Quality trailers?

[ET8300]

Thank you for all the great responses. I still have a lot of research and looking around to do but now I have a few good places to start. Any advice or tips is appreciated.

[tuffr2]

Keystone built an up-scale trailer for 2 years 2012 and 2013 called Vantage. I bought a 2013 and really like it. It is rounded like an Airstream with a solid feel to everything.

They built a bunk house model. You can really get a good discount since they are being discontinued. They are easy to tow since they are built low and were designed to compete against AirStream.

I wanted an AirStream until I read and watched videos of the myriad of leaks.

Plus they are nose bleed expensive.

[2Gringos]

Did you see the video where they test them with water and wind at the factory?

We bought one because in all of my previous RVs, I got sick and tired of dealing with spring time roof leaks. Of course I lived in New England at the time. But it was just so much hassle, with snow and sealants and covers and no matter what I did, it still leaked.

Knowing we were going to leave our next TT outside all of the time, up in the Rockies, I looked into it. To me, a curved roof makes sense for me to leave a trailer where they get a lot of snow, and where I can't get to it for most of the year. Are they all perfect? nah. What is?

I think it's like everything else. You hear from the one PO'd guy who got a lemon. And these days, with the internet, the bad word gets spread far and wide in a hurry. What you DON'T hear about are other thousand people with the same model who don't write blistering posts on FaceBook, or post YouTube videos.
Have you seen their factory tour videos? You can go watch them pressure testing new trailers in person if you like. They state on their website that
"Once the exterior shell is inspected and completed, every Airstream trailer is rigorously checked with our high pressure water test. We rarely find any leaks, but when we do, they are fixed and the trailer is tested again." ( Airstream, Inc :: Tours )

You can see some of that here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD0Mp4nF2JU

and they're blowing water at it pretty hard from horizontal angles. should leak, if it's gonna.

Ours has sat outside in Northern Colorado for three years now. It's got some small hail dings in it this season. But no leaks.

Now my brother in law spent the same money on a big 5th Wheel with something like four slideouts. I forget. But I do know he's had some major leaking issues. Different strokes for different folks. My reasons for buying one was because I thought curved roof made sense for our application, and aluminum is tougher than plastic. I suspect the curved trailers probably have a slight aerodynamic edge for towing, but I'm not qualified to swear to it, or how important that is. I know everyone else has perfectly good reasons why they chose the RV that they have. And no manufacturer gets 100% happy customers. Well, maybe the undertakers get the fewest complaints....

There are a lot of good trailers out there. I'm not an Airstream fanatic, I actually liked my old Jamboree pretty good. Towed a Samurai and canoe behind it. But I sure wouldn't have left that flat roof in the Rockies totally unattended for three winters in a row.

[tuffr2]

Aluminum is a soft metal. It flexes as the trailer goes down the road. The frame is really not that good.

I toured the factory. Very little automation. Parts and pieces kinda scattered throughout the factory sitting in different sized bins. Lots of stations were mistakes can be made or short cuts taken.

Look at how the aluminum sheets are over lapped. When towing in the rain the overlap is the wrong direction. The leading edge is exposed to water as the trailer is being towed.

Then look at the nose bleed price.
80'gs for a classic. 150g's for the new land yacht. They must be smoking something...ugh.

[RGene7001]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Aluminum is a soft metal. It flexes as the trailer goes down the road. The frame is really not that good.

I toured the factory. Very little automation. Parts and pieces kinda scattered throughout the factory sitting in different sized bins. Lots of stations were mistakes can be made or short cuts taken.

Look at how the aluminum sheets are over lapped. When towing in the rain the overlap is the wrong direction. The leading edge is exposed to water as the trailer is being towed.

Then look at the nose bleed price.
80'gs for a classic. 150g's for the new land yacht. They must be smoking something...ugh.

If this is the case, why they stopped making airplanes with wooden frames 70 or more years ago?
But I agree that Airstream is rarely a rational purchase. They depreciate fast, however.

[2Gringos]

Ha ha, you guys slay me. The construction method is the same used on aluminum airplanes. You know, Cessna, Piper, Beech, Boeing, Airbus. Perhaps they know something about aluminum you don't. I just spent six hours in a Boeing 767 doing 500 miles an hour, and the water leaks were driving the cabin attendents nuts....ha ha ha...


If they were as knowledgeable as you are, airplanes would all be fiberglass and plastic, now wouldn't they?

Yeah, this trailer fills up with water every time we tow it in the rain. I'm thinking of putting in a set of hot tub pumps and filters and a dutch door so we can just open the top half and swim in the trailer....

Ours is an 80th anniversary edition, in 2011. There are THOUSANDS of these trailers still being used, thirty, forty, fifty years old and still working just fine. NASA uses them. The US Air Force uses them.

Hey, if you have a bug up your nose about a specific brand, perhaps you should figure out just why that is. If you haven't ever towed or lived in one, you really don't know what you're talking about. Come on, drag out them 50 year old Jaycos....oh wait.....there aren't any? Ah. I see.

Now fiberglass trailers....did you know they all get brittle and crack in the cold? Did you know a can of acetone will melt them down to slag? ALL slideouts leak....

sounds pretty silly, doesn't it?

Is it common on this forum to immediately attack someone's choice of trailers because it's different than your own?

[BCooke]

Don't get them started on pickups!
:lol:

[lx22]

Originally Posted by BCooke

Don't get them started on pickups! :lol:

True Dat
Amazing how a simple question gets turned into a ....ing contest from some.
Come On Man

[Roth63]

Originally Posted by ET8300

My wife and I are currently looking into purchasing a TT. We have two small children ages 3 and 7. We went to the dealership with the intent on buying a deer lease trailer but found ourselves looking at the new ones. We determined that we would like to purchase a new trailer 29-32 foot give or take. We really like the floorplan with the "bunkhouse" type area for the kids. The trailer will spend part of the year at the deer lease and will be traveling with it the rest of the year off and on. Tow vehicle will be a Chevy 2500 HD crew cab. My question is this: after looking at several models and then checking this forum I have realized just how much I do not know. I am in the process of doing my research but could use a little help. Does anyone have any suggestions on which brands make quality TTs with that type of floorplan. Which ones to stay away from? Budget is around 25 to 30k. Any help is appreciated.

After looking for two years at used TT and many many floor plans and models, we narrowed the floor plan type we wanted... Now where to find it, we were not satisfied with anything, seemed to always be something just not right. I started researching construction, quality, and design of new TT, and KZ is very well built and designed. We finally got a 4-Season 32' Spree... Granted it only sleeps two, but that is what we were looking for . When We were at the dealer however 75% of the TT's were bunkhouse type, and good floor plans, you may even consider the Toy Haulers, since they can haul 4-Wheelers, and then have 2-4 beds that fold down or lower from the ceiling.

We absolutely love our KZ Spree! Happy hunting and good luck for the best deal!

[TXiceman]

The Airstreams of today are nowhere near the quality of the older Airstreams. But if really want a quality silver trailer, look back at the 1980's silver Avions. The frames were heavier, the aluminum thicker and better insulated plus all wood cabinets.

Ken

[TDI-Minnie]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Aluminum is a soft metal... Then look at the nose bleed price.
80'gs for a classic. 150g's for the new land yacht. They must be smoking something...ugh.

I think you need to study up on this a little bit. Audi uses an Aluminum frame on their top of the line A8. Honda uses aluminum frames on all it's Motocross and many street/race bikes and they are sometimes critisized for being too stiff. You do need to use more aluminum than steel to get the same strength, but the end result is lighter, stiffer and stronger.
If anything, the downside of an aluminum frame is that it's too stiff and may eventually crack if subjected to too much of the wrong load.

As to the price, that's the beauty of free market economics. The price is whatever the market will bear, which means they are priced just right or they go out of business (unless the government interferes )! Besides the fact that aluminum is not exactly cheap.

Airstream is a niche product, not mass market. They don't want everyone to afford their stuff or they would be making a different product.

[lynnmor]

Originally Posted by Roth63

After looking for two years at used TT and many many floor plans and models, we narrowed the floor plan type we wanted... Now where to find it, we were not satisfied with anything, seemed to always be something just not right. I started researching construction, quality, and design of new TT, and KZ is very well built and designed. We finally got a 4-Season 32' Spree... Granted it only sleeps two, but that is what we were looking for . When We were at the dealer however 75% of the TT's were bunkhouse type, and good floor plans, you may even consider the Toy Haulers, since they can haul 4-Wheelers, and then have 2-4 beds that fold down or lower from the ceiling.

We absolutely love our KZ Spree! Happy hunting and good luck for the best deal!

I didn't know KZ made a 4-season trailer, please show us where they are advertised. My Spree is a 2-season trailer; Winter & Repair.

[gggplaya]

Originally Posted by 2Gringos

Did you see the video where they test them with water and wind at the factory?

We bought one because in all of my previous RVs, I got sick and tired of dealing with spring time roof leaks. Of course I lived in New England at the time. But it was just so much hassle, with snow and sealants and covers and no matter what I did, it still leaked.

Knowing we were going to leave our next TT outside all of the time, up in the Rockies, I looked into it. To me, a curved roof makes sense for me to leave a trailer where they get a lot of snow, and where I can't get to it for most of the year. Are they all perfect? nah. What is?

I think it's like everything else. You hear from the one PO'd guy who got a lemon. And these days, with the internet, the bad word gets spread far and wide in a hurry. What you DON'T hear about are other thousand people with the same model who don't write blistering posts on FaceBook, or post YouTube videos.
Have you seen their factory tour videos? You can go watch them pressure testing new trailers in person if you like. They state on their website that
"Once the exterior shell is inspected and completed, every Airstream trailer is rigorously checked with our high pressure water test. We rarely find any leaks, but when we do, they are fixed and the trailer is tested again." ( Airstream, Inc :: Tours )

You can see some of that here:

and they're blowing water at it pretty hard from horizontal angles. should leak, if it's gonna.

Ours has sat outside in Northern Colorado for three years now. It's got some small hail dings in it this season. But no leaks.

Now my brother in law spent the same money on a big 5th Wheel with something like four slideouts. I forget. But I do know he's had some major leaking issues. Different strokes for different folks. My reasons for buying one was because I thought curved roof made sense for our application, and aluminum is tougher than plastic. I suspect the curved trailers probably have a slight aerodynamic edge for towing, but I'm not qualified to swear to it, or how important that is. I know everyone else has perfectly good reasons why they chose the RV that they have. And no manufacturer gets 100% happy customers. Well, maybe the undertakers get the fewest complaints....

There are a lot of good trailers out there. I'm not an Airstream fanatic, I actually liked my old Jamboree pretty good. Towed a Samurai and canoe behind it. But I sure wouldn't have left that flat roof in the Rockies totally unattended for three winters in a row.

That video is cool, but that's on a brand new airstream with good seals. Airstreams still leak through the windows, the curved shape helps make that happen when the window seals get old. When they leak, the water runs down in between the walls and ruins the insulation inside the wall and goes down through the plywood floor. The flooing around the windows then rots out and rust forms on the steel frame in these areas.

For the OP, what's the climate like on your Deer Lease land??? Northwood which makes the Nash, Artic Fox, outdoors RV's are he only people i would consider for more northerly climates to do hunting in deer season. Northwood actually designed them for that purpose, they have sturdy heavy frames, more ground clearance, more suspension travel, and shock absorbers to help off road. They are also very well insulated which means you'll be more comfortable, use less propane and gasoline for your generator.

When storing your RV on the lease land for years on end, i'd be really worried about leaks. 1 bad leak will ruin your RV, ruin insulation in walls and rot out floors. Another RV to consider is the Livin Lite VRV or their split off gomyvrv.com which make all aluminum trailers with block foam insulation. There is literally nothing to rot out, you don't have to worry about getting the floor muddy, and you can park your 4 wheeler inside when you're not there. The gomyvrv.com split off company is going to be making 5th wheels soon which are much lighter than tradtional fifth wheels so should work fine with a 2500. Insulation on these is pretty standard 3 season, comparable to something like an airstream.

[schrederman]

Hate to bust anyone's bubble... but airplanes are being made of fiberglass and carbon fiber, these days...