Quality starts on the inside and bottom up. You can hang quality doors on cabinets made from mdf, staple the drawers together and it looks good but is far from quality. Look underneath at the frame, and the welds. That is were quality starts.
Folks I think since the original poster is just entering the fiver market, and based on his previous rigs Id imagine theyre a weekend family campers so its probably safe to say theyre not looking for Tetons and Mobile suites. Just a guess but Im thinking more in the lines of a cougar/wildcat/crossroads cruiser type of 5th wheel. My opinion is that very few RV's are high quality when compared to the standards we tend to have with the rest of the products in our lives. I highly suggest the original poster visit a bunch of dealers and make a short list of rigs that fall into the price range and THEN come back here and ask for opinons.
2007 Montana Mountaineer 307RKD
2006 Chevrolet 2500 4x4 crew Duramax/allison
"Are you saying some manufacturers in the Elkhart area don't turn out don't turn "better" "higher quality" than other manufacturers?
They are all of the same quality" (that is pretty much what I said)
if you looks at units in the same price range you may note that they are more alike than different, Now review what I posted;;;
The vast majority of them are built within a 50 mile radius of Elkhart, Ind. They all draw from the same workforce. They use the same vendors, they use the same manufacturing process. Tour one plant and you have pretty much toured everyone of them."
Quality is not high in the RV industry The Elkhart area builds most of the Rv's. Therefore the quality is consistant.
Luke Porter wrote: Personally, I wouldn't buy a Thor or Fleetwood.
And I wouldn't suggest anyone else should.
I would suggest a Newmar, Teton or maybe Carriage.
Wouldn't buy a Thor? Thor is the conglomerate that owns many independant factories. Cross Roads, Airstream, Keystone, Dutchman, etc. It is the factories that are responsible for their own quality control. But being a Thor company, each factory can buy components at a group price. This can help keep the costs/prices lowest due to the Thor Corp. buying power. Things like frames, stoves, refridgerators, Air conditioners, etc. This helps these independant factories reach a price point to match market demand.
That is not to say that all Thor products are created equal. Each factory has their own engineering, manufacturing processes, and seperate vendors for Cabinetry and a lot of other stuff. And customer service differences as well.
Just like Forest River owns various manufacturers like Cardinal, Cedar Creek, Sandpiper, Wildcat, etc.
And General Motors owns Saturn, Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac. You can't say they are all the same now, can you?
'12 F350 SB, CC, SRW, 6.7 PSD, 3.55 RAR, 6 spd auto, Ultimate Lariat pkg
2011 Open Range 393RLS 14,250 GVWR
Pullrite Super Glide 18K
Luke Porter wrote: Thanks, add Forest River to Thor and Fleetwood.
I have to assume you have owned ,and have personal knowledge of all these units ??? I am also going to assume you own a Newmar ??? If so why don't you tell us the virtues of a Newmar to say a Jayco Designer, and why we should stay away from all the ones you mentioned.
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