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Old 12-16-2017, 01:27 PM   #1
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Name: Francois
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for a good chuckle today.....

have a look at this video of how one brand of stick-builts.....are built...

sure gave me a good laugh...This is their "marketing" guy (???)
I wonder where he got the impression that prospective buyers are influenced/impressed by how FAST their future trailer is built....LOL

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Old 12-16-2017, 01:45 PM   #2
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Looks like they are building it just like they build the houses we live in. I did not see anything wrong.
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Old 12-16-2017, 02:25 PM   #3
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One of the follow-up videos that show when the first is done is this one:
The appearance of low quality at Jayco might justify a name change to: Joke-co.

The advantage that your house has, it is not being bounced for days on the highway. How would such house fare in an earthquake? (Not many in Virginia, and they last only a few seconds.)
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Old 12-16-2017, 02:46 PM   #4
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Fiberglass trailers have their issues and the quality control is as bad or worse than stick built trailers . Stick built usually are built using a jig where FG trailers use the free hand close enough is good enough method ( Hand Grenade Method)
I have found areas on both my FG trailers where the only thing keeping the rain out was the gelcoat cause someone forgot the fiberglass backer.
The wood cabinets in FG trailers are equal to or lower in quality then the cabinets in low end stick builts. ( Staples and hot melt glue is not quality )
The plumbing and wiring in the stick built trailers is often better then the FG trailers in both material and installation methods.

I wired / worked on new homes for over 40 years and from what I've seen the FG trailer industry has little to brag about and much to be ashamed of .
Jayco makes a pretty good trailer IMHO
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:41 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
Fiberglass trailers have their issues and the quality control is as bad or worse than stick built trailers . Stick built usually are built using a jig where FG trailers use the free hand close enough is good enough method ( Hand Grenade Method)
I have found areas on both my FG trailers where the only thing keeping the rain out was the gelcoat cause someone forgot the fiberglass backer.
The wood cabinets in FG trailers are equal to or lower in quality then the cabinets in low end stick builts. ( Staples and hot melt glue is not quality )
The plumbing and wiring in the stick built trailers is often better then the FG trailers in both material and installation methods.

I wired / worked on new homes for over 40 years and from what I've seen the FG trailer industry has little to brag about and much to be ashamed of .
Jayco makes a pretty good trailer IMHO
Since your profile says "none" I would assume that you're going to buy a Jayco.
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Old 12-16-2017, 05:15 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Neto View Post
Looks like they are building it just like they build the houses we live in. I did not see anything wrong.
But your house does not get punished by highway expansion joints, potholes, etc.
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Old 12-16-2017, 05:17 PM   #7
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Hey Francois I'm with you! We love our fg Bigfoot. No quality control issues with ours! Safe travels! Roy
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Old 12-16-2017, 05:31 PM   #8
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That guy who bought the Jayco must not have even looked at it from a distance before accepting delivery. Is there just no buyer's responsibility?
Most are surely better when new or they would not get responsible buyers.
I could understand if it fell apart over time, but he seems to have bought it in that condition.

Steve,
You saw how the Jayco was built and it is clear that molded fiberglass is better. Compare a molded fiberglass after a couple decades to a brand new stick built.
C'mon...2X2s for trusses end nailed in place!!!??? Walls apparently nailed down instead of screwed.
I had a low opinion of stick built trailers to begin with but that first video made me realize that I gave them too much credit for basic build quality.
A quality stick built trailer is surely possible, but that ain't it!

I am pleased with the wiring and plumbing in my fiberglass trailer and the cabinets are the best in the industry. Initial quality was great and long term durability has been phenomenal.
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Old 12-16-2017, 05:57 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by floyd View Post
That guy who bought the Jayco must not have even looked at it from a distance before accepting delivery. Is there just no buyer's responsibility?

I could understand if it fell apart over time, but he seems to have bought it in that condition.

Steve,
You saw how the Jayco was built and it is clear that molded fiberglass is better. Compare a molded fiberglass after a couple decades to a brand new stick built.
C'mon...2X2s for trusses end nailed in place!!!??? Walls apparently nailed down instead of screwed.
I had a low opinion of stick built trailers to begin with but that first video made me realize that I gave them too much credit for basic build quality.

I am pleased with the wiring and plumbing in my fiberglass trailer and the cabinets are the best in the industry. Initial quality was great and long term durability has been phenomenal.

I could see building a quality stick built trailer but that ain't it!
I will agree that the cabinets in a Scamp Deluxe are above normal but they are the exception .I have also seen cabinets in low end stick built trailers that are better quality then some high end FG trailer's cabinets
Many on this forum continually bad mouth all stick built trailers and magnify their flaws but are purposely blind to the flaws in FG trailer.
I thing FG trailers are better by design but flawed in execution.
I think they could build a good stick built trailer if they paid attention to detail but the same could be said about FG trailers.
I have spent too many hours repairing factory defects in my FG trailers. With the high price of FG trailers is a little craftsmanship too much to ask ?
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Old 12-16-2017, 05:58 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman View Post
Since your profile says "none" I would assume that you're going to buy a Jayco.
Assume anything you desire , it's a free country.
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Old 12-16-2017, 06:06 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
With the high price of FG trailers is a little craftsmanship too much to ask ?
No, it's not. With my Escape there's more than a "little" craftsmanship.
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Old 12-16-2017, 06:40 PM   #12
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The wood cabinet doors in the Scamp Delux 5r we owned actually fell apart. Some glueing job that was.

Throught the years I have been on this forum there have been many complaints of water leaks in the Fiberglass campers.

I have owned both and found negatives in both kinds.
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Old 12-16-2017, 06:57 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by rbryan View Post
No, it's not. With my Escape there's more than a "little" craftsmanship.
Not taking that fork in the road . Anyone is free to believe in anything they wish. I choose to follow a different truth.

Happy Holidays
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Old 12-16-2017, 07:43 PM   #14
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for a good chuckle today.....

I was impressed with the efficient way they put the trailer together. Build quality not so much. I have seen some shoddy stuff in FG trailers to but you generally don’t have to worry about them rotting and falling apart. I do wish mine had the insulation from the Jayco.
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Old 12-16-2017, 07:56 PM   #15
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comment from the OP....

I posted that because I thought is was funny....specifically the speed at which these workers were expected to perform....I was horrified watching that frame flip...somebody could have got injured....bad!!!

I thought I was "preaching to the choir" and did not want to start the old stickbuilt vs FG debate....again

If I saw a housing development under construction where the workers were literally running between operations.....I would not be a buyer.

forget the brands, forget the types....what I thought was funny was that a marketing guy would make a video about how fast they build them and actually tout this as a positive...to the end user (?????)


cheers, F
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Old 12-16-2017, 08:09 PM   #16
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There is no way you can build a quality trailer in 6 hours. They are just slapping that thing together. And they have the gall to use that as a selling point. Guess they forgot to show the "leak test", guess the buyer does that on their first rain storm.

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Old 12-16-2017, 09:12 PM   #17
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I have had ZERO quality concerns with my 2015 Casita purchased new over 2 years ago and covered about 30 states travelling so far in it. That video shows why I did not buy a stick built even after I had put money down on it. I really loved a particular stick built model so I put a deposit down. When I went to actually inspect it I got my deposit back due to very poor build quality - stapled together and about 30 percent of the staples did not hit the mark. Roof was not level, walls not level, gaps everywhere, poor quality materials, etc... This led me to really think about what I was doing if we were going to be seriously using a camper 50-75 days a year. After MUCH research I am completely satisfied with my purchase years later and for the foreseeable future. The really nice thing on top of all this is if it is sold down the road there will be something left to sell and for good money at that. Just look at a 10 year garage kept stick built compared to an outside kept Casita and see what wins.
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Old 12-16-2017, 09:39 PM   #18
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We have several members of this forum who are either skilled craftsmen or skilled tradesmen or both. Often that can mean evaluating a trailer build in terms of "how I would do it", vs what the most common practice is, or what the general industry norms are.

While I admire that impeccably high standard, it's not very realistic for an affordable trailer. That kind of quality would come at an exhorbitant price and would also mean a manufacturer would have to severely limit their production in order to meet it. Not to mention, finding workers who are capable of it. Skill does not come cheap.

Having said all that, I'll put the build quality of my trailer up against ANY Jayco, any day. It's not even close.
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Old 12-16-2017, 10:05 PM   #19
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It's fine to build things efficiently, but cutting corners to build faster is a problem. Roofs on stickies are notorious for problems where they apply the sealant after the installation of the roof fittings, for instance.

The trailer industry seems to have figured out every way to save a few seconds and a few pennies, and then they try to do it all faster and faster, which brings it's own problems.

But even Oliver has suffered from trying to ramp up production on a quality trailer. They take risks, use cheaper equipment and hire less skilled labor. The problems they have had have cost them sales and warrantee issues. In their case, there are no distributors so it complicates the repairs. They are also resistant to believing the problems are real.

Mine was made before they really tried to ramp up production, but that also meant they had less building experience and had less engineering experience, so they made rookie mistakes in design and in business techniques.

Smaller companies can have their hearts in the right place, but not have their product refined. Larger companies can have the product refined, but be more interested in what they can get away with. Image and profit over quality.
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Old 12-16-2017, 11:37 PM   #20
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: Well said.
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