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Old 08-19-2015, 05:51 PM   #1
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Considering Manufacturers - Dutchmen Vs. Jayco

Can anyone provide advice? I know that Jayco comes with a 2 year standard warranty - but I do like the floor plans of the dutchmen. just looking for some input before we get that loan thank you!
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Old 08-19-2015, 05:55 PM   #2
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What model of Dutchman are you looking at?
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Old 08-19-2015, 05:57 PM   #3
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hadnt' really decided, but I think i prefer aluminum to fiberglass (worried about delamination) and It sounds like aluminum keeps it's finish longer than fiberglass... that said, I think the Coleman or the .. aspen trail? I think that was the one that was aluminum.
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Old 08-19-2015, 06:11 PM   #4
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My only advice is to buy as close to home as possible from a dealership with a good reputation.

My Aerolite has had the AC and refrigerator replaced since it was new (in a year), not really Dutchmans fault. Both were replaced in a weeks time by my dealer.
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Old 08-19-2015, 06:23 PM   #5
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First thing I would do is find the floor plan that fits your needs the best. Most models of RVs have floor plans that are quite similar. You also need to find out the tow rating of you vehicle. That will have a big bearing on what RV you can get. Sounds like you are looking at travel trailers. Will this be your first RV?
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Old 08-19-2015, 08:22 PM   #6
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Yes and no. My husband upgraded from a pop up early this year to a smaller older trailer - a thor 1991 corsair. The pop up was old - a jayco from I don't know what year, but I was never comfortable with it and never camped in it.

the Corsair was beautiful, it was in GREAT condition. It had a leak, that we repaired, but aside from that, considering it was from 1991, the quality and how it held up was amazing. We camped in it about 3 times over 6 weeks before we realized that we loved it and needed to go bigger. Naively we thought it would be an easy process, sell the old one first so we could get the best $ for it, then look for a new one. We were towing with a Ford F150 Super Crew 2013. We sold the Corsair FAST - it was amazingly quick to go. Then, we started looking - put down a deposit on a dutchmen, were told we could tow it, and only by chance did i notice that the dry weight was exceeding our MAX tow weight..

this started a HORRIBLE decent into reality, and understanding that our 1.5 year old beautiful Truck had us severely limited in what we could tow. It took 2 months (maybe longer) for us to realize and accept that the only option was to go bigger on the Truck if we wanted to tow the size of Trailer we were looking at.

Yesterday we upgraded to a F350 with a 3748 Payload capacity and 11,900 Tow rating.

That said, we are finally ready to bite the bullet on a Trailer, and are getting down to comparing models and quality before making a decision.
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Old 08-19-2015, 09:32 PM   #7
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What year & engine of F350 did you get? If it's a diesel should be able to tow more than that. SRW or dully?
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Old 08-19-2015, 09:48 PM   #8
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It is gas.. And trust me .. I was VERY careful making sure of the numbers, the payload is per the door jamb sticker
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Old 08-19-2015, 10:04 PM   #9
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Not dually
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Old 08-19-2015, 10:13 PM   #10
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That seems low to me, you can get half tons that tow over 10,000lbs. Maybe it's an older model, in any case you can pull a big ole camper with it.


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Old 08-19-2015, 10:31 PM   #11
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To your original question, Jayco does have a two year warrantee, which is a nice feature for your state of mind. Most of the other MFG offer a 1 year. In my opinion, they are mostly built the same. Just slapped together! Most of the components such as fridge, slides A/C and heater are made by other manufactures and they all use them. You will find as the price goes up, so does the quality of materials. This is with all the MFG. So as it was recommended, find a dealer you can trust, and a model you like and go with that. Another thing to remember, is that a lot of people come to the forums to fix a problem and bitch. But there are a bunch of us that love the same product, and enjoy talking about them. Have fun making you decision, and let us know how it turns out. Also, with the F350, you should be able to pick out almost anything you want. One other suggestion, shoot for around 35% off of list price for a fair price on a new trailer. That's where I was able to get mine.
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Old 08-19-2015, 10:52 PM   #12
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That seems low to me, you can get half tons that tow over 10,000lbs. Maybe it's an older model, in any case you can pull a big ole camper with it.


.

What I learned in this process is that the tow weight is less often the limiting factor, than the payload. Our F150 had a 1582 payload, many hitch weights of trailers, when loaded (not dry) for what we looked at were over 1000, easily. Potentially 1300 for one of the ones we are considering. 1300 off of 1582 (since you have to take the hitch weight off of payload) now you only have 282 lbs for people, pets, cargo, etc. The Super Crew 4x4 that we had really ate up the payload so it was almost impossible to get anything but a hybrid or a pop up - if we wanted to sleep more than 6 people.

we went from 7700 tow weight, and 1582 payload, to 11,900 tow weight and 3784 payload. HUGE HUGE difference.

we have a 350 crew cab lariat, and yes, it's gas, and it has a 11,900 tow limit (though the sales guy thought it was 12,200 - and I have double checked but may again) either way, it's within 300 lbs so we're close. I think people exceed their payload WAY more often than most realize.

I've learned more over the past 2 months about towing and limitations than I EVER wanted to know... LOL
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Old 08-19-2015, 10:54 PM   #13
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To your original question, Jayco does have a two year warrantee, which is a nice feature for your state of mind. Most of the other MFG offer a 1 year. In my opinion, they are mostly built the same. Just slapped together! Most of the components such as fridge, slides A/C and heater are made by other manufactures and they all use them. You will find as the price goes up, so does the quality of materials. This is with all the MFG. So as it was recommended, find a dealer you can trust, and a model you like and go with that. Another thing to remember, is that a lot of people come to the forums to fix a problem and bitch. But there are a bunch of us that love the same product, and enjoy talking about them. Have fun making you decision, and let us know how it turns out. Also, with the F350, you should be able to pick out almost anything you want. One other suggestion, shoot for around 35% off of list price for a fair price on a new trailer. That's where I was able to get mine.

Thank you!!
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Old 08-19-2015, 11:07 PM   #14
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we have a 350 crew cab lariat, and yes, it's gas, and it has a 11,900 tow limit (though the sales guy thought it was 12,200 - and I have double checked but may again) either way, it's within 300 lbs so we're close
I'm looking into new trucks and did a ton of research, I learned that i'm more qualified to sell trucks than the sales people are. They knew nothing about the towing specs for anything.

You're very right about payload, it's the half tons downfall. Not everybody realizes that even a small camper will subtract 6-800lbs of payload with tongue weight.

I know one thing, this is our first real camper, and I would never buy another one unless it had an outdoor kitchen, we love ours.
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Old 08-19-2015, 11:40 PM   #15
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Choose the floor plan that works best for you regardless of brand, then take a very close look at the fit and finish. Find a dealer that you can work with, not all dealers are the same. Then make sure you do a very thorough PDI (Pre Deliver Inspection) BEFORE you sign on the dotted line. If they don't fix it or it has too many issues, walk away. Unless you are heading for the higher end trailers and there are very few of those, they are all built pretty much the same. FWIW I think the aluminum siding only comes on wood framed trailers. Nothing wrong with that, it is a proven construction technique that has been around for a good 75+ years. A few notable exceptions to the wood frame/aluminum siding are Airstreams but that is a whole 'nother ball game.

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Old 08-19-2015, 11:42 PM   #16
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I'm looking into new trucks and did a ton of research, I learned that i'm more qualified to sell trucks than the sales people are. They knew nothing about the towing specs for anything.

You're very right about payload, it's the half tons downfall. Not everybody realizes that even a small camper will subtract 6-800lbs of payload with tongue weight.

I know one thing, this is our first real camper, and I would never buy another one unless it had an outdoor kitchen, we love ours.
Every sales person I spoke with seemed to think if I had a 1,000 lb difference between dry weight and max tow weight, I was golden. One guy told me the weight distribution hitch cut the weight of the hitch in half only applying half the tongue weight to the truck. I called the ford Dealership where I BOUGHT the truck, and asked them in SERVICE directly, if the weight of the gvrw weight was what we could actually TOW, or if it was the combined weight of everything ( i think ours was 13,500). the Service department told me it was what we could TOW, so we signed on the dotted line on a camper that was over 7,000 lbs, and over 9,000 GVWR for the trailer. our max tow weight was 7700, we'd have been in serious trouble.

The hitch - it makes me wonder how many people, even with the ecoboost which gives them over 10,000 lbs tow capacity, are towing beyond their payload limits. How many of them even KNOW about the hitch weight factoring into the payload? far less of them I bet than there should be.

I'm caught between being bitter and being relieved to have upgraded our truck. Safety and not wearing our truck down were important factors, but there's something about the bliss of ignorance - so many people don't know, and dont' worry and just hook up and go. In a way that would be easier, if crazy dangerous and really hard on the truck.
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Old 08-20-2015, 12:02 AM   #17
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What kind of floor plan are you looking for? I currently own a Coleman 16' with a walk around queen bed. I have had a couple of Airstreams, an old Pathfinder and a huge Coleman popup. Our next trailer is going to be a Lance. They seem to be a bit better built than a lot of the others we have looked at and they have most of the features that are important to us.

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Old 08-20-2015, 01:28 AM   #18
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What kind of floor plan are you looking for? I currently own a Coleman 16' with a walk around queen bed. I have had a couple of Airstreams, an old Pathfinder and a huge Coleman popup. Our next trailer is going to be a Lance. They seem to be a bit better built than a lot of the others we have looked at and they have most of the features that are important to us.

Aaron
I have heard mixed reviews on Lance - some say they are better than Jayco, some say worse. At best, I would think they are comparable. not many of them out there though from what I have seen.. we're looking for a bunkhouse of sorts. sleep minimum of 6 (REAL 6, not tiny people 6 ) preferably minimum of 3 adults comfortably and 4 kids
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Old 08-20-2015, 05:26 PM   #19
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I have heard mixed reviews on Lance - some say they are better than Jayco, some say worse. At best, I would think they are comparable. not many of them out there though from what I have seen.. we're looking for a bunkhouse of sorts. sleep minimum of 6 (REAL 6, not tiny people 6 ) preferably minimum of 3 adults comfortably and 4 kids
Looks like you might be looking for something like these kind of floor plans.
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or maybe this

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Both well within your tow rating.
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Old 08-20-2015, 05:31 PM   #20
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Looks like you might be looking for something like these kind of floor plans.
Attachment 2476

or maybe this

Attachment 2477

Both well within your tow rating.
possibly - really hoping for a longer queen than what most trailers have. hubs is tall - so prefer an 80" queen or a good amount of walkaround space. Jayco Jayflight is 74" which is rather short.. and oddly - both floor plans you posted look identical (or at least I can't tell the difference)

thank you!
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