Durability ....

[Adk Camper]

I see a lot of folks from Quebec on I 87 Northway mostly towing Lite TT's.

[Touch N Go]

We sre forgetting Apollo missions revamp in the coming Orion missions.

[homer1959]

We dont really have the choice. The gas price is so ridiculous that we have to cut everywhere in order to keep the cost as low as possible. 6 miles per gallon us equal 25 liters and we were paying 1.40 and more not long ago so 35 dollars per 100 km (62 miles) idont need to go through long explanation

Originally Posted by Adk Camper

I see a lot of folks from Quebec on I 87 Northway mostly towing Lite TT's.

[Adk Camper]

Originally Posted by homer1959

We dont really have the choice. The gas price is so ridiculous that we have to cut everywhere in order to keep the cost as low as possible. 6 miles per gallon us equal 25 liters and we were paying 1.40 and more not long ago so 35 dollars per 100 km (62 miles) idont need to go through long explanation

I clearly understand that.

[tugboat95]

I'm not an expert as this is the first trailer I've owned. But I grew up around them. I own a feather lite sport that's an 08 model. Bought it last June. It's in really great shape and previous owner obviously took care of it. If taken care of properly I think they CAN last quite awhile. But I also think they are less forgiving. The conventional trailers I grew up with could take a beating and throw it back (Coachman) at you. My parents currently have a 5 yr old fifth wheel. The quality of construction and materials is much better than mine but both look good and everything works. If he would quit trading in he could get one to last 15+ years. Pretty good chance mine won't make it that far and be in as good of shape. It might still be serviceable but it will be to the point of newer is cheaper than fixing and maintaining.

[Nighthawk 96]

We are happy with our White Hawk. However, if I were buying now I would get the Jay Flight 27RLS, which is new this year. Same floor plan as our 27DSRL.

600# heavier. Has a panty, tables under the wardrobes in bed room which I sorely miss from my 26BH. Also bigger black and grey tanks are a plus. The floors in Jay Flights are definitely more sturdy. 50 amp service and 2nd a/c would also be a good option.

The loss I would sustain on my current trailer would not be worth the trade.

I expect the 27DSRL to last at least 10 years, at which time we will probably get to the point in life (over 80) where it might be too hard to maintain, hitch/unhitch and set up the trailer.

[plaid]

We have raised our young kids in our Jay Flight for nine years now and it is still in great condition. I can't say that we had any real problems or major repairs in those nine years. We just sold our 2006 Jay Flight and ordered a 2015 Jay Flight hoping to get another nine years out of it and then on to the post-kid retirement camper!

[homer1959]

Its fun to read positive comments for a change ....I've spent time tonight on a forest river forum and its a copy of this place...this industries needs a good shake and slap behind the head , bad workmanship seems to be the normality...but hey we are on the internet , what should I expect , a place where nobody complain :-)

[Tunce the traveler]

My 2010 Hybrid jayfeather lite is going into its 3rd season with me (bought used)and it gets a real good workout every Spring,Summer and Fall for weeks on end and it's held up very well. I don't treat it like a baby and neither do the 3 grand kids and nothing gets broken or is anything broken. When I read some of these posts about poor construction I can't believe we're talking about the same thing that I own and use about 14 weeks a year. I feel blessed with a good 95% of it's build quality and if I ever buy another one I hope it's as good as this one and I would buy another jay feather.
Tunces

[homer1959]

Good reports keeps coming :-) the balance is shifting putting everything in perspective, I love it !

[Hitch Pin]

I’ll tell you what you can do this year when your out camping, walk around the campgrounds and every trailer you see that’s built like what I call a ice cream sandwich, or in other words fiberglass and foam, and take note of how many you see with big bubbles ( delamination ) problems. We started doing this after we had trouble with ours, I was shocked by the number of trailers that have delamination problems.
Most people that we talked to that has a delamination problem just lives with it because they say it cost to much to get it fixed, sure I could tell that some of them were do to the lack of maintenance, but I could also tell that many of them was not do to the lack maintenance, I’ve seen new and I mean new trailers sitting on the dealerships lot with delamination problems.
I'm not just talking with my mouth, I've seen it with my own eyes, you will to if you look close enough.

[homer1959]

HitchPin I put your recommendation on my to do list .

I surely hope that my experience will be different because if there is more trailer with bubble then without that is going to blow in the industry's face one day or the other , and jobs will be at risk

[Tunce the traveler]

Hitch Pin, what was Jayco able to do for you?

[Hitch Pin]

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

Hitch Pin, what was Jayco able to do for you?

After much debate back and forth, they saw that I was not going to give up, so they took the trailer back and I paid the price deference between the Jay Feather and the Jay Flight.

The good thing was the Jay Flight was on sale at the time, now I'm a happy camper, and I don't have to worry about falling through the floor or the sides coming apart after the warranty runs out.

[homer1959]

falling through the floor or the sides coming apart after the warranty runs out.

[Hitch Pin]

Originally Posted by homer1959

falling through the floor or the sides coming apart after the warranty runs out.

No joking, the floor had so much flex in it that when you walked on it, it pulled the screws out of the wall where the dinette seat fastened to it, when you set on the sofa and some one walked by it you could feel it sag down. This happened on our first trip out and just kept getting worse, I called Jayco and the first thing they ask me was, do you think you can use it the rest of the camping season without the floor giving away. Red Flag! that lead me to think that someone else must had fell through the floor in another trailer.

We laid down some plywood and used it until our last camping trip, they kept it all winter and overlaid the floor with ¼” plywood and put down new flooring. But when we went out on our next camping trip, something again, then we saw the bubbles starting to appear on the fiberglass walls, and that’s what done it for me, I was not gone to live with that worry, not on a new trailer anyway, that’s when I raised cane.

The outcome? a new 2015 Jay Flight 23RB. And a floor that I'm not going to fall through.

[homer1959]

Quite an experience HitchPin !! Anyway Jayco stand by your side on this one . You got one builded by drunks on halloween night, thanks God that story doesn't reflect the experience of many others or Jayco would be close by now :-)

[Touch N Go]

I love my 197 ultra 2014. I hope she was made well. So far she feels solid. I have my quiet time with her. I say give me priceless times and you will get care. My maintenance is like the Shuttle every time it fly.

[Adk Camper]

Originally Posted by Hitch Pin

I’ll tell you what you can do this year when your out camping, walk around the campgrounds and every trailer you see that’s built like what I call a ice cream sandwich, or in other words fiberglass and foam, and take note of how many you see with big bubbles ( delamination ) problems. We started doing this after we had trouble with ours, I was shocked by the number of trailers that have delamination problems.
Most people that we talked to that has a delamination problem just lives with it because they say it cost to much to get it fixed, sure I could tell that some of them were do to the lack of maintenance, but I could also tell that many of them was not do to the lack maintenance, I’ve seen new and I mean new trailers sitting on the dealerships lot with delamination problems.
I'm not just talking with my mouth, I've seen it with my own eyes, you will to if you look close enough.

I did exactly this before buying our 33RLDS and it's amazing how many delaminated trailers there are at the CG's if you look for it.(All Brands). There are folks who love them and wouldn't own anythig else and will tell you they don't delaminate with proper maintenance, I say their as full of waste as their black tank is before emptying it a the dump station after a week of boondock camping to put it nicely.

[Hitch Pin]

Originally Posted by Adk Camper

I did exactly this before buying our 33RLDS and it's amazing how many delaminated trailers there are at the CG's if you look for it.(All Brands). There are folks who love them and wouldn't own anythig else and will tell you they don't delaminate with proper maintenance, I say their as full of waste as their black tank is before emptying it a the dump station after a week of boondock camping to put it nicely.

I say they are born to fail, you just think about it, you take two thin pieces of wood and fiberglass and glue it to a piece of foam and almost no framing, and all that continuous twisting and flexing and temperature changes. I don’t care what anyone says, sooner or latter it’s bound to happen, some sooner than latter.

If it's do to the lack of maintenance as many say, then why do you see big bubbles right out in the middle of a wall with no windows or vents or any other openings close to them?