Need Opinons KZ Sportsmen

[salrosa]

We are looking to upgrade. We like the layout of the new KZ Sportsmen Show Stopper 32. I have a Jayco now and like the construction of it.
How does the Sportsmen measure up to a Jayco in build quality. Also how do the fiberglass side campers hold up. I have siding now. Is the fiberglass easy to maintain?

Thanks for any input.

[nevadanick]

I have a 2008 Sportsmen 280 bhs and its been a great trailer. I have hardside and only problem is graphics are peeling but after 6 years in the weather its what i would expect. When buying another if they have a floor plan we want i would buy again.

[zackyboy3rs]

Had a 242sbhs. It was a piece of crap. Traded it as soon as I could. Leaks, awnings power jacks stopped working. Ac leaked, slide out leaked.

[spadoctor]

the regular Sportsman or the Spree are more in line with a Jayco. The Showstopper has a 1 year warranty where the regular Sportsman and Spree are 2 year.

[93Cobra2771]

Fading will happen whether aluminum or FG. It's all about how it's stored and how it's taken care of.

[salrosa]

All good points. I was just worried because I see some older FG campers that have faded. I guess it's all how you maintain it.

[colliehauler]

The FG gel coat holds up well to hail where the aluminum dents very easy.

[rexlion]

I have not owned a Jayco, but my impression is that the two would be fairly equivalent in quality and workmanship (i.e., nothing exceptional, but decent enough).

As for FG gelcoat siding, I'm liking it even more since my TT's recent scuffle with a pickup truck on the expressway. I had to dodge an idiot who pulled in front of me as he (she?) entered from a ramp. The pickup to my left was pretty well dented, my guess would be $3000 of damage. My KZ Spree Escape sustained a cracked plastic fridge vent, a missing side marker light, a sheared off water fill connection, and black scuff marks.... $150 should fix up all but the scuffs. An aluminum sided TT would probably have sustained major denting.

[2edgesword]

We've only had our KZ (Spree Escape E204S) for a year (4,500 miles) and it's held up pretty well. We've had two issues fixed under warranty and once we documented the issues KZ took care of them.

One of them was a broken bath tub drain pipe connection. I'm still alittle baffled by how it might have broken (occurred on a trip from NY to FL) other thant the fixture might have had a crack in it when it was installed and during the bumps and vibration during travel ultimately failed. We ended up with gallons of water trapped in the underbelly saturating the under floor insulation. We were about six days into a ten day trip when I noticed water dripping from a hole in the underbelly where a pipe passes through it. I think noticed that the underbelly was bulged and when I got under the trailer and pressed on the budge I could tell it was holding water. I punctured the underbelly covering with a knife and over a few hours period out came a few quarts of water. I figured out the water was coming from the shower, it wasn't massive amounts of water at any one time and I knew it wasn't going to be a quick repair since the water was going to have to be complete drained, insulation removed and trailer left to dry out before replacing the insulation and resealing the underbelly.

Once we got home KZ arrange to replace the broken drain pipe, remove and replace the damaged insulation and reseal the underbelly.

The other issue we had was shorted running lights. It turns out a screw was inserted right next to a portion of the running light wiring and again, via bumps and vibration while traveling, the screw worked its way through the wire insulation and shorted the lights blowing the trailer light fuse in my truck. The dealer found the short, repaired and relocated the wire, and the fuse was replaced.

These weren't really complexed issues to fix and beyond them the trailer has held up well. For the money we think we have gotten good value. Based on what I've read on other brand specific forums there is the potential for issues with all of them and the warranty is there to deal with them at the manufacturers expense.

[93Cobra2771]

We have an 06 Sportsmen (2604) and love it. It is aluminum sided. Very well built camper. 10,000 gvwr, plus 5300# axles, which is kind of unusual.

Has a lot of standard features that are options on normal trailers.

Weight wise, they are a little heavier than other campers of their size. Tons of storage inside and out. Black water rinse, hot water bypass, lots of little extras that most people add later on.

Most important part of fiberglass is keeping it sealed up. When you get it, either stay on it with the self leveling sealant, or get some 4" wide eternabond tape and seal it up good and tight. Delamination is what you want to avoid.