I have a 1999 rockwood 29ft TT. We camp during the summer and I have 2 small boys. The TT is getting old and want to upgrade. I like the Rockwood a lot and will probably buy another forest river product. I have been told to stay away from forest river and have been told to buy another. My question is should I avoid any certain brands and I would like to get some owners opinions. The brands I am looking at are forest river, keystone, coachman, and jayco. max tow wet that i would tow is 7700
Have heard good things about Keystone, Jayco Forest River and KZ Spree. Should be lots of info if you go on the manufactures web sites. Godd luck finding one.
Was really torn between Rockwood 8317SS and Spree 432bhs...decision was in craftsmanship...noticed a big difference between the two I was in. Also Spree owners didn't report any issues (I'm sure there may have been some), but almost all Rockwood owners reported bad Concertone Stereo and shearing of bolts for slideout. Needless to say, we went with Spree...pick it up Saturday!
I've learned to take brand-wide comments with a grain of salt. If someone buys a Turkey Gobbler 27 and they have problems with it or the dealer, they blame the entire manufacturer and the entire model line all too often. By the same token, some folks by a coach and fall in love with the personable founder and swear their Moonbeam 28 is better built than a Prevost.
'Tis much better to search for the brands & models you are thinking about. If several owners have posted about slide problems, then I'd avoid that coach unless I was willing to experience slide problems. Or soft floors, or weak frame bracing, or inadequately sealed structures, or . . .
Some folks recommend the RV Consumer's Group CD's. I use the objective data on their CD's but I have major doubts about the objectivity of their ratings. I've run into far too many cases where they paint an entire brand or model line with the same brush even though the results are obviously ridiculous.
There are some generalities that I have come to believe in:
1. RV's built by large corporations do not have the best quality.
2. Brands with long-time high-quality repuations that are now owned by a large corporation tend to be very watered down from the days when they established those reputations.
3. Brands built by independently owned manufacturers that are owned by the founder tend to offer the best and most consistent quality.
4. Most RV's are more alike in quality than they are different.
Steve & C. J.
"Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise
Jayco makes a good product - a lot of bang for the buck. Many standard items included in the price that aren't in others. The company stands behind their products and customer service is top notch.
Rockwood has a good following on the forum as well - and many happy owners of those too. I haven't heard of too many problems with them.
KZ Spree makes some amazing floorplans and is also a good company that stands by their product and also has top notch customer service.
Starcraft is another TT company that does well by it's customers and makes quality TT's.
Keystone has been hit and miss depending on the line. Stay away from the Passport line. This line replaced the Zeppelin line a couple of years ago. The Zeppy was a problem plagued line of their TT's and the problems are still there - now just under another name. Recently there have been more than several Passport issues voiced on this forum. However, many happy Outback owners - so no need to shy away from the whole line by Keystone.
Also check into the Skyline line of TT's.
When you see something - never hurts to put that name of TT in the search to see what comes up. Also, when your ready to buy inspect the TT your buying very carefully. Many issues that come up on here could have been caught before the deal was ever made. For us, before we even said "sell us this trailer" - when we knew we wanted it, we spent about an hour and a half pouring over every square inch of the trailer we wanted to buy and found nothing wrong, broken, amiss or out of place. Over 6000 miles and almost 2 years later, we've had nothing but fun times and it's never been back to the dealer. Had 2 extremely minor issues we solved ourselves (fuse cover tabs broke - got new fuse cover from Jayco and popped new one right on. Wrong table installed at factory wouldn't allow the blind to close all the way - Jayco sent new table -popped it right on).
Fortunately as a TT owner already you have in mind your needs and wants and know how to tow so most of the "homework" is done already.
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