With so man y brands out there which are good ? Which are trash ? Can send private message .
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With so man y brands out there which are good ? Which are trash ? Can send private message .
Most are pretty close. A few of the high end brands are better. Airstream, Brinkley and DRV are a few of the good ones. You pay for it though.
I had a 2018 Pioneer. It was good but had a roof leak on the slide first weekend camping. Camping world “fixed” with a bandaid. Later had a window leak in front bedroom from a broke wall stud. They scabbed a piece of board at break and caulked window and called “fixed”. Floored rotted under that window and I had someone else beside camping world fix it right. When i sold it i fixed a rotted hole in roof of slide where camping world fixed it (same leak as first weekend). In other words don’t buy from camping world. And they screwed is on financing. We thought we were getting a 5year term and they sent in a 7 year term and said they were lower our payment.
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Don't buy anything from camping world. I bought a 2012 Outback which was 11 years newer than the 2001 Fleetwood Terra Class A motorhome I had. I bought the Terra used from MIL. The 2001 was poorly built and it has gone downhill from there. The Outback we enjoy, it is the same one I'm replacing everything in my blog here. I have found it is much better to buy used as a brand new one has more problems. Several of my friends have bought from camping world and all have regretted it. All their campers had problems from new and when the units were returned for warranty work they sat for months before being returned. Some were not fixed then.
Campers are a pretty open end subject my opinion. Would need to know the use and how many people plan to occupy it, including pets if any? I have a 2018 26 ft bumper pull Starcraft (Jayco) no slide outs and aluminum siding, it's been no problem. Bought in 21' for less than half of retail price, only used 5 or 6 times before I got it. From my understanding quality went way down during Covid, the demand was impossible to keep up with and no one working and that includes the skilled builders! I definitely wouldn't buy new that's just me, but hey I run 20-30 year old boats.
Anyway back to campers, fiberglass vs aluminum. Slide outs vs no slide out. Bumper pull vs 5th wheel.
Fiberglass is usually laminated fiberglass and it can separate and leak, like cheap press board.
Slide outs are known to leak. A lot more room though.
Bumpers can usually be pulled with a 1/2 ton where as 3/4 or 1 ton needed for 5th wheels.
I think in terms of maintenance or use on anything. Sitting for long periods is often more harm than actually using something. I haven't used my camper since last fall, but I keep electricity to it and made sure it was winterized before storage.
P.S. like others said stay away from the big dealerships.... they are mostly all full of crooks!
Maintenance has a lot to do with how one lasts. I’d go with aluminum wall framing instead wood which is usually 2x2 construction.
As to my wall stud breaking it could have been the twist the frame has to do to get in my driveway. One sight we stayed at had a hard blind side less than 90 angle back in and had 8” of asphalt built up. It was tight with trees and really should’ve been going the other direction but was a one way drive.
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There's at least one site in every campground that's impossible to get into going the right way on their one-way roads. I've driven the wrong way to get into sites more than once without anything said about it. Just do what needs to be done. We have taken day trips to view campsites in the past before booking. Always carry a notepad with you and take notes about sites, campground and what's offered from them. Some campgrounds where group meetings would be got our pass over because of how sites were laid out.
I bought a '98 Flagstaff 26FLD used in 2010. It was on its second owner. He had made a few repairs with what's offered from local home centers, not camper retailers. I made repairs yearly until 2023. It had an aluminum frame, no wood studs in the outside walls. Laminated fiberglass on 1/8" plywood glued to the frame. One big sheet on both sides of camper. Roof coating applied every 2 years.
If self-lapping caulk needs applied do it on the hottest day you can stand to work in. If the camper has 1 slide out don't set it up level. The slideout side needs to be a bit lower for water runoff. Most likely it will have roof ac. Set the camper up with the rear corner lower than the front door side. Nothing like ac drainage coming down on the awning.
If kids are using the using the camper check soon behind them if the toilet is flushed. Mine got stuck and flooded the camper. I replaced the back half of the floor. If campsite has sewer hook ups keep your hose stored away until toilet needs dumping. Keeping black water valve open will leave you a poop pyramid that hard to clean out. Keep water in the tank at all times. Keeping the grey tank open can invite unwanted bugs into the camper.
level sides of camper while still hitched to the toad. I carried a lot of TP boards 1" to 4" thick. All wheels got 1" boards to start with. Level across floor at door. I liked the bubble centered on the line on the door side. Roll onto thicker boards if needed. At one campsite I had 1" boards under the left side wheels, 4 2" boards under the right-side wheels. After unhitching use the tongue jack to level front to back. Get the left rear or left front a bit lower for ac drainage, depends on slideout placement. Keep drainage away from slideout. Add lots of blocks under corner stabilizers, the shorter the stabilizers are the stabiler the camper will be. Never use the stabilizers as jacks. A quarter of my truck bed was TP boards and blocks.
We used the camper one time in 2022. It sat in the driveway in 2023. I started cleaning it out and planned to give it a good cleaning before selling in 2024. A friend needed a place to live so I cut my cost on repairs and labor and gave him a good deal on a dirty camper.
Look at used campers all you can. Look for damaged spots and water leaks in ceiling. Look in cabinets under sinks. Have your nose trained to smell mold.