GreenWillow
Dalton, GA
Full Member
Joined: 06/11/2007
View Profile
 Offline
|
Hi everyone!
Thank you to all of you who post on this forum!! Your experience has been of great help to us so far : )
We have recently begun searching for a 4000#-5000# TT to upgrade from our pop-up. We are looking for an ultralite since DH's truck is a pansy. (2000 Dodge Ram 1500 QC - they sure LOOK strong, but who knew they would only pull 7500#, 12500# GCWR?!?)We are a single income family, so we can either have the TT or a TV, but not both!!!
This is a large chunk of our budget, so we need to be extra careful to not get a lemon that requires constant and expensive work. We anticipate that this will be the camper we end up towing for at LEAST the next 5 yrs or more, so we need to find good quality for the price. We had it down to the Passport 285rl and several floorplans in the Rockwood/Flagstaff line, then stumbled over the Maxlite. We think we are shying away from the Passport but REALLY prefer the floorplan on it to the others. Do any of you have honest feedback to share on the quality and durability of any of these campers? It would be a huge help in our decision!
Thank you so much for any help you can provide!!!!!
: )
2000 Dodge Ram 1500 QC
2006 Sunline Solaris T-2753 - "Lucky" 
Sunline Owner's Forum
|
softballjunky
palm desert california
Senior Member
Joined: 03/14/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
We looked at a Maxlite before we bought our Rockwood and for our money we like the Rockwood hands down. It is only our opinion, but to us the fit an finish of the Maxlite doesn't even compare. The Maxlite just felt cheap to us. We were in the same situation as you in the fact that we will be in this trailer for 5+ years and felt we would be better off with the Rockwood. Now we also spent probably an extra $2000 to $3000 compared to the maxlite. Again, this is only our opinion and not based on anything objective. I am not one to give a lot of advise on questions like this because it is so subjective, but I can say that we did look at both of these trailers (as well as the Tango and Jayco) and decided on the Rockwood. Hope this helps
2008 Rockwood 8298SS
2007 Ford Expedition
Equal-i-zer
Prodigy
|
2Rad4U
I'm to young to be a
Senior Member
Joined: 03/09/2005
View Profile
|
We love our Max-Lite. We've been running it all ove the southeast now for 2 years with no problems.
I won't bad mouth Rockwood though...We looked at them first as we came from a Rockwood pop-up. We need a lightweight TT (we tow with a 1/2 ton as well) and found the 24RS to be the perfect floor plan for us, and also liked the dealer.
It was a win-win situation.
CB
|
DaveRobin
Fayetteville, NC
Full Member
Joined: 08/30/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
"DH's truck is a pansy."
Wow.
Not being familiar with Maxlite, I won't speak to that one.
We looked at the Rockwood 7 1/2 ft line very hard but DW didn't care for the floor plans and we would have marginal in towing capacity vs needs if we had gone with the Signature Ultralite (8 ft).
Some of the standard features found on the Rockwood would be hard to beat in another ultralight TT. Shop hard.
2001 Chev Silverado 3500 8.1L DRW
2008 Rockwood 8296SS w/atrium slide
Equalizer WDH
Tekonsha Voyager Brake Controller
|
pushingingthelimit
IL
Full Member
Joined: 12/18/2006
View Profile
|
I don't know anything about the Maxlight but our 2007 2601 Rockwood seems good so far (1 Year and 4K miles) and tows great with our 1/2 ton van. I think the 7.5 wide and 110" tall helps
|
|
|
1FastSS
Northwest Houston, Texas
Senior Member
Joined: 01/08/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Maxlite 29BHS here. 2 years tomorrow since we picked it up. I love it and all is well. Love the white cabinets. Can't speak about Rockwoods.
Camping with Trailer
2003 Silverado 2500HD 6.0 w/4.10 gears & ProComp MX6 shocks.
2006 Maxlite 29BHS w/Equalizer & Prodigy BC & Honda EU3000i
2001 Camaro SS 6 speed 320RWHP/330RWTQ
A bad day camping beats a good day at work everytime!!!!
|
Talismanles
S.E. Michigan
Full Member
Joined: 05/05/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
2007 Max-Lite 26 RK in May 2007. Looked at Rockwood and Flagstaff and almost had our signature on a PO. Then we saw the MaxLite at an RV show {Oct, 2006) and after all day at the show we signed on the MaxLite. Do not regret it at all. MaxLite was about 3K less with more equipment than Rockwood. Was towing w/ Ford Explorer V8. It towed fine on the flats but DW wants to travel west over the mountains so we bought a 2004 Ford F250 Superduty V10. It would tow the White House and all the excess garbage they produce. Of course, no TT is perfect unless DW is happy.
It also depends on the selling dealer and service dept.
Overall I am glad we went w/ the Max-Lite even though our dealer is 250 mi. away and the Flagstaff dealer is 7 mi. away. Plus the Rockwood light weights are only 7'6" while the Max-Light is a full 8'. It's amazing what a difference 6" makes in the interior space, especially the bedroom.
Whatever you decide I would go with an Equal-i-zer Hitch and a Prodigy Brake controller.
* This post was
edited 06/14/07 04:06pm by Talismanles *
Les & Carol
S.E. Michigan
2004 Ford F250, Triton V10, 3.73,4x4, Long bed, Super cab.
2007 Max-Lite 26RK by R-Vision
Equalizer hitch & Prodigy controller
Days camping 2008/36, miles/ 4550
"Not All Who Wander Are Lost"
|
MFinCA
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 06/09/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
GreenWillow wrote:
We are a single income family, so we can either have the TT or a TV, but not both!!!
This is a large chunk of our budget, so we need to be extra careful to not get a lemon that requires constant and expensive work.
I would suggest going to www.rv.org and ordering their materials. Even when just comparing 2 trailers, their ratings can be a good 2nd opinion on which one will be best for your $$. Spending the $150 or so for the material can help you from making a mistake.
We used their material to help us select our current TT. A couple of the others we had on our short list had poor quality ratings--so I was glad I bought their material.
In about 2 years, we are probably going to buy a 5er. I will order their material again to help me with my selection.
MFinCA
2004 Homestead Settler 255RS
1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500
|
Todd Barney
Atlanta area, GA, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 07/17/2004
View Profile
|
Did not look real hard at the Rockwood ultralite because they didn't have a floor plan we really liked, but had the Surveyor on our short list when shopping. We ended up with the Maxlite, and do not regret it. But it really did come down to the floor plan. The Surveyor seemed to have a couple of extra bells and whistles as "standard," with a corresponding difference in price. And the Rockwood, to me, seemed to be a slight step up the food chain from there.
Maxlite's "Ten Most Hidden" features helped me feel good about my decision. (We'd already bought it when I saw that.) Based on the first year of ownership, I fully expect this to be a solid trailer 5+ years from now.
2006 Maxlite 30BHS
Maxlite Photos
Large: 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Quadcab 4x4 V-10 5spd manual 3.73
Equal-i-zer, Prodigy
Medium: '03 MPV ES
Small: '91 Miata
Pad the walls, we got 8-yr-old twins in here!
|
GreenWillow
Dalton, GA
Full Member
Joined: 06/11/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all!! All this is a tremendous help. I have heard Rockwood is a good quality camper but it seems like there isn't as much info on the Maxlite - I guess because it is a newer line. We seem to feel the Rockwood "feels" a little more solid on the interior, but Maxlite has them beat when it comes to floorplans. And although it sounds trivial, both at least have some acceptable choices in interior fabric : ) After looking at tons of trailers I have to wonder, who PICKS these fabrics, anyway?????
Any more Rockwood/Maxlite or even Passport owners???? Please keep the replies coming!!!
God bless : )
|
|
|
