has done that once. Borrowed time. They are going to ride out the good times by sucking every dime from the RV buying suckers that they can. Wish in one hand...**** in the other.

Well being 65 years old I have to say I've seen all kinds of economic forecasts over the years and I've come to the conclusion that most don't come true. What used to be normal isn't any more.

[Ralph_Cramden]

memtb wrote:

ReneeG wrote:

memtb wrote:
We did a little research on the Grand Design. Much of what they had to offer seemed pretty good....but, they use the notoriously problematic Lippert components.

Lippert is the leading OEM of RV components. I think their past reputation unfortunately has stuck whereas their quality as vastly improved.

I would love to believe that to be true, but, in following several RV forums and Facebook Groups .....this dosen’t seem to be the case!

Lipperts quality has vastly improved??????

That sure is breaking news LOL.

Only one thing is going to make Lipperts or the Industry as a whole improve quality and that is when they get an economic kick in the teeth. Even then don't get all excited and expect much. That day is overdue. The recession ended in June of 09.....its been 9 years. The US has never went more than 10 years between recessions, and only has done that once. Borrowed time. They are going to ride out the good times by sucking every dime from the RV buying suckers that they can. Wish in one hand...**** in the other.

[memtb]

4x4ord wrote:
I appreciate quality but have a hard time dishing out the necessary cash for it when it comes to something like an RV. Our next 5th wheel may well be a used Continental Coach or possibly a new New Horizons. Either of these will require a dually to pull.

Paying the “high” price for new.... is why we’re on out 4th Teton since 1993.....and all were used!

[4x4ord]

I appreciate quality but have a hard time dishing out the necessary cash for it when it comes to something like an RV. Our next 5th wheel may well be a used Continental Coach or possibly a new New Horizons. Either of these will require a dually to pull.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

dpgllg wrote:


One other thing you can do is once you have narrowed down your list, then most RV's have owners forums. Go on these forums and see what actual owners are saying about not only the RV BUT also how the manufacturer stands behind them. Then find a reputable dealer for that brand and go make the deal.

Good luck!

Dave

EXCELLENT ADVICE - no matter what the brand!..:C

~

[ReneeG]

dpgllg wrote:

fireboat0203 wrote:
Thanks guys. I was actually leaning toward the Grand Design but I saw bad reviews for them too! I have air bags for my F-250 and I don't want a real long fifth wheeler. So I am thinking of the Grand Design 29RS, 303RLS or one of the 150 series.

You will see bad reviews on just about every RV out there. You can't please everybody. They ALL use the same basic components to make them and when you look across the various models you will even see the floorplans are all very similar.

I chose my Grand Design based on the following:

1st and most important. My truck could safely tow it

2nd We loved the floorplan.

3rd While Grand Design has issues the way they seem to address them is a whole lot better than other manufactures.

4th The dealer knows the product and is able to service it

One thing to mention is that Grand Design has been bought by Winnabego (sp). Things are bound to change and we will see if it is for the good or not.

One other thing you can do is once you have narrowed down your list, then most RV's have owners forums. Go on these forums and see what actual owners are saying about not only the RV BUT also how the manufactor stands behind them. Then find a reputable dealer for that brand and go make the deal.

Good luck!

Dave

Good response Dave. It works for you and support.

[ReneeG]

WTP-GC wrote:

goducks10 wrote:


I've been reading in the GD forum since it's inception. I was excited to see a new company enter the RV market. In the end they're just like the others. That means they can build some just as good or just as bad as the others. That holds true for all brands.
In some areas they're built better than others and some areas they scrimp more than others.
There's happy customers and unhappy customers in all brands.

When we were in process of getting a new rig, I had a candid conversation with a tech at the dealership (very large dealership, MANY brands). He had no skin in the game regarding any particular manufacturer, but he said that of all the units that come through there for any kind of service, GD is by far the one they see the least. If I remember correctly, he said the ratio is like 1 GD coach for every 10-15 Forest River products. Now I'm sure his math isn't exact, but the point is that he had no reason to tell me this or make up a story a that time.

This reminded me that after we bought our Bighorn in 2010, the same dealer quit carrying it in 2014. On the side, one of the techs told me that they quite carrying them because the quality dropped significantly within the last couple of years (2012 - 2013). Listen to the techs. They are in the trenches and know the products.