I'm trying to understand who the big players are and who makes the best camper? Is there one guy sitting on a island with all the cash because he owns the parent companies of most camper companies?
I've heard Starcraft bought Jayco or maybe the other way around.
I've heard Roo and Shamrock are the same with different stickers.
Is there a SolAire and somebody?
Is this like lexus and toyota, one is the higher end models?
Keystone (http://keystonerv.com), Forest River (http://www.forestriverinc.com/) and Jayco (http://www.jayco.com/) and their subsidiaries seem to make up a considerable amount of the travel trailer market. According to Wikipedia, it looks like Starcraft RV (http://www.starcraftrv.com/) was sold to Jayco sometime in the 90's, but there's no obvious mention of Jayco anywhere on Starcraft's site or vice-versa.
Forest River and Jayco still make "Expandables". It looks like Keystone may possibly have stopped making them, since Keystone Passport HTTs are all listed as "Stock Only" and I haven't run across any of the other brands with soft-sided bunks. There are still a number with hard-sided sliding rear bunks, though, such as the Keystone Terrain 210RS.
Forest River's HTT brands (http://www.forestriverinc.com/.....fault.aspx) include Roo, Shamrock, r-Pod and Surveyor and up until this year also included Palomino. Some of them have less obvious ties to their parents. For example, the only mention of Forest River on Palomino's site is the footer of each page and easy to miss since they don't exactly highlight it. This list obviously isn't conclusive.
Livin-Lite (http://livinlite.com/camplite-models.php) also makes some if you like a more industrial exterior and interior, but it can literally be hosed out since they don't use wood or steel and are usually very lightweight.
back in the day, there were a clearer quality difference between brands but not so much anymore.
there still is NO substitute for YOU going out and looking at the different brands.
if you can't find that brand's hybrids, go look at their travel trailers and see how good their quality is.
hybrid manufacturing is a come and go business for some companies, like Keystone.
but there are companies that have always made hybrids: Forest River's Roo/Shamrock/Surveyor brands, Jayco's Jayfeather/Starcraft brands, Thor's Kodiak/Cub brands and R-Vision's Trail-Lite brand.
Palomino has also made hybrids consistently but changed the name from Stampede to Solaire.
There really is no best camper. It's all in your view of it.
When we were shopping, we wanted the side bunk. We went into the Jayco and another brand (I don't recall which) and were leaning towards the Jayco. I called around to some dealers to see if anyone had the Roo 233S in stock. We went to see one and bought it on the spot. It just felt right to us. We liked the interior styling, the options and the fit and finish better than the others. However, we know others that just love the other brands and don't like the Roo. It's all about what is important to you.
[quote author=bikendan link=topic=2797.msg26929#msg26929 date=1384552815]
there still is NO substitute for YOU going out and looking at the different brands.
I couldn't agree with this more. Go take a look at everything that interests you.
couldnt agree more. most RVs are built basically the same. I know some have aluminum studs and fiberglass sides. (Which some sides are vacuum bonded-some are pinch rolled) each method basically mates the wood interior walls, the insulation, and the fiberglass exterior walls together. Vacuum method uses a "vacuum" to suck the air out of the pieces. Pinch method places the pieces in a huge roller to squeeze the air out.
Other RVs are wood studs and aluminum sides. (they are similar to a stick home).
Beyond those differences they are similar. Things that may change is wood material, drawers construction, flooring, wheel/tire size, BTU of furnace-A/C, size of appliances, ETC. Might also ask if the walls, cabinets, ETC . was installed before or after the floor covering was installed.
(Glueing those things down on bare wood is generally accepted as "better" as opposed to gluing them to the tile/linoleum/ETC.)
You should also check the fit/finish. If everything fits too tight, it will crack and break during road time. It should fit good with no noticeable gaps or bends between trim or wall pieces.
AND AS MENTIONED---no 2 units (even of the same brand) will be identical. AND-1 may be great and the other may be constant trouble (even of the same brand and model).
Go inside-look it over-check everything-say a prayer (if you believe in that). wait for a conscience answer. (That means dont buy on impulse). Then in a day or so. If it feels right-BUY IT.
One thing we really noticed that changed from brand to brand was the quality of the bedding material. Some of the Hybrids we looked at had terrible light bedding. It looked nice and think then we laid down on it. It squished down into nothing and it felt like I was laying on the wood deck. The Jayco we bought has very comfortable mattresses.
Joe
Joe,
I absolutely agree. Keystone had the worst bunk end bedding I have ever seen.
However, in any of the others I would have put at least couple inches of memory foam on top of the existing mattresses.
And then have to deal with storing that.
My solution was much easier.
I ordered an extremely dense 4 inch memory foam and had a local auto/boat upholstery shop fit a cover to my new bunk end foam.
This way I got the HTT with the features and quality I wanted.
Instead of worrying about the mattress, my attention went to the quality build of the trailer and along with that, a reasonable carrying capacity.
I don't understand why Keystone put such a poor quality mattress in their HTT when their regular trailers have extremely nice ones.
A great mattress is a pretty easy mod.
Now I have a great HTT and better bedding than any other I've seen.
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