Pull behind holiday trailer.......need advice please

[ferniesnow]

I went to the Forest River web-site and they have some interesting floor plans and concepts. I haven't a clue if they are well built nor anything about prices.

 

[tex78]

Forrest river sucks balls doug

If I told u the list of bad on our old toyhauler in the first 4 months.....

sent while I should be drinking tea's

 

[ferniesnow]

Forrest river sucks balls doug

If I told u the list of bad on our old toyhauler in the first 4 months.....

Thanks Geoff. From the general consensus, it appears that the Arctic Fox are top notch. We just have to hope there is a good floor plan available in October or November when the deep price cuts become available.

 

[tex78]

Yes the Arctic foxes are awesome

But ya we would never have a forrest river again


Yes they have some cool floor plans, but I think that added some more than normal issues
If I had pics I'd put them up, but deleted them

sent while I should be drinking tea's

 

[52weekbreak]

An interesting thread - many good comments worth considering. I am with Tex on winter camping - you need to start from, and finish in, a heated shop so you can wash exterior and underside, rinse and drain tanks etc. You will also need a gen set for tank heaters and either need to keep a window open or have an air exchanger installed to deal with moisture from breathing and cooking.

If your winter trips are just the occasional overnight, leave your tanks dry and bring cheap windshield washer fluid for toilet flush and 5 gallon container(s) of water for drinking & cooking. Much less hassle and you will still need to wash the underside down after any trip where salt or other deicers are encountered. I decided to forgo winter trips even with the winter package in my trailer as I am too fussy. The WP sure makes it more comfortable in the other 3 seasons though so would put that high on my list of "must have's."

One other thing I think is really important is that you make sure to check the cost of any unit in the US. It costs about $250 to import a trailer and it is fairly simple. There is no difference in the way trailers are made on either side of the border so that is not an issue. The manufacturers of the appliances will warranty them regardless which side of the border they were purchased. Knowing what you can source out of the US for is also valuable for negotiating with Canadian dealers. Found the trailer I liked locally and worked out a best deal scenario. Went home and did some research and made some phone calls and developed some real alternatives. Went back to the same local dealer and presented them with what I found out. Got another $6,000 knocked off the price of the trailer. Decided that the still $2,500 extra (calculated after cost to pick up and import fees) was worth buying from local dealer for future service. Turned out that was a wasted good intention as their service department sucked and I have had to re-do anything they did anyway. Might as well have kept the money in my jeans.

So to recap, the trailer that had a Canadian MSRP of $52,000, an initial "best deal" price of $42,000 was bought from the same initial dealer for $36,000 BUT I could have gotten it in North Dakota for $30,000. All these numbers were converted to Canadian and included currency exchange (CDN to USD as required). Go to the manufacturer website to locate dealers on both sides of the border.

Good luck - Can't wait to see what you get

 

[tex78]

Yes the dealers suck forsure , some of the issues we had didn't help that the dealer sucked and my 10 year old could have done it better



Like the outer frame of the fantastic fan had a crack and leaked on bed , got up there and dumb gummed it to temp fix.... Leave there with a list all winter, get it back a few weeks before may long, says it's fixed ( should have got up there and looked) , they peeled the dumb gum off and put white silicone....

F tards.....

sent while I should be drinking tea's

 

[ferniesnow]

An interesting thread - many good comments worth considering. I am with Tex on winter camping - you need to start from, and finish in, a heated shop so you can wash exterior and underside, rinse and drain tanks etc. You will also need a gen set for tank heaters and either need to keep a window open or have an air exchanger installed to deal with moisture from breathing and cooking.

If your winter trips are just the occasional overnight, leave your tanks dry and bring cheap windshield washer fluid for toilet flush and 5 gallon container(s) of water for drinking & cooking. Much less hassle and you will still need to wash the underside down after any trip where salt or other deicers are encountered. I decided to forgo winter trips even with the winter package in my trailer as I am too fussy. The WP sure makes it more comfortable in the other 3 seasons though so would put that high on my list of "must have's."

One other thing I think is really important is that you make sure to check the cost of any unit in the US. It costs about $250 to import a trailer and it is fairly simple. There is no difference in the way trailers are made on either side of the border so that is not an issue. The manufacturers of the appliances will warranty them regardless which side of the border they were purchased. Knowing what you can source out of the US for is also valuable for negotiating with Canadian dealers. Found the trailer I liked locally and worked out a best deal scenario. Went home and did some research and made some phone calls and developed some real alternatives. Went back to the same local dealer and presented them with what I found out. Got another $6,000 knocked off the price of the trailer. Decided that the still $2,500 extra (calculated after cost to pick up and import fees) was worth buying from local dealer for future service. Turned out that was a wasted good intention as their service department sucked and I have had to re-do anything they did anyway. Might as well have kept the money in my jeans.

So to recap, the trailer that had a Canadian MSRP of $52,000, an initial "best deal" price of $42,000 was bought from the same initial dealer for $36,000 BUT I could have gotten it in North Dakota for $30,000. All these numbers were converted to Canadian and included currency exchange (CDN to USD as required). Go to the manufacturer website to locate dealers on both sides of the border.

Good luck - Can't wait to see what you get

Yes, lots of great responses with great information. I agree on the service part; it seems the salesmen come out in droves starting in the spring and continuing through the summer. Selling is the number one priority! In October and November, you have to really search for sales people and the lots are very relaxing. We are absorbing what we can and looking around, even in the States as we are only 2 hours from Kalispell.

So, without a large enough shop for the washing, a nice commercial car wash would do the job?

 

[dale+shan]

I looked at Forest River Trailer product reviews, stay away from this product. They are NFG. 200+ complaints and very few resolved. Thanks for the heads up tex78, I'm looking for a trailer as well and was interested in Forest River. You saved me from alot of grief. Arctic Fox is quite expensive so I'm going to keep looking for the next best RV.

 

[rubirose]

We have a 2008 Keystone Raptor toyhauler, enclosed 10 ' garage , 33 ' long fifth wheel. Third owners, love it, built really well, only issue we have had though is where the man garage door is the small panel above the door let go (in the living area) so we had to put better trim up. I assume because of the flex happening with 2 machines in the garage and bumpy roads. I would buy another one.

 

[52weekbreak]

Yes FS a commercial car wash should do quite nicely - only thing is that you might not be able leave it dry off. Not sure how big a deal that is as these things do sit through hundreds of freeze thaws annually if parked outside. The undercarriage is typically not given any kind of coating so you might look into that before winter use. Would certainly cut down on rust/deterioration and make the maintenance a little easier.

Using your domestic hot water tank and sewage (particularly for showers and stuff) add a layer of complication I just couldn't wrap my head around.
It is one thing to winter-use a trailer located at a permanent site (do-able with skirting, permanent power and sewer and bulk propane tanks). Dragging it around just seems to add a factor of 10 to everything unless you keep it real simple and effectively dry camp (no water).

 

[ferniesnow]

Yes FS a commercial car wash should do quite nicely - only thing is that you might not be able leave it dry off. Not sure how big a deal that is as these things do sit through hundreds of freeze thaws annually if parked outside. The undercarriage is typically not given any kind of coating so you might look into that before winter use. Would certainly cut down on rust/deterioration and make the maintenance a little easier.

Using your domestic hot water tank and sewage (particularly for showers and stuff) add a layer of complication I just couldn't wrap my head around.
It is one thing to winter-use a trailer located at a permanent site (do-able with skirting, permanent power and sewer and bulk propane tanks). Dragging it around just seems to add a factor of 10 to everything unless you keep it real simple and effectively dry camp (no water).

That might be a good idea; to have the underside undercoated. Would that cause any complications?

 

[ferniesnow]

I looked at Forest River Trailer product reviews, stay away from this product. They are NFG. 200+ complaints and very few resolved. Thanks for the heads up tex78, I'm looking for a trailer as well and was interested in Forest River. You saved me from alot of grief. Arctic Fox is quite expensive so I'm going to keep looking for the next best RV.

Thanks for the heads up from you and tex78. A lot of great information is being bantered around and that is what makes this forum the best!

 

[butters]

Just bought a 34 foot keystone sprinter from Arrkann, great dealer. The walk through they give you when you take possession lasts two hours and is very thorough. I can't say how the trailer is yet, I haven't been out. But fit and finish is very clean.

 

[tex78]

Oh I could keep going guys, how about the front top lights , the lights where smaller than the holes for wires, leaked inside at every light,



sent while I should be drinking tea's

 

[52weekbreak]

That might be a good idea; to have the underside undercoated. Would that cause any complications?

I guess it depends on what is underneath. Many of the heated undersides are kind of soft and flexible - left me with the impression of landscape cloth. Also depends on how much of the work you wanted to do yourself and cost/benefit is always a consideration.

If the surface is solid and new, you could use any type of auto undercoating to spray on truck box liner. A couple inches of high density spray on foam might work real well if you can make sure it sticks. You might use stucco wire to form a frame for the foam to stick to for a soft bottom. Bare metal or wood will provide an excellent base to stick too provided it is clean.

There shouldn't be any complications unless you have a leak from above and a sealed bottom could make drying out internals a bit of a challenge, So there you have it. Every solution I think of has the potential to introduce a new problem. Maybe rolls of tin and epoxy tape (the use that stuff to hold aircraft together).

I have seen how you detail your truck and sled FS so maybe the last person you should take suggestions from is me

 

[LUCKY 7]

The bottom line I think is camping is a great time no matter what size or make of trailer.When we are out at our camp site having a few drinks sitting around the fire it is not quite as good as out sledding but is sure is a great time.no honey to do list out there! Food and drinks just taste better out camping.

 

[ferniesnow]

The bottom line I think is camping is a great time no matter what size or make of trailer.When we are out at our camp site having a few drinks sitting around the fire it is not quite as good as out sledding but is sure is a great time.no honey to do list out there! Food and drinks just taste better out camping.

Hey, are you finished hauling firewood?

 

[tex78]

Hey, are you finished hauling firewood?

Don't even get me started lol

Got my first load yesterday , finally got my sled deck out of truck onto sled trailer, had to fix trailer as the snow load broke both spring packs both sides



sent while I should be drinking tea's

 

[LUCKY 7]

no I am not finished. should be by now but other things seem to come up. If you want to go out this Friday morning I am game to go?

Hey, are you finished hauling firewood?

 

[ferniesnow]

no I am not finished. should be by now but other things seem to come up. If you want to go out this Friday morning I am game to go?

Hahahahaha.........I was finished on May 25th. All nicely stacked and drying. I am working now, so sorry to say, I haven't got time for firewood. A couple big projects at Emslie's that will keep me busy for the rest of June.