What are the good brands of 5er’s?

[dblr]

Have you had a chance to see the River Stone line by Forest River, we have owned ours now going on 4 years with very little issues, they are heavier then most out there, ours empty is a little above 17,500lbs with a capacity with cargo almost 21,000lbs. Good luck on your search.

[jdpm]

Originally Posted by McRod

There is a lot of choices of brands. However, those brands are owned by 3 companies which make up 90% of the RV 5th wheel brands you will see on the road today.

Those 3 companies are:
Winnebago, Thor Industries and Berkshire Hathaway.

The brands under them are:
Winnebago: Winnebago, Grand design, Chris Craft.

Thor: Airstream, Bison, Crossroads, Cruiser RV, DRV, Dutchmen, Entegra, Hymer, Heartland, Highland, Jayco, Keystone, KZ, Redwood, StarCraft, Thor, Venture.

Berkshire Hathaway: Forest River, Coachmen, Dynamax, Palamino, Primetime, Shasta, East to West.

Obviously, some of the brands don't produce 5vrs. The point is, they all share commonalities. Whether it's the construction process, materials used, suppliers, best practices, or even assembled within the same plant, they have more in common than what makes them distinguishably better than one another.

That's why this thread is full of opinions of good brands that have the same commonalties as brands that are perceived to be made poorly.

Yeah, and now Newmar sold out to Winnebago. No wonder Winnie has been replenishing their motorized line. their latest offerings are terrible and I wonder how they will destroy Newmar.
Honestly, I don't think there's a new fiver on the market that would interest me. If I had to replace what I have I'd probably looked at used.

[tuffr2]

The 5th wheels that I like for the money are the Forest River Flagstaff and Rockwood. They are around $40,000 after discount. I want auto leveling, solid step steps, dual pane windows, fire place, torsion axles, 75 mph speed rated tires, PVC membrane roof. Rockwood offers most of these things. I looked at Flagstaff 5th wheels and thought they were built pretty good. Rockwood should be built the same.

[McRod]

I'll add, if your buying a brand because of its "perceived" customer service, you shouldn't buy that brand.

I'd rather pay for quality product than pay for a crappy one and have someone hold my hand while they fix what should have been done right the first time

[theboondork.]

Since I've been full-timing in a Northwoods Arctic Fox 27 – 5L which is a 30 foot fifth wheel, I guess you can say I'm biased, but I love my Arctic Fox. It's been about as trouble-free as you are going to find in an RV. And I can honestly say If I had to buy another RV it would be one of Northwoods products.

theboondork.com

[WETHREE]

I have put 7500 miles on my 17 Grand Design 303rls all in the west. To me it was weight, insulation and floorplan. I did not want a dually to handle the 3000+lbs in your bed of the 40'ers plus maneuvering. It also depends if you stay on the flatlands back east or just go to Elephant butt. If you are really exploring the west alot stay light and fix the little things that will crop up on any rig. Mine have been minimal. Happy trails

[Edd505]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

My Rockwood 5er by Forest River has been really good for us.....4 cross country trips and I spend 6 months a year in Arizona with it.....it's a rear kitchen and has big windows...

KZ Durango Gold on it's 3rd 10K+ trip. We are out about 3/4 time and love the RK design.

[Charles27909]

What was your motivation for getting out of a big diesel motorhome like a Newmar into a 5th wheel?

Originally Posted by vapor3000

We sold our Dutch Star DSDP and bought a JAYCO fifth wheel. When you own one you can tell JAYCO has been producing RV's for over fifty years. The only manufacturer that designs its own chassis which is model specific. Check them out.

[bobneyer]

Be careful with Thor Keystone RV. I have a new 2019 Keystone Cougar 30RLS. Great layout, good features and competitive price point. HOWEVER, I bought mine in April 2019 at GanderRV (Campingworld) St. Augustine FL. I have had a really bad experience getting warrantee repair work completed in 6 months and 6 trips where my camper has spent most of it time since I purchased it.
I write this as I wait on hold to Marcus Lemonise, CEO of Camping World. They are not taking my call.

[bfisher003]

Originally Posted by bobneyer

Be careful with Thor Keystone RV. I have a new 2019 Keystone Cougar 30RLS. Great layout, good features and competitive price point. HOWEVER, I bought mine in April 2019 at GanderRV (Campingworld) St. Augustine FL. I have had a really bad experience getting warrantee repair work completed in 6 months and 6 trips where my camper has spent most of it time since I purchased it.
I write this as I wait on hold to Marcus Lemonise, CEO of Camping World. They are not taking my call.

I’ve had good service from them in St. Augustine. Currently have a few warranty issues (mostly minor) with our 2019 Montana 3121RL. I scheduled an appointment with them, took our trailer up so we could go over each item together and they spent about a day verifying the problems and submitted them to Keystone. Keystone approved everything and the parts were shipped last week (including one new axle). When the parts come in I will schedule another appointment for the repairs.

Now to be honest I am also working with a Keystone Customer Support manager with this. I wrote a somewhat scathing rant on the Montana Facebook page about the initial misinformation I received from Keystone and I was contacted by this manager to tell me she would be my single point of contact until all the repairs are completed. I email regularly with both her and the Gander RV service rep in St. Augustine, asking for status updates, etc.. They have both been quickly forthcoming with updates. The customer service rep at Gander RV in St. Augustine is Jeff Pyne and the Customer Support Manager at Keystone is Darcy Linton (Lintd@keystonerv.com and (574) 535-2468). I have worked with Jeff a few times in the past with previous trailers and I feel he has always done right by me. I hope this helps you in some way.

[vapor3000]

Originally Posted by Charles27909

What was your motivation for getting out of a big diesel motorhome like a Newmar into a 5th wheel?

My wife was scared to death that she was going to be forced to drive that big machine due to my recent health problems. She has no problem driving our RAM 2500 PU. We can unhitch the 5th wheel and drive the PU to medical help if necessary. She has peace of mind now.

[Justwinginit]

I've been to both factories, DRV and riverstone. I implore you to visit both factories. Once you see the quality of construction. The attention to detail. And if you are sharp enough to see the difference. I'm positive you will cancel your order.

[medwings]

Originally Posted by Justwinginit

I've been to both factories, DRV and riverstone. I implore you to visit both factories. Once you see the quality of construction. The attention to detail. And if you are sharp enough to see the difference. I'm positive you will cancel your order.

?? Are you saying to cancel an order from either of DRV or Riverstone or are you saying to cancel an order from some other company and look to DRV or Riverstone for a fulltime rig? We have a DRV and have been happy with it.

[LAKnox]

Originally Posted by bobneyer

Be careful with Thor Keystone RV. I have a new 2019 Keystone Cougar 30RLS. Great layout, good features and competitive price point. HOWEVER, I bought mine in April 2019 at GanderRV (Campingworld) St. Augustine FL. I have had a really bad experience getting warrantee repair work completed in 6 months and 6 trips where my camper has spent most of it time since I purchased it.
I write this as I wait on hold to Marcus Lemonise, CEO of Camping World. They are not taking my call.

A friend from church bought a really nice TT from CW and, based on nights used, it spent 9 months of the first 12 in CW's service bay here in Mesa. Friend made the best of it by realizing he was getting free covered storage all that time.

Good luck getting that call through. You're likely to win the lottery before they answer.

Lyle