I have owned several 5th Wheels, and I would highly recommend a Hitchhiker. They are very well-built, and the most trouble-free rig I have ever owned. The Alfa 5th Wheels look nice, but are not very good quality.

 

I love my Innsbrook Gulfstgream 31ft fbhs with single slide. Its an 01" and no problems at all. We use it for camping on the weekends only. I don't know if I could live out of it though..

 

Do not, I repeat, do not buy anything from Forest River. Their customer service is terrible; you have to fight over everything. The experience is confrontational rather than "What's the problem and what do you expect us to do about it?"

 

I bought an 06 Springdale 266RellS and we love ot so far. I've been lurking on a lot of RV forums over the past year and you can, of course, find negative and positive things about every brand. I had some warranty work done on mine recently and the tech showed me a couple of similar units and the problems they were having seemed like rough use issues. We don't offroad ours and we keep it covered and so far so good. I prefer the metal siding ones to the fiberglass though. The delamination thing seems to be a pretty big problem to me and it occurs more often than people think. The most important thing is a pre-delivery inspection. Make sure they show that everything works and that there are no leaks before you take possession of it. All dealers should be willing to let you pore over it before signing anything.

Good luck and happy camping!

 

We have owned several different makes, (bumper pulls) over the years and a Jayco tandem axle popup we had for years and loved it and now have a 30' Jayco 5th wheel with two slides for 4 years and it is very good quality. I would never own a wood frame trailer because of dry rot and other problems.

 

Se Ya Alpha over every other brand by far.
Do yourself a favor. Look at all you can and then look at the Alpha..

 

Montana made by Keystone is the only way to go!! The 5er's are tested to ZERO degrees while maintanning 70 degrees inside. Quality is excellant!!

 

i agree. we have the 35ft(42.5ft total length) when we got it dry weight was 12700lb!! when loaded up for a week it weighs in at 15101LB!!! its really heavy but it awsome. total truck and 5'er weight is 23151Lb. like i said its heavy but warm and almost sound proof. i love it, i have my own room even.

 

If you are looking for a fifth wheel in the 30-45k price range than I would recommend checking out the Cedar Creek (that's what we have), Montana,
Sunnybrook, Cardinal, Challenger, Jayco Designer Series and CrossRoads Cruiser and Paradise Pointe. I feel these are the better models in that price range. We went with the Cedar Creek because of their good reputation and floor plan, however we also loved the CrossRoads Cruiser and Paradise Pointes. Good Luck!

 

If you become interested in the Arctic Fox/Nash trailers, they have an owners website (AFNash.com) that you may want to check out.

I have a '98 Nash 25-S, bumper-pull, alum. sided trailer that I have towed all over the country & into Canada. It's been very trouble-free & reasonably priced.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

 

I have been a slide out group leader for the past 14 years at Keystone,Forest River, and Dutchmen. I would not recommend a Cardinal to my worst enemy, they are absolute junk. The Cedar Creek model is the only Forest River to buy if you want a Forest River product. The Keystone Montana is a decent unit for the amount of production that plant produces. But they are kinda pricy, they build a unit about every 20 minutes, yes thats 23 units a day in about 6 1/2 hours. I have not really seen a Dutchmen for about 6 years so I cannot comment on them. they all have their quality issues with trim and items crooked like windows, water heater doors, etc. but I know the inspectors at Keystone are mostly women and pretty picky(and bitchy too) and they won't let a unit leave until they okay it. Yes, the inspecters have authority over production managers and all. I know it is not that way at anywhere else I've worked. Forest River is pretty bad for the "just get it out the door" mentality. Although the CedarCreek plant is about 90% Amish and I have worked with many of those guys in the past, they are (in my opinion) very much more quality minded than the average trailer factory worker, and if they see something wrong they fix it, not hide it hoping it "gets out the door" without anyone seeing it. And just so you know for the last 2 or 3 months the entire RV market has been dead. Very dead. So you would definetly have some leverage to make a deal on a unit. I know what they go to the dealer for and what the dealer marks them up. And it is at least 30%. So if your looking for a 60,000 dollar 5 th wheel, you could get one for about 44-48,000 if you stand firm on your offer and not fold from a salesman telling you they don't make that much on a sale, cause they do. But you may want to take a weekend and go camp at a rv campground and talk with as many people as you can about their brand of trailer and quality issues/ age of unit. Thats the best place to get advice, most folks there have had a few different brands and friends that also rv and know of quality issues, good and bad.

 

Get a floorplan you like, Bedroom on one end then bathroom next for privacy. Dont have to run through liveing area to get to bathroom. Rear kitchens bounce the dishes while towing,not good. Holding tanks !! Need two gray water tanks for at least 75-80 gal capacity. Gray water will fill in a hurry one weekend without sewer hookup. Fresh water tank inside trailer where wont freeze. All holding tanks over axles or forward. Tanks at the trailer rear will cause sway if partially full. Handy dump plumbing. Good frame under trailer. Have seen many frames bend right over axles. Just look at some older tradeins, you'll spot some bent frames. Eyeball bottom of frame from rear to ft. Should be straight, can spot the bow over axles easely. Need double framing or I beem 8-10 inch high on 30 footers. Lotta light frames. !6 inch e rated tires best. Max tire wt rating is stamped on every tire . add them up .Trailer wt. is in kitchen cupboard. Trailer wt always light ,doesnt include air cond,other extras ETC. Plus add water, clothes,dishes ETC. Now your much heavier. Most 30+footers will have D rated 15 inch tires, with option to get 16 inchers. On my 35 foot Holliday Rambler it cost me $600.00 extra to get 16 inch from factory. With hind sight it was a bad deal. Wheels cost $50.each=$200. tires @$100.ea.=$400.added up = $600. use a 15 inch for spare,and I could have had 4 new 15 inchers to sell. But thats why I'm telling you. These 15 get hot and just disintegrate. You new cummins will fry these trailer tires while you set in a air conditioned truck thats just lopeing along. Age and wear mean nothing ,they get hot and disintegrate. !6in e -rated at 80 lb air pressure will run cool like your truck tires. Fantastic fan in living area is great. Running slow at night will pull a nice breeze through your bedroom at night in the desert. We got washer -dryer prepped trailer That comes with 50 amp electricle service and 10 gal water heater. Bought small aftermarket washer from ABC Warehouse. We stay in FL 3 mo in winter.All my buddys said washer was big waste ,just use campground washer ETC. Turned out to be really good investmant. No planned washdays , really really nice. Its not even anchored down, just leveled and setting on floor ,has traveled all over US. One of the determaning factors why we bought the H-R model 34 SKD was the washer option and still a big closet, two slides bedroom and living area,big picture window in rear with two lazyboy recliners. This is a TT not a 5r. I haul a motorcycle in pickup box . 5rs have much more storage room . Just some food for thought. You might want to go used the first time, not too big or too expencive. After you use it a while you'll start to see what you want and dont care for. Then deal into more what you like.Your big old cummins will pull a little unit just as good as a big one. We also have a 18 foot Shadow Cruiser we travel with since fuel went up. Get 17-18 MPG pulling it, with 06 3500 dually cummins auto 3.73 rear. People ask if we got truck enough HAHA Hope this helped.