Bay Hill RV

[txswick]

Are there any Bay Hill fifth wheel owners
with a short bed tow vehicle? Also any reviews for Bay Hill?

[KenInCA]

I pull my Bay Hill 320RS (when it's operational) with a 2007 GMC long bed with the Duramax diesel. The 5th wheel towed with the long bed has a lot of stability.

[jboiler133]

We just got our Bay Hill 385 BH last week. I have a Ford F350 crew cab w short bed. I have the factory fifth wheel hitch in the truck. We towed it home (210 miles), the camper is BIG I think close to 41ft. I think my BayHill actually is close to a 12 inches further back in the truck bed, I had to watch backing with our 32RS Laredo as to make sure it didnt get into the back window, as I backed ours in at home I think the Bay Hill is far enough back I will have no issues. As to pulling the Bay Hill seemed to ride great, as well if not better than the Laredo we had. As with fifth wheels once you get on the road and you drive for awhile have to remember to look back ad make sure its still there.

[KenInCA]

Good point about the back window. My Bay Hill 320RS does not come close to the truck's rear window even on a sharp turn. The same was true with my previous trailer, a Cardinal with a total length of 33 feet.

With the smooth pulling Bay Hill, I did lose about 1 MPG from over pulling the Cardinal, probably because of the weight differential.

[CorbandErin]

We pull our Bay Hill 3020RS with a 2014 Ford F-350 4x2 SRW short bed.

[vinecat]

We just got back from a week long 350 mile shakedown trip in our week old Bay Hill 295RL. We love the comfort and modern design, it was easy to heat and very quiet ( I assume due to insulation). There is some getting used to due to unique features,only one pull valve for gray water in the connection station, the 2nd gray tank pull is on the bottom outside near the sewer connection. Why there? I don't know. This is our 3rd fifth wheel and its by far the most comfortable. We also had trouble getting satelite tv hook up to work, the coax connection is not working. A direct connection to tv worked but something is not connected. The only major complaint is that a 5er of this caliber should definately have a remote control for the hydraulics ( landing gear & levelers)

[Slcfreedom]

We are new Bay Hill 320RS owners and very disappointed. We would love to like this 5th wheel but so far we have not been given any reason to. We are on our second trip and have had multiple systems problems, lights not working, hot water runs hot and then cold, (after them sending us the proper switch, wrong one installed at factory), leaky water heater, numerous screws, nuts and fixtures loose. Door misaligned in frame and sticks. I could go on and on. I see posts from people who say the service is great when they contact Evergreen. Our experience is just the opposite. Been RVing since early 1990's and have had a few different trailers but we have had more issues with this Bay Hill in the nearly two months we've had than all of the others combined. Sorry for the long post, I guess I'm just venting. Any suggestions as to who to contact at Evergreen?

[gracers31]

I have called and e-mailed Rod Batts <rbatts@lifestylelrv.com>. He was helpful with the problems we had with our 295. Others may not agree though.

If your looking for more info/reviews on Bay Hill there is a 13 page thread on this forum. Just look down the first subject page here.

Good luck

Chris and Judy

[KenInCA]

Originally Posted by Slcfreedom

We are new Bay Hill 320RS owners and very disappointed. We would love to like this 5th wheel but so far we have not been given any reason to. We are on our second trip and have had multiple systems problems, lights not working, hot water runs hot and then cold, (after them sending us the proper switch, wrong one installed at factory), leaky water heater, numerous screws, nuts and fixtures loose. Door misaligned in frame and sticks. I could go on and on. I see posts from people who say the service is great when they contact Evergreen. Our experience is just the opposite. Been RVing since early 1990's and have had a few different trailers but we have had more issues with this Bay Hill in the nearly two months we've had than all of the others combined. Sorry for the long post, I guess I'm just venting. Any suggestions as to who to contact at Evergreen?

Hello Sicfreedom...

Several of us who are 320RS owners (as well as other Bay Hill models) have endured many of the issues you describe. When we bought our 5th wheel after owning a Cardinal for many years, my wife and I thought we were buying a good looking, comfortable, and upscale 5th wheel. Right away problems began occurring with the bedroom and kitchen slide-outs as well as the problems you and other owners have described. We're just keeping our fingers crossed that that slide out issue is behind us after four repair attempts. Most seriously, our water tank broke loose from the frame that holds it in place. I could go on and on. Evergreen was sympathetic at first but then began to turn a deaf ear to us as well as the repair facilities that tried to diagnose and subsequently repair the myriad problems associated with the trailer. Unfortunately for us owners, had better quality control at the Evergreen plant could have mitigated many of the small and large problems you are now enduring.

From our experience, please note the following items:

• keep a watchful eye on your slide-out performance...wiring can become crimped in the bedroom slide.
• look carefully at your fender skirts...we had to have ours trimmed because the tires were about 1/16 inch from the skirts.
• when showering, begin with the hot water and THEN gradually add cold water and your tankless system should work well.
• a gray water release valve is located under the trailer, just to the left of the sewer outlet (many owners complain that this is unlabeled).

The Bay Hill line of Evergreen trailers has assuredly earned a declining reputation. The numerous issues could be solved with better quality control at the manufacturing level. The last dealership I took my Bay Hill to while it was under the original warranty intimated that they were deciding whether to carry Evergreen trailers after their current stock was depleted.

Best of luck...

Ken

[jmerik1]

The issues with the Bay Hill are really no different then with any new trailer. I have owned several brands, and one that sticks out as being very poor was an 2001 Montana. Anyone that had one knows about the frame issues. How was that not caught in production? Bay Hill from my research has listened and has made some good improvements, like using the new Attwood tank-less water heater. Anyone that has the Girard knows how unreliable they are. I have also discovered that the dealers are very much to blame for some of the most nagging issues. Appears the prep guys just don't spend the time anymore, which means the buyer has to do their homework. As an example, a friend of mine just bought a new Crusader, beautiful rig, he says the dealer spent nearly two hours going through the operations. Still he never mentioned the galley drain valve, or the low point water drain????? I've seen somewhere on a blog, a new trailer check list made up by several long time RVers, that was great. If this site does not have that, maybe we should all contribute. It would be of great value to those new to RVing.

[glennwest]

We will quit having these issues when we quit buying/accepting sub standard quality. If the automotive industry was run this way they would go out of business because we would not buy them. Its sad that the companies that built quality units went under because of customers buying non quality units and being satisfied because they were less money.

[vinecat]

It seems to me that there is a growing number of customer complaints from Bay Hill owners. I too had a number of issues and have hopefully survived them all. I DISAGREE with those who blame the dealerships,many issues i.e. tankless water heater can only be found with use and not display. I can't understand why so many of you see these quality problems as to be expected. As I said before would you spend $50,000 or more to buy a car with all these defects.The RV industry in particular Evergreen has some real problems with their manufacturing process, maybe its really their hiring process. I don' t see how they can compete in the " elite" or upper tier in the 5th wheel class, and I'm sure that this is prevalent in their entire products line. Its a matter of time when enough discontent owners word effects sales and the number of discontent dealers grows.
My thoughts: Attwood tankless is worse than Girard, tv-satelite assembly is suspicious, microwave exhaust thats not vented to outside is inferior, slideouts that don't close all the way, were all negatives. As for positives: styling, double door refer, size and style of bathroom, colors of exterior & interior, internal spare tire storage, interior comfort & style.
I have a 2014 Bay Hill 295RL towed with 3500 Ram long bed 4x4.

[jmerik1]

Price has nothing to do with quality. As an example, my son has a 2013 Mercedes C350, that has been in the dealership garage 41 times already. The point is each brand will have problems. Maybe not buying them is an answer, but what then? When prices soar where do we go? I read about people allowing their sinks to overflow, because they didn't know about the 3rd valve. What??? These valves have been mostly in the same place on my last two trailers. Again, over flowing sink is not a manufacturer problem. Why didn't the dealership explain the operation, or maybe they did and the owners didn't catch it. I have contacted and spoken at great length with manufacturers, and they all seem to understand our issues. Whether they can correct all of them to everyone's satisfaction is to be seen. If we are to listen to all the different brand owners, there are no worthwhile rigs out there.

[jmerik1]

One thing I've noticed after reading complaints about the BayHill . Mostly the owners are west of the Mississippi. Trailers must be a regional thing. I bought my Cougar in Michigan, and saw a few others, but when I went west and to Alaska there were Cougars everywhere.