Well for the past couple of weeks I have started looking for a good RV for the family. I have a 17' 1967 Travellaire and its a little small and well, old. Haven't decided on 5ver or hitchpull yet either

I see some interesting names that may be only available south of the 49th, but I have looked at Westwind, Travelaire, Jayco, Terry, Okanogan, Rockwood.

I was wondering if I could get some opinions of these types of rigs from the seasoned veterens out there. I understand now how the price differs from the solid wall fiberglass to the framed and sided. But some pros and cons would be nice. Maybe there are factors I have not concidered, just by not knowing.

Any and all thoughts would be great guys.

J-eh

 

First, a suggestion. Drop in over at http://www.irv2.com, register (it's free) and ask those folks. It's a friendly board, and you'll find lots of RVing experience available for the asking. (Truth in advertising - I'm a moderator there )

We're on our third Jayco. We started with a pop-up and then have owned two 5th wheels. Our current 5ver is a 2000 Designer XL 3610RLTS (36' triple slideout). All of the Jaycos have given excellent service, and Jayco has a well-earned reputation of going the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction.

I'll let those who have owned the other brands share their experiences. All I can offer are opinions, and not first-hand ones at that!

Rusty

 

To get a better answer and some help you need to let us know about what you are looking for, such as do you have kids & how many, what type of amenities you may be looking for, what type of camping are you planning on doing.
Answer some of these things and maybe you get about a million opinions to help keep you confused

 

Thanks Guys..

Ya I guess you need some more info.. OK well I have 2 small boys oldest is 3. We like to do more small campground type camping as the mountians are only about an hour or so from us.

All the amenities really aren't that important. I mean the one I have has a handpump for water and a porta-poti for the commode. We do alot of outdoors stuff so being inside isn't really a priority.

I would like to stay under the 26' mark just for manouverability as some of the sites are a little small.

We don't do alot of big trips, well not yet.

I am a little leary on slideouts for weight and the seals etc. We do have some good winter storms in the spring and fall, especially in the mountains.

I hope that helps out a bit.

Thanks for the link, I will stop by and do some searching.

 

I can second what RustyJC said about Jayco. We have a Jayco fiver, beginning our eighth season with this rig, and it's been great. Small things have gone wrong (water pump, fridge motherboard, etc.) but overall its been a joy to use. When we look for our retirement rig (both our kids are in college) we will give Jayco a serious look.

DeWain

 

I have had great luck with Jayco, Wilderness, Hitchhiker, just get what is comfortable, I really prefer the fith wheel for pulling and manuvering, Goodluck,,Rick

 

I have a 30' forest river with fiberglass sides and a front kitchen a real nice unit all in all . Had it 3 years now and we like it a lot. I think the slides are pretty nice but only you can decide. We looked at a slide for about the same price but the quality difference was noticeable. when we looked at the same quality apples for apples the slide was a little more than we wanted to spend. I think the seals and operation in general of the slides has come a long way in the past couple of years. If there is a RV show in your area it would be a good place to start. I found a good and helpful salesman 14 years ago and I am lucky after three tts and a class c and a class A this guy has been right on the mark through all of my whims. ( I only owned one at a time) I want a lot of quality in my unit so I buy all the quality I can afford rather than the gingerbread. Get an education and fight the Impulse to buy without some thought. If it is worth it, the unit will most likely be there after you have had some time to go away and think about it.
Best of luck to you

 

Lil Dog, we are on our second Westwind, they are a good choice for good quality and reasonable price. If you want hard side then look at the Kustom Koach (same factory in Red Deer). We've stayed with a bumper pull to keep the truck box free for other toys.

Brian

 

I've had trailers and 5th wheels and I like the 5th wheel the best. I'm now towing a Golden Falcon (made in Canada) and love it. Get a slide out! The seals are okay now and you can't believe what a difference it makes.
Good luck and have fun

 

Thanks guys... Keep em coming.. Good advice and feedback.

 

Hey Lil Dog, if you are in Canada then you may to look at the Titanium brand of 5VR. They are real spendy in the US but from everything I have seen and read about them they are real good and you don't need a slider for a short bed due tho the design of the 5VR.
Here is their address: http://www.glendalerv.com/default.asp
I would have gotten one myself but the cost here in the US for it is about $60K

 

Mine is a Terry 25W with the dinette slideout. The slideout makes for a lot more "walk-around-room", and with the two boys, you'll be glad you have it when the weather is bad outside. It has a seperated bedroom in the back that can be sectioned off with two sliding accordian "doors". Great for letting the boys take a nap.

It has been virtually trouble free and pulls great with a good leveling hitch. The Edge EZ adds a lot to the pulling ease with the 5 spd.

CR

 

Lil dog, You wanted to know some pros and cons of the different siding, etc. The fiberglass will weigh more and is eventually affected by UV from the sun, where the aluminum side trailers are lighter (if comparing same trailer) and less affected by UV. The fiberglass will not get dents from hail etc. like the aluminum does. As far as slide-outs, I prefer them for the extra room (still have grandkids) when the weather is inclement, but they do add some weight over the non-slides. We started with a Nomad 19' tongue pull, but it didn't have enough room. When we traded it, we were looking to go 24 - 25' 5vr, but ended up (due to availability at the time and pricing) with a Sprinter 27' slide-out 5vr, which works well for us. Anything larger would be hard to get into our deer camp. Since you are looking to keep at 25' or less, I highly recommend a slide-out model. Our next one will probably be 25', either in the Arctic Fox or the Rockwood makes. The brand is not as important as how well the unit will hold up over time, and several will do that. Also, comparison of price versus features/quality is something to consider. The Jaycos have a good rep, as do Skyline (Nomad, Layton, and Aljo), along with many others. The Artic Fox has a reputation of being very well built, and are reasonably priced for what they give you, such as heated water tanks etc. The RV shows are one of the best places to compare the brands - my wife and I go to most of them in our area, even when we're not looking to buy a new one. Happy shopping, and good luck. Hope I helped some.

 

We bought a used 23 foot Aljo pull trailer which we kept for 5 years before getting our 28 foot 2004 Wilderness fifth-wheel last year. With two girls we out grew the Aljo right away. Being our first trailer we learned a lot about what we wanted in the next one. The Wilderness has one slide out with the dinette and couch which both fold down to beds. We chose a single slide to keep it as light as possible. There wasn't a lot of difference in weight between fiberglas siding vs aluminum, which we chose, but the 'glas siding cost more. There is a tremendous difference in room inside and out. So far we have been very pleased with the trailer, minimal of problems. We plan to keep this one through retirement.

 

Check out the Open Roads by Pilgrim. They have a large number of upgrades as standard equipment and even have an Artic Pac standard. Price is about 10 to 15K cheaper than the high end models. Good Luck.