Are all 5th Wheel's junk like all Travel Trailers are Junk?

[LargeMarge]

Garsh, I just don't know...

My friend Cindy worked as the attendant in a laundromat in Eugene, Oregon. She went straight from that gig... to assembler at the new Winnebago plant in Junction City, Oregon.

Cindy is great at shooting the breeze and telling funny stories.
Cindy was reasonably accurate at counting quarters... but just barely.
Cindy is far better at joking around.

At us$14 an hour, she can never afford to purchase a new Recreation Vehicle. Might this realization affect her 'work quality' attitude?

Garsh, I just don't know...

[raineman]

Originally Posted by LargeMarge

Garsh, I just don't know...

My friend Cindy worked as the attendant in a laundromat in Eugene, Oregon. She went straight from that gig... to assembler at the new Winnebago plant in Junction City, Oregon.

Cindy is great at shooting the breeze and telling funny stories.
Cindy was reasonably accurate at counting quarters... but just barely.
Cindy is far better at joking around.

At us$14 an hour, she can never afford to purchase a new Recreation Vehicle. Might this realization affect her 'work quality' attitude?

Garsh, I just don't know...

Never thought of that. Good point. I do know that turnover on RV assembly lines is extremely high...

[09 harley]

It is a 2016 model that he purchased in June or July. Here are some of the problems. I’ll list without much punctuation. The lights didn’t work in two of the slides. Wiring not connected at factory. Steps were installed very crooked. Needed to be cut off and rewelded. The power electrical cord rewind didn’t work. Wasn’t wired at all. Mirror on bedroom closet door fell off and broke. Poor workmanship. One of the slides wouldn’t retract. Cheap gear was broken and had to be replaced. What junk. The dishwasher wouldn’t close properly. The face frame was built incorrectly and apparently no one cared. The drawer that the electric fireplace attaches to had no latch and on his first trip it came flying open and the drawer disintegrated and the fireplace landed on the floor. The drawer was assembled with 22 gauge pin nails. What a joke. Had to reassemble with screws and get new slides. The cabinets are such poor quality that it is hard to install properly. The factory used washers behind the slides as necessary because the cabinets in the unit are neither level or plumb. One of the awnings came loose at one end and you can imagine what happened. Two slide water leaks. Had to replace seals and add slide toppers. Tank sensors never worked properly. Added SeeLevel system. Perfect. Leak in gray water discharge pipe. Had to fix poor quality assembly. Wasn’t glued properly. Suspension sqeeked all the time. Replaced the cheap plastic bushings with greaseable bolts and thicker side plates. Not a great place to cut costs. Water leak under kitchen sink. Have replaced numerous fittings with Flair-It fittings. Those clamps with the round compression rings have one thing going for them they are the cheapest option and that is true everywhere. The microwave failed. Low quality unit. The extension on the small dinette table broke. Surprised it lasted as long as it did. Water leak on only one window. Got lucky on that one. The black water hose lasted one trip. If they give you one throw it away and buy better quality. Drawer for fireplace blew up again. The closer that was supplied after the first problem didn’t work and the same thing happened again. The factory is supposed to be sending a newly redesigned cabinet with a better drawer to be installed when it comes out of storage in early March. We’ll see. One of the axles needs to be replaced because it has been bent from day one. Unfortunately it is wearing my new Goodyear tires and I’m not happy with that. Enough for now. Even with the problems he enjoys traveling. I’ve almost got him convinced to buy the New Seasons 5th wheel and upgrade to F550. The New Seasons are built better than most homes and are the highest rated unit available. If you want quality you pay for it.

[Corvelo]

Originally Posted by Rob89

Hey guys. My wife and I have found ourselves in the market for an RV mainly as a roving hotel room when we travel to visit family. Not all of our family has room for us and hotels quite frankly gross us out. Plus we have 2 small boys and it would make for some great experiences for them.

I have a 2016 F-250 Lariat crew cab, short bed 4X4 gas 6.2 with 3.73 gears on 275-65-20 Michelin's. My initial thought was that my truck would be perfect for a travel trailer. We were looking and researching bunkhouse floor plans from all the different manufacturers in the 27-30 foot range grossing out around 8K ish. Well after all my research, conversations in person with various people and conversations over the internet forums with various people, I'm quite frankly scared to go the travel trailer route. Seems like they are pretty much all junk- just some more than others. It looks like the frame, axles, Chinese tires, etc. are all the same or very similar to each other and what really separates the different price point's is the overall quality, fit and finish of the interior. It seems to me that the quality of the unit you end up with really depends on the skill of the people putting it together in 7 hours and what type of mood's they are in that day.

So I say all that to ask this- is it pretty much the same thing with 5th wheels? Are they all slapped together in overdrive using basically the same junk components? My truck being a short bed and not a dually limits the overall size 5th wheel i'd be able to tow but I'd be willing to look at some smaller 5th wheels if I knew that it was possible to buy a quality unit that I can keep for the next 10 years.

Thanks for any help or insight.

I have a River Canyon, from Travel Supreme. I have been told that they are "the Cadillac of 5th wheelers", and I agree. Great quality in every detail, not to mention that the wheels come with grease for life. You don't have to grease them ever. Too bad the factory had to close due to best quality and high prices.

[Corvelo]

I have a River Canyon, from Travel Supreme. I have been told that they are "the Cadillac of 5th wheelers", and I agree. Great quality in every detail, not to mention that the wheels come with grease for life. You don't have to grease them ever. Too bad the factory had to close due to best quality and high prices.

[consolenut]

what one calls junk and quality is proportional to the size of your wallet. Those that spent 200k on a 5ver will say the 100k and under price might be junk or less desireable.

Those that spend 100k maxed on budgst will say otherwise. Trucks or TV different story a ford may be considered junk next to a new Sportchassis.

My personal experience my Teton spoiled me. Less then a newmar kountry aire or Carriage carrilite wouldnt cut it for me. New 5ver id have to buy a New Horizons to get equal or better quality.. thats north of 200k

only an opinion

[RiverBurt]

Originally Posted by Rob89

Wow! Someone is sensitive. .

Yeah, someone is.

[RogerSmalley]

"10k is no biggie for my truck- have been loaded as much as 12k without any issue. My biggest concern would be the overall quality. I understand that there will be a couple bugs to work out being new but I don’t want something that will be at the dealer more than at home. I’m also not sure about a 5er with my short bed- that would be my second biggest concern."

Lots of good information in this thread. I'd like to add one important thing. You could probably tow a heavy 5th wheel with an old Ford Ranger. Towing is the easy part. Stopping is a much bigger concern. In a panic stop situation the trailer brakes have to stop the trailer as well as the truck brakes stop the truck. The electric drum brakes on most trailers (TT or 5er) are really not good enough. When we bought our first RV it was a 36 foot Keystone Cougar purchased new. The brakes were a problem from the very start.

We towed it with an F-350 SRW, so capacity was never an issue. But the set-up instructions for the controller said to drive the truck slowly (5-10 mph) and apply the trailer brakes with the controller. Find the setting that locks up the trailer brakes and then back off one increment. The trailer brakes would never lock up. The dealer didn't believe me, so we hooked up the trailer to his truck and got the same result.

Dexter replaced every component of all of the brakes, but the result was very little improvement. It would only be a matter of speculation to conclude that the axles were insufficient for the trailer. I don't have evidence to support that conclusion. What I do know is that we had enough problems to trade the 5er in for a 40 foot diesel pusher. More expensive, yes, but much better construction. Also, the air brakes have been a dream come true.

We were in an RV park last spring while a rally of Redwood 5th wheel owners was in progress. I noticed that there was a line of trailers waiting to get their brakes replaced with an electric over hydraulic disc brake system. I talked to a couple of folks who had made the change the year before and they raved about the performance. They never knew their truck brakes were so good! My conclusion is that even in higher priced 5ers, the brakes are just inadequate.

I don't see it mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but I would advise you not to overlook the good, well-maintained trailers in the used market. Build quality has deteriorated in recent years due in some part to the industry crash in 2008 and the current demand that is straining manufacturing capacity. Our DP is a 2006 model that had 75K miles at purchase in 2014. It now has 127K and has been a very reliable and comfortable RV. It was built well. We have enjoyed making some improvements and upgrading some systems to current versions (HDTV, residential 'fridge, hardwood flooring, digital instrumentation), but the Cummins engine just hums along and the Allison transmission is bullet-proof. As retirees we have lived in the MH for about 8 months per year and only rarely does the space feel small.

So the take-aways here are:
1) Consider good used trailers
2) Make sure you have enough truck (my regular mechanic once said "you don't want nothin' but a diesel in the mountains." He was right!
2) Unless you really need the truck for other purposes, look at some motorhomes while you're shopping. Used are often much better deals, and gassers are fine if you don't want to spend too much time or go too far.
4) Hardest lesson of all: Take your time and devote your spare time to going to shopping, looking, comparing, and deciding.

I hope to hear that your'e a happy camper soon!

[glennwest]

Originally Posted by consolenut

what one calls junk and quality is proportional to the size of your wallet. Those that spent 200k on a 5ver will say the 100k and under price might be junk or less desireable.

Those that spend 100k maxed on budgst will say otherwise. Trucks or TV different story a ford may be considered junk next to a new Sportchassis.

My personal experience my Teton spoiled me. Less then a newmar kountry aire or Carriage carrilite wouldnt cut it for me. New 5ver id have to buy a New Horizons to get equal or better quality.. thats north of 200k

only an opinion

Lots of merit in your post. We have a 2003 Teton Grand and it so far better made than any mass produced today on the market. Agreed we would have to go custom build to get an equal unit.

[JMCherry]

I would suggest going through the Travel Trailer comparison guide. I bought a used one online. It’s worth going thru and reading all the reviews, etc. Then decide which models you are interested in and look for a used one. A) let someone else take the hit on the depreciation; and B) hopefully they will have all the quirks worked out. All RVs have some type of quirks to them. Note there is no such thing as the perfect RV. You need to do your research and buy the best one that meets your needs. Good luck.

[shane wood]

Originally Posted by Corvelo

I have a River Canyon, from Travel Supreme. I have been told that they are "the Cadillac of 5th wheelers", and I agree. Great quality in every detail, not to mention that the wheels come with grease for life. You don't have to grease them ever. Too bad the factory had to close due to best quality and high prices.

If I were you I would have someone look at your bearings
There is no grease or any wheel system that is good for life
You are asking for a problem if you dont

[consolenut]

Originally Posted by shane wood

If I were you I would have someone look at your bearings
There is no grease or any wheel system that is good for life
You are asking for a problem if you dont

some of the travel supreme have oil bath axles. that may be what hes referring to.

[Bob_C]

Some have a sealed bearing that you cannot add grease to......most front wheel drive cars are the same.....

[Corvelo]

Originally Posted by shane wood

If I were you I would have someone look at your bearings
There is no grease or any wheel system that is good for life
You are asking for a problem if you dont

I did have someone from Camping World. The guy knew about it but never saw them before. This kind is of very high quality... Unfortunately the company closed. I am very happy with every thing on that rig. Thanks for the comment.