Jeff From NE Arkansas

[Mike_L]

I've never really had any interest in a motor home. I see them as a trailer/tug combination that you really can't use for anything else. They may work for those who live in them all the time but that's not me. I don't want to tow a daily driver and without one you have to drive the motor for supplies etc. If you leave your site unattended you may be missing things when you return or someone else may have it when you boondock. A trailer also lets me tow with different vehicles according to my needs.
Personally I have found FG to be more economical over time due to their durability, lower maintenance cost and higher resale value compared to stick built. Used stick builts are cheap for a reason, nobody wants to spend the time and money to keep them going. When I'm in the back country I don't want to spend my time working on my trailer, I've done enough of that.
Not many motor homes where I camp and the few that venture there usually don't do well.

[HDRider]

It appears to me that Lance construction stands out compared to stick built. It actually is not a wood framed trailer.

Lance is owned by REV Group is an American manufacturer of specialty vehicles, including buses, fire trucks, ambulances, and recreational vehicles. The company has yearly revenue of over $1 billion.

https://youtu.be/7DH8nMwcfIg

[Ervin in Portland]

Originally Posted by HDRider

It appears to me that Lance construction stands out compared to stick built. It actually is not a wood framed trailer.

Lance is owned by REV Group is an American manufacturer of specialty vehicles, including buses, fire trucks, ambulances, and recreational vehicles. The company has yearly revenue of over $1 billion.

https://youtu.be/7DH8nMwcfIg

I have researched extensively all the fiberglass trailers and Lance specifically. My concern with Lance is how close their dry weights are to their total gross vehicle weights. For instance, a fully loaded 1475 weighs 3200 lbs with a total gross vehicle weight of 3700 lbs. One cannot haul water with gear, then think about having full tanks.

The Olivers are well built, four season trailers. As others have stated above, aluminum frames, doubled hulled, auto adjusted brakes, shocks with their suspensions etc. Can’t really go wrong. Your 4Runner really will only be able to tow the smaller Oliver.

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on an Escape since I live six hours from their factory. They do so many customizations for their builds and I like that. Very forward thinking company that is responsive to their customers. I think if I lived closer to Oliver I would probably choose them as well. Good luck, the paradox of choice is wonderful.

[MJo]

The comments about ‘stickbuilds’ is correct. After seeing Scamps at a camping show in the 70’s, I finally shopped around in 2020. It was a big decision to get an RV because I wasn’t sure I would use it. So, after reading many RV notes on this and other RV sites, I settled on the Scamp because whenever there is a used one for sale, it is gone before the day is over. Any age. Depreciation is very limited on fiberglas RV’s and especially Scamps, mostly depends on the condition. If you check out the ads for old Scamps, you’ll see what I mean. The demand is amazing and the factory is backordered. I got my new 13 ft. Scamp with toilet and shower for just over $16,000. I drove up to Minnesota and picked it up in order to see the factory and get any advice they could give me. If I needed to sell it, it would go fast and I would get most, if not all, of my money back. Or if I decided I wanted to move to something larger, like a 16 ft. Scamp. So, it’s not much of a financial risk. good luck, MJo

[tedbstone]

My wife and I have a deposit on an Escape 21NE. We looked at Oliver, actually visited their plant in Tennessee. Very impressive, but Olivers are very expensive and that's okay if you are willing to pay the price for a 4 season RV trailer. If you do not like a wet bath, the new Escape 23 coming out in August this year will have a dry bath. Good luck.

Ted

[HDRider]

Wonderful input folks

Thanks for the posts

I can't wait for more info on the Escape 23

I hope the quality of Escape maintains after the ownership change.