What brands of Travel Trailers are NEW & Quality

drsteve wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:

A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad

Robert, I've seen you post your opinion that Chinese RVs are trash, complete with pics of abandoned shells that were left where they broke down. So if import numbers are to be used as a gauge of quality, does that mean the Euro products are worse than the Chinese offerings, but better than US made RVs?
Curious too if the US imports were something on the upper end, like say an Airstream or a Northwood product, or were they entry lever Forest River trailers?

Ironically Yes and I do not like the Chinese. They do Off Road Caravans, campertrailers but Australians design and distribute them.
US pfoducts are a mixture, of very cheap Travel Trailers,TC's, some 5th Wheelers high end Toyhaulers Tiffin 30ft Motorhomes maybe an Airstream
500 European Caravans are driven by nostalgia by European expats mainly, European Manufacturer Baily has ztopped building their Australianized Caravans here
They are converting RAM and Silverado vehicles here primarily as lifestyle, advertising or tow vehicles. Vehicles have to be remanufactured to RHD
US Pickups ceased to be sold here in 2006 from the Ford dealerships, they were used as work vehicles then

GDS-3950BH wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:

A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad

I've bought and accumulated a lot of things over the years, but can honestly say I have never seen anything with a stamp that said "Made in Australia". I am sure everything there is A#1 100% high quality in spite of the rules of economics.

The US RV Industry has a hard time keeping up with demand in North America, they have no need to export product to a minuscule market 9500 miles away that supports sales of 35,560 units yearly. You can be sure it has been researched to no end by US manufacturers, and found to not make any economic sense no matter what the quality level is.

Saying US quality is bad as a general rule based on sales of RV's in or imports to Austrailia is like saying anything made in Austrailia is pretty bad quality because they don't export anything to Latvia or Iceland.

No they have a reputation for poor quality, hence tiny salesm Australian Product you maybe aware of in the RV lifestyle? RESMED Sleep Apnea machine

RobertRyan wrote:

A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad

Robert, I've seen you post your opinion that Chinese RVs are trash, complete with pics of abandoned shells that were left where they broke down. So if import numbers are to be used as a gauge of quality, does that mean the Euro products are worse than the Chinese offerings, but better than US made RVs?
Curious too if the US imports were something on the upper end, like say an Airstream or a Northwood product, or were they entry lever Forest River trailers?

RobertRyan wrote:

A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad

I've bought and accumulated a lot of things over the years, but can honestly say I have never seen anything with a stamp that said "Made in Australia". I am sure everything there is A#1 100% high quality in spite of the rules of economics.

The US RV Industry has a hard time keeping up with demand in North America, they have no need to export product to a minuscule market 9500 miles away that supports sales of 35,560 units yearly. You can be sure it has been researched to no end by US manufacturers, and found to not make any economic sense no matter what the quality level is.

Saying US quality is bad as a general rule based on sales of RV's in or imports to Austrailia is like saying anything made in Austrailia is pretty bad quality because they don't export anything to Latvia or Iceland.

wireman wrote:

gbopp wrote:

crasster wrote:
Many dealers that push the "junk" out of Indiana factories can have customers leave their unit from 4-5 months to administer the warranty fix...

As long as we keep buying junk, they will keep building junk.

Exactly. The American auto industry of the 70's is where the RV manufacturers still exist.

For the most part American built cars are much better than the junk they use to build.

Most RV builders have done a 180 and build worse quality than the 70's. Always exceptions of course.

Read their brochures and you would think everything is gold plated.

Point blank, they just don't care.

A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad

jdtrotter wrote:
Just read this entire thread and I see several votes for the ORV/Northwood trailers made in Oregon. After a totally horrible experience with a Forest River R-pod, we did a lot of research. Our son guided us toward the ORV and we would have bought one, but the smallest one they make was bigger than we wanted, and we definitely did not want a slide. Thus, we turned to other company started by Ron Nash, RIP, Northwood RV. The Nash 17k seemed perfect for us, so we found a dealer 200 miles away who had one, and we bought it!

We had no plans of camping in winter weather, but an unexpected medical problem has us camping for 2 months away from home in winter weather and we are mostly glad we have this trailer. It is so well insulated and built so that the propane heater keeps the holding tanks warm enough. We bought a blue heated hose and added extra wrapping to the connection and the small faucet and so far, all is well. The quality of everything is so superior to what we had before!

But we do have a couple of problems with the wiring that should not have happened and we will get them fixed after we leave here. We need to either find a good dealer somewhere, or we will go back to the factory. In our small town, our local RV repair people could not find the problem. When the heater turns on, it blows out the little fuse in the digital thermostat. Since we had to have heat, and needed in NOW, they pulled the two heater wires out of the digital thermostat and attached them to an old analog thermostat. It works. We also have to run the cable TV through the kitchen window. These things WILL be fixed under warranty and meantime, we LOVE the full size queen bed with a great mattress. :-)

For a small trailer, it is heavy, but it follows well behind our Tundra even while it sucks gas.

Overall, we recommend a Northwood product and our son has been extremely happy with his ORV.

BTW-- many years ago we owned a fiberglass Casita and it was trouble free. We took it across country and way down into Mexico and more. If they only made one a bit bigger, we would have bought another one without hesitation.

Oliver & Big Foot.

I don’t understand the desire for “new” when older can be found that is distinctly better. And always will be.

No one is any longer making trailers the quality of Streamline (1974), Silver Streak (1997) or Avion (1990). Airstream ain’t in the running at this level and never was. Never meant to be. SS never made more than six trailers per week. AS is General Motors by comparison.

That said, an AS ten years or a bit more has depreciation gone. And may need only some cosmetics to be like new. Plenty of them out there. Huge owners group. Tow beautifully.

Mine’s thirty years old this year. I’ll put it against anything from the generic box manufacturers that’s five years old. As the 1989 boxes hit the landfill before Obama took office.

If I were in the market for brand new, a BIGGER Big Foot would be my default. But they don’t make one a full-timer like me wants. Lacks size, amenities & storage (that the aluminum trailers don’t).

ORV is okay enough. But they all need conversion to DEXTER Tor-Flex independent suspension. Today’s trailers with slide-outs for fatties ride FAR higher on ready-to-roll leaf spring suspensions that wear out quickly.

Conversion to anti-lock disc brakes is the other upgrade.

And, as the hitch rigging is EQUAL in importance to the two vehicles, get a aHensley-patent hitch at the start. It’s a requirement for a pickup as tow vehicle.

That disc brakes & a sway-eliminating hitch aren’t topics with FAR more threads than tow vehicles shows the ignorance level of supposedly “seasoned” RVers. The new guys with their twenty years.

The he number one cause of trailering accidents is loss of control. And that loss of control is due to wind. The worst combo on the road is the tall teeter-totter box of today. (5ers worse; toyhaulers worst).

Pay attention to what really matters: Steering control & braking.

.

I'm not even going to comment on my Jayco, it just seems that the best part of it is it's paid for.

I just went through a big snowstorm in my Nash 22h. I cannot say enough good things about that trailer. I stayed warm and comfy, and used surprisingly little propane. It's been trouble free so far.

Just read this entire thread and I see several votes for the ORV/Northwood trailers made in Oregon. After a totally horrible experience with a Forest River R-pod, we did a lot of research. Our son guided us toward the ORV and we would have bought one, but the smallest one they make was bigger than we wanted, and we definitely did not want a slide. Thus, we turned to other company started by Ron Nash, RIP, Northwood RV. The Nash 17k seemed perfect for us, so we found a dealer 200 miles away who had one, and we bought it!

We had no plans of camping in winter weather, but an unexpected medical problem has us camping for 2 months away from home in winter weather and we are mostly glad we have this trailer. It is so well insulated and built so that the propane heater keeps the holding tanks warm enough. We bought a blue heated hose and added extra wrapping to the connection and the small faucet and so far, all is well. The quality of everything is so superior to what we had before!

But we do have a couple of problems with the wiring that should not have happened and we will get them fixed after we leave here. We need to either find a good dealer somewhere, or we will go back to the factory. In our small town, our local RV repair people could not find the problem. When the heater turns on, it blows out the little fuse in the digital thermostat. Since we had to have heat, and needed in NOW, they pulled the two heater wires out of the digital thermostat and attached them to an old analog thermostat. It works. We also have to run the cable TV through the kitchen window. These things WILL be fixed under warranty and meantime, we LOVE the full size queen bed with a great mattress. :-)

For a small trailer, it is heavy, but it follows well behind our Tundra even while it sucks gas.

Overall, we recommend a Northwood product and our son has been extremely happy with his ORV.

BTW-- many years ago we owned a fiberglass Casita and it was trouble free. We took it across country and way down into Mexico and more. If they only made one a bit bigger, we would have bought another one without hesitation.

Two years in we've been very happy with our ORV. No repairs needed. Seams holding up well. Love the size of the grey and fresh tanks and with 2 6v batteries and two 30# propane tanks we can boondocks for days. And take the rough dirt road to get there.