Travel trailer questions

[fmyth]

We have been looking at a travel trailer, 24'ish feet, bunks for the kids, queen at a min for us, somewhere around 5500 gvwr, towing with '19 Ram 1500. There are so many and reviews vary widely. I read one that listed the 10 worst brands, then another with the 10 best. They overlapped on 7 of the 10.

So to those with TT experience, what brand/s should we absolutely stay away from?

You'll want to click this link and look up your trucks towing capability with the vin number. When I bought my Ram 1500 the towing capacity ranged from 6000 to 11,500 depending on the options. I looked and looked until I found a truck optioned out to tow 11.250. https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html

 

[fmyth]

Northwoods family, which includes arctic fox, Nash, desert fox and Outdoors RV are well built, though a bit heavier.

Airstream is airstream.

Most other mfg are not excellent quality in the long term.

I recently read that Airstream was purchased by Thor a few years ago and their quality has gone down considerably.

 

[Rob5589]

You'll want to click this link and look up your trucks towing capability with the vin number. When I bought my Ram 1500 the towing capacity ranged from 6000 to 11,500 depending on the options. I looked and looked until I found a truck optioned out to tow 11.250. https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html

I've looked into my towing capacity, I can do about 7500 but would rather keep it closer to 5-5500, 6k at most.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I've looked into my towing capacity, I can do about 7500 but would rather keep it closer to 5-5500, 6k at most.

Keep in mind where you'll be towing it, nasty mountain grades and big wind will make a light trailer feel really heavy, really quick on a half ton pickup.

 

[Wrench]

I had my fox parked in the mountains at -15f when I killed an Idaho bull. The waste lines were frozen so i couldn't dump.....but I stayed alive and warm enough. My pard went through 4x the propane in a smaller trailer and froze up doing it.

 

[Team4LongGun]

I guess I'll jump in and mention that a few weeks ago I started a thread asking how I did on price for a travel trailer. The day I was to pick it up, I did a walk around and the caulking was horrendous. I mean a blind kid with 2 broken arms could have done a better job. There were several quality control issues. I then started to see how slimy the sales guys were and demanded my deposit back, never taking the camper.
I learned a few things-
The markup is INSANE. I lowballed with pre promise to walk out immediately if there was a counter offer, and it was accepted. Other issues came up and the price kept going down. It ended up being 9k under "list price/msrp"
As someone else stated so perfectly, they are worse than used car slimeballs.

After that debacle, a friend of a friend told me that the QC is all but gone as the surge someone else mentioned is real. They are just pumping them out, and someone will be right behind you to buy what you passed on. So no real incentive to change.

I still plan to buy one, but will be much more prepared for their nonsense when I do

 

[Opah]

"I read one that listed the 10 worst brands, then another with the 10 best. They overlapped on 7 of the 10."
looks like you have sorted itdown to 3

 

[j33]

I’ve had a 2005 Fleetwood, 2005 Desert Fox and 2008 Jayco.

Fleetwood was poorly built, the other two have been excellent. I’m tempted on going for something newer but the inlaws 2013 has constant issues and I’ve never done anything serious at all to our Jayco. I would buy a Jayco again, they are more expensive but they are better built than Forest River.

The older trailers are better quality but they’re heavier.

 

[SDHNTR]

Northwoods family, which includes arctic fox, Nash, desert fox and Outdoors RV are well built, though a bit heavier.

Airstream is airstream.

Most other mfg are not excellent quality in the long term.

Listen to this. An excellent summary.

 

[fngTony]

Add 3-4 feet for total length. Mine was 24’ box and 28 total. Kinda hard to maneuver in Colorado mountains, wouldn’t want any longer getting into dispersed camp areas.

 

[KBC]

Buy an older one. The older ones that are still around are likely better built than the newer ones. Stick your head in every cabinet and smell it for rot.
We have a 2003 Nomad 23’ we took to Alaska and back with 2 kids in 2019.
It’s almost the perfect trailer for us but a small slide out in the kitchen area would make it the best.
The kids bunks are at the back wall and run side to side instead of front to back like most trailers with bunks. It seemed way bigger inside than the other ones we looked at.

 

[Rob5589]

Keep in mind where you'll be towing it, nasty mountain grades and big wind will make a light trailer feel really heavy, really quick on a half ton pickup.

For sure. The closer to 5k fully loaded the better.

 

[wapitibob]

Forest River was the worst flimsy piece of junk I've ever walked into. Lance was best, by far. I have a Nash 17k that has been great. It's been to wyoming and back and will head there twice in Sept. Keystone and Cougar are nice as well.

 

[wesfromky]

They are maybe a bit smaller then what you are looking for, but check out the fiberglass rv like scamp, casita or escape. They tend to be a bit more durable and leak less.

 

[wilkINkc]

Fiance and I bought a Forest River Salem 26DBLE (Travel Trailer) 3 years ago and have had zero issues with it. It's not a top of the line model, nor is it bottom. But it has everything we wanted and suites us and our 2 boys. We have it setup permanently at a campground around Truman Lake where we fish and this year I will hunt as well. So I have no experience towing it other than when I bought it. But we do use it A LOT every year and nothing has broken/stopped working going on 3 years being used nearly every weekend from end of March - beginning of November.

Having bought our first one a few things we wish we would have got/changed after owning one for awhile now.
- 2 doors in would be nice, 1 of them usually always goes straight to the bathroom
- Get an oven. We chose one that had storage space instead of the oven because we didn't think we would use an oven much. We get by with a toaster oven but it takes up as much space as we gained by not getting an oven to begin with.
- Coat Rack. We chose a camper that allowed a bigger TV in the living room instead of a smaller tv with coat and shoe rack. We barely use the living room TV so that was a waste.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Dust Rider]

Jayco Feather light might be what your looking for. And as said earlier most of the components are cheap and stuff rattles off when towing on dirt roads etc.

If Buying used always look up at the ceilings for water stains from previous leaks. If you see water stains or discoloration in that lid avoid that trailer unless it has been repaired/ roof replaced.
As long as the crapper, heater, ac, and stove work you are good to go.

 

[Fatcamp]

I’ve had a 2005 Fleetwood, 2005 Desert Fox and 2008 Jayco.

Fleetwood was poorly built, the other two have been excellent. I’m tempted on going for something newer but the inlaws 2013 has constant issues and I’ve never done anything serious at all to our Jayco. I would buy a Jayco again, they are more expensive but they are better built than Forest River.

The older trailers are better quality but they’re heavier.

We have a 2000 Jayco and honestly it's been really good. We don't use the plumbing but that's us not the camper. Just don't want the hassle. Currently recaulking it, wife repaired a roof seam earlier this summer, put in wet shackles and new tires this summer and will flip the axles yet this year. Always working on and improving it. Pulled it 240 miles with the boat behind it yesterday. Steel frame and we installed the hitch.

No bugs, AC, a place to cook, out of the rain and wind. My wife pushed us into it, I was very resistant. It's a hassle and expensive, but makes her happy so I'm good.

All the people buying campers now are gonna start running into maintenance time and expense here shortly, especially with the current level of craftsmanship we have been seeing. Spending the weekend working on your boat and camper is not a lot of fun, and really requires a decent level of handiness. We are pretty skilled people so it's not a big deal to do our own work.

 

[Campcreek12]

I can guarantee I have more experience in this than 99% and the most important thing is where you get it. All campers are assembly line built and some have more issues than others. Brands can matter but if you are buying one that is being sold at it's proper price point, you should be fine. If someone says all Forest Rivers, Thors or Gulfstreams are great or are all junk, they are misinformed. These are huge manufacturers that have multiple lines produced in many different facilities under different management and QC. The selling dealers PDI should catch most issues so you never see them. Things do happen after that and a huge part of it is getting it repaired properly and quickly if you need service.

 

[Fatcamp]

I can guarantee I have more experience in this than 99% and the most important thing is where you get it. All campers are assembly line built and some have more issues than others. Brands can matter but if you are buying one that is being sold at it's proper price point, you should be fine. If someone says all Forest Rivers, Thors or Gulfstreams are great or are all junk, they are misinformed. These are huge manufacturers that have multiple lines produced in many different facilities under different management and QC. The selling dealers PDI should catch most issues so you never see them. Things do happen after that and a huge part of it is getting it repaired properly and quickly if you need service.

The dealer close to us just took on 7 new lines because he hasn't been able to get units to fill the lot. Those are the words from him mouth. He will take anything he can get.

I am a journeyman carpenter and tilesetter. Trained in machining as well and been a shade tree mechanic my whole adult life. Just a cursory inspection of the units we walk through shows a level of craftsmanship that is very poor. Maybe they have always looked like that but I tend to think it is production speed causing the deficiencies. Point being, if a visual inspection shows issues hard to tell what's under the surface.

Either way, get a camper, they are great, but you better go into it eyes wide open and not back down with a solid warranty behind you.

 

[netman]

I just hauled this trailer 4899 miles to SW Montana and back from Indiana. I am completely satisfied with this trailer. It’s two years old. I bought it from the original owner who lives about two miles away from me. I would see this guy wash and wax this trailer even though it never moved.
One day it had a for sale sign on it. My wife and I stopped to look at it. He had used it camping three times at a campground about ten miles away. Everything this guy owns is impeccable. After some dickering I hauled it home.
He said he had a few warranty issues but nothing major.
I bought two new tires and threw them in the back of my truck so if one of the ‘China Bomb’ tires blew out I would have it covered.
I pulled this trailer at 65 mph for about ten hours and said enough. I set the cruise on 80 and let her eat. No problems whatsoever.