We are new to toy haulers and are looking at Jayco's 24' Octane and Eclipse's 24' Attitude. Both have similar floor plans and upgrades, big differences are the weight (Attitude has alum. frame, Octane has wood.) and price (Octane is thousands more!) We will be hauling a Harley and are thinking of putting a wheel chock in either one.
What experiences/problems have you had with your Octane or Attitude?
One issue on the older Attitude is the springs being exposed. I am worried that they could pop off and hurt someone, has that happened to anyone?
I found out AFTER I bought my Fuzion 373 that I had an aluminum frame (good) and a wood roof frame(OK?). I was told by several that the aluminum frame is best all the way around. I don't know anything about the brands you are looking at. Hope this helps. Others will also post, you will need to read through several to figure what will work for your size and brand choices.
We have a 2007 26' Octane. It pulls well and we have 2-Condor wheel chocks inside. using 4 tie down straps on each bike, they stay secure during the trips. Longest trip so far has been FL (from Boston). Haven't seen or compared an Attitude TH some can't comment on them.
We had some warranty work done on the Octane and Jayco was very good to deal with and covered everything! I went from a Holiday Rambler (aluminum frame-non TH trailer) to the Octane because of the bikes. The HR was a little better quality but for the money, the Octane is serving our needs just fine.
PM me if you have any more questions.
Good luck in your choice.
Point Man11
2007 Jayco 26' Octane ZX TH
2002 Ford F-250 Lariat Supercab, 5.4 V-8
2005 H-D Electra Glide Vivid Black
2008 H-D Nightster 1200 Olive & Black Denim
2002 Honda Rancher 4X4
2002 Lund 1660, 25 Merc 4-Stroke
We have had 2 attitudes (23 and 26') and have been really happy with both. We've had the 26' one now for four years with lots of trips and miles and its held together really well for all the stuff we've put it through.
Quite honestly you need to consider all the facts...the RV industry has been utilizing wood construction for years and years and will continue to do so...wood, believe it or not is a pretty medium for building the superstructure of an RV, it's forgiving in many ways. Keep in mind, as things travel down the road they need to flex...if they don't flex, they will simply break. Wood does a great job of handling this task without going overboard. You want to control the amount of flex and where it flexes, but it needs to be able to move or it will break.
There's a idea with many people that an aluminum structure is better than wood for many reasons...most believe it is lighter. In most instances (certainly not all) they are going to weigh just about the same...hard to believe but true. So what some believe to be the biggest benefit of having and aluminum constructed superstructure just simply isn't always the case.
In order to have real weight savings by utiling an aluminum structure you would need to manufacture the entire frame out of aluminum...and have it engineered correctly to deliver reliable service. This would be cost prohibitive in the RV industry...not to say there isn't a market for it, but it's not a big market that worth chasing, at least at the current cost to manufacture.
In my opinion the biggest benefit to the aluminum superstructure would be the rot resistance that you would have over wood. Wood over time will decay...but in reality, that would be long outside of the normal life of a properly built RV. Rot will only occur when subjected to water or weather...a properly built RV shouldn't experience this. So, aluminum would be beneficial in this case, but at what cost. Keep in mind that most aluminum superstructure built RV's still maintain wood construction, either in the ceiling or floor, both areas are more prone to water or weather than the sidewalls.
On the other side of the topic, you should check out the Inferno travel trailers...there are three new floorplans that were just introduced and the front cap as with the fifth wheel Inferno is just off the hook!! That and the two-year warranty are worth checking out!
I am the 2nd owner of our 04 23' Attitude and love it. The original owner said he didn't have any big issues when he first bought it. Not sure if that was the case or not but seemed well when we bought it. Anyways, I know that other TH's may be nicer or fancier but for the price you really can't beat them. It seems that the newer Attitudes are nicer then they have been and seem to come with a lot of features where othe trailers are optional.
I have always believed that wood is better for flexing as MrOffshore stated.
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