Carriage Fifth Wheels

[hinterland]

Curious, does anyone on here, have a Carriage product for full time? Or know of a friend who does? Any opinions?

We have an opportunity for one, it's a 27' rear kitchen, with 2 slides. We do winter in Canada, and we already have an Okanagan which is real good quality, but just wonder if anyone has experience with a Carriage. It's the Compass C2, and we do RV Full Time in Canada all year round.

We did look at a short video detailing construction, but all companies say theirs is the best. (smiles)

[pigdoc]

I bought a new 2012 Cameo 37RSQ, and had no problems with it. My wife insisted on a shorter RV, so I traded it recently at Tom Johnson Camping World for a '10 Cameo 32FWS. The 2012 unit is still for sale, and we've been happy with the shorter unit.

[jsr21]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

jsr21 wrote:
Sorry gotta disagree....I sell lots of used Carriages and I think the quality in the latest ones are excellent...what are the glitches you speak of? Also I don't believe he went on to another company

Hmmmm - can understand not "disparaging" what you sell.

However.........

The "saga" of Carriage can be found by Googling "Carriage Bankruptcy".

Another source with all the articles/details is - RV Business

"Glitches" -
Quality *had* to suffer when (if) the employees got wind of the company's demise..,:W

~

I am just a small dealer that only sells used...no new. I only buy what I like for my inventory. I have had several Carriage products from 2005 and newer...probably 30 2011 and 2012's. If anything I think the quality is better on these than the older ones. Just my experience

[hinterland]

Hello,

We found a brochure online, but in comparing that brochure to the 2006 Carriage brochure, as to the Construction paragraphs, it seems quite a bit different. Not sure what to think, as we were going to put a deposit on it today. Here is the link to the brochures.
Here is the Compass C2
http://www.jerrystrailers.com/fckimages/2006Brochures/2006_Carriage_Compass_C2.pdf
And here for the Carriage http://www.jerrystrailers.com/fckimages/2006Brochures/2006_Carriage.pdf

Not sure if the Compass line has the better insulation and construction, as the brochure does not say what the ratings are, like it does in the carriage.

[Traveler_II]

FiverBob wrote:

jsr21 wrote:
Fiver Bob...why would you tell people to stay away from 2011 and newer Carriage product? They produced until part way thru the 2012 model year.

Regretfully the president of the company in those last few years was milking it for all the profit he could squeeze because that is what was making him his big bonus. He left the company in somewhat rough shape and it went bankrupt shortly following his departure to go to another company and develop a competing brand that was anything but wonderful. He was not allowing any improvements at Carriage to correct or improve anything on the different lines that would cost money - - it caught up with them. Most of the workers and engineering people went to another company and created the Lifestyle, a close copy of the Cameo line but with the many updates they wanted to put into the Carriage line, but were not allowed to those last couple years. Carriage was a great unit, but those last couple years had some glitches that can give problems. Hence, my suggestion pretty much anything prior to 2011 is a great unit. Mine sure has been. Very well insulated even with single pane windows. Very good cabinetry, all made in house along with the frame.

One poster made a comment about tires - - that is one place that was scrimped on - - on anything above the Cameo line, be sure to upgrade the tires to at least G-614's. Look for MorRyde IS suspension also and disk brakes.

I believe that the top executive of Carriage at the time moved to Thor to start Redwood. I believe he has just moved again to Evergreen. Near the end of Carriage and the president you are talking about moved on the owner came back out of retirement and was trying to make changes. We toured the plant in August of 2011 and was impressed with all the QC that was in place. The bank that had the loan sold the loan and the bigger bank called that loan.

G-614, IS suspension, and disk brakes were options at the time that you could get. Our 2011 Cameo has these options. I'm not sure what glitches you are talking about. Our Cameo has been a great rig and the few problems we've had are things like the water pump not working and the heater on our fireplace stopped last month. We've had far greater problems with other RVs we've owned.

[kennethwooster]

We have a 2012 Cameo 32 ft. It's heavy and build excellent. It is double pane. We use it in Colorado but have. Also used it in Texas Panhandle. We're happy. With it it's ability for cold weather.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

jsr21 wrote:
Sorry gotta disagree....I sell lots of used Carriages and I think the quality in the latest ones are excellent...what are the glitches you speak of? Also I don't believe he went on to another company

Hmmmm - can understand not "disparaging" what you sell.

However.........

The "saga" of Carriage can be found by Googling "Carriage Bankruptcy".

Another source with all the articles/details is - RV Business

"Glitches" -
Quality *had* to suffer when (if) the employees got wind of the company's demise..,:W

~

[hinterland]

This is excellent information that we will keep for future reference. Thank you so much for sharing this. We plan on going ahead to purchase it. Should have it next week if no issues arise on final inspection.

samandtheduck wrote:
We have a 2006 Compass 33CKQ (33 feet, 4 slides) and took it from Saskatchewan to Arizona one winter. We stayed a few places where the water supply hose would be frozen in the morning but the trailer was warm. Probably just a few degrees below freezing so no real test. We have had the trailer for 8 years and it has stood up very well. Replaced the original Towmax tires with Carlisle and had blowouts so went with 17" tires and no problems. Replaced the LRE suspension rubber components and added greasable shackles last year (MorRyde says 5-6 years life expectancy so to be expected). Replaced the convertor 3 or 4 years ago and the batteries failed this year. Other than that everything has been great and I would buy another if they were still around. The dual pane windows reduce the noise and never fog up. This Compass has all the options and I can't see the difference between it and a Cameo. Maybe that is why it was only produced a few years.

[jsr21]

Sorry gotta disagree....I sell lots of used Carriages and I think the quality in the latest ones are excellent...what are the glitches you speak of? Also I don't believe he went on to another company

[FiverBob]

jsr21 wrote:
Fiver Bob...why would you tell people to stay away from 2011 and newer Carriage product? They produced until part way thru the 2012 model year.

Regretfully the president of the company in those last few years was milking it for all the profit he could squeeze because that is what was making him his big bonus. He left the company in somewhat rough shape and it went bankrupt shortly following his departure to go to another company and develop a competing brand that was anything but wonderful. He was not allowing any improvements at Carriage to correct or improve anything on the different lines that would cost money - - it caught up with them. Most of the workers and engineering people went to another company and created the Lifestyle, a close copy of the Cameo line but with the many updates they wanted to put into the Carriage line, but were not allowed to those last couple years. Carriage was a great unit, but those last couple years had some glitches that can give problems. Hence, my suggestion pretty much anything prior to 2011 is a great unit. Mine sure has been. Very well insulated even with single pane windows. Very good cabinetry, all made in house along with the frame.

One poster made a comment about tires - - that is one place that was scrimped on - - on anything above the Cameo line, be sure to upgrade the tires to at least G-614's. Look for MorRyde IS suspension also and disk brakes.

[samandtheduck]

We have a 2006 Compass 33CKQ (33 feet, 4 slides) and took it from Saskatchewan to Arizona one winter. We stayed a few places where the water supply hose would be frozen in the morning but the trailer was warm. Probably just a few degrees below freezing so no real test. We have had the trailer for 8 years and it has stood up very well. Replaced the original Towmax tires with Carlisle and had blowouts so went with 17" tires and no problems. Replaced the LRE suspension rubber components and added greasable shackles last year (MorRyde says 5-6 years life expectancy so to be expected). Replaced the convertor 3 or 4 years ago and the batteries failed this year. Other than that everything has been great and I would buy another if they were still around. The dual pane windows reduce the noise and never fog up. This Compass has all the options and I can't see the difference between it and a Cameo. Maybe that is why it was only produced a few years.

[jsr21]

Fiver Bob...why would you tell people to stay away from 2011 and newer Carriage product? They produced until part way thru the 2012 model year.

[hinterland]

Wow, this is such great information about the Carriage line.

[FiverBob]

Carriage made a good unit. Mine is now 16 years old and the problems have been miniscule. They have a very good frame with unique design for the slide mechanism. As stated, stay away from the 2011 up. Mine is the Carriage LS362 with triple slides and all the goodies. You could also try this website for Carriage information - - https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Carriage_RV/info. Large forum with lots of seasoned owners on board that share well with one another.

As for boondocking with it - - is there another way to camp???? LOL
We are good for a week at least before needing attention. I have stayed in a dry camp for over a month with our unit. I do have large batteries, hard wired inverter and generator. We have been in cold and hot with no problems. It has been a great unit.

Bob

[Veebyes]

hinterland wrote:
Has anyone boondocked with a Carriage product? What length of unit?

One of the reasons Carriage was on our short list was the 100gal freshwater tank.

Where some of these builders think that you are going on itty bitty tanks is beyond me. 60 gal might get 2 people through 3 days.

For drycamping freshwater will be your #1 limiter on how many days you can go offgrid followed to some degree by battery bank size & the ability to recharge it.

[hinterland]

Has anyone boondocked with a Carriage product? What length of unit?