Steve,

It's still gonna be a process. Those were the top choices 5 years ago when we bought the keystone. I was just a little hesitant to spend the extra money cause my wife wasn't sure she'd like "camping", she never was an outdoorsy person. But to my suprise she loves it, the baby loves being outside, so now it's time to upgrade some and get the baby a space of her own to grow into.

We will keep the current 5er for the remainder of the season and possibly next. But this unit needs a little tlc in spots, nothing major so if we don't find/order something that is exactly what we want we still have this.

Sarge

 

Our search has us looking at a North Point. Friends of ours just bought a 2016 Pinnacle and it seemed really solid. While at the beach in the 100+ deg heat they complained that it got up to 73 imside. That indicates to me that it holds temp really well. It had a lot of extras that were 'nice to haves'. I would be interested in how your search ends up.

 

This won't be helpful but it expresses my opinions. Camping doesn't require each and every person to have a private area.

My visitors (kids, grandkids, friends, etc) all share a common area; and we manage this with only 30 feet of RV. I suggest you keep & enjoy what you currently have.

Another old Sarge (retired USA, 1990).

 

Thank you sir,

We haven't ruled that out of the equation as of yet either. Its unfortunate that the trailer needs some major repair only after 5 years of ownership, some of which should have been covered under warranty, but the dealership kept telling me there was nothing wrong, and when I called keystone they told me they had to go by what the dealer states.

So long story short, the rear of the trailer always looked bowed out to me at the bottom. So I brought it back 3 times for this, due to every time we went out with it it appeared to get worse, still don't worry about it nothing is wrong its normal. Flash foreword 2 years and now the rear panel has separated from the lower retainer molding and has pulled away from the trailer. My warranty has long since expired, even though I complained about it and of course there is no record of me bringing the camper in for inspection. So if we do keep it, the rear panel needs to be removed, along with the rear window, and reinstalled into the channel, along with some other minor issues that need to be addressed. I can take care of the other stuff, but r&r of that rear skin should be done by a professional Id say.

I will try and snap a picture of it when the monsoon stops.

Sarge

 

Sarge,

Depending on how fussy you are with cosmetics, that back wall may not be a very difficult repair. Most likely water ran down inside the wall. If you are going to have a wall problem, the back wall is where you want to have it.

Most folks think that when they have an aluminum frame the back wall is also framed in aluminum, but that is often not the case. Frequently it is just 1 x 2s. In addition you often find the back wall is fastened in place only around the perimeter and maybe at the window. The filon (fiberglass) has a pressed wood backer and that is often the only thing that stiffens it. Mine did not touch the wall studs anywhere along the back wall. When I recently took mine apart, my ladder was not even screwed to anything other than the filon and the backer (about a 1/4" thick).

If you like your camper and your back wall is your only problem, there are body shops that can make it all look new again for way below the cost of a new camper.

Now here is a story one of my customers just told me. They had a Salem travel trailer which they took very good care of and there was water damage. Now it was a 2002 and this was in 2010. So she called the manufacturer and insisted on talking to the president of the company. At first she was told it was because they did not take care of their camper, but she insisted that was not the case. To make a long story short, the manufacturer send a truck to Tennessee, towed it back to Indiana, fixed it, and towed it back, all at no charge. I know that won't happen for everyone, but that was quite a story I thought.

Just a thought,

Steve

 

That wont happen in this case, the door was already closed after my 3rd visit with in a year to the dealer. Keystone wasn't going to above and beyond and based their decision on what the dealer said. I even agreed to tow it to a different dealer for inspection.

Id really like my daughter to have her own space, not saying this 5er is going anywhere ASAP, if we decide to keep it another year or 2 that's fine, I'm in no hurry, and I will put the money into this 1 to fix what needs to be fixed and add that 2nd A/C unit too.

Sarge

 

I hate it when dealers say that because the back wall is the problem child in terms of water penetration. Given how the roofs on fivers shed water, a good deal runs to the back over the back seam. As I posted earlier, on mine when I opened it up, the rubber was shorted and did not even reach to the back edge of the roof. Not expensive to fix, but labor in hot weather is never fun and shouldn't be necessary in yours or mine.

Steve

 

Yes sir,

I guess that's what's got my *** so fried, is I shouldn't even have to deal with it since I brought it to not only my dealers attention but also the manufacturer's attention while it was still under warranty.

Sarge