Redwood or DRV Mobile Suites?

[0nTheRoad]

At the rally we were told that the Carriage and Cameo brands will be in the Crossroads line, we saw a Cameo on the lot but I didn't go into it.

Redwood will have three products; Redwood, Sequoia and Cypress. All will be branded as Redwood products, e.g. Sequoia by Redwood. Cypress is the entry level, Sequoia the next step up and Redwood the top of their line.

[lwg]

Originally Posted by Buddy Wallace

They come with H rated tires as well as Mor/ryde IS. They also have there own leveling sytems. Where did you purchase and did they come off the MSRP?

Mor/ryde is only an option and the leveling system is actually the same as Redwoods I believe.

[JohnEileen]

I can hardly imagine how tough it will be to meet demands of the consumer with customer quality assurance producing so many different RV's on the same line. I can imagine the cost of setting up an additional factory to assemble the other RV's, but I wonder if they would have fewer problems with quality?

[Dave&Ginny]

There's only 2 types of leveling systems that I'm aware of unless you go to a MH:

A: Big foot (4 corner)
B: Lippert (6 point)

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

There's only 2 types of leveling systems that I'm aware of unless you go to a MH:

A: Big foot (4 corner)
B: Lippert (6 point)

I think I've heard of one other but can't remember the name of it but the two major ones are Lippert and Big Foot. Not sure if one is better than any other, but I personally think the 6 point system would provide more stability.

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by SecretSkwerl

I just traded my 31SL in for a DRV Elite Suite. It was sad, but I felt like I had no choice. I have had countless issues with my redwood. Months of time in service within the year I have owned it and thousands of dollars in additional repairs.

I'm not going to tell you Redwoods stink, because they don't, but like any trailer manufacturer sometimes a lemon gets out the door. The problems for me personally have been so significant, with no real satisfaction from Redwood or Crossroads. As their final solution was to bring it to their factory repair facility. I live full time in my unit and I'm a travelling therapist. Which I informed them and I also said I couldn't afford more time in service. As of this date I have over two months in different repair facilities. I bought the unit June 30 last year. My problems are well documented and I requested the lemoned this trailer out and allowed me to pay the difference into a model for this year. They were not willing to go that route.

So it shook my confidence in the Product and the support after sale. Which is a shame because I really loved the 39MB model for 2014.

Oh well, I wish all of you great luck with your Redwoods and may you enjoy them for a good long time.

It's really too bad that you couldn't take your Redwood to the Service Center. I can attest to the fact that they would have taken care of all your issues in a timely fashion. Once there they would have taken it in to the shop and not brought it back out until everything was taken care of. It wouldn't have been probably more than a few days, not months like at many dealerships. The Service Center's work is top notch and they will not let it go until you are satisfied with the repairs. I do wish you good luck with your new purchase and hope that you do not find similar issues with that manufacturer.

[johnboytoo]

Yes, it is too bad they come out of the factory like that and not everyone lives within an hour or so of them

[travelin' texans]

Currently parked next to an Excel that's as long or longer than my RW & it only has a 4 point system. Also no convenience center, all hook ups on side of coach, Demco hitch without an airbag, & looks like a couple of the painted stripes were painted with a brush. Haven't got to look indoors, but for the price of those, I'm not impressed.

[atom ant]

The Lifestyle 5er uses the Big foot 4 pt. I guess the selling point from the lips of their salesman is they only need 4 because they aren't raising a Lippert frame - but that's salesman talk. The big foot also has independent pump and motors at each leg. Better? I don't know.

DRV uses a 6pt, but the rear jacks are the size of our front, and their front jacks are like the landing gear on a 737! I think it has to do with the weight they are holding up. DRVs can be very heavy.

[lwg]

I think Bigfoot has a stronghold on aftermarket fitment as it's much, much easier to install that system after the fact than run all the plumbing for the Lippert.

[atom ant]

I bet! I remember some folks putting it on their early Montanas! I just needed power and control to each jack, no hydraulic.

[rob_fla]

Yep, I believe DRV uses the same Level Up Controller / System everybody else uses but they do have larger diameter legs / pistons due to the heavy weight of a typical DRV unit.
Yep the Big Foot has 4 Hydraulic Pumps and 4 Hydraulic Fluid Reservoirs, one at each leg with only wiring running between them.

[porthole]

Food for thought.
Lippert now owns Big Foot. They are buying up smaller companies at a record pace.

Originally Posted by lwg

Mor/ryde is only an option and the leveling system is actually the same as Redwoods I believe.

DRV designed the original LevelUp and eventually sold the concept to Lippert. Hence the reason they are so similar.

But - DRV has steel jacks, Lippert's version uses aluminum rams.
DRV claims they use steel because of the 5+ degree angling to stabilize the coach, and obviously because they are much heavier, so they have an increased capacity.

Lippert's aluminum rams may or may not contribute to the popping that seems rampant with some trailers, especially when angling the jacks.

The DRV frame is built by Lippert.
But, it is box tubing, 6", 6" and 3" all welded to make the 15" frame. In theory, much stronger and more stable then the conventional I-beam frame used in most trailers.

Comparable models - the DRV is heavier and has a much higher GVW.

We just spent the weekend comparing front bath models of Redwood, Landmark, Trilogy, Lifestyles and DRV (couple others that I can't remember).

The DRV's are pricey, but there are some significant standard items, especially MOR/ryde IS, disc brakes and 17.5's. The IS and brakes alone offset the pricing by $6000.