Are there any QUALITY travel trailers out there?

[Delrob]

Originally Posted by NCC-1701A

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/

Not wanting to argue, or start an argument, but curious as to your basis for making a claim that "...other than Airstream, the quality over the last 5 years has tanked on all of them..". Let's specifically zero in on Bigfoot and Oliver, please offer some facts to support such a generalized statement based solely on your observations at RV Shows.

[Delrob]

Originally Posted by radar

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

I may be wrong, but I would guess that someone who is moving up from a pop-up to a travel trailer probably would not feel that slides are that important. They add a lot of weight and are prone to water leaks and mechanical issues.

[radar]

Originally Posted by Delrob

I may be wrong, but I would guess that someone who is moving up from a pop-up to a travel trailer probably would not feel that slides are that important. They add a lot of weight and are prone to water leaks and mechanical issues.

All true.

[MJSteele]

Twice now I have stopped to look at travel trailers at an RV dealer and the salesman was busy and so they had a shop tech take me through several new and used trailers. I am finding one of the best ways to find out about trailers is to talk to some one who works on them. Those two guys have given me very good information about which trailers HE likes because he sees the true insides (of cabinets, of walls, the under bellies, etc). One pointed out several manufacturers that used to be good but were bought out and now the quality has gone south. Talk to a tech!

[09 harley]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

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.

At best they start out ok. With time the warranty if you buy new will hopefully fix most of the problems. After that you’re on your own. If you keep up the maintenance and do lots of upgrades as I have you will eventually have a trailer that is better than average. I like to change and update so I’m happy with the process.
I have a Nash and I love that thing. It’s my ticket to great adventures.
Buy a trailer with a good reputation and plan on devoting time to make it the way you like.

[billyw]

It's sad that virtually all of them could be reasonably good trailers, if they'd only take their time to ensure each screw actually found it's hole, each fitting actually got tightened properly and all the caulk and sealers actually made it into their intended locations. Most of the appliances are the same between a well built model and a sloppy POS model. I know there are some components that are traditionally problematic, like certain brands of frames, but the vast majority of the issues are related to hasty, wasty construction practices. I'd gladly pay an extra thousand or two for a unit that was manufactured slightly slower, with a little quality and pride.

[T Money]

Outdoors RV

[Delrob]

Originally Posted by billyw

It's sad that virtually all of them could be reasonably good trailers, if they'd only take their time to ensure each screw actually found it's hole, each fitting actually got tightened properly and all the caulk and sealers actually made it into their intended locations. Most of the appliances are the same between a well built model and a sloppy POS model. I know there are some components that are traditionally problematic, like certain brands of frames, but the vast majority of the issues are related to hasty, wasty construction practices. I'd gladly pay an extra thousand or two for a unit that was manufactured slightly slower, with a little quality and pride.

I tend to disagree that the care taken by workers is the primary quality differentiator. I think the primary differentiator is design, not styling mind you, but design of construction and specification of construction materials. I offer the Oliver as a trailer which is impressively designed and, if you take a factory tour, you can easily see why it would cost many thousands more to build one of them compared to the run of the mill mass produced trailer. A poorly designed and constructed (cheaply built) trailer will not hold up and provide good, reliable service even if the workers perform their jobs perfectly. As a matter of fact a poorly designed unit makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for workers to assemble it in a quality manner.

[Persistent]

I see lots of good advice above.

Here is an iRV2 thread that includes a summary of first hand experience. Generally getting a TT with few defects in design and build is a crap shoot. With cheap TT's you are betting against the odds. With higher quality brands, the odds are much better.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f50/best-value-quality-brand-443427-2.html

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by T Money

Outdoors RV

Nah, they're just like the rest. An in house frame doesn't make it built better. The frame maybe be welded better but my ORV frame has paint runs all over the A frame section. I won't even start with the inside or the roof.

[Highway 4x4]

The people that build Rolex watches do not build RV's. IMO, Outdoors RV is one of the best built houses in a bad neighborhood. No RV is forever.

[billyw]

Originally Posted by Delrob

I tend to disagree that the care taken by workers is the primary quality differentiator. I think the primary differentiator is design, not styling mind you, but design of construction and specification of construction materials. I offer the Oliver as a trailer which is impressively designed and, if you take a factory tour, you can easily see why it would cost many thousands more to build one of them compared to the run of the mill mass produced trailer. A poorly designed and constructed (cheaply built) trailer will not hold up and provide good, reliable service even if the workers perform their jobs perfectly. As a matter of fact a poorly designed unit makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for workers to assemble it in a quality manner.

See how many posts complain about screws and staples backing out under the roof. See how many posts about screws stripped out on interior fit and finish items. See how many posts about leaky toilet or shower fittings. Ad nauseam.

No doubt there is some design flaws in there, but a crooked slide mechanism is more likely due to the lousy installation. The fridge that doesn't cool correctly is likely a bad install issue, not design.

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by Delrob

I tend to disagree that the care taken by workers is the primary quality differentiator. I think the primary differentiator is design, not styling mind you, but design of construction and specification of construction materials. I offer the Oliver as a trailer which is impressively designed and, if you take a factory tour, you can easily see why it would cost many thousands more to build one of them compared to the run of the mill mass produced trailer. A poorly designed and constructed (cheaply built) trailer will not hold up and provide good, reliable service even if the workers perform their jobs perfectly. As a matter of fact a poorly designed unit makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for workers to assemble it in a quality manner.

There's a difference between cheap materials with shoddy workmanship and quality materials with shoddy workmanship.

IMO ORV mostly uses quality materials but still suffers from shoddy workmanship on occasion like all RV MFG's do.

Agree Oliver makes a sweet trailer and I'd of spent the extra $$$ for one but the wife isn't fond of them and I don't care for the size of them inside.

We also looked a Bigfoot trailers and came to the same conclusions.

We're both in our 60's so we're not looking for superior longevity. If we get 10 good years out of our ORV then we'll be happy. Having a trailer that will last 20 years with a price tag of 20K more doesn't make sense.

[37driver]

As a result of the subprime mortgage fiasco most of the true high end RV manufacturers are history. Their customer base have all but disappeared. The current industry has adopted the Walmart philosophy and are making products for the masses, units they can afford and they never will be superior quality because if they were they wouldn't be affordable. They all use the same subcontractors and suppliers for heating, AC, slide mechanisms, doors, windows, etc. Most will brag that their construction techniques are the best but they're all virtually the same. The "trick" of high end today is glitzy interiors, solid surface countertops (thick plastic) residential looking plumbing fixtures (that are still crap) and the like. I own a 2017 Heartland Bighorn fifth wheel that's gorgeous on the inside and a 2012 Peterson Excel travel trailer that's somewhat plain on the inside compared to the Bighorn. The Bighorn is a peice of crap compared to the Excel in terms of quality of materials and construction but both cost essentially the same when new. Heartland is still in business because they also produce lower priced units that are affordable to most. Peterson went under in 2015 because they only produced high end units that only a smaller segment of the RV customer base could afford. While not shiney, new and glitzy, older high end units are a bargain today and much better quality. My Excel was 85k new in 2012 and I have less than 25k in it.