Is there a QUALITY Travel Trailer still built?

[bbaley]

I have new Keystone Cougar TT and I am sick of it.
There is nothing about it that doesn't scream "I am going to break or fall apart in a few more miles"

I previously had an R-Vision which was built 300% better than this,
and previous to that a Fleetwood Tent Trailer - also built really really well.

Sadly, even though made in my home state, this thing just stinks.
Everything is flimsy, half completed junk work done by some guy who didn't care late on Friday afternoon, and components chosen to save pennies.

Is there anything in the functional world of travel trailers (e.g. not Airstream) that isn't complete JUNK ?

I am ready to trade.

[hvac]

Try looking at camplite trailers. Particularly those 2 years or older. Ours all aluminum. Top to bottom. Ours is incredibly durable. Thor bought them and cutting on quality. Same happened to Airstream. Too bad

[gypsmjim]

cruz-in wrote:
there seems to be a lot of variance trailer to trailer within each manufacturer...which is a sign of poor quality control...We have an Evergreen Toyhauler...very heavily built...we spent over 8 months in it with very few issues...However, we have chatted with others who have had all sorts of problems with Evergreen...

I suspect the same can be said for most trailer manufacturers...Until one becomes ISO 9000 certified....they will not have repeatable quality.

Boy I had to laugh when I read this. ISO certification is the biggest scam there is. Being ISO means you jumped thru some hoops and developed a formal process. Lots of **** products out there that got certified, but then the procedures were not followed.

[GrandpaKip]

bbaley wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:
I still just don't understand what you gripers expect for the amount of money you are willing to spend. Do you want it to be as reliable as an automobile?

If you read my posts, I said
"I understand price. I get that we can't go to Home Depot and get the cheapest part for $0.15 and get knowledgeable people to work for $12 an hour."

So, yes as stated I do realize we can't all get wal-mart prices and expect rolls-royce quailty.

That is not what the post was about, it is not just griping or whining. As the title said, and further replies mentioned, the question is, IS there anything that is "reliable as a car" as you put it. No price issue was raised as part of the question.

And the short answer is no, as far as I know. And that is because of cost. It's all related. The RV industry doesn't make "junk" because it wants to.
Anyhow, I like my camper, fix stuff that goes wrong, so I can go somewhere.
I apologize if I ruffled some feathers.

[bbaley]

GrandpaKip wrote:
I still just don't understand what you gripers expect for the amount of money you are willing to spend. Do you want it to be as reliable as an automobile?

If you read my posts, I said
"I understand price. I get that we can't go to Home Depot and get the cheapest part for $0.15 and get knowledgeable people to work for $12 an hour."

So, yes as stated I do realize we can't all get wal-mart prices and expect rolls-royce quailty.

That is not what the post was about, it is not just griping or whining. As the title said, and further replies mentioned, the question is, IS there anything that is "reliable as a car" as you put it. No price issue was raised as part of the question.

[wrenchbender]

I have a BIGFOOT and I purchased it for that exact reason.After 10 yrs I am thinking of going larger and in my hunt for a replacement I am shocked by the JUNK offered.

[westend]

HappyCamper wrote:
but, that darn roof, I refuse to play that silly game, climb up twice a year, if you don't, your trailer will turn worthless in a few years..

You're sort of overstating the roof maintenance but, if you don't want to seal it every so often, why not cover the seams and through holes with Eternabond?

Should you HAVE to do that because of poor roof construction? I would vote no, it's just another haphazard construction technique.

FWIW, I chose to buy a 40 year old trailer because of what's under the floor. It had leaked for so long that I could slide my arm through the wall. $5K later and many hours of labor, it is now better than what I can get new. I know most folks don't have that option but have to endure with what they get. In some cases, it is very poorly made.

What is more important is how Dusty likes his home on wheels. :B

[goducks10]

If you think the quality's bad now just wait a few more months. RV MFGs are backed up with orders and are looking anywhere for help. The workforce is tapped out so any new hires will be the bottom of the barrel. It reminds me of when I was working in construction. During boom times we had to hire all the riff raff. When things got slow then the riff raff was gone and the better workers were left to do the job.
http://wbaa.org/post/elkhart-post-recession-rv-sales-boom-strains-workforce

[RedRocket204]

Happy.Camper wrote:
I think my gripe is a little different than most, I purchased my used already 10 years old. I still paid $9,000, but it was a bumper pull toy hauler

don't even know how to light the water heater, don't care. never mounted the tv in the corner like its supposed to, actually sold the tv instead .

but, that darn roof, I refuse to play that silly game, climb up twice a year, if you don't, your trailer will turn worthless in a few years..


How come I never have to check the roof of my silverado truck for leaks ? it does have a funny ONstar or XM antenna coming out of the roof, how did they find a way to have that never leak, but campers can't ? why do I have to caulk my camper antenna every year ?

But you do need to do maintenance by changing the oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, etc.

Just the way it goes.

[Happy_Camper3]

GrandpaKip wrote:
I still just don't understand what you gripers expect for the amount of money you are willing to spend. Do you want it to be as reliable as an automobile? Look what they cost, but without a bathroom, kitchen, place to eat or sleep. Add that all together. Now, you can buy a Class B RV, but it's not gonna have the room of a 30' TT with one or two slides.
Once again, I'm pretty amazed that I can pull my little home down the road at 65mph, with all its amenities, for less than $15k. Over and over, all year. Just a few hours of maintenance per year.
All the pleasure it brings is worth it to me.
If it bothered me the way it bothers a lot of you guys, I'd go find another hobby. But don't do boats, you will really go insane.

For those of you who truly got a lemon, I feel very sorry it happened to you.

I think my gripe is a little different than most, I purchased my used already 10 years old. I still paid $9,000, but it was a bumper pull toy hauler

don't even know how to light the water heater, don't care. never mounted the tv in the corner like its supposed to, actually sold the tv instead .

but, that darn roof, I refuse to play that silly game, climb up twice a year, if you don't, your trailer will turn worthless in a few years..


How come I never have to check the roof of my silverado truck for leaks ? it does have a funny ONstar or XM antenna coming out of the roof, how did they find a way to have that never leak, but campers can't ? why do I have to caulk my camper antenna every year ?

[beemerphile1]

GrandpaKip wrote:
I still just don't understand what you gripers expect for the amount of money you are willing to spend. Do you want it to be as reliable as an automobile? Look what they cost, but without a bathroom, kitchen, place to eat or sleep. Add that all together. Now, you can buy a Class B RV, but it's not gonna have the room of a 30' TT with one or two slides.
Once again, I'm pretty amazed that I can pull my little home down the road at 65mph, with all its amenities, for less than $15k. Over and over, all year. Just a few hours of maintenance per year.
All the pleasure it brings is worth it to me.
If it bothered me the way it bothers a lot of you guys, I'd go find another hobby. But don't do boats, you will really go insane.

For those of you who truly got a lemon, I feel very sorry it happened to you.

I don't believe money is really the issue. We are shopping for fifth wheels in the $90,000 price range. Even they have complaints of leaks, and poor construction.

[GrandpaKip]

I still just don't understand what you gripers expect for the amount of money you are willing to spend. Do you want it to be as reliable as an automobile? Look what they cost, but without a bathroom, kitchen, place to eat or sleep. Add that all together. Now, you can buy a Class B RV, but it's not gonna have the room of a 30' TT with one or two slides.
Once again, I'm pretty amazed that I can pull my little home down the road at 65mph, with all its amenities, for less than $15k. Over and over, all year. Just a few hours of maintenance per year.
All the pleasure it brings is worth it to me.
If it bothered me the way it bothers a lot of you guys, I'd go find another hobby. But don't do boats, you will really go insane.

For those of you who truly got a lemon, I feel very sorry it happened to you.

[thomasmnile]

Happy.Camper wrote:
They are all junk, every last one of them .

True, that. Some just less so than others. Other than answering the consumer demand for cheap (though posted prices at a dealer even make me wonder about that) could it be manufacturers know that RV owners (some not all) don't hang on to them long before trading?

Only stuff I've ever seen that didn't feature shoddy construction was from builders like Millenium Coach, Marathon, etc. But alas, just a bit out of my price range. 😞

[Happy_Camper3]

They are all junk, every last one of them . There is absolutly no reason we should have to climb on the roof, and add sealant to every seam TWICE A YEAR!

there has to be a better way. Why isn't all the wood in these campers super green treated like the wood under the carpet in a pontoon ?

Pontoons have lots of wood, and have carpet , that gets just sloshed around with water every time they go on the lake, and those still last 10-15 years being EXPOSED to water...

and our campers, spring 3 leaks every 5 years, and if we don't catch it, patch it and fix it. the camper magically dissolves into mush and becomes worthless.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

RedRocket204 wrote:

bbaley wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
Dusty is not a weasel and highly resents that statement from you.

We have a chiweenie in the group, I definitely classify her as some type of weasel (or bat if you hold her upside-down).

No offense to your non-weasel 🙂

I completely agree with you on the Airstreams being non-functional for a family with a larger dog(s). Airstreams are very nice inside and out but it's the limiting inside space that makes it difficult for anything other than 2 persons and a smaller dog... my opinion too!

BTW, bbaley, you can't be too bad, you own Sage fly rods so you expect quality! 🙂

🙂 Hi, we have what is called a six, four, two trailer; It seats six, dines four, and sleeps two. Dusty's bed is under the table. Our trailer is definitely not a family unit.

[Vintage465]

We looked for quite a while before settling on an CreekSide by Outdoors RV Mfg. What happened with us is this: We had our top three things, big window, U-shaped Dinete, and walk around queen sized bed. From the "quality" stand point the CreekSide gave us 2" Alluminum Framed walls when most Aluminum Framed Trailers are 1-1/2". Also had shocks, a 66 gallon tank(pretty unheard of for a trailer that size), LED lights, CNC cut out windows, genuinely Solar Ready and stuff like that. Those are the type of things the manufacturer calls "quality". In reality the quality of the rig isn't really that great. For the most part it has the right stuff in the right places and I can fix, modify or adjust the rest of the short comings to my level of acceptable quality. The one "conventional" travel trailer that seems pretty close to a quality trailer is a Big Foot......But a Big Foot cost at least 20k more than my CreekSide. The only thing that has given up is the SurFlo Pump and that isn't really due to craftsmanship.