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New 5th Wheel Manufacturer

Travlingman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Looks like a new manufactuer of 5th wheels will be starting up in January. Alliance RV is completing a new factory and says they will be producing luxury fifth wheels. Most of the upper management seems to be coming from Heartland and then manufacturing from Grand Design. The Brady's were with Heartland before they got bought out. Looking forward to seeing what they come out with. Supposedly going to be at some shows in January, hopefully with some show units as there calendar does have models listed per event.

On edit, I found an interview from August.
2017 F-350 King Ranch DRW
2014 Landmark Savannah(sold)
2022 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4
29 REPLIES 29

JTrac
Explorer
Explorer
pcm1959 wrote:
justme wrote:
So far many RV's like Hartland products are glitz and glammor with inadequate engineering incorporated for travel and endurance. It is difficult to "polish a turd". I fully support entreprenureship if it enhances things that would contribute to a better and improved product. I will sit back and evaluate this new company as they progress. I really hope they come up with a product that moves the RV industry forward. BTY many management folks in the RV industry have been quoted in the past that the reason that past RV manufacturers go out of business was because they put too much quality into the product that diminished the profitability. They felt the public wanted inexpensive rather than quality.


I totally agree. We have seen it before. Theres nothing special about their engineering, frame, or otherwise. Just another cookie cutter like all the others. Since the demise of NuWa, Carriage/Lifestyle, Excel they are all built the same. That goes for Vanleigh, too. Throw a beautiful pint job on it and it's the icing on the cake for the typical American buyer.


We thought when we bought our Excel 8 years ago that we would maybe do one more, which would have been our 4th Excel. That didn't work out so well. We look but just can't find anything that matches the feel of quality ours has. Most just look flimsy. We don't want anything super heavy or priced like a New Horizon. Excel was kind of in the high middle but not many of those left. I hope this new company builds a good reputation but have my doubts. They do look good though.

We considered an Artic Fox but they do not offer a residential fridge. If they ever do they will be on our list but I'd probably have to drive 800 miles just to see one.
JimT
2020 Jayco Pinnacle 32RLTS, 2020 Ford F350, Platinum, 6.7 diesel, 4X4, CCLB, SRW, 12,400 GVWR

I just read a little into " their story"

Unfortunately I do not think they will do much to improve the industry as BOTH the brothers are "BEAN COUNTERS" by trade..

Now I have nothing against bean counters, but when they are the owners, that makes for a rough ride in my eyes..

Coley Brady -"Prior to Heartland, Coley graduated from the University of Notre Dame and worked as a CPA for KPMG (Chicago office) and Crowe (South Bend office)."

Ryan Brady -"has 9 years of experience in the RV industry. He holds a bachelorโ€™s degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Upon graduation Ryan worked at Prairie Capital, a Chicago based private equity firm"

The bottom line will be more important that quality is what I read... Prove me wrong bros..
Me-Her-the kids
2020 Ford F350 SD 6.7
2020 Redwood 3991RD Garnet

smarty
Explorer
Explorer
Would not purchase a rig from them until they were in business for several years.
We purchased a Tesla from Evergreen a few years back and they went out of business and thus we lost our warranty.
Although we have been super happy with the rig and have had no issues it could have been a disaster for us.

justme
Explorer
Explorer
pcm1959 wrote:
justme wrote:
So far many RV's like Hartland products are glitz and glammor with inadequate engineering incorporated for travel and endurance. It is difficult to "polish a turd". I fully support entreprenureship if it enhances things that would contribute to a better and improved product. I will sit back and evaluate this new company as they progress. I really hope they come up with a product that moves the RV industry forward. BTY many management folks in the RV industry have been quoted in the past that the reason that past RV manufacturers go out of business was because they put too much quality into the product that diminished the profitability. They felt the public wanted inexpensive rather than quality.


I totally agree. We have seen it before. Theres nothing special about their engineering, frame, or otherwise. Just another cookie cutter like all the others. Since the demise of NuWa, Carriage/Lifestyle, Excel they are all built the same. That goes for Vanleigh, too. Throw a beautiful pint job on it and it's the icing on the cake for the typical American buyer.


Most people put emphasis on the truck suspension and seem to ignore the trailer suspension. I look at my F350 suspension rated at 11500 lbs GVW and compare it to my 5th wheel suspension rated at 14000 lbs (2X7000) with a GVW of 16000 and wonder why trailer is much flimsier than the truck. Evidently the trailer engineers use a different method to spec their suspension, springs and brakes than the auto industry.

pcm1959
Explorer
Explorer
justme wrote:
So far many RV's like Hartland products are glitz and glammor with inadequate engineering incorporated for travel and endurance. It is difficult to "polish a turd". I fully support entreprenureship if it enhances things that would contribute to a better and improved product. I will sit back and evaluate this new company as they progress. I really hope they come up with a product that moves the RV industry forward. BTY many management folks in the RV industry have been quoted in the past that the reason that past RV manufacturers go out of business was because they put too much quality into the product that diminished the profitability. They felt the public wanted inexpensive rather than quality.


I totally agree. We have seen it before. Theres nothing special about their engineering, frame, or otherwise. Just another cookie cutter like all the others. Since the demise of NuWa, Carriage/Lifestyle, Excel they are all built the same. That goes for Vanleigh, too. Throw a beautiful pint job on it and it's the icing on the cake for the typical American buyer.
2018 GMC Sierra 3500 DRW 4x4 Duramax/Allison
2014 Lifestyle LS36FW
St Augustine, FL

justme
Explorer
Explorer
So far many RV's like Hartland products are glitz and glammor with inadequate engineering incorporated for travel and endurance. It is difficult to "polish a turd". I fully support entreprenureship if it enhances things that would contribute to a better and improved product. I will sit back and evaluate this new company as they progress. I really hope they come up with a product that moves the RV industry forward. BTY many management folks in the RV industry have been quoted in the past that the reason that past RV manufacturers go out of business was because they put too much quality into the product that diminished the profitability. They felt the public wanted inexpensive rather than quality.

Winged_One
Explorer
Explorer
We looked at the Riverstone 39FKTH. Nice until I looked at the outside dumps. Who wants to crawl under an extended slideout to pull a dump valve. Really Riverstone?? Who are your buyers? High end and you can't put a valve handle in reach without crawling under the trailer?
2013 F350 6.7 DRW SC Lariat
2011 Brookstone 354TS
Swivelwheel 58DW
1993 GL1500SE
Yamaha 3000ISEB

philh
Explorer II
Explorer II
AirSupport wrote:
I still like the Riverstone. Although the one we love is 43โ€™ long, I just wish they made the floor plan at under 40โ€™. Oh well, looks like Iโ€™m getting the 43โ€™-er. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Which one?

Looking forward to your review. Riverstone is on our short list

dblr
Explorer
Explorer
AirSupport wrote:
I still like the Riverstone. Although the one we love is 43โ€™ long, I just wish they made the floor plan at under 40โ€™. Oh well, looks like Iโ€™m getting the 43โ€™-er. ๐Ÿ˜‰


Which model? Ours is just under 43' and we have yet run into a issue with size.
2017 River Stone Legacy 38MB
2001 Kenworth T2000
2009 Smart on the deck.

joelc
Explorer III
Explorer III
I don't know much about them, but Artic Fox is supposed to be a good brand. We looked at them one time, and the only reason we did not purchase is we did not like the floor plans back then. Give them a look.

AirSupport
Explorer
Explorer
I still like the Riverstone. Although the one we love is 43โ€™ long, I just wish they made the floor plan at under 40โ€™. Oh well, looks like Iโ€™m getting the 43โ€™-er. ๐Ÿ˜‰

jdb7566
Explorer
Explorer
work2much wrote:


We are looking at 5th wheels that aren't any longer than 35' pin to bumper. We have looked at Pinnacle, Montana, VanLeigh and Solitude. They more or less look the same as far as floorpan, frame and axles.

Is there a manufacturer you recommend we consider? We cannot afford a true top of the line coach like Spacecraft, DRV etc and they are longer than we want. So far the unit that has impressed us the most is the Solitude but that's based mainly on people we have talked with and the support they have received from Grand Design. We are still shopping and open to suggestions including used b ut not more than a few years old.

Mainly I would look for fit and finish. Screws not set at an angle, trim lining up, windows and doors open and close smoothly, and not only on the interior, exterior also. Try to look past the glitter. VanLeigh is the only one you listed, not made in Indiana. Tour the factories first, if you can, I wish I had before we bought our Solitude.

TXiceman
Explorer
Explorer
Travlingman wrote:
TXiceman wrote:
If they truly want to shake up the RV market and build a higher end RV, they need to go to a Young's Welding powder coated frame and Mor/Ryde IS suspension, upgrade insulation, dual pane windows, real leather furniture and better flooring.

I an so thankful that we got one of the last HitchHiker Champagnes built...a solid true full time rated trailer.

Ken


What currently produced 5th wheels use a Young's frame?


Sad to say...NONE. But Young's is still in Chanute, KS

Ken
Amateur Radio Operator.
2023 Cougar 22MLS, toted with a 2022, F150, 3.5L EcoBoost, Crewcab, Max Tow, FORMER Full Time RVer. Travel with a standard schnauzer and a Timneh African Gray parrot

work2much
Explorer
Explorer
GDS-3950BH wrote:
work2much wrote:


I am not at all affiliated with them, this is just cut and paste from Facebook.



Man was it ever.....Massive snip job. Hard to pile that stuff up so high.

I'll believe it when I see it. 3 bigshots who worked for Heartland, the great manufacturer of RV quality construction. I heard the same spew from 3 different Industry cats @ 2012 who were with Keystone, and now pump out product that is nothing special when compared to many other brands or divisions of brands.

I can get the same exact yada yada on many Facebook pages, in brochures
, and on websites. G rated tires? Anyone want to bet some brand from Lionshead? Aluminum framed floor? Notice the word laminated is not used, nor specically called out as not being used.

The RV Industry is run by scheisters who are better at marketing than they are at building RV's, They apparently have no problem finding an almost unlimited supply of suckers to join in on the fun.


We are looking at 5th wheels that aren't any longer than 35' pin to bumper. We have looked at Pinnacle, Montana, VanLeigh and Solitude. They more or less look the same as far as floorpan, frame and axles.

Is there a manufacturer you recommend we consider? We cannot afford a true top of the line coach like Spacecraft, DRV etc and they are longer than we want. So far the unit that has impressed us the most is the Solitude but that's based mainly on people we have talked with and the support they have received from Grand Design. We are still shopping and open to suggestions including used b ut not more than a few years old.
2022 Ram 3500 Laramie CTD DRW Crew 4x4 Aisin 4:10 Air ride.

2020 Grand Design Solitude 2930RL 2520 watts solar. 600ah lithium. Magnum 4000 watt inverter.