What to Buy

[Tucson Limey]

My wife and I have decided to go full time, and that a 5th wheel is the way to go. We are at the stage where we are deciding which one to buy. We like the look of Mobile Suites, but the only people we can talk to are those that want to sell us one, and they are not likely to give us any information about their shortcomings. What we need is honest opinions from people that own, or did own one. So can anyone help?

[47hook]

Since you are posting on this forum, you have probably realized that we are a quite vocal group. Before/during our decision making I pretty much read every post! Whew! We have been RVing for 30 years but have only owned 2 5er’s; the first being a 2004 Alfa. We had looked at a lot of 5er’s, Teton’s were at the top of our list until we saw an MS at an RV show. No contest!!! (I am not downing Teton’s, they are definitely great 5er’s; we just much preferred DRV’s).

We have had a few minor issues’ that have been appropriately addressed by DRV. Our MS is a wonderful home on wheels. We were full timing in our Alfa but use our MS for short and long trips. It tows wonderfully; but mostly it is a joy to be in. We have Dish Network and they and our local ABC affiliate are having contract problems. We are hooked on the show “Lost” and the only way we can watch it is in our MS on the over the air antenna from Victoria, BC. At first it seemed like a burden, but now it is a fun way to be in or MS for at least a few hours until we go on our next trip. Every time we are in it we just are amazed at how much we love being in it!

Recommendations: get the second A/C with the heat pump, get the level up system, and get the upgraded pin box with the Trail-Air Tri-Glide, and the Magnum suspension. But really, start reading the posts here. You’ll find a wealth of information and then maybe PM a few folks for in depth ideas.

Then check out the best dealerships. The one we bought ours from is no longer a dealer for DRV. Enuff said.

I can’t say it enough, DRV makes a great product and they have a great bunch of folks to deal with. Enjoy, Gordon.

[anijet]

Two years ago we were doing the research for our eight RV (third fifth wheel). Travel Supreme, Teton, Escalade, Heartland and Mobile or Elite Suites made it to the short list. After visiting many dealers and the Pamona show then making a list of pros and cons the Doubletree products were clearly on top. Weight made the choice between the Mobile and Elite easy for us. No regrets here. We travel (move around) a lot which I believe is harder on a unit than staying in one place for months and we have had almost no problems. A few popped screws, slide adjustment, window adjustment and replaced the bathroom faucet are all that I can think of.

OH, except for those lousy day night shades. If they have any other option for window coverings, opt for it.

[ponch]

The first thing that I would say to you is read all of the posts that are listed here.

Yes, I know that there are a lot, but the more that you read the more knowledge you will have and the more that you will be able to see the progression that DRV has accomplished.

I personally do not believe that there is another unit that will surpass the DRV 5th in overall quality. I have looked at them all and been under all of them.

There is no such thing as a perfect unit of any kind. That being said you will find that the DRV unit has some things that no other unit out there compares to.

The service from the factory is second to none. Ask other owners to verify.
Every single problem that I have had has been handled to our satisfaction . There is nothing else that one can ask for.

Most would order another one tomorrow if something unfortunately happened to theirs.

There is always a horror story to go along with any purchase that one makes. DRV has fewer than any on the market.

JMHO!

[Carny Bill]

As posted earlier, not perfect, but none are. We are on our 3rd unit, we have had a 2004, 2006, and 2009. They are great units. Probably will buy another in a couple of years......

[Gunship Guy]

We recently sold our 2006 Mobile Suites. Not because we didn't like it or because we had problems. We just didn't have as much time to use it as we would have liked.

We researched and shopped for 2 yrs before deciding on Mobile Suites. We traveled to Indiana and took multiple factory tours of the brands on our short list. Mobile Suites won out.

If we ever get back into rv'ing I would buy another Doubletree product in a heart beat.

[Tucson Limey]

Many thanks to those who have already posted replys to my question, your answers, good or bad are just what we need. I did notice though that Gunship Guy had a MDT pulling his Mobile Suites, is that what's required?

Warmest regards to all,

John

[hitchup]

Here's our story: We had always thought we would go Teton. Tried to get a nice barely used one, but it was sold before we could go look at it. So we started FTing in a 05 Open Road. It was uncomfortable in many ways, so we drove to a Teton dealer after 5 mos FTing. We were both disappointed with the finishes (and the cost.)

By mid-winter, I had done more research. We had looked at Heartland, really liked them, but then I found a Suite dealer also nearby. We were going to check them out when I discovered that weekend they would be at an RV Show nearby. So we saw our first Elite Suite and were pleasantly surprised. Put down our deposit and arranged our own financing.

When we picked up our Suite, they had a Travel Supreme Select with tile floors and all the options you could ever need. But at a much higher price tag than our ES.

We had a series of serious fixable leaks, but we still loved our Suite. I would find one and DH would fix. 2006 Elites had some design problems. We continued to look at Teton's to compare. Talked to a Factory Rep at the 2007 Hershey show. Went to Teton dealer in Atlanta, but didn't like the deal or the finishes they were offering.

Last summer, we had some free time towards the end of a project in WV. We took a long weekend after the 4th of July. We drove to Indiana for some factory tours. Intention was to compare higher end Carriage Royals, also a Newmar with a Suite to trade in 2010. But we only had time for Carriage one day and DRV the next. They were both building 2009's.

We quizzed Kent at DRV on corrections and improvements. We found there was no comparison, especially with price. DRV was priced much better.

Late that month, we moved to next project in AL. After looking at our budget, a few phone calls and emails to a dealer, we took a day trip in Aug to see some finished 09's Then sat down with a salesman to see if we could customize the way we wanted it and still afford the unit. We Could, We Did and We're even Happier than we were with our first Suite. And after 4 months, not one problem!!!

[Motor31]

Depending on the size of the unit you buy you will need a large capacity truck to haul it legally and safely. The larger DRV units are up to 20,000 GVW and that is out of a one ton PU category. A 450 / 4500 or 550 / 5500 type of truck is what you will need at a minimum. Some of us use an HDT or retired semi since we could get them far cheaper than an MDT like the ones I listed. The HDT isn't absolutely necessary but they are really nice to use due to the performance, comfort and safety margin they have.

We got one of the units that had multiple and consistent problems. Some were due to the dealer's service side inability or unwillingness to really fix them. Others were due to the factory making poor choices and employees lack of concern in assembling the unit. It was very much like the idea of making sure your unit was not built on a Friday and Monday kind of thing. Ours seems to have been one of those units.

Areas to look for.

The DRV units had (may still have) cuts in the bottom seal under the kitchen slide to gain clearance with the rollers. This allows free flowing air to circulate under the slide as well as daylight and crawling critters.

DRV has had an issue in using either too few or too small a selection of screws in putting the units together causing problems in pocket doors falling off, seams opening up on the caps and other separations of components. They also tended to break the screws on the cap trim then cover the broken screw with caulk instead of pulling the screw and making a proper repair.

The factory also used only 3 small screws to hold the weight bearing "rail" portion of the center wall in the kitchen slide. This let the "rail" (angle aluminum actually) pull away from the wall and drop the center section of the slide on the rollers. That started crushing the wooden supports until I re set the "rail".

Switches being over amp'ed or connections not crimped properly led to some of them being hot to the touch when used. Seeing a sign saying do not turn on the switch in the dealers display was one example. I had to re set the connections on two of my own switches after the dealer said they couldn't find the arcing going on behind them in the kitchen wall. The wiring had already gotten rather crispy at the point of attachment and I redid the electrical connections.

Do not get the unit prepped for satellite if they are not installing the equipment at the factory. Several folks found the cables were not strung to the proper location but were left coiled at one end of the rig.

Plan on spending a day or so straightening out the entertainment system cables and wires. Look for splitters where signal switches should have been installed. This is important as the splitters tend to degrade the satellite signal especially if you are going to use the connection for the outside cable / satellite connection point.

Check the screw tension on items installed at the factory like the ceiling fan blades and light fixtures. Most of the ones on mine were not tightened and the fans shed screws and almost 2 blades when I turned it on.

Look to all of the windows and other openings in the rig both on the sides and top for proper caulking / sealing. It too over a year to stop a leak in the window on a slide on our rig. None of the windows had been caulked to the vertical edges, just the top horizontal edge. I had to re caulk them all to stop the streaming (not dripping) water falls inside the rig when it rained. It looked like one wall was a "water wall" rather than an interior wall of an RV as the water streamed in the full width of the window. The dealer "said" they resealed it and re installed it twice.

Before you buy from a dealer, make sure their service center is properly able to care for the problems. I had a clue with my dealer when the tech couldn't tell me what kind of hydraulic fluid was used in the system on the trailer. The sale experience was great but I wouldn't trust them to adjust the tire pressure on a tricycle in the service center. We ended up with over 1200 miles one way just to get things fixed in the first 2 and a half months of ownership. We ended up making two trips to the factory for repairs the dealer couldn't or wouldn't handle.

The factory was responsive to problems and I have to give them credit in honoring their warranty, at the factory. They have since cut the warranty time in half to one year and any installed items like the AC or other appliances will be referred to the manufacturer of that unit for warranty items if you have trouble.

We have had a Nash (23'), a Peterson Excel (36'), and the Mobile Suites. We had more trouble with the MS in the first two weeks than we had with the previous two units in over 4 years of ownership including full time usage. We did look at going back to the Excel but the killer on that choice was they had much smaller tanks in their rigs. We then went to the MS.

At this point I would not buy another one of these rigs if there were other choices available like the Excel. In retrospect I wish we had gotten either an Excel or a Travel Supreme. Unfortunately the Travel Supreme is no longer being built.

[rverdlm]

Everything Mike said applies to any brand you buy. We love our Suite. It's our 3rd fulltime 5th wheel and it is the best unit by far. I also looked at Teton and was very disappointed in the quality of the fit & finish. This unit has been nearly perfect. That's not to say there has been no problems, but rather that none of the problems are MS brand specific and I've gotten good support from MS when needed. FWIW I bought from the same dealer as Mike in the same month of '05 and I found their service to be great!

[47hook]

For those who are interested, here is an informative post on "legal" weights:
http://www.woodalls.com/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/20577181/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1

[ponch]

47hook

Nothing comes up at that url

[missourijan]

As to what you need to pull it, you need a big truck but a semi is not required. There are people that pull MS's with a 1 ton but most would probably be overweight. The F450's are rated to tow one, maybe a F350 is, look at what any truck is rated to tow. The Mobile's are over 18k loaded. One way to decide how we like our Suites is to look at how many used ones are out there, not many. Just for the heck of it I looked at RVtrader last week to see how many Selects were listed, only 1 used one, the rest were new. You still may want to consider a used 5'r of any brand. Fulltiming is a huge lifestyle change. I recommend it but as they say "it's not for everyone".

[47hook]

Just tried the link and it worked. Just go to Woodalls and go to Tow Vehicles, there is a sticky.

http://www.woodalls.com/forums/

http://www.woodalls.com/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/20577181.cfm

I think I didn't properly insert the URL; hope this one works.

[47hook]

Just tried the link and it worked. Just go to Woodalls and go to Tow Vehicles, there is a sticky.

http://www.woodalls.com/forums/

http://www.woodalls.com/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/20577181.cfm

I think I didn't properly insert the URL; hope this one works.

[berghild]

two years of full timing and we love our rig....it is our 3rd 5th wheel and we are snug and happy in here. my only disappointment was that after making 28 changes to our rig specs I asked if I could have the tk3 living area with the SB3 bedroom and they told me that was not possible....this was the factory telling me...and now that is one of the models!!! It solves the porblem of not enough closet space.for full timing. Unfortunately we will not be purchasing a newer model....$$$.
I would buy DRV again and tell everyone how much we love it. We have been in all sorts of weather, gone to Cabo San LUcas,
we ordered ours without furniture and bought lazy boy....the rear couch doesn't fit right but Howard loved it so much he bought it anyway.
we have installed sliding shelves in the china cabinet and our own blown glass track lighting and had linoleum on most of the downstairs instead of carpeting.
i agree with the second air and heat pump....it's nice when you have the hook ups to enjoy it. mostly you won't need two heaters though....the heat from downstairs will go up if you just open the door. The second air is a must because when you stop after a hot day on the road...you will want to cool it down and fast!

[Gemstone]

This month marks three years of fulltiming, and the unit has held up very well. Like others have mentioned, it seemed like the '06's were plagued with problems....mostly from poor workmanship. My belief is at the time our rig was manufactured, Doubletree was operating without a QC program, or QC Manager. We have suffered through the pocket door falling down due to ineffective screws, leaks in the plumbing due to lack of proper torquing of the hose clamps, no heat in the bedroom, due to some installer omitting using screws to hold the duct system together, a front cap that came loose because "the factory got a batch of bad screws" from a supplier (or more likely, the installer had his finger on the air gun too long), an entertainment system that took one day of sorting cables before we had any entertainment. Like I said, mostly QC problems that I have heard no one mention here in a long time....so maybe they finally put their corporate foot down and fired the poor performers.
Factory support has been there when we needed them....even authorizing mobile repair service when we could not pull up and drive hundreds of miles to a dealer repair facility.
As for weight, there was too much trailer for our 3500 series truck....it pulled just fine, but was not adequate for stopping. Regardless of what sales people will tell you, a 1 ton truck is not designed for extended service pulling and stopping 18K+ pounds. After a white knuckle experience on a 6% grade with switchbacks, and zero brakes, we upgraded to a HDT. This was my fault for picking the wrong route...had I consulted the Highway Grade Book, Western edition, we would have chosen a different way to get from A to B, but regardless, having no brakes was not something I ever wanted to experience again. We can now safely pull any grade with ease, descend any grade with little use of the service brakes, the larger wheels have more ground contact as well as huge brakes. Cost of the HDT was less than the 3500, and it will outlive me.
We will consider buying another DRV product when the time comes, unless someone else builds a better one.
Keep asking questions and reading, the information will make you a better shopper.

Regards
Gemstone

[berghild]

yes the truck thing....i wish we had a bigger one. our 3500 does the job but it would be nice to have the bigger one. we have an exhaust brake and wouldn't be without it no matter what we were towing. If I could I would buy a bigger truck.

[rdunk]

Gemstone, you may have mentioned this before, but I would be interested in what you mean by this statement -

"As for weight, there was too much trailer for our 3500 series truck....it pulled just fine, but was not adequate for stopping".

I am curious. Did your to vehicle brakes fail, or .... did your trailer brakes fail? I believe the trailer is supposed to stop itself. Of course, if you have (or had) drum brakes on the trailer, then was that part of the stopping problem??? Drums heat up, and heated brakes tend to fade (not stop). Just another advantage of the discs.

I tow my RE3 with an F350. And with 5er disc brakes, if I hit the brakes hard, sometimes it feels like the trailer is stopping the truck - lol. But, of course, part of that is the discs, and part is that is the way a Brakesmart brake controller works with the trailer (max tow vehicle braking gives max trailer braking) !!!

Whatever works best for each of us I guess. The F350 is the right size tow vehicle for me, rated at 26000 lbs gross combined.

[Gemstone]

"I am curious. Did your to vehicle brakes fail, or .... "

Yes, both truck and trailer brakes were too hot to stop the vehicle...this happened before we had the Jake brake installed, which would have helped, but....IMO just too much weight for too little braking power, combined with the long steep decent and my mistake on route selection all contributed to the near disaster.

Regards
Gemstone

[berghild]

are your trailer brakes the hydraulic disc brakes?
ther is an 11% grade that we climb and descend in the sierras....tough going up, but no problem on the descent.
I still would rather have a bigger truck though.

[Gemstone]

Drum brakes on the rig.....

Big trucks are cheaper now than when we bought ours....check 'em out.

Regards
Gemstone

[Motor31]

Trailer brakes will assist in stopping the combination. You still have over 15,000 lbs on 4 tires (assuming a 3k+ lb transfer to the truck for pin weight) and your stopping distance is considerably increased when towing because of that weight. There is a reason why stopping distance when towing is far more than when not towing no matter what style of brakes you have on the trailer. That weight, or mass, has considerable inertia that has to be over come.

During braking, additional weight is transferred to the truck requiring the truck brakes to work harder. That translates into increased reliance on the truck to help stop the combination. Disc brakes also fade with use due to the heat generated by the friction of the disc and pads. While they are more resistant to fading they are far from proof against fading. Their best feature is that they cool far faster and water does not effect them anywhere near as much as drum brakes.

[berghild]

thank you for that info on the hYDRAULIC DISC brakes every time that I log onto the gorums I ledarn something.

[Lauren]

Our 2006 MS is our 5th trailer - 2nd 5er.

Like anything else, yes, we have had problems. But have had outstanding support from the factory and a very good dealer here in Tucson (not a DRV dealer - stay well clear of the one in Phoenix!)

You will have issues with any kind. You are asking a lot for anything to be built and bounced down roads!

I would highly recommend MS and would do it again if we were in the market for a new unit.