Question for the experts

[Beallright]

So why the "hate" for Keystone? What model(s)? We are about to purchase a 5th wheel to use for 5-6 months of snowbirding. We've poked around several 2016 and 2017 Montanas and they didn't seem any "worse" or cheaper than the equivalent Big Country's or Cedar Creeks that we've looked at.

I have had 2 Keystone brands. A Springdale pull behind and a Copper Canyon Fifth wheel. The spring dale new would even come off the lot to start off with the brakes were not even hooked up at the factory. The cabinets doors would fall off. Traded this off for a bunk house 5er Copper canyon I had several issues with the overall quality. the final straw was the delamation of the side panels after 4 years with no factory standby of their products. Traded that in and lost my butt on a Forrest river 5er and you can for sure tell the difference in quality control.
The reason you see more is the keystone factory line is high speed high volume. I pretty sure they are one of the largest brnads now so the add on refrigs, heaters etc they get in bulk price so their rices are lower. Hope this explains my dislike for Keystone brands

On Towing with a fifth wheel or any trailer my suggestion is look at the trailer life tow charts or your truck mfg to get you capacities. I tow my fifth wheel with a 3/4 ton Ford with no issues just stay with in the capacities of you truck and you will be fine.

[Bamaman]

Thanks for the info. Whatever unit we decide on will be towed with a new F350.

Still not sure why those two posters singled out Keystone.....

It may be that Keystone as a company may not be really customer oriented as a company, and the impression is their trailers may be more troublesome. I hear complaints on virtually every brand of camper. Often 1 or 2 year old campers will already have the bugs worked out of them.

If you're going F350 diesel dually, you're good to go on vitually anything you want to tow. If it's single rear wheel F350, you may need to pay attention to the weights of whatever you're looking for. There is a difference.

[BoatBuggy]

I have had 2 Keystone brands. A Springdale pull behind and a Copper Canyon Fifth wheel. The spring dale new would even come off the lot to start off with the brakes were not even hooked up at the factory. The cabinets doors would fall off. Traded this off for a bunk house 5er Copper canyon I had several issues with the overall quality. the final straw was the delamation of the side panels after 4 years with no factory standby of their products. Traded that in and lost my butt on a Forrest river 5er and you can for sure tell the difference in quality control.
The reason you see more is the keystone factory line is high speed high volume. I pretty sure they are one of the largest brnads now so the add on refrigs, heaters etc they get in bulk price so their rices are lower. Hope this explains my dislike for Keystone brands.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

On Towing with a fifth wheel or any trailer my suggestion is look at the trailer life tow charts or your truck mfg to get you capacities. I tow my fifth wheel with a 3/4 ton Ford with no issues just stay with in the capacities of you truck and you will be fine.

If you're going F350 diesel dually, you're good to go on vitually anything you want to tow. If it's single rear wheel F350, you may need to pay attention to the weights of whatever you're looking for. There is a difference.

We'll be towing with a F350 SRW diesel.

[milligjg]

So basically what I'm hearing is that Keystone is to RV's what Bayliner was to boats? Shotty workmanship and cheap materials?

[d'Wayne]

I'll never have another Keystone or another fiberglass camper of any brand. I'll have a fiberglass boat and an aluminum camper.

[riverc]

I'll never have another Keystone or another fiberglass camper of any brand. I'll have a fiberglass boat and an aluminum camper.

(I'll never have another Aluminum camper) Until you get hit by Hail,my 1st camper with Aluminum sides was totaled by hail.Been through some just as bad with fiberglass sides no damage yet.

[milligjg]

Does anyone have any experience with a Holiday Rambler trailer?

[milligjg]

Any Holiday Rambler owners?

[riverc]

What Holiday Rambler are you looking at?They made good RVs till about 2008 the older ones were well built.

[milligjg]

Early to mid 2000's. 5th wheel or travel trailer. What we seem to like about them is that a lot of them had washer and dryer hook ups. We are trying to eliminate laundry mat trips.

[riverc]

That would be good.Like I said before give it a good inspection,Check the roof to see how well it was taken care of.Water leaks will kill any rv no matter what make or year it is.
I inspect my roof at least 3 times a year.

[185Dale]

I replaced the roof on my neighbors '05 27' Jayco. He bought the materials, I did the labor. $2000 in material and a bunch of labor later I have a TT I can use anytime I want for free.

Jayco had roof issues around 2004-2006.

[Bass Junkie]

Quite honestly most of them are crap when you get down to the brass tacks. And that is coming from a guy who just bought a brand new 2017 Starcraft but I went into it knowing that and accept it. I think there are some exceptions, Airstream is the first that comes to mind but I don't like the interiors on them at all and they are higher than a cat's back. If you want one to last for a very long time look at the brands with hard roofs as opposed to EPDM or TPO but be prepared to pay for it. I also suggest fiberglass sides and not because they look cool or are easy to clean but because mounting flat items to corrugated metal is a bad idea no matter how you try to accomplish it and eventually you will always have leaks in those bends. It may take many years but the butyl tape/putty will get stiff and dry and places where the sides meet hatch trim or window trim will develop small openings and leak.....ask me how I know. Otherwise, just look for one that has been best maintained by the previous owner. Go over every square inch of it with a fine tooth comb. Hook water and electric to it and try out EVERYTHING and crawl all over the roof and look for anything suspect and do the same with the underbelly. Good luck in your search.

[edw]

I'm with flyingwillie! They all fall apart! I get a kick out of looking closely at brand new ones that have not left the lot that have obvious defects...caulking smeared all over the place, brad nail holes still showing...cabinet doors falling off their hinges...roof leaks...rusting grills, etc, etc...LOL!!!

[riverc]

I'm with flyingwillie! They all fall apart! I get a kick out of looking closely at brand new ones that have not left the lot that have obvious defects...caulking smeared all over the place, brad nail holes still showing...cabinet doors falling off their hinges...roof leaks...rusting grills, etc, etc...LOL!!!

My Cardinal is a 2005 it's not falling apart.We been living full-time in it for over 6 years and it is holding up well.Maybe the new ones fall apart,have not looked at new ones in a while.

[Bass AHolic]

find metal roof camper heres why rubber roofs no good . even doing all the up keep they will rot>> http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...eaks&FORM=IGRE

[Bass Junkie]

Or you can buy one and have this done to it www.rvroof.com

[Riccochet]

TPO roof will last longer than EPDM rubber. Less maintenance as well. Just keep it clean and maintain the seams around vents. I removed all the dicor and went with eternabond tape. Now I just wash the roof every 6 months and I'm done with it.

[milligjg]

So, what I'm gathering here is only consider a 1-3 year old rig? From a budget standpoint it needs to be 5-10 yrs old. Are most (not all) RV dealers crooks like car dealers?

[Fishysam]

I think used rv dealers are crazy, id look in the 15-20 year old segment cause what I'm seeing up here is decent size/tires and interiors than need new flooring for 3000-5500$ go cheep expect some maintenance but save the $$$ on the 10 year old campers