“Pathetic quality”: RV dealers are fed up with what manufacturers are producing

[CB750F]

I love the look of the E-Pro from Forest River.
I don't have one.
I never pulled a trailer.
These seem light & $$$.
I camped in a tent for 40 yrs, wife will shoot me if I suggest sleeping in a tent again.
I think I'll rent, see how I like pulling a TT.

https://www.forestriverinc.com/rvs/travel-trailers/flagstaff-e-pro

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[SteveH]

We've talked about TT's for years. Haven't pulled the trigger yet. After 8 years in the service I refuse to tent camp. We are thinking about this model.

I like the "patio" It's 4394 pound dry. 24'in length. It can top out at 7550 loaded. So we'd need to be mindful of that.

 

[GearHd6]

If I were looking for a small camper and wanted something as trouble free as possible I'd be looking at a Scamp or Casita. They're not cheap but you do that what you pay for.

 

[raytwntrvlr]

After towing around a couple 30 foot double slide TTs in our first 10 retirement years, we decided to downsize this past year. Sold the Forrest River double slide outfit and 3/4 ton truck and got into a Winnebago Micro Minnie towed beautifully by our Ranger. The tandem torsion bar axles provide a stable towing platform and loads of excess load capacity. The seven foot width makes it possible to see around with the smaller Ranger. The 4000 lb. weight is easily handled by the Ranger. Lifetime campers who started with tents, graduated to popups and finally into travel trailers. Been very happy with the build quality and features.

 

[TomC]

I'm looking at getting a ember rv. 10 years as a Marine has cured me from ever going light, cheap and fast. It has the CURT Independent Suspension: Heavy-Duty Coil Springs with Dual Shock Absorbers (each wheel), so I figure the Ranger and I can go on pretty much any dirt road. And when I retire soon I will be seeing the lower 48.

I've had rv trailers before, and I think the RV market is in for a big correction down in price. I'm sitting on sidelines now waiting for a chance to jump in for far fewer $$.

 

[brroberts]

Been RVing my whole life. Parents started with a used 13’ Scout in ‘69 when I was 6. They were teachers; we traveled every summer. Have been over North America multiple times. Can buy any RV I want. Have had nice expensive Bigfoots and cheap Forest Rivers. Not perfect, but quality for the dollar: Escape Trailer Industies Chiliwack, BC. We have a September 2021 Escape 19 with 120 nights on it and two of those trips were 5000 miles each. All towed with the Ranger. Absolute best value. They are better built than any of the Thor/Forest River companies by far. They are not cheap, but cheaper than Airstream, Oliver, Bigfoot, etc. Unfortunately my 30K trailer is now 40kK new, but it’s still the value buy.

 

[AzScorpion]

I'm looking at getting a ember rv. 10 years as a Marine has cured me from ever going light, cheap and fast. It has the CURT Independent Suspension: Heavy-Duty Coil Springs with Dual Shock Absorbers (each wheel), so I figure the Ranger and I can go on pretty much any dirt road. And when I retire soon I will be seeing the lower 48.

I've had rv trailers before, and I think the RV market is in for a big correction down in price. I'm sitting on sidelines now waiting for a chance to jump in for far fewer $$.

I've been following Ember RV since they announced they were starting to build TT over a year ago. I've watched all of Josh the RV Nerds videos on them including the factory tour, if you haven't seen it it's a good video.

This one just came out the other day and it's one that very high on my list IF we decide to finally get one. They're pricey but you get a lot of quality features with them and the suspension alone is worth the extra money as I'd be boondocking with it a lot.

 

[Grumpaw]

they sure arent super durable anymore...

Only thing I see wrong here is the owner tried to turn his trailer into a "toy hauler".

 

[AdamHarris]

I would love love to have an Oliver. I grew up in the town they are manufactured in. Over $50,000 for a 18 foot camper though will just probably never happen.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Only thing I see wrong here is the owner tried to turn his trailer into a "toy hauler".

Ranger would have fit better

 

[dtech]

they sure arent super durable anymore...

probably just sending a time to leave message to inlaws overstaying their welcome, but think I'll rule out that make anyways looks to be made by "Escape" which I hope the occupants were able to do.

 

[dtech]

this no amazes me, but see so many different makes and models on the road, guess it will take some time to thoroughly evaluate :

How many manufacturers of RVs are there?


It is hard to put an exact number to this question due to the constantly expanding RV Market. As of 2022, there are currently 114 Manufacturers in the United States. Many of these manufacturers are based out of Indiana, too ( a pretty cool fun fact to know!).

 

[UnregistredHypercam2]

I'm poor so instead of purpose built RV's, I was researching cargo trailer conversations. A 5x8-5x10 cargo trailer with a V-nose has plenty of space for living quarters, a dinette, and I've even seen bathroom/shower combos built into the V-nose. One of these with a single axle, some custom suspension work, and some blood sweat and tears would be right up my alley if I can ever find the space to store it.

 

[AzScorpion]

this no amazes me, but see so many different makes and models on the road, guess it will take some time to thoroughly evaluate :

How many manufacturers of RVs are there?


It is hard to put an exact number to this question due to the constantly expanding RV Market. As of 2022, there are currently 114 Manufacturers in the United States. Many of these manufacturers are based out of Indiana, too ( a pretty cool fun fact to know!).

One thing to keep in mind is it's a lot cheaper to buy one in Indiana especially if new. When I was looking last year I found several different dealers out there who were MUCH cheaper than anyone around here, I mean $5k-$8K cheaper. So it would've been worth the travel to go get one and make a mini vacation on the way back home.

 

[AzScorpion]

I'm poor so instead of purpose built RV's, I was researching cargo trailer conversations. A 5x8-5x10 cargo trailer with a V-nose has plenty of space for living quarters, a dinette, and I've even seen bathroom/shower combos built into the V-nose. One of these with a single axle, some custom suspension work, and some blood sweat and tears would be right up my alley if I can ever find the space to store it.

Sometimes that's the best way to do it Jon. You can customize it to your liking and have fun building it. I saw a few like that in some of the parks we passed while we were traveling last month so many have done this and I'm sure they're built much better than a factory TT.

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