Were older travel trailers built better?

[crasster]

I have a few main companies that I like today, almost none are based in Indiana because of quality issues. People are just having their trailers fall apart in 1-2 years.... Warranties are 3 months to service, etc.

I'm curious were travel trailers from 2008 and older built better? I noticed on some the cabinets just seemed "better" from the "older" days.

What about pre-2000 were those built better?

I know, I wish I could afford an Airstream. LOL.

[valhalla360]

Most of the increase in complaints can likely be traced back to ease of complaining. In the 1990's very few people were active on forums and social media. By the 2000's it became much more common. By 2010's very few were not active.

I really haven't seen much difference. Also, keep in mind people talking about the first vs last trailer often have different use patterns. A 30yr old couple likely has a couple weeks plus a few weekends use per year. A 65yr old couple are more likely to have a few months per year of use. Guess what, that heavy use wears things out faster.

[Big_Katuna]

Newer CAN be better but you have to educate yourself.

Wood frame vs aluminum?

Wood layer on roof and exterior walls vs no wood ?

Axles under spec’d at capacity empty.

Look at how they strain relief plumbing at the hot water heater.

Look at the quality of the wiring at the breaker panel.

[JRscooby]

colliehauler wrote:

Another problem for high end trailers is the interior becomes outdated before the trailer wares out.

Is this a problem with the trailer, or a problem with the mindset?

[ReneeG]

Depends on the make, but statistically overall, the older models were built better. Our first TT was a '99 Kit Sportsmaster, zero problems. Our next four units - 2002 Kit Companion, 2004 Kit Companion, 2008 Komfort, 2011 Bighorn FW - have had zero build problems, in fact, no problems that required warranty work. We currently still have the 2011 FW. We have maintenance issues taken care of by a local shop and the guys there say we have a great rig, new ones today have a lot of problems.

[kellem]

Better is subjective.

I can tell you 1st hand after purchasing our 4th trailer that materials used today are much more refined " better " than our comparably priced trailers of yesteryear.

I will add though, if your not mechanically inclined and detest tinkering then an RV may not be a wise choice.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Define better?

I can tell you this. I owned an 86 Laton TT up to a few years ago. Now this was a mid grade TT back in the day. It had a 1/4" thick C frame. Go check out the frames made today in a mid grade TT. They are almost made out of sheet metal. Just garbage. Failures and cracks are common.

How many frame failures did you hear about in the 80's down? I never have heard of one. They were built better but they were heavy. In fact, tons of old TT frames were turned into car trailers.

[atreis]

Were older trailers built better? On average, no. However, the badly built ones are likely not around in usable form anymore, so the ones you're likely to find available for sale probably were built better. That's why they've survived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias

[gbopp]

crasster wrote:
What about pre-2000 were those built better?

FWIW, we have a 96 Southwind and I think it's better built than the newer models.

Pre-2000 RV's may or may not have been built better than newer units.
The internet was still in its infancy and there were few forums or places to share information about RV's.

It wasn't like today when many people feel they need to share their bathroom schedule and other mundane activities with the rest of the world, including pictures.

[ScottG]

My 2004 Wildcat was built just as good but not as sloppy as my 2018 Arctic Fox.

[shum02]

BB_TX wrote:
I bought our 2007 34' 3 slide 5er new in July 2007 and have actively followed RV forums even since before we bought. And it does seem to me that as the years have passed there have been more and more complaints about poor workmanship and premature failures than in the earlier years. We have been very fortunate as ours has been more problem free than we could have ever hoped for.

More and more people are buying them, hence why you can barely get a camp site these days! As a result, more complaints because we know only complainers come on the internet to tell us their woes.

My '06 KZ is no better than any unit today. Has had it's own set of issues but then again I'm not saving it for anyone else to use so I use it pretty hard ALL year long, even now in a Canadina winter.

[colliehauler]

BB_TX wrote:
I bought our 2007 34' 3 slide 5er new in July 2007 and have actively followed RV forums even since before we bought. And it does seem to me that as the years have passed there have been more and more complaints about poor workmanship and premature failures than in the earlier years. We have been very fortunate as ours has been more problem free than we could have ever hoped for.

Increased RV sales will also mean more complaints as well.

[BB_TX]

I bought our 2007 34' 3 slide 5er new in July 2007 and have actively followed RV forums even since before we bought. And it does seem to me that as the years have passed there have been more and more complaints about poor workmanship and premature failures than in the earlier years. We have been very fortunate as ours has been more problem free than we could have ever hoped for.

[Mike134]

I saw a video of an RV factory and the workers were using ladders!!! In the trades we use ladders only when elevated platforms are impractical. Tough to do quality work leaning to the side of a ladder and juggling equipment on the top of a ladder

[JIMNLIN]

No ..older isn't better when apples are compared to apples.
I've been in and around the RV/mobilhome industry all my life.... I'm 78.

We had our shoddy trailer lines within some rv mfg back in the '60s...'70s and 80s just like today. Some rv mfg were noted for shoddy built units across all their product lines....other mfg built a better product....just like today.
Today rv mfg have more lines to offer from low cost units to high cost units. So numbers tell us we have more better built units and more poorly low cost units being built. More mfg = more products on the road.

And of course the term built better can mean different things to different folks.

[colliehauler]

crasster wrote:
I have a few main companies that I like today, almost none are based in Indiana because of quality issues. People are just having their trailers fall apart in 1-2 years.... Warranties are 3 months to service, etc.

I'm curious were travel trailers from 2008 and older built better? I noticed on some the cabinets just seemed "better" from the "older" days.

What about pre-2000 were those built better?

I know, I wish I could afford an Airstream. LOL.

I think you answered your own question (none are based in Indiana). Most of those manufacturers are no longer in business because they could not compete with low cost RV'S out of Indiana. Teton, Excel, Nuwa, Travel Supreme, Newmar, Holiday Rambler and Carriage before sale in my opinion far exceeds the quality. I'm sure I forgot other high end manufacturers.

Trouble is stuff wares out even on high end RV'S. For the most part RV'S are only used a few times a year and it's hard to justify spending a large amount on a recreational item. Another problem for high end trailers is the interior becomes outdated before the trailer wares out.

Another issue was the economic downturn in 2008 when most of the skilled workers left the RV industry. When sales picked up again they hired anyone that could fog a mirror to meet demand. Add this to the fact of more orders to fill so get them out the door and let the selling dealer fix the issues which may/may not happen.