Travel Trailers.....what brands to stay away from??

[imq707s]

I'm looking for a nice used bumper pull travel trailer....something 5 years old or newer, and in the 22-25ft range.

I've looked on CL,on rvtrader, and at dealers......I never knew there were so many different brands of campers. If someone told me it was in the hundreds, I would believe them. Many of them look identical inside and out....but just have a different name.

Are there some quality brands that stand out above the rest? What about crappy ones that are build really cheap that need to be avoided???

Any help would be great!

[PaulJ2]

They don't all do it but i have had some that did. Also may be a problem with the antenna coax shield not being grounded properly to eliminate interferance.
Hope you find the problem.

[_DJ_1]

PaulJ2 wrote:

~DJ~ wrote:

coolbreeze01 wrote:

trail-explorer wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
In no particular order, these are some of the better quality brands:

Lance
Nash
Arctic Fox
Jayco

Ditto.

There is no guarantee of a trouble free unit. They are all a **** shoot. Good luck.

cool breeze said it best. "they are all a **** shoot"!!

In 2010 when I wanted to go to a smaller TC for off road we also bought TT for DW when she wanted to go. The TT was a new '10 entry level 18' Springdale. Great trailer!! Only one trip back to the shop to trade it in 5 years later for a bigger and nicer(?) TT.

We bought a new '15 Nash 23D with slide. It does have a nicer interior/exterior but that's where it stopped. It was back to the shop no less than 8 times the first summer from fixing a chattering slide that I swear was going to rip the trailer apart when operating it to a leaking slide and a myriad of electrical problems including the brakes.

I won't go thru the long list of electrical problems except of the one they still can't fix!! The tv goes to scramble when outside the city AFTER you turn on an interior light. Works fine in the city and in their shop so they can't duplicate it. So, out camping you watch tv in the dark or not at all. I fixed it myself with a DISH Tailgater!!

So even the mighty NASH can have problems!!

LED lights will cause RF interfearance in a tv/radio signal. Works fine in the city because tv signal is strong. As the tv signal gets weaker farther from the transmiter the RF signals from the light/s dominates and takes over. Thats my theory. Find the bad light.

WOW!! I did not know that. Apparently no one at the Dealership does either as the Nash came from the factory with LEDs throughout. Ever single light in the whole TT disrupts the tv. Then again, I shouldn't be the first or only one with this problem. I think I'll see if I can change one back to regular and test your theory. Thanks!!!

[PaulJ2]

~DJ~ wrote:

coolbreeze01 wrote:

trail-explorer wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
In no particular order, these are some of the better quality brands:

Lance
Nash
Arctic Fox
Jayco

Ditto.

There is no guarantee of a trouble free unit. They are all a **** shoot. Good luck.

cool breeze said it best. "they are all a **** shoot"!!

In 2010 when I wanted to go to a smaller TC for off road we also bought TT for DW when she wanted to go. The TT was a new '10 entry level 18' Springdale. Great trailer!! Only one trip back to the shop to trade it in 5 years later for a bigger and nicer(?) TT.

We bought a new '15 Nash 23D with slide. It does have a nicer interior/exterior but that's where it stopped. It was back to the shop no less than 8 times the first summer from fixing a chattering slide that I swear was going to rip the trailer apart when operating it to a leaking slide and a myriad of electrical problems including the brakes.

I won't go thru the long list of electrical problems except of the one they still can't fix!! The tv goes to scramble when outside the city AFTER you turn on an interior light. Works fine in the city and in their shop so they can't duplicate it. So, out camping you watch tv in the dark or not at all. I fixed it myself with a DISH Tailgater!!

So even the mighty NASH can have problems!!

LED lights will cause RF interfearance in a tv/radio signal. Works fine in the city because tv signal is strong. As the tv signal gets weaker farther from the transmiter the RF signals from the light/s dominates and takes over. Thats my theory. Find the bad light.

[RobertRyan]

BB_TX wrote:
Keystone has 11 or 12 different named TTs. Forest River has over 15. KZ has 7-8. Jayco has 6-7. Arctic Fox has at least 4. Add in Winnebago, Coachmen, Lance, Airstream, Dutchmen, Gulfstream, etc. and, yes, there is an incredible number of brand names out there.

And you will invariably find someone who says never buy so and so brand as they had nothing but problems with it. And then there will be another who says they had that same brand and it was the best rig they ever had. One will say brand X had the worst customer service ever, followed by another who says brand X customer service was great.

Really a roll of the dice. Pick one that fits what you want, looks good in and out, everything works as it should, a price to fit your budget, and go with it.

Almost orderly compared to Australia, about 140 to 150 companies. Some die others work there way up the order

[imq707s]

Thanks for all the great info guys!! I think we found a nice Zinger (by Crossroad) to look at. Anyone heard anything good or bad about those?? As far as looking at a used TT...what should I be looking at besides the roof??

[_DJ_1]

coolbreeze01 wrote:

trail-explorer wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
In no particular order, these are some of the better quality brands:

Lance
Nash
Arctic Fox
Jayco

Ditto.

There is no guarantee of a trouble free unit. They are all a **** shoot. Good luck.

cool breeze said it best. "they are all a **** shoot"!!

In 2010 when I wanted to go to a smaller TC for off road we also bought TT for DW when she wanted to go. The TT was a new '10 entry level 18' Springdale. Great trailer!! Only one trip back to the shop to trade it in 5 years later for a bigger and nicer(?) TT.

We bought a new '15 Nash 23D with slide. It does have a nicer interior/exterior but that's where it stopped. It was back to the shop no less than 8 times the first summer from fixing a chattering slide that I swear was going to rip the trailer apart when operating it to a leaking slide and a myriad of electrical problems including the brakes.

I won't go thru the long list of electrical problems except of the one they still can't fix!! The tv goes to scramble when outside the city AFTER you turn on an interior light. Works fine in the city and in their shop so they can't duplicate it. So, out camping you watch tv in the dark or not at all. I fixed it myself with a DISH Tailgater!!

So even the mighty NASH can have problems!!

[rberg]

I would look for a used trailer from a dealer, not a private sale. Look for features that you need. We need night stands to put our "stuff" on. Some brands do not have night stands and that makes it harder to make the bed. You have to reach too far past the wardrobe to reach the top end of the bed.
Stand in the shower. Can you stand up in it? Does it have enough elbow room for you? Do you have to walk through the kitchen to get to and from the bathroom? Is there enough storage in the bathroom? Today most bathrooms have one towel ring and very little storage below the sink. Trailer mattresses stink so plan on getting a good "Camper Queen" mattress. You always get what you pay for in used trailers. Cheap is indeed cheaply built and designed.

[RVcrazy]

Northwood & outdoors RV are both independent manufacturers with a shared Northwood heritage. Both use non-Lippert frames on the newer units. Both are available in shorter trailers. The Arctic Fox is the Cadillac of short units. Look at the 22G or 22H. Both are right at 24' tip to tail. They are heavy for their size!

[rbpru]

Prior to the economic slow down several years ago, there were a dozen or so independent companies building TT s under numerous brand names, in numerous plants around Elkhart and other towns. They used the same worker pool, materials, appliances and copied each others designs.

Now most of those companies have merged into two large corporations, who use the same worker pool, materials, appliances and copied each others designs in numerous plants around Elkhart.

There are a few independent private companies and a few higher dollar models but if you use the same materials, workforce, appliances and price point; how much difference can you produce?

[xteacher]

If it's a Keystone product, make sure it's been very well maintained. I've seen a LOT of units of various makes from this manufacturer with delamination issues.

[soren]

PatRenee wrote:
Check out Open Range.... very well made...IMO....we love ours.

I would look for one issue on these. Just a casual observation while walking through campgrounds, but I have seen a significant number of older Open Range TTs with water damage to the front. Specifically, large, long areas of delamination under the front marker lights. I know that proper maintenance could of possibly eliminated the issue, but it sure seems to be pretty typical for their products.

[PatRenee]

Check out Open Range.... very well made...IMO....we love ours.

[coolbreeze01]

trail-explorer wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
In no particular order, these are some of the better quality brands:

Lance
Nash
Arctic Fox
Jayco

Ditto.

There is no guarantee of a trouble free unit. They are all a **** shoot. Good luck.

[trail-explorer]

coolmom42 wrote:
In no particular order, these are some of the better quality brands:

Lance
Nash
Arctic Fox
Jayco

Ditto.

[Bumpyroad]

93Cobra2771 wrote:

Is owner willing to let you walk on the roof and inspect? (if not, then it's a leaker or he knows the roof hasn't been maintained).

That's just a few things.

no way in heck would I allow somebody to walk all over the roof of my TT, it can be inspected from a ladder on the side.
bumpy