Jayco and travel trailer quality

[DallasSteve]

I posted a comment in another thread about a Jayco travel trailer model and the OP replied that he had not heard good things about the quality of Jayco trailers. I don't know which trailers have a good reputation for quality or not so I did a quick search on the Internet for rankings of travel trailers by quality. Jayco appears in several of those lists as being good quality. That makes me wonder.

Below is a list of the largest counts by manufacturers of a large search that I just did on RV Trader. I find it interesting that my dear friend Warren Buffet (I wish) owns the number 1 brand, Forest River. I don't hear much about Keystone, but I like a number of their plans, too. Jayco moves a lot of units, too. So who thinks Jayco is good, and who thinks they are bad, in terms of quality? My guess is if you're selling a bad product you're not going to get up or stay up in the rankings.

Forest River 10471
Keystone 8135
Jayco 3761
Heartland 2896
Coachmen 2280

[TomG2]

Hannibal wrote:

A little read on Thor and Jayco for the nay sayers...

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/business/thor-acquires-jayco-in-million-deal/article_5e680696-3...

What "naysayers"? The article states that the Jayco management will stay in place. Quality "might" go down, but not automatically based on the acquisition. It "might" improve with the additional resources that Thor can provide.

[Hannibal]

ata3001 wrote:

Hannibal wrote:

ata3001 wrote:

Hannibal wrote:
What year and model Jayco was that that had the shower drain into the black tank? I'd like to investigate this. Airstream also sets the floor on the chassis and then the entire fuselage is set on the floor. Not a design flaw. Even our house is built this way. Just curious.

It was a 2004 Jayfeather 165. It was our first hardsided TT purchased new.
It's a design flaw when it's left exposed to the elements and without any type of water barrier. Houses have siding to cover it. This had nothing. Just exposed edges of particle board flooring. The edges were painted black so not to be noticeable.
I realize it was an entry level TT, but these issues are inexcusable not to mention a serious health hazard with the tub issue. Imagine draining the tub with your 2yr old sitting in as you grab a towel.

With a trailer that small, I bet it only had one small holding tank. There are still some around.

It had a black tank and a gray tank from the factory. The only way to fix the tub problem was to add a second gray tank to which the tub then drained into, then pipe this new tank to the drain for the main gray tank. Also required a new separate vent line for this additional tank. To dump both gray tanks, I first dumped the main gray, then open a second valve allowing the second gray tank to dump thru the main gray valve.

Well I don't blame you then. Sounds like you're happy with your Dutchman. Can't argue with that!

[rbpru]

Basically Thor and Buffet pumped new life into an RV industry that had all but crashed in the recession.

I have not heard of an overall merger of products at this point. When the industry is on target to sell 500,000 5vers and TT a year, why mess with success.

Yes you can always upgrade to a premium product, they appear to be of better design and materials. But just how much do you need and what are you willing to spend? Also keep in mind that even the best brands produce a dud once in a while.

[ata3001]

Hannibal wrote:

ata3001 wrote:

Hannibal wrote:
What year and model Jayco was that that had the shower drain into the black tank? I'd like to investigate this. Airstream also sets the floor on the chassis and then the entire fuselage is set on the floor. Not a design flaw. Even our house is built this way. Just curious.

It was a 2004 Jayfeather 165. It was our first hardsided TT purchased new.
It's a design flaw when it's left exposed to the elements and without any type of water barrier. Houses have siding to cover it. This had nothing. Just exposed edges of particle board flooring. The edges were painted black so not to be noticeable.
I realize it was an entry level TT, but these issues are inexcusable not to mention a serious health hazard with the tub issue. Imagine draining the tub with your 2yr old sitting in as you grab a towel.

With a trailer that small, I bet it only had one small holding tank. There are still some around.

It had a black tank and a gray tank from the factory. The only way to fix the tub problem was to add a second gray tank to which the tub then drained into, then pipe this new tank to the drain for the main gray tank. Also required a new separate vent line for this additional tank. To dump both gray tanks, I first dumped the main gray, then open a second valve allowing the second gray tank to dump thru the main gray valve.

[Hannibal]

TomG2 wrote:
I doubt that all the Jayco employees were replaced on the day Thor took ownership. Automatically assuming quality took a dive is a little presumptive. Did the same think happen with Airstream?

A little read on Thor and Jayco for the nay sayers...

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/business/thor-acquires-jayco-in-million-deal/article_5e680696-3...

[Hannibal]

The 16.4' Airstream has one 21 gallon holding tank for both black and grey. https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/sport/floor-plans-specifications/

[TomG2]

I doubt that all the Jayco employees were replaced on the day Thor took ownership. Automatically assuming quality took a dive is a little presumptive. Did the same think happen with Airstream?

[Hannibal]

ata3001 wrote:

Hannibal wrote:
What year and model Jayco was that that had the shower drain into the black tank? I'd like to investigate this. Airstream also sets the floor on the chassis and then the entire fuselage is set on the floor. Not a design flaw. Even our house is built this way. Just curious.

It was a 2004 Jayfeather 165. It was our first hardsided TT purchased new.
It's a design flaw when it's left exposed to the elements and without any type of water barrier. Houses have siding to cover it. This had nothing. Just exposed edges of particle board flooring. The edges were painted black so not to be noticeable.
I realize it was an entry level TT, but these issues are inexcusable not to mention a serious health hazard with the tub issue. Imagine draining the tub with your 2yr old sitting in as you grab a towel.

With a trailer that small, I bet it only had one small holding tank. There are still some around.

[spoon059]

hsk1977 wrote:
My husband and I bought our first TT a few months ago. We looked at a Jayco but ended up with a Starcraft that was almost identical, including the 2-year warranty.

Before they were bought out by Thor, Jayco owned Starcraft. It is my understanding that Starcraft was a slightly more upscale trailer than Jayflights. They were made in the same factory by the same people though. I assume that is still the case.

[ata3001]

Hannibal wrote:
What year and model Jayco was that that had the shower drain into the black tank? I'd like to investigate this. Airstream also sets the floor on the chassis and then the entire fuselage is set on the floor. Not a design flaw. Even our house is built this way. Just curious.

It was a 2004 Jayfeather 165. It was our first hardsided TT purchased new.
It's a design flaw when it's left exposed to the elements and without any type of water barrier. Houses have siding to cover it. This had nothing. Just exposed edges of particle board flooring. The edges were painted black so not to be noticeable.
I realize it was an entry level TT, but these issues are inexcusable not to mention a serious health hazard with the tub issue. Imagine draining the tub with your 2yr old sitting in as you grab a towel.

[Hannibal]

What year and model Jayco was that that had the shower drain into the black tank? I'd like to investigate this. Airstream also sets the floor on the chassis and then the entire fuselage is set on the floor. Not a design flaw. Even our house is built this way. Just curious.

[ata3001]

Bought a new Jayco. After 2 yrs one third of the floor needed replacing because of a design flaw where the walls were set on top of the floors but then the exposed edges of the floors soaked up water running down the outside walls, like a sponge. You could literally see the edges of the floor standing outside the unit. Jayco ignored our request for repair. They had also plumbed the tub directly to the black tank which was directly below it. Imagine how happy I was to be taking a shower and have the black tank backup into the tub where I was standing. I forced them to add a second gray tank just for the tub and away from the black tank. Would I buy another Jayco? NEVER!!!
Bought a cheaper Dutchmen. Love it, no issues at all.

[myredracer]

Thor Industries now owns quite a few RV brands as can be found on the Thor Industries website.: Jayco, Keystone, KZ, Airstream, Crossroads, Dutchmen and others.

Thor, as an umbrella company to many brands, is driven by bottom line profits just like the rest of them. From what I understand, when Thor bought these companies, they did not meddle a whole lot with their design and production but I could be wrong. We have a 2014 KZ which was built just before Thor took over and before that we had the identical 2013 model of KZ TT. The 2014 model is worse quality overall and am still finding problems. I would never buy a Keystone TT as I've seen and heard about problems first hand and have friends that have one that has atrocious build quality. The ones built in the east appear to be better built tho.

I love what Thor says about KZ: "is focused on becoming the most innovative RV company in the world" Pardon me while I go stick my finger in my throat....

Okay, back now. If we were to ever consider buying another TT, I'd be looking closely at an Outdoors RV model. Not immune to some quality issues but def. above average and I like that they use their own in-house designed and built heavy duty frame. A good frame makes a huge difference. Our KZ has a non-standard very heavy duty frame which is fantastic. Jayco uses a BAL Ultraframe which is very good.

[Passin_Thru]

Design your own http://northwoodmfg.com/build-your-rv/. I can't see buying cheap, you just get cheap. My friends have had 2 Jaycos, the first,an Octane actually had to be junked because the rear broke loose going down the road without toys in it (This model is a toyhauler.) The second had so many problems they took it back for a refund.

[strike1nc]

Plus 1 for the Jayco's Positive side. My wife and I bought ours in 2007 and has been a pleasure to take out. We love the quality of the inside, but the outside did start to fade on the decal and paint. The seals had to be redone, but thats more due to age and not being covered. It has sat outside through heat and rain and has held up! Not sure I'm a fan of the newer brown tones, but quality wise I would buy again! Of course I have nothing to rank it against since is still our first TT.