Primetime Crusader

[Colo_Native]

Anyone have one and what do you think? When the Class A sells we are considering one.

[roddiemacdonald]

R - E W9 wrote:
We bought a Crusader 325RES March of 14. Best bang for the buck that we could find.It has some features we liked and some things we didn't, but after lots of research and looking at everything we ended with the Crusader. Have had some problems (more dealer than trailer)but finally have it good. We have done lots of modifications,silverware drawer, front closet, insulation in front cap and lots of other things.
For cost/ weight/ mid profile trailer we couldn't find anything that compares. And as far as quality goes even high end $100k trailers have problems.
good luck with your choice.

Would love to see how you made the modifications you talked about, i.e. the front closet

[R_-_E_W9]

We bought a Crusader 325RES March of 14. Best bang for the buck that we could find.It has some features we liked and some things we didn't, but after lots of research and looking at everything we ended with the Crusader. Have had some problems (more dealer than trailer)but finally have it good. We have done lots of modifications,silverware drawer, front closet, insulation in front cap and lots of other things.
For cost/ weight/ mid profile trailer we couldn't find anything that compares. And as far as quality goes even high end $100k trailers have problems.
good luck with your choice.

[roddiemacdonald]

We have a 2013 325RES, love the lay out, lot's of room, hauls great. There' lots of room in the storage, only wish they put more thought into the winterizing system. Really don't have any complaints.

[lee_worsdell]

we had a 335 2014 crusader bunk model it was a good trailer . auto levelers fp and lots more. Never had any issues with it. just didn't work for us any more went to a rear entertainment unit

[Paul_Clancy]

We very much enjoy our 2014 295rst touring edition. Floor plan, triple slide, light weight and amazing value. I didn't find another brand for less than an extra 10g that had the same features. There may be some first year bugs as most trailers have. A good dealer who will work closely with prime time will solve most things.

[IH_Fan]

Hi - Posted this back in Sept 2014 regarding our Prime Time 351 REQ. Hope this helps............:

Hi folks,

I thought I would take a bit of time to describe our first trip out to Cape Cod with our new 2014 Prime Time Crusader 351 REQ (with four slides). This is a new floor plan for the Crusader line, so when we were shopping there wasn’t a lot of information out there with other people’s thoughts/experiences. Here’s a few from new owners and hope this will be of use to someone who may be looking at this floor plan.

Let me say this first – we really like the floor plan. It works for my wife and I. This is a step up from our old Coachman Catalina lite TT that we bought back in 2000 brand new. This model is also the first FW we have owned.

From front-to-back here’s what we found after a good shake down run that ran us from London Ontario, to Herchemer NY, then to Cape Cod where we stayed for 4 days. Then we headed back to London Ontario though Watkins-Glen NY. We pulled 2,500 km on this trip and spent a week camping.

The bedroom was roomy for us and worked well. It comes roughed in for a washer/dryer, but we did not buy one when we purchased the trailer. We found we could use camp ground facilities much more quickly – it just works for us (and was confirmed during this trip). There is a lot of storage in the bedroom between the closet, the dresser, and under the bed. The bathroom in this model is huge with lots of space. It comes with 2 sinks, and once again lots of storage space. There is a skylight over the shower as well.

The kitchen area is spacious and comes with a residential fridge. The kitchen has solid surface countertops. There is a wine rack over the fridge and is a nice touch. The microwave and oven are the standard trailer type. We did find lighting the pilot in the oven to be a bit of a pain as there isn’t much room to maneuver given the layout of the kitchen counter. This isn’t a deal breaker in our minds, but something we should point out. We were disappointed that the ceiling fan in the kitchen area is NOT remote controlled. You need a step ladder to open it and turn it on! We had a fantastic fan installed upon purchase as it’s a necessity – heads-up!!

The entertainment area is fantastic with no complaints. The couch and rockers are comfortable and the kitchen table is well placed.

This model comes with one 15,000 BTU AC. We experienced a couple of milder/humid evenings and found the bedroom would get mild in the early morning. Given the size of the bedroom and the location of the ceiling vent, we’ve decided to install a second fantastic fan as a second AC might be over-kill as opening the vent cooled the room down – we found better air circulation would make a world of difference.

This model comes with self-leveling and I couldn’t imagine not having this. We did install JT strong arms and this works very well with this model.

As for warranty issues we only had one: One propane gauge was faulty as it showed full instead of empty – yes we found this out the hard way. Not a big issue considering the size and options that this model has.

In the end we are very pleased with our purchase. The floor plan works for us, and we found the quality to be very good. The only thing I would caution anyone on is to have a fantastic fan installed in the kitchen. A second fantastic fan or AC (or nothing at all) in the bedroom is a personal choice, from what we determined.

I hope this has been helpful and if you have any questions, please let me know.

[goducks10]

If we judged all RV problems by those posting on the internet then why would anyone want to own one. According to the internet every brand has had a catastrophic problem. Gotta take your chances I guess.

[sportsman01]

MAY WANT TO THINK TWICEABOUT PRIMETIME. my wife and i ordered a 295rst te crusader last october it was ordered with minimal carpet and a few other options. we took delivery on feburary the 15th 2014 the weather was bad long story short we got to go on a shakedown cruise in april. as expected had a few little issues like smoke from the neighbors campfire getting drawn in when the heat was on,the rear heat register did not blow heat, you know minor things. on the second trip every thing went well until we got ready to leave then when rolling in the off door slide the one with the dining table and theater seating litterly ripped the rear heat register out of the floor. took it to the dealer they said no problem should be ready next saturday. they kept it 41 days they were in touch with the factory trying what they said and could not repair. then lippert the manufacturer of the slide sent a factory man out no luck either.we were forced to take the unit on a trip to florida in october with it still broken. dropped the unit at dealers on the way home from florida november the 1st 2014 to be sent back to the factory for repairs.we were told by john at primetime it would be sometime november when it went in the shop and sometime december when we would get it back. AS OF THIS POST FEBURARY 12TH 2015 THE UNIT IS STILL AT THE FACTOR AND STILL NOT REPAIRED . WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET THE UNIT FIXED FOR ALMOST 9 MONTHS NOW.

[lagotz]

I have been considering the 315 as well. What is you TV?

Houstonkid wrote:
We purchased the 315RST last summer and absolutely love it. It is our 2nd Prime Time product and I would not hesitate to buy another. Our first was the Lacrosse and it never needed to go back to the dealer for repairs after purchase. The Crusader has been in once because the auto-level system quit working (jacks) and it is going back in for heater issues, partly caused by me.

[Charlie_D_]

We have a 2013 330MKS bought in July 2012 and about 15,000 miles, Had the dealer replace the ST tires with the LT tires from my previous rig. There has been 0 issues except for the slide bottom material and feel that it is a good value for the money. I have done some modifications on my own to prevent water from damaging the edges.

Look under the slide and check the material on the bottom. If it is a woven material I would pass on the rig. That material bunches up and tears after being cycled a number of times. It will alkso allow water/moisture to pass through. Prime Time denies there is an issue although they have probably changed the material used. Repeated questions on the Prime Time forum has had no response in over 18 months with posts still running. Some have taken their units in repeatedly for bunching/tearing and the solution is usually adding tape to the wear areas. Some posters have posted
their solutions. The covered bottom of my rig and many others is MDF. Google that to find that it has to be the worst possible material to use. If it gets wet it will not dry but will dissolve to the paper pulp that it is.

Owners are usually are positive about factory assistance with the typical few that can not seem to get their issues resolved. I usually read posts 4-5 per week and receive updates daily. It appears to me that there is a slowly growing group of members who are not getting responses from the factory. Some have said no responses from emails after repeated inquiries. Phone calls are usually answered. Good luck.

Go to the Prime Time Forum and look for the post: "Slide out /Underside wearing" by Palatokidd dated 8/11/13 that is still running. I am not Platokidd but I have posted on it a number of times.

[kohai]

lpxguy wrote:
Our 335bhs is awesome for our family of 4. I feel you get a lot of bang for the buck with Primetime. Fit & finish is very good. Yea there are few small problems but there is no perfect rv.

My biggest beef & it's a major one...fading of the front cap. Mine showed signs only a few mos. out of warr.& looks horrible! FR not willing to fix it, they would only contribute about 1/3 of repair cost. They have a big problem with their gelcoat. My understanding is this is not exclusive to FR as other makers having the same problem.

Would I buy another PT? yes it's a great rig with a ton of cool std. features.

I wonder if a vinyl wrap for the front cap would be a good affordable solution for those out of warranty.

[lpxguy]

Our 335bhs is awesome for our family of 4. I feel you get a lot of bang for the buck with Primetime. Fit & finish is very good. Yea there are few small problems but there is no perfect rv.

My biggest beef & it's a major one...fading of the front cap. Mine showed signs only a few mos. out of warr.& looks horrible! FR not willing to fix it, they would only contribute about 1/3 of repair cost. They have a big problem with their gelcoat. My understanding is this is not exclusive to FR as other makers having the same problem.

Would I buy another PT? yes it's a great rig with a ton of cool std. features. Oh and light weight too!

[RRinNFla]

Bought a 295RST in August. Love the layout, the convenience of the controls, etc.

Took it for a shakedown and everything seemed to be OK. Tried the furnace last month for the first time. The propane would not light. The DSI spark board was defective. In the shop now waiting for parts. Lesson learned: try everything on the shakedown, try the A/C if it's winter, try the furnace if it's summer.

As to the dinette, our old rig had a built-in. The new rig has a free-standing. I like the free-standing much better.

[kohai]

Houstonkid wrote:

kohai wrote:


I would recommend browsing the PT forum. Just keep in mind that you likely see more grumblers on the forum because the happy people don't have as many reasons to post.
Prime Time Forum

lol, the very top thread over there right now is me grumbling 😉

I've done my share of grumbling too. 🙂

My frustrations seem to be things that are true across many brands or are dealer related. This industry has a weird expectation that customers should just "deal with it" when it comes to quality issues because all of the manufacturers have similar issues.