Looking for Input on East West RV's

[LetsGo1965]

Hello.....we are looking at travel trailers and fifth wheels in the 32-36 ft range. One of the companies we were advised to look into is East West. Apparently they are a fairly new company started in 2019. Anyone have any experiences to share in owning their trailers/fifth wheels as far as quality of workmanship and longevity thus far. Any and all input will be welcomed. We are currently considering the Tandara 320RL versus the Grand Design Solitude 310 GK. Thank you!

 

[DutchmenSport]

I have never seen an East and a West RV parked side-by-side to make comparisons, but logic would say they are identical in build quality.

The big difference between East and West builds is the actual material used in the manufacturing of the RV. Local materials are used at the location of the build. So the aluminum frame of one may come from company ABC on the East build and it may come from company XYZ for the West build. The same with any wood, flooring, paint, parts and everything else. The "parts" for the build come from the local region and not shipped 2000 miles across the USA. That is the big difference.

Pretty much, that's the only difference. The quality of the build will probably be the same though.

Here's some other discussions:

Click here

Click here too

And maybe one more ... Click here

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

That's East-to-West RV, right? The website says they are a division of Forest River rather than an independent new company. Not clear why FR would want yet another product brand - they already have 30+.
I don't see any unique claims in their advertising either. They throw out buzzwords like "sustainable" and "team" and "quality inspection", but those are all common marketing things these days. There doesn't seem to be any reason to think they would be any better (or worse) than other brands in their price tier.

I don't think the East-to-West name has anything to do with factory locale - it appears they are all built in the Elkhart area. Some of the Thor brands have separate East & West divisions, but that isn't the case here.

 

[DutchmenSport]

That's East-to-West RV, right? The website says ....

Oh, my miss interpretation of the OP's post. (my bad!!!)

He's referring to this: East to West RV Manufacturing . Click here.

(But nothing like a little new "competition" to give Keystone a run for their money. They need competition so they'll step up their quality builds.)

 

[Kirk]

I don't see any unique claims in their advertising either.

I totally agree. I spent nearly an hour searching through the website and found nothing at all that is unique and the warranty is the typical 1 year only. Nothing special at all other than that they are a new name in the business.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A new brand name means no baggage. Your reputation can't be bad if you don't have one [yet].

 

[LetsGo1965]

Thank ya'll. Yes, I'm referring to the East West RV company....a brand. We are looking at East West Tandara 320 RL versus the Grand Design Solitude 310 GK. They have almost identical floorplans and size. There is quite a gap in price difference though, like 15-20K. Trying to figure out if that difference is due to quality of materials used/workmanship or simply the fact that East West is a new company trying to build a name for itself.

 

[jackiemac]

Grand Design have a pretty good reputation for better quality I believe.

 

[DutchmenSport]

In my opinion, Grand Design falls into the upper end scale of the RV towables. Along with the Montana-Montana (not the High Country) and the Solitude, these are the top of the stack towables.

If you really want to compare apples to apples, then the East-West is probably more in line with the Keystone Cougar line and probably more comparable in price too.

Floor plans might be similar. All cars have 4 wheels, need a license plate, and require insurance to be properly titled for the road, but there is a big difference between a Lamborghini and a Chevy too.

 

[john & Piper]

We have a 2022 Alta 2810KIK that we purchased after initially looking at the comparable Grand Design. We paid $15K below the Grand Design price and the quality is excellent. The company's founder is the daughter of Pete Liegel who founded Forest River. East to West's customer service has been excellent after 2 initial issues we had (pin hole leak in water heater replaced under warranty and faulty slide actuator that failed in the out position at a campground). Both were repaired by mobile techs and reimbursement provided in a timely manner. I would recommend them.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Pricing in the RV industry is extremely competitive, so a price difference pretty much always reflects a difference in materials & workmanship. However, new companies often pay more attention to customer service and establishing a positive reputation so that may well be a benefit. It's not until they start reviewing the Profit & Loss results that they start trimming "non-essential" services.

 

[john & Piper]

Pricing in the RV industry is extremely competitive, so a price difference pretty much always reflects a difference in materials & workmanship. However, new companies often pay more attention to customer service and establishing a positive reputation so that may well be a benefit. It's not until they start reviewing the Profit & Loss results that they start trimming "non-essential" services.

Generally agree Gary, but I did exhaustive research and inspection on both models and found nothing but similarities that could not justify the price difference. Inspect one if you ever get a chance and think you will agree.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I think you have answered your own question... Not that Grand Design is the acme of quality or service either, but if you can get the same for less, that's the way to go.

 

[outofhere2]

Check out youtub for reviews buy people that have bought one. There is usually someone giving a 2 or 3 year review .

 

[jeffindfw]

I know this is an older thread, but wanted to add some info in case others find this thread while searching for information (like I did). It is confirmed that East to West Alta travel trailers have actual 2" sidewalls and double Azdel with vacuum lamination. Grand Design uses pinch rolling lamination and luan.

On fifth wheels, East to West Ahara uses Azdel walls with vacuum lamination (146 tons of pressure for 16 minutes) with 5/8" tongue and groove plywood floors and roof decking while Grand Design uses pinch rolling (80 pounds per square inch for the amount of time it takes to go through the pinch roller) and luan backer with OSB floors (unsure on roof).

East to West Ahara gives you 6 point hydraulic auto leveling and hydraulic slides on the main deck with a new design cable slide on the bedroom slide. Interesting thing they did with the bedroom slide is, they left the bed BASE as a hard mounted fixture. ONLY the actual bed deck plywood moves on rollers on top of the beds base. Why? Because it greatly lowers the weight of the bedroom slide putting less strain on the sidewall and motors. The greatly reduced size of the cutout for the bedroom slide means a much smaller hole in the sidewall which means you don't hit your head when you walk under it. AND, because the sidewall hole is smaller, less stress on the sidewall means East to West does not crack the sidewall in that lower left corner and put a trim piece over it. Ahara comes standard with 3 AC units with a low draw so you are able to run two of them on 30 amp service! When you run all 3 on 50 amp service, they are not power controlled, they are able to run all 3 compressors at the same time. CRE3000 suspension with wet bolts, reinforced hanger brackets, on and on.

It has taken me MONTHS to dig up all this. There is so much wrong information online. Alliance uses pinch rolling and foam core floors in their Avenue fifth wheel. I had to find videos shot in their facility and industry interviews with their plant manager to nail down that info. It is crazy. Anyway, I hope this helps someone down the road.

 

[Onyrlef]

Pricing in the RV industry is extremely competitive, so a price difference pretty much always reflects a difference in materials & workmanship. However, new companies often pay more attention to customer service and establishing a positive reputation so that may well be a benefit. It's not until they start reviewing the Profit & Loss results that they start trimming "non-essential" services

Quality Control is always the first casualty when cost cutting begins. No one liked them anyway.

 

[Onyrlef]

A new brand name means no baggage. Your reputation can't be bad if you don't have one [yet].

Which is why Angie’s List changed its name to Angi’s.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Which is why Angie’s List changed its name to Angi’s.

They also went commercial at the same time, so re-branding was a way to distinguish the new service from the previous.

 

[Onyrlef]

They also went commercial at the same time, so re-branding was a way to distinguish the new service from the previous.

They were nailed selling ratings as in the more ad space you bought the higher the satisfaction rating. I wouldn’t give a plug nickle for an Angi recommendation. Not that most reviews today aren’t fake anyway.