I presently have a 34 Ft. Grand Junction 5th wheel, which is made by Thor Dutchman, and I pull it with a 2007 2500HD Silverado 6.6 Deisel pickup. My wife and I are about to retire and want to travel with our Honda Goldwing therefore we are looking for a toyhauler that can do that with. My wife wants something nice inside and finished off well. We have enjoyed our Grand Junction and would keep it if it was a toyhauler. What would you recommend and why?
That's a tall order, you'll get many opinions on quality. My suggestion is to let your own eyes do most of the shopping, hit as many RV dealers as you can. There is a sticky at the top of this forum for all the different brands.
Personally I think the Newmar X-aire is probably the best built and still backed by a mfr toy hauler out there...sadly, Newmar has announced that 2012 will be the last year of their towables.
New Horizons is right up there-and would be my next choice if I was looking for a new toy hauler today.
After looking at a lot of TH's I felt that the Sunnybrook models were the nicest that's why I bought one. Good quality and nice floor plans made it my choice. I also have the extreme cold package and double pane windows so I can stay in the cold if needed. The 2000 to 2006 models are awesome and the new Ravens are well built and comfortable.
The thing that turned me off with a lot of TH's is they looked like a man cave with little comfort, small kitchens and weird decorating. The wife wouldn't go for it. You may have to upgrade your truck too if you want a top of the line TH because they are heavy.
Good luck!
In my life I've spent my money on women, booze, Harleys, guitars and traveling, the rest I just wasted...
2007 Ford F-350 diesel/dually & Sunnybrook Titan KSRV 39-1 Toy hauler 5th wheel hauling my custom Harley
That's a loaded question, everyone has their opinion with pros and cons associated to each and every one! nayther said "let your own eyes do the shopping" and he/she is absoutley right. Check every nook and cranny, crawl underneath and into the cubby's, even into the closets and cabinets if you can fit - pull out evey single drawer and turn on each and every light, check anything and everything - you should start to definately see a difference after checking out a few different manufacturers and models.
In my opinion, put construction first and floorplan later - of course you have to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges as $80k will get you more than $30k
Over the years of owning different RV's, learning, general observation and most importantly working on them myself I have made several conclusions about "The Best built RV" Toy hauler in this case. The "best" is purely a matter of opinion. But there are a lot of things one can look at and I will use my own experience to help.
First, the more you pay does not necessarily mean you will get the "best". But in some cases that could be true, provided you find the right RV and the right manufacturer. For example, one toy hauler could have the best chassis, but everything else could be cheap, for example, plastic exterior components that don't last long. (I have had to replace many parts on my Raptor that I was able to pick up at camping world that were much better quality than what the manufacturer installs. Other RV's could have the best and highest quality components but a very bad and cheap chassis.
Second, it's all about keeping costs down. Even though the manufacturer touts quality, etc, etc, that is not always the case. I always like to refer to the fact that with most RV's, I can't speak for then all, is that there is really "not much to them". Manufacturers are trying to keep the weight down and will cut corners where they can to save on weight. This might include thin aluminum, thin OSB for the roof, thin fiberglass for the exterior and thin roof membranes. If you have ever actually had to replace parts on your RV, and have seen some of the inner construction, you know what I am talking about.
Third, I'd say to try and find the best RV you can that has the best chassis and "foundation" and possibly the best roof. The problem is, cost, the only way you will get the best of the best is to pay the price. The sky is the limit, we all know that. But still sometimes that will not guaranty the best, but you will come closer.
2007 F350 6.0PSD 4X4 Dually w/Tow Boss, 4:30 26000 GCWR
"I Think We're going to need a BIGGER Truck" 2010 Raptor 361LEV 12900lbs 15600 GCWR
As of May 2012 The F350 has 33,600 miles on it, most of it pulling the
Raptor! Yeah!
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