Community Forums

MrT61 · 09-09-2019, 12:41 PM

My wife and I are proud owners of a 2008 Coachmen Clipper Classic 1285st pop-up camper. Our first and we LOVE it. But we realize at our age the day will come when we will need to trade up to a hard side travel trailer. So as we “window shop” we also check the online reviews.

There have been several minor repairs and/or updates I’ve done on our pop-up. But it’s rather disturbing to check on the new travel trailers that look good and appear to be like something we could transition to easily but reading reviews of current owners is watching a horror flick!

Please share any ideas you have about QUALITY travel trailers and give us hope that quality is still produced in the travel trailer industry! Thanks ahead of time for your input.

450Donn · 09-09-2019, 12:57 PM

Typically no. Quality and RVs just dont coexist.
There are however a few brands that seem to be better than the run of the mill from the two giants.
Lance, Nash, Arctic Fox, and the offerings from ORV seem to always get good reviews.

riverforest · 09-09-2019, 01:14 PM

Airstream used to be high Quality, not sure anymore. Their still Expensive though...

TonyMac · 09-09-2019, 01:32 PM

You are asking for light weight and durability, and then you intend to bounce it down the road. Some don't even balance the wheels.

twogypsies · 09-09-2019, 02:32 PM

Keep in mind that there's a difference between a pop-up and travel trailer. You will have more mechanical things. Also, people mostly post about problems. They never start off a post saying "I've got a good travel trailer".

I'm sure there are many that wouldn't think their trailer is a big problem. Most things are small issues.

When looking, look at how it's constructed inside. How are the drawers made? Do they slide easily? How about the inside doors? Do they fit good? That way you tell if they, at least, take a little more care and pride in the build. Look beyond the glitz. Almost all use the same components and appliances. Some manufacturers take more time building than others. Some have a race as to how many they can push out in a day. This forum has a section for manufacturers. Read the comments. Take a factory tour if possible to see how they're made. Most often you'll see them using staples!! Good luck!!

Smitty77 · 09-09-2019, 04:05 PM

These are supposed to be a rather fine trailer or fiver

!

Good luck to you,
Smitty

https://spacecraftmfg.com/travel-trailers/#Photos

Gary RVRoamer · 09-09-2019, 04:36 PM

The vast majority of smaller travel trailers are designed to sell at low prices. Maybe doesn't seem that way, but they are. Skimping on materials and workmanship is not a roadmap to quality. If you get into the larger and more expensive models, the materials and construction usually improves substantially, but there are still a disheartening amount of production goofs that sometimes plague new Rvs. Some guess that 10-15% of new RVs have serious flaws that are simply a result of mistake on the assembly line.

twogypsies · 09-09-2019, 04:49 PM

Here's an article that may help & it will give you ideas on prices although you should be able to pay less for it when you buy.

https://rvlifemag.com/travel-trailer...-buyers-guide/

Itchytoe · 09-09-2019, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrT61

There have been several minor repairs and/or updates I’ve done on our pop-up. But it’s rather disturbing to check on the new travel trailers that look good and appear to be like something we could transition to easily but reading reviews of current owners is watching a horror flick!

There aren't any high quality travel trailers, or 5th wheels, available anywhere. The most common complaint you will find is about poor quality. It's a direct result of people wanting cheaper towables. The US lives in a disposable world. It's often cheaper to replace a damaged item rather than get it repaired. (When was the last time you saw a TV repair shop?) That has lead people to buy cheaper and cheaper items. We vote with our wallets, and we vote for poor quality but cheap price over heirloom quality with a bigger price tag every time.

The answer to this problem is the Tiny House movement. They have the quality you're looking for, and will have the exact layout that you want because you design it. You won't find a Tiny House lot somewhere with 150 to choose from. They are more of a custom made item. You can either built it yourself, or hire someone to build it for you. If you build it yourself, it'll be surprisingly cheap, but you'll put in a lot of work. If you have one built, you're probably looking at about $50,000 to $100,000. It will also be heavy. They usually run about 500 pounds per foot of length. You'll need a big truck to tow it. Most are in the dually range. Don't even think about a 1500 because it's not enough truck.

Don't be fooled by the normal sleeping lofts and composting toilets. You can get them set up with no lofts at all and standard RV blank and grey tanks. They're also welcomed at practically every RV park/campground in North America. I can't figure out where the rumor about no RV parks taking them started, but it's simply not true. That is, as long as your Tiny House isn't falling apart. If it's ugly and doesn't work well, you might have problems. If it's nice and cute, campgrounds will try to put you up front because it makes them look good.

arcaguy · 09-09-2019, 09:28 PM

I completely agree with the previous suggestion to take a factory tour. Don't pay any attention to the sale person leading the tour. Hang toward the back and look a how well the thing is being put together. Are the welds good, are the staples missing their target, are the joints tight etc. As to the comment about staples earlier, staples can be an excellent fastener, (try removing one) but they need to be applied across the grain not with the grain. Again, it's all a matter of workmanship, that's why you take the tour. I have eliminated one supposedly very high quality coach because they had lousy welders that blew a hole in every weld I saw and then didn't fill the hole in. It showed a lack of a quality mind set and lack of quality control. Happy hunting. BTW go to Elkhart in the summer., the weather is much nicer.

Delrob · 09-10-2019, 11:12 AM

Very happy with our Bigfoot travel trailer. Check into them. I think you will find most owners are very happy with theirs. They command a good resale value and that is a clue. They are relatively expensive (but not as much as Airstream), but you generally get what you pay for. Also check out Oliver. That were our second choice.

twogypsies · 09-10-2019, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delrob

Very happy with our Bigfoot travel trailer. Check into them. I think you will find most owners are very happy with theirs. They command a good resale value and that is a clue. They are relatively expensive (but not as much as Airstream), but you generally get what you pay for. Also check out Oliver. That were our second choice.

Good suggestions and yes, you get what you pay for. If you want to go the least expensive then most of the manufacturers will build the same. You need to go a step up to get more quality - just like everything you may buy.

NCC-1701A · 09-10-2019, 03:45 PM

My wife and I aren't in the market for towables, but we always look at all of them at RV shows. In our opinion, other than Airstream, the quality over the last 5 years has tanked on all of them, regardless of bottom of the line or top.

An alternative is a builder like Flytecamp in Oregon. They are comparable in price with Airstream (you are paying for quality). They rebuild vintage trailers and have a line of new ones they produce themselves. For quality-minded buyers who will pay for that quality, I think this is a good option.

https://www.flytecamp.com/

radar · 09-10-2019, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Good suggestions and yes, you get what you pay for. If you want to go the least expensive then most of the manufacturers will build the same. You need to go a step up to get more quality - just like everything you may buy.

Bigfoot’s are great trailers. They do not have slides though. For some that is important.