New RV woes!

[SargeW]

That is a great dealer. It does make me wonder though how he will be compensated for the unit you select. I would be truly shocked if FR takes your unit back and pays him for your new unit.

 

[Rugger007]

That is a great dealer. It does make me wonder though how he will be compensated for the unit you select. I would be truly shocked if FR takes your unit back and pays him for your new unit.

I’m honestly not sure at all but my dealer is fantastic. All it will cost us is the difference in price for the new trailer.

 

[steveblonde]

To make sure i understand correctly, your dealer is going to refund you 100% of what you paid for the grey wolf and use it as a credit towards the purchase of a different unit?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Tommy (Chinese) used to tell me the only reason China builds cheap stuff is because most Americans will only buy cheap stuff. But they are capable of very high quality, if we want to pay the $$$.

And there's the rub... So many people harangue about quality but vote with their dollars. I guess it's an easy mistake for newcomers, since even a cheap RV is a lot of $$ and few people have much understanding of what actually goes into these traveling homes.

And as someone mentioned, these days even the lowest end car is fairly well built (though not perfect!). It's tempting to think RVs ought to be the same, but it's not even close. There are legitimate reasons why RV production differs, but that's a lengthy discussion for another time.

 

[Rugger007]

To make sure i understand correctly, your dealer is going to refund you 100% of what you paid for the grey wolf and use it as a credit towards the purchase of a different unit?

Yes!

 

[steveblonde]

I dont want to be that guy, but. Make sure they arent inflating the cost of the new unit to cover off a loss. Like when you trade in a car that you still owe on and your in a very negative equity situation. You know the old saying if it too good to be true it usually is. I wish you luck.

 

[John From Detroit]

I must be lucky. I cannot recall buying anything that was junk from China. But what I am most impressed with is South Korea. My big screen TV, my car and my cell phone are the three most expensive items I own besides my fiver, and they are all spectacular.

Let's see I have 3 Pi-Star based Radio Hotspots (They connect some of my digital 2-way radios to the internet) I do not know where the Raspberry Pi-Zeros are made but the "HAT" (Hardware Attached Technology) is all Made in China.
And one more that has no HAT (The radio (Made in japan) plugs into it via a cable
And one Hotspot made in Estonia as I recall, Yup Tallinn, Estonia..
Software is also from "Assorted" the software on the "Radio is plugged in" was develoed here in the USA by a fellow Ham (N7TAW) who included routines to fight a defect in the radio I have (It's in all of that model) using MY Error logs to figure it out. And a good job he did too.
The other hotspots were programmed "overseas". All work very well.

 

[jymbee]

... my dealer is fantastic.

Words and a sentiment not heard all that often in the RV Universe...

 

[Bearcatrp]

Our dealer has been amazing! I’m picking up a rental unit tomorrow to use until we sort out what our new trailer will be. These are the three we are looking at and all are well within spec for my truck. We are leaning towards the Northern Spirit, now it’s just size to consider, 30’ or 34’. Our current one is 32’.

Keystone Passport 2951BH

Northern Spirit 2963BH

Coachmen Apex 256BH

Am on my 3rd Keystone. 1st one was a used TT. 2nd was a 5th wheel sprinter 35 foot. My current one is in my signature. Had some issues with my new one but overall it’s a great 5th wheel. Go keystone if you can. But make sure you check everything. Make them hook up the water hose to check water heater. Fire up the oven and stove. Open every cupboard. Good luck.

 

[Old_Crow]

The electric motorcycle I take on this trip says on it "Crafted in California". It is assembled at the plant in Scott's Valley (Near Santa Cruz).

-Don- Weed, CA

Kinda ironic. I used to ride my ICE motorcycle through Scott's Valley all the time. It was part of the Los Gatos to Santa Cruz loop we used to do. I preferred the Hwy 9 portion of the loop to the Hwy 17 part back then.
At least now there's a divider wall on the worst part of 17.

 

[Kingsboy48]

Hi, I'm new here and in my 2nd year of owning our first ever TT. I have a 21' Jayco SLX 195rb. The first year we took it on a round trip of 10000km to Alberta and this summer we took it 6500 to Newfoundland. Mostly a few niggly issues but nothing the dealer or I couldn't fix. Our main issue was that the A frame bent up a little as the OP had on his. We did take the TT to Newfoundland like this (rightly or wrongly) but it has played on my mind. I took the TT to a place specializing in equipment trailers, the dealer said he'd seen bent A frames on TTs before and did a great job fixing it. It straightened the frame, I think by 'gently' using a couple of backhoes, then welded some reinforcing under the A frame, all for less than $600CAD. See attached before and after pictures.

 

[MoInEd]

Almost always these bent frames are results of WDH. Most people don't fully realize the physics involved in WDH, they put a tremendous amount of force on the frame and these trailers are built (in every aspect) to minimum requirements. Hence most will be deformed if you run into a large bump or hole.
The reinforcement done is good, the only issue is that now it makes other components of your trailer the weakest link.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The physics of a WD hitch certainly do stress the trailer frame in different ways than a weight-carrying hitch, but in my mind the fundamental flaw is that the trailer frame is under-strength for the job. Use of a WD hitch is the norm these days and with smaller/leaner tow vehicles the WD is a necessity rather than an option. There is no excuse for a trailer frame in this size that is not designed to handle both WD and WC hitches.

 

[MoInEd]

The physics of a WD hitch certainly do stress the trailer frame in different ways than a weight-carrying hitch, but in my mind the fundamental flaw is that the trailer frame is under-strength for the job. Use of a WD hitch is the norm these days and with smaller/leaner tow vehicles the WD is a necessity rather than an option. There is no excuse for a trailer frame in this size that is not designed to handle both WD and WC hitches.

There is nothing about the RV manufacturers that I feel needs defending as they cut corners in every possible way. But I think a properly chosen tow vehicle should not need a WDH. Most people choose to use it without knowing what it is doing exactly. If you are feeling the need to move the weight on the tongue of the trailer back to its axle or to the front axle of the tow vehicle then either your tow vehicle is not proper for the job or overloaded or your trailer isn't loaded properly.

 

[CharlesinGA]

There is nothing about the RV manufacturers that I feel needs defending as they cut corners in every possible way. But I think a properly chosen tow vehicle should not need a WDH.

Thats a rather broad sweep of the brush, so to speak. I wonder what tow vehicle I need to pull my trailer without a WDH. The owners manual for my RAM 2500 says max tongue weight without a WDH is limited to 500 lbs. Some trailers are not perfectly designed and mine is one of them. I have towed it without a WDH empty, and it towed just fine. Loaded it up, weighed it, went on a trip without a WDH, it was squirrely. Sat down and read the manual, thought it thru for a while, installed a WDH, also did some minor shifting of weight, not a lot, and it tows like a dream now.

Charles

 

[MoInEd]

Thats a rather broad sweep of the brush, so to speak. I wonder what tow vehicle I need to pull my trailer without a WDH. The owners manual for my RAM 2500 says max tongue weight without a WDH is limited to 500 lbs. Some trailers are not perfectly designed and mine is one of them. I have towed it without a WDH empty, and it towed just fine. Loaded it up, weighed it, went on a trip without a WDH, it was squirrely. Sat down and read the manual, thought it thru for a while, installed a WDH, also did some minor shifting of weight, not a lot, and it tows like a dream now.

Charles

That 500lb limit you are saying, doesn't seem correct to me. Is that a class V hitch which is supposedly come standard with that vehicle? they should have a rating in 1800lb or so not 500. That's way smaller than it should be. The reason for "squirrely" thing gone is that there is a lot of "up-ward" pressure at that ball joint and hence the ball is kinda in a locked position and not a lot of movement, hence the noise is gone. It does help with sway as well (as it stiffens that joint) but you can get the same result in various ways with sway control mechanism. As I said, WDH puts a lot of stress on the frame of a T.T. and technically it's not a needed element for proper towing (else commercial towing industry would be using it).

 

[Cameodon]

My opinion on TT's, Class c's and 5th wheels.I have owned an old Airstream, 3 class c's from 5 yrs old to new, 3 TT's being 1 new JAYCO, 1 new KEYSTONE, I Keystone 1 yr old, and now a new (bought 2021 new) Crossroads CAMEO 36' 5th wheel. Depending how you look at it in my opinion they all were cheap. Hey they have to be light weight. The two KEYSTONES and this CROSSROADS are all aluminum framework. When I sold the JAYCO, only 1 yr old, was too small a guy asked me "who makes the best R/V. I Replied if you're at a dealer the best built one is the one he's selling!! JAYCO says JAYCO, KEYSTONE says KEYSTONE etc.
Today there is basically no quality control or obviously inspection made at the manufacturer. They all pay the dealer to do Prep, check things out. Then most dealers charge you the customer dealer prep again!! A few dealers claim "no dealer prep" there shouldn't be, they were already pd by the manufacturer, but they hide it in the sale price. A very few actually charge no dealer prep. One being RV ONE in Myrtle Beach, S.C. I bought my CAMEO there, over 8 hrs drive from home. I had priced that model at several dealers from home, Daytona Area to Myrtle Beach, same exact model. RV ONE in Myrtle beach was over $5000 cheaper than any dealer within 10 hrs of Daytona. No dealer prep, great!! Problem is the didn't do any dealer prep!! Breaks on one wheel only! Electric water heater hot plugged in, only access is through front storage area, crawl over furnace duct work to plug it in. Guess they didn't try that!! Refrigerator almost tipped over coming home, there is no remedy! Electric recliner the back of one side almost falling off, twice bolts through floor to the aluminum frame backed out and the vinyl floor had to be cut to tighten down the bolts and cut in floor superglued! to name only a few problems. obviously zero dealer prep done. I will never buy another unit with paying for a thorough inspection. Owned it a yr now, have it about straightened out.

 

[CharlesinGA]

That 500lb limit you are saying, doesn't seem correct to me. Is that a class V hitch which is supposedly come standard with that vehicle? they should have a rating in 1800lb or so not 500. That's way smaller than it should be. The reason for "squirrely" thing gone is that there is a lot of "up-ward" pressure at that ball joint and hence the ball is kinda in a locked position and not a lot of movement, hence the noise is gone. It does help with sway as well (as it stiffens that joint) but you can get the same result in various ways with sway control mechanism. As I said, WDH puts a lot of stress on the frame of a T.T. and technically it's not a needed element for proper towing (else commercial towing industry would be using it).

Gen 3 RAMS have a Class IV reciver, not a Class V.

Actually I was totally wrong on the tongue weights and hitch requirements, it says "Equalizing hitch are required for Class III or IV trailer hitches and tongue weights above 159kg (350 lbs).......

It also states that the maximum tongue weight for the class IV (the receiver hitch) is 1000 lbs.

This is the 2003 RAM Truck Diesel Owners Manual. (which is applicable to both 2500 and 3500 trucks) The owners manual references a dedicated towing manual, but I have never found a copy of it on the internet for this year (or any 3rd gen).

This truck has the tow package which is the factory Class IV receiver and 7 pin wiring connector, that is shown in the build sheet. There is a MOPAR dealer receiver that can be added that looks very much like the factory receiver, so anyone thinking they know what they have needs to check their build sheet and/or do a physical inspection to see the difference. Tork Lift is the only place I have ever seen the information on how to tell the difference factory vs dealer receiver install

The receiver is welded to a tubular crossmember that is also the attachment point for the bumper and is the frame's rear most crossmember. If you want to haul a heavy load on a Gen 3 RAM you really need to install a Tork Lift D1102 (20K max, 2000 tongue wt) or a D1102-30 (30K max, 3000 tongue wt). Which I have considered except for the money. These hitches tie into the frame in addition to receiving some support from the existing crossmember. This is a stacked dual receiver installation and utilizes the factory receiver in the top position but provides additional support for it. These are really designed for truck campers to tow using extended ball mounts with a truss system, but they are certainly capable for basic towing also.

The trailer has the water tank at the very rear, which is largely the reason for the trailer handling, but I always travel with it full, as 75% of the places i stay don't have water hookups. The hitch smoothed out the porpoising or chucking of the combined rig and makes it tow very smoothly.

Charles

 

[MoInEd]

Thanks. 1000lb is the right number for class IV (I thought it's a newer one with class V). Still I am surprised it recommends using a WDH for anything above 350lb.

 

[steveblonde]

Update?