Carriage Fifth Wheels

[hinterland]

Curious, does anyone on here, have a Carriage product for full time? Or know of a friend who does? Any opinions?

We have an opportunity for one, it's a 27' rear kitchen, with 2 slides. We do winter in Canada, and we already have an Okanagan which is real good quality, but just wonder if anyone has experience with a Carriage. It's the Compass C2, and we do RV Full Time in Canada all year round.

We did look at a short video detailing construction, but all companies say theirs is the best. (smiles)

[Dutch___Di]

Happy to see you decided to get the Carriage. Hope to see you on the road. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Well, I guess we shall find out, because we bought the Carriage. Can't wait for warmer weather and get on the road

[banjo]

Good choice.....Very good Choice.

[hinterland]

Well, I guess we shall find out, because we bought the Carriage. Can't wait for warmer weather and get on the road

[Dustytuu]

We full time in a 2008 Carriage. Have done this for 8 years. No problems.
Our Carriage is a big one with 4 slides. Very heavy so we tow it with a 5500 dodge 2 ton diesel. Have towed this coast to coast and north to south in the USA.

As for Carriage going out of business, this is what happened..... Their bank was bought out by another bank which bought out other banks also. Then the new bank called every ones loans which put a lot of businesses in a bind. Carriage tried to work with the new bank and they would not work with them or anyone else. So Carriage said shut it down. This bank was not interested. In making trailers or 5th wheels.
Carriage was one of the finest 5th wheels made and was a sad day when the factory closed.
We still love our Carriage.

[hinterland]

Thank you for the info.

Dutch & Di wrote:
We boondock for overnight and on BLM land for up to 2 weeks at a time in our 1996/2010 Carriage and we are fine. We don't have the larger tanks that the newer ones have but with it being just the 2 of us and we conserve water where we can, we can enjoy all the comforts of our "home" while enjoying the tranquility. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Has anyone boondocked with a Carriage product? What length of unit?

[hinterland]

Veebyes wrote:

hinterland wrote:
Has anyone boondocked with a Carriage product? What length of unit?

One of the reasons Carriage was on our short list was the 100gal freshwater tank.

Where some of these builders think that you are going on itty bitty tanks is beyond me. 60 gal might get 2 people through 3 days.

For drycamping freshwater will be your #1 limiter on how many days you can go offgrid followed to some degree by battery bank size & the ability to recharge it.

Thank you, you are right, small tanks and boon docking do not go together. We ended up buying the Carriage Compass, it has a 70 g fresh tank and so far we are really loving it.

[Dutch___Di]

Wow! didn't you just make my day, week no Year. I'm so glad you found our reply helpful.
Once you get out on the road, you will find there are many of us who have been on the road for years and still love it.
We would love to meet up with you and have a nice long chat. Believe me, we long time fulltimers or just long time RV'ers have tons of stories and information to share.
I'm happy to see you bought your Carriage.
While there is so much to learn and the people here are so helpful, I'd like to give you the links to 2 Carriage forums and the Carriage Travel Club where there are chapter campouts and national rallies.
The original Carriage forum
Another great place to ask & learn about Carriage
This is a group you pay to join and have access to rallies, campouts etc.
I hope this helps and feel free to ask questions of anyone on this and Carriage forums. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:

Dutch & Di wrote:
We bought our 38' triple axle, triple slide Carriage Conestoga new in 1996 and hit the road fulltiming in January of 1997. We are now in our 20th year of fulltiming with ours and love the lifestyle and everything is still working fine. We did have her re-painted in 2010 and had some color updating on the inside-new carpet & countertops and reupholstered our couch and kitchen chairs. Dutch maintains the outside meticulously as I do the inside. We do usually add/change or update something every few years to keep her fresh. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Curious, does anyone on here, have a Carriage product for full time? Or know of a friend who does? Any opinions?

We have an opportunity for one, it's a 27' rear kitchen, with 2 slides. We do winter in Canada, and we already have an Okanagan which is real good quality, but just wonder if anyone has experience with a Carriage. It's the Compass C2, and we do RV Full Time in Canada all year round.

We did look at a short video detailing construction, but all companies say theirs is the best. (smiles)

WOW! 20 years? I would surely love to meet you folks and sit at your feet. I'm sure we could learn so very much. Thanks for the input on the Carriage. We ended up buying it, and it's very well built.

[hinterland]

cmsm wrote:
We have a 2011 Cameo 31KSLS - it is 32ft. It has dual pane windows. We have been full time in it since Oct 2011. It is an excellent trailer and we have only had a few minor problems that DH fixed on his own. We spend the winters in Arizona and summers (April - Oct) in Alberta, BC and Sask.
The coldest weather we have had was in Oct 2012 - we were in southern Alberta and it got to -25C for about a week before we could head south. We ran 2 electric heaters & the furnace. The water lines were fine & we were comfortable but we did use 30lbs of propane every 3 days. We now stay in the Vernon area in April and October as it is much warmer than southern Alberta.

We boon dock and can spend 10 - 14 days on a tank of water.

That's exactly the information we were looking for. We are from Alberta and know all about that darn cold and we will be living in it year round. This winter BC, but next? Who knows? We ended up buying it, and it's quite a well built unit. We visit Vernon quite often, great spot. We are in Osoyoos this winter.

[hinterland]

Dutch & Di wrote:
We bought our 38' triple axle, triple slide Carriage Conestoga new in 1996 and hit the road fulltiming in January of 1997. We are now in our 20th year of fulltiming with ours and love the lifestyle and everything is still working fine. We did have her re-painted in 2010 and had some color updating on the inside-new carpet & countertops and reupholstered our couch and kitchen chairs. Dutch maintains the outside meticulously as I do the inside. We do usually add/change or update something every few years to keep her fresh. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Curious, does anyone on here, have a Carriage product for full time? Or know of a friend who does? Any opinions?

We have an opportunity for one, it's a 27' rear kitchen, with 2 slides. We do winter in Canada, and we already have an Okanagan which is real good quality, but just wonder if anyone has experience with a Carriage. It's the Compass C2, and we do RV Full Time in Canada all year round.

We did look at a short video detailing construction, but all companies say theirs is the best. (smiles)

WOW! 20 years? I would surely love to meet you folks and sit at your feet. I'm sure we could learn so very much. Thanks for the input on the Carriage. We ended up buying it, and it's very well built.

[hinterland]

Dutch & Di wrote:
We boondock for overnight and on BLM land for up to 2 weeks at a time in our 1996/2010 Carriage and we are fine. We don't have the larger tanks that the newer ones have but with it being just the 2 of us and we conserve water where we can, we can enjoy all the comforts of our "home" while enjoying the tranquility. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Has anyone boondocked with a Carriage product? What length of unit?

Good information and thank you. We ended up buying the Carriage Compass and are very excited.

[cmsm]

We have a 2011 Cameo 31KSLS - it is 32ft. It has dual pane windows. We have been full time in it since Oct 2011. It is an excellent trailer and we have only had a few minor problems that DH fixed on his own. We spend the winters in Arizona and summers (April - Oct) in Alberta, BC and Sask.
The coldest weather we have had was in Oct 2012 - we were in southern Alberta and it got to -25C for about a week before we could head south. We ran 2 electric heaters & the furnace. The water lines were fine & we were comfortable but we did use 30lbs of propane every 3 days. We now stay in the Vernon area in April and October as it is much warmer than southern Alberta.

We boon dock and can spend 10 - 14 days on a tank of water.

[Dutch___Di]

We bought our 38' triple axle, triple slide Carriage Conestoga new in 1996 and hit the road fulltiming in January of 1997. We are now in our 20th year of fulltiming with ours and love the lifestyle and everything is still working fine. We did have her re-painted in 2010 and had some color updating on the inside-new carpet & countertops and reupholstered our couch and kitchen chairs. Dutch maintains the outside meticulously as I do the inside. We do usually add/change or update something every few years to keep her fresh. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Curious, does anyone on here, have a Carriage product for full time? Or know of a friend who does? Any opinions?

We have an opportunity for one, it's a 27' rear kitchen, with 2 slides. We do winter in Canada, and we already have an Okanagan which is real good quality, but just wonder if anyone has experience with a Carriage. It's the Compass C2, and we do RV Full Time in Canada all year round.

We did look at a short video detailing construction, but all companies say theirs is the best. (smiles)

[Dutch___Di]

We boondock for overnight and on BLM land for up to 2 weeks at a time in our 1996/2010 Carriage and we are fine. We don't have the larger tanks that the newer ones have but with it being just the 2 of us and we conserve water where we can, we can enjoy all the comforts of our "home" while enjoying the tranquility. Hugs, Di

hinterland wrote:
Has anyone boondocked with a Carriage product? What length of unit?

[hinterland]

HAHA, Isn't it usually the other way around? Longer and Newer? Must be a story behind this trade. LOL