Hello! great to see the forum up and running

[Cyberdave]

We've been narrowing down our short list of new 5th wheels to replace our 2004 Cameo. We full time and the Cameo has been a solid rig. Time to upgrade and go to a longer rig.
We've looked at the Redwood, twice and from what what areas I can look at, the construction, fit and finish appears to be on par with Carriage. We've spoken with Tom Montague via email and he's been very straightforward and open with us.Looking for input from others and new owners experiences.
Opinion on build quality?
Problems found during your acceptance inspection?
How has the factory responded to questions or issues?
If you've had warranty work, what was your experience?
The FIT (Falcon Integrated Technology) is still made by Lippert and they do not have the best reputation. Tom assured us that the FIT system was built to Redwood's specs and not Lipperts. Have you found issues with the FIT components?
As I said before, Redwood is on the very short list of contenders. We are looking at buying this winter so I still have time to decide on what brand to go with.
BTW,
The short list is Carri-Lite, DRV Mobile Suite and Redwood.

 

[Thumper7]

Cyberdave, I'm waiting to see the replies to your questions. I have spoken with Tom Montague a couple of times by phone and exchanged a few e-mails with him. He does take the time to answer any and all questions. Now I'm waiting to hear from real world experiences.

 

[Robin'n'Marian]

Like Thumper7, I am waiting too! I have spoken to and corresponded with Tom Montague a lot by email, and he has been very helpful, and Redwood is on our short list as well. I requested a model rating from JR Consumers last week, and got their rating for the 2012 Redwood 36RL, and it came back great! It got 509 out of 600, which is in the Excellent category (4 1/2 stars out of 5) They rated it on
</span></span></span>Quality,</span>
</span></span></span>Reliability,</span>
</span></span></span>Payload,</span>
</span></span></span>Customer Satisfaction,</span>
</span></span></span>Style and</span>
</span></span></span>Resale Values. Now its time to hear from real owners - so glad the forum finally came on line!
Marian
</span>

 

[Paulp-THOR]

Thats great news about the rating, i'm also glad to see the forum up and running
Paul.

 

[Cyberdave]

Do you have a link to the report? Would love to read it.

 

[redwood5er]

I think the JR Consumer report is a subscription based report only.
Tony

 

[Robin'n'Marian]

Yes, it is a subscription. I think that it is$29.95 for one report. I got the whole package a couple of years ago, and updated it this spring. They just let me know the Redwood report was ready, but it's not something you can see without the subscription, I'm afraid. They can email you the report, but as I said, there is a fee. the link is http://www.jrconsumer.com/default.asp if you want to have a look. I have used them to check out every trailer and motorhome (we ordered both) we look at, and they rate them (each model) as to quality, reliability, use, average new price, value, etc. and give them a rating. There were 6 things the Redwood was rated on, and it got 509 out of 600, which gave it 4.5 stars.

Just went to the site http://www.rv-finder.com/jrconsumer/form and it looks like you can get one report free. don't know how detailed it is, but you can give it a try. from the home page I clicked on FREE GUIDE - Learn How to Spot a Well-Built RV and it took me to that form. Good luck. sorry for the bold, I don't know how to get rid of it!

 

[Southernnights]

Just wanted to say hello on this forum also. pretty exciting to see a forum start from the beginning.

With that said, we have looked at the redwoods both at the Tampa show last year and at a dealer in VA. Very nice looking trailers. I think a lot of thought went into them, especially on the interior. A few things I saw on the outside I did not like but i think as they continue to tweek their product they real have a great unit.

Looking forward to seeing more of them in the future.

 

[lillyputz]

Southernights
What things on the out side, did you not like. I'am trying tomake up my mind onwhich 5th wheel I'll buy. the 36FL Redwood or the 36 Max-1 Carri-lite. all pros & cons would be great.

Thanks Lillyputz

 

[Southernnights]

Southernights
What things on the out side, did you not like. I'am trying tomake up my mind onwhich 5th wheel I'll buy. the 36FL Redwood or the 36 Max-1 Carri-lite. all pros & cons would be great.

Thanks Lillyputz

Three things jumped out at me. The hole that is cut into the frame for the slide cylinders was very poor workmanship. It almost looked like they missed on the fist hole and cut a second next to it.

The second thing was the bottom skirt on the sides were not attached to anything. You could grab the bottom of them and they just flopped around.

Third thing was the lack of workmanship behind the basement wall. There was a hole big enough on the wall to look behind it. It was a maze of wires and Pex tubing.

None of these things would hinder the livability of the coach, but I had expected more from an upper end trailer, especially considering where some of the company's top people came from.

Still a great looking trailer with a lot of thought put into the interior.

Edited by: Southernnights

 

[Cyberdave]

<div style=": rgb255, 255, 255; margin-left: 2px; margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 2px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb0, 0, 0; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; -: none; ">That'a good to know. The two we've looked at did not have large holes where the slide mechanism came out. But, there was a large hole on the left rear of the pass through. I do like that storage shelf though. I'll have to look at the skirting. Thanks for the heads up..</span>

 

[lillyputz]

Thanks Southernights for the info.

Lillyputz

 

[Southernnights]

Forgot about the storage shelf in the basement. That is an excellent idea.

Please don't get me wrong about the Redwood. My current trailer was not much different behind the basement wall. I did install manifolds and clean up the wiring though.

I like the Redwood trailer. I think alot of thought went into it. I also like the 2, 10 warranty. I do hope that they do not get concerned about numbers and begin pushing out as many as possible with no regard to workmanship. Even thought they are owned by Thor, it is nice to see a "little" trailer company concentrate on one model or line only.




Edited by: Southernnights