Durability ....

[homer1959]

I wonder on the long run if the ultra lite trailer a la whitehawk can last as long as a conventional construction a la Jayflight ( stick and tin) ( same maintenance done on both )

What do you think ?

[Adk Camper]

Originally Posted by homer1959

I wonder on the long run if the ultra lite trailer a la whitehawk can last as long as a conventional construction a la Jayflight ( stick and tin) ( same maintenance done on both )

What do you think ?

What kind of time frame are you thinking? Maybe taking into consideration on how it's used and how well it's taken care of just like anything else. Personally I wouldn't bet on it.

[homer1959]

Well, let say same utilisation, same ( good ) maintenance, same everything over 10 years with the occasional trip on non paved road .

I'm new to all that TT RVing...I had a pop up trailer in the past thats it

You can maintain your rig a much as you can there is some components that you can do nothing about, frame, squelleton etc etc.

Obviously the fridge, stove etc will last the same amount of time, but the shell, the trailer frame, the floor the squeletton of both trailer are entrirely different.

So I was just curious to know from peoples who had both constructions for long period of time to share with me if there is any significant difference between both construction.

Originally Posted by Adk Camper

What kind of time frame are you thinking? Maybe taking into consideration on how it's used and how well it's taken care of just like anything else. Personally I wouldn't bet on it.

[WVDusty]

LOL I dont no if I will ever be able to answer this question. Every time we buy a new TT we say this is the one, where going to use for years,then 1 OR 2 years later we make the mistake of going to a RV show and BAMM we have another new TT

[Hitch Pin]

Originally Posted by homer1959

I wonder on the long run if the ultra lite trailer a la whitehawk can last as long as a conventional construction a la Jayflight ( stick and tin) ( same maintenance done on both )

What do you think ?

No way, only if the ultra lite trailer is stored inside and never used. every one that I had started falling apart in less than two years, mine was not a Whitehawk, but it was a Jayco ultra lite.
And it was not do to lack of maintenance!

[homer1959]

[XQUOTE=WVDusty;260248]LOL I dont no if I will ever be able to answer this question. Every time we buy a new TT we say this is the one, where going to use for years,then 1 OR 2 years later we make the mistake of going to a RV show and BAMM we have another new TT[/QUOTE]

[homer1959]

Thats the kind of reply i was looking for, however, what went wrong ? Obviously by the tone of your response we are not talking about window blind here

Originally Posted by Hitch Pin

No way, only if the ultra lite trailer is stored inside and never used. every one that I had started falling apart in less than two years, mine was not a Whitehawk, but it was a Jayco ultra lite.
And it was not do to lack of maintenance!

[Adk Camper]

..

[Adk Camper]

Homer, go to a Jayco dealer and walk through both a Jay Flight and a Whitehawk and you certainly should feel the difference. They are Ultralites for a reason and the weight has to be lost somewhere.
Listen to what I'm saying, I don't want to post that the Whitehawks are pieces of **** but would I want a Whitehawk or another type of Ultralite TT for the long term."**** No" that's why I have a Jay Flight and before that I had an Eagle that was 13 yrs old that was in just like new condition.The only reason I traded was we like the RLDS floorplan with the ledgstone fireplace and the additional room.

[Nick Haas]

As Adk Camper said, "the weight has to be lost somewhere". This is so true!!

[homer1959]

So far its pretty clear ! lol

time will tell for me, i was torn between a WH and a jayflight, i choose to go light, but like many peoples ill prpbably use it 3 or 4 years so i am not too worry, but like for many thing, we like the conventional construction, its tried and true....but let me be a devil advocate....a Airbus 380 is glued together with composite everywhere, and so far they are not falling off the sky ...if they would have been construct like before they wouldnt be able to even take off :-) but i surely understand what you say guys

[Hitch Pin]

Originally Posted by homer1959

Thats the kind of reply i was looking for, however, what went wrong ? Obviously by the tone of your response we are not talking about window blind here

We had to many problems with the ultra lites, very weak floors and wall delamination, they replaced the floor in the last one we had but didn't last but two weeks. Jayco wanted to take it back to the factory to do a complete rebuild on the floor and the walls, I said no way, so we worked out a trade to my good. They was many more problems than the floor and walls.

The trailer was only one year old. we saw new ones on the lot that has delamination problems as well. the thing was built like a ice cream sandwich.

Jayco sent in a rep. to talk with us about the trailer, the rep. told us right out of his own mouth that the ultra lites will not hold up like the stick and tin trailers will.

I will never buy another ultra lite!

[homer1959]

Thanks HitchPin ! :-) the floor is what i fear the most, delamination, not that much, anyway im covered for 2 years so im not too worry since Jayco is apparently a responsible company.

[Adk Camper]

Originally Posted by homer1959

So far its pretty clear ! lol
a Airbus 380 is glued together with composite everywhere, and so far they are not falling off the sky ...if they would have been construct like before they wouldnt be able to even take off :-) but i surely understand what you say guys

Please don't tell me your a Airbus fan? LOL, The Airbus' are like a Bic pen,when it runs out of ink you throw it away. Now the Douglas DC-9 and variants good for up to 110,000 cycles before the costly overhaul. Tried and true even with the Pratt & Whitney JT8D's for power.

[homer1959]

Not really a fan , its just that im reading a book presently about the construction and devellopment of the 380....
Dc9 really lol.100 passg. Maybe ? Well thats about the amount of bathroom they have on board of the 380 lol

my guess is that you are an old dinausaur like me lol you are the kind of guy to miss a chevy nova from the 70 lol am i right ?

Originally Posted by Adk Camper

Please don't tell me your a Airbus fan? LOL, The Airbus' are like a Bic pen,when it runs out of ink you throw it away. Now the Douglas DC-9 and variants good for up to 110,000 cycles before the costly overhaul. Tried and true even with the Pratt & Whitney JT8D's for power.

[Crabman]

I went through this same line of questioning before ordering the Jayflight in `09. Back then the choices were Jayfeather, Jayflight or Eagle. Since I was then towing with a 1/2 ton weight was a consideration. But after reading about problems with the foam/luan sandwich floor and lack of under support, delam stories, and bending frames on liteweight trailers of various brands on RVnet, I went with the conventional construction Jayflight and its 5/8 plywood floors over wooden joists 16" on center. I am by no means condemning or putting down all lite weight trailers and there are many happy, problem free lite weight owners out there, this was just MY reasoning for going with the Jayflight.
The Eagles were a bit too heavy and pricey at that time for my needs.

That said there do not seem to be many bad reviews here on the forum thus far on the White Hawk line, so perhaps they are made better then the earlier liteweights and the industry has learned from the issues they experienced.

I think with your 3-4 year timeline of ownership you would be OK with either one!

[homer1959]

With the amount of WH trailer that Jayco put out everyday they would be stupid to put themselves in a position where their entire production will come back to haunt them, anyway there so many thing that we can worry about that I wont start to worry about my new trailer to be delivered in 3 months :-) I've learned long time ago that there is no grey zone on the internet , there is a lot of info, there is also a lot of anecdotical story, so I believe everybody I'm glad to receive all that information, but I will also wait to confirm with my own experience....anyway this site is amazing and thanks to everybody for sharing their experience with a newbie like me

[brrit2000]

I've owned several Jayco trailers over the years including a Whitehawk. Coming out of JayFlight and moving into the Whitehawk and from it into a Seneca, I could feel the difference in build strength between the product lines. I loved the Whitehawk layout and towing ease, but at the campsite you could feel weak spots in the floor. The walls were thinner as well.

I think there is a place for the Whitehawk and ultra-lite trailers. They are going to survive 5 years most of the time, which is less time than most folks will own the trailer. Most units will probably see 2 owners who are pretty pleased with their Whitehawk. After that, the resale value in my opinion will just plummet. Then, that will create a new market for a different type of buyer. Not sure who that will be, but it will most likely be different. Maybe a hunter, temporary housing type thing at a site, or something different from the typical travel trailer owner.

My Whitehawk got my family of 6 camping comfortably for a couple of years.

Just my two cents...

[Adk Camper]

Originally Posted by homer1959

Not really a fan , its just that im reading a book presently about the construction and devellopment of the 380....
Dc9 really lol.100 passg. Maybe ? Well thats about the amount of bathroom they have on board of the 380 lol

my guess is that you are an old dinausaur like me lol you are the kind of guy to miss a chevy nova from the 70 lol am i right ?

I don't want to write a book so I'll keep it short.The DC-9 is a true pilots plane that may not have the comforts of todays standards but was built for longevity.Infact the design was so great that when Boeing shut down production of the last variant which was the 717 the Chinese we're smart by buying the tooling, refining it and changing the name to the ARJ-21.Basicaly just a warmed over DC-9 fuselage with GE CF-34 engines and a new wing designed by Antonov. It has the same 3+2 interior seating and is the same length as the DC-9-10 series which accomodated 78 to 85 seats. The four Chinese factories involved in the MD-90 program --the very same entities recruited for the ARJ21 will use its MD-90 tooling to assemble the ARJ21.
How do I know this? To pay the bills General Electric pays me to work in their Aviation R&D dept. I appriciate old technology and take my hat off to the pioneers because without their efforts and accomplishments we wouldn't be where we are today.As far as being an "old dinosaur" I'm not a believer of scrapping older technology but rather refining it to meet today's demands set by the industry. When it comes to classic "muscle cars" the 69-72 Nova SS would be one of my choices.

[homer1959]

Message received loud and clear ;-)