Best Quality Motor Homes

[Floridastorm]

Not taking in account price, what are the best quality motor homes out there? Which are the worst?

Class A - Gasoline only and not buses

Class B

Class C

Vans

I am willing to invest more for quality workmanship and reliability.

[2gypsies1]

irishtom29 wrote:

PghBob wrote:
Lazy Daze Class C units have aircraft grade aluminum panels for the exterior walls and roof. Aluminum does not delaminate. Yes, the appliances are pretty much the same as found elsewhere. IMO, the build quality is much better than the mass produced units.

Back east we hear rumors that the Western deserts are rife with women living in Lazy Dazes.

That's true of some single women RVers but certainly not all. We've seen singles driving most any size or type.

[pnichols]

irishtom29 wrote:
Back east we hear rumors that the Western deserts are rife with women living in Lazy Dazes.

For what it's worth ... we have done volunteer work among the poor in the Kentucky hills. The women there are living in mobile structures far different than Lazy Dazes Class C motorhomes.

By the way, I believe that Lazy Daze may still be using wood framing inside their walls ... it seems like steel or aluminum would ultimately be superior. Also, LD aluminum panels are of course pieces that are riveted together ... as opposed to a single piece seamless shell like Coach House uses. In addition, LD outside storage bays are not all that large.

[irishtom29]

PghBob wrote:
Lazy Daze Class C units have aircraft grade aluminum panels for the exterior walls and roof. Aluminum does not delaminate. Yes, the appliances are pretty much the same as found elsewhere. IMO, the build quality is much better than the mass produced units.

Back east we hear rumors that the Western deserts are rife with women living in Lazy Dazes.

[pnichols]

And these guys use mostly marine components for interior appliances, wiring, and plumbing: http://earthroamer.com/xv-hd/

[PghBob]

Lazy Daze Class C units have aircraft grade aluminum panels for the exterior walls and roof. Aluminum does not delaminate. Yes, the appliances are pretty much the same as found elsewhere. IMO, the build quality is much better than the mass produced units.

[Bruce_Brown]

It's odd how they pick and choose the chassis they use. You are 100% correct on the 24,000# chassis with the 34'er, and on the 36' 1" they go to a 26,000# chassis - yet on the 36'5" and 37' 6" they drop back to a 24,000# chassis. Why?

On all of Newmars Canyon Stars they use the 26,000# chassis, regardless of length. On the Baystars they primarily use the 22,000# chassis, bumping up to the 24,000# on the 35' 11" models.

Winnebago seems to use a different chassis for every length on the Adventurer, and it seems to be hard to find anything heavier than a 22,000# after that.

My point is, like always, everyone needs to research the MH they're considering first and pick what works for them. IMO to say Tiffin has better bones is painting with too broad of a brush, as it varies between competitive models and floorplans.

[irishtom29]

Bruce Brown wrote:

irishtom29 wrote:
Objectively in a class A gasser Tiffin has the best bones---heavier chassis, longer wheelbase than the competition, including Newmar. Newmar comes next, them Winnebago.

Wheelbase aside, let's talk wet bays and blowing off roofs, as well as delamination. On the wheelbase issue, taken from each mfgs web sites, the longest Tiffin gasser has a .553 ratio, the longest Newmar has a .543 to .555, so that's about a wash. The longest Winnie has a .534 ratio, worst of the bunch.

In the gas world, as far as I know, only Newmar and the Monaco twins aren't laminated. Structurally I'm a big fan of hung wall construction and me, personally, wouldn't own a laminated unit - but that's just me. As always, others will have differing opinions.

Going through all three outfits I named entire gas line ups (as I did when researching buying our RV) you'll see that Tiffin often has the longest wheelbase and heaviest chassis for a given size. For instance in a 34 footer Tiffin has the only rig on the 24,000 pound chassis and at 228" the longest wheelbase.

I was aware of Newmar's wall construction methods when buying our coach but I favored the Tiffin's heavier chassis and longer wheelbase more than Newmar's walls. Pick your poison.

[Bruce_Brown]

irishtom29 wrote:
Objectively in a class A gasser Tiffin has the best bones---heavier chassis, longer wheelbase than the competition, including Newmar. Newmar comes next, them Winnebago.

Wheelbase aside, let's talk wet bays and blowing off roofs, as well as delamination. On the wheelbase issue, taken from each mfgs web sites, the longest Tiffin gasser has a .553 ratio, the longest Newmar has a .543 to .555, so that's about a wash. The longest Winnie has a .534 ratio, worst of the bunch.

In the gas world, as far as I know, only Newmar and the Monaco twins aren't laminated. Structurally I'm a big fan of hung wall construction and me, personally, wouldn't own a laminated unit - but that's just me. As always, others will have differing opinions.

[jeffcarp]

It's not accurate that all manufacturers use the same process to build the house on the chassis. Many manufacturers pass the chassis down an assembly line and every process is done by a different employee or group of employees.

Others, and Born Free is one of them, park the chassis in the same spot for the entire build. The same 5 person team builds the entire coach from the chassis up. The customer knows the team member names and receives pictures periodically through the process.

[Gjac]

If you think about it all MH MFG's use the same chassis to build their house one. They all use the same systems, refers, WH's, Jacks, AC's etc. The house portion is either bonded walls or hung walls. If bonded walls I can't find any MFG that tells you what adhesives they use they just use marketing terms so I don't think one is any better than another. These can all delaminate. Newmar uses the hung wall which cannot delaminate so to me this is a discriminator. Winnabago seems to have better documentation as far as there wiring and systems on line. Tiffen seems to have good customer service to fix problems afterwards but don't seem to have fewer warranty problems that the others. As far as higher end models having better quality they use the same production processes, workers and materials for the house portion but more expensive counter tops, fixtures, TV's,outside entertainment systems etc, which to me does not make it higher quality. To me the big things to look for is the CCC, how weight is distributed, 228 or 208 min WB, ample storage and FW. Some systems are better that others I would choose the HWH over the Lippert system for jacks, would stay away from the Norcold 1200 refer and Swintec slides. If buying older good maintenance trumps brand from what I have seen. Good luck in your search, it is not easy.

[Luke_Porter]

irishtom29 wrote:
Objectively in a class A gasser Tiffin has the best bones---heavier chassis, longer wheelbase than the competition, including Newmar. Newmar comes next, them Winnebago.

Newmar, Winnebago and Tiffin all use the Ford chassis.

[pnichols]

In my opinion an expedition vehicle is the ultimate "motorhome".

Some of them are in a whole different universe from any RVs mentioned so far in this discussion. Being able to live completely self-contained and safe off-road out in the middle of 4X4 nowhere for weeks at a time requires engineering, design, and construction off the charts. I consider this as "quality".

[2gypsies1]

Dennis12 wrote:
There is not a manufacturer out there that builds a quality RV of any type. If you find one that puts personal pride and workmanship in there product you will not be able to buy it. Not the price, it will be how soon they can get it to you. Everybody will go to it.

Newmar takes pride in what they build.... been around for 50 years.

[jeffcarp]

Wow, Dennis12, that sure doesn't match personal experiences I've had with certain manufacturers. To just name two examples I'd be willing to bet you don't have any personal experience with LVT or Born Free if you make that statement.