Fleetwood Ratings?

[terry49]

Hi
I am in the market for a 5th wheel. I have seen many post on this site that says Fleetwood has many quality control problems but no specific items are mentioned. Can anyone tell me of some problems that are commom to the Fleetwoow 5th wheels? I have found a 2001 Prowler that looks clean and seems to be in great shape but I am leary of it having heard of so many negative comments about this brand. Can anyone clue me in on some of the problems I might encounter with this 5th wheel?
Thanks Terry

 

[Gary B]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Hi Terry49, take the Fleetwood bashings with a grain of salt, we had a 1994 Fleetwood Terry 305V 5th wheel, it was an excellent unit, we didn't have one bit of trouble with it, never had it back to the dealer for a single item, we sold it in 1998 and bought a Holiday Rambler product, which we both hated! we got rid of it and went to a Fleetwood Bounder and we love it, we have had zerro problems, we like the floor plan, the dual pane windows, the systems you name it. All of the units were used for snowbriding and we lived (live) in them for 2 to 3 months at a time, plus our normal travel the rest of the year. Good luck in your search & many happy trails GB

 

[C Nash]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Hi Jerry,
Agree with Gary. All mfgs send out lemons and there are probably more Fleetwood products sold than any other (just a guess) so,I would expect more complaints. In the 70s we that worked in the automotive field knew that you never bought a car that came out of the factory on Friday-workers were in a hurry to get home or on a Monday- hangover day. The other days GREAT CARS. Just do a through inspection, looking at the little details, fit, finish, plumbing, wiring and if they were having a bad QC day it will show. Look for any signs of water leaks around ceiling and frontal area, even a stain spells trouble later on. Just remember any rv requires maintiance. Good luck

Chelse L. Nash
fulltimer03@yahoo.com

 

[terry49]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Thanks for your support. The unit that I am looking at is a 2001 Prowler. I will have to take a closer look at it although it is at a dealer about 3hrs. away.
Thanks again
Terry

 

[Larry]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Terry,

I have a 1988 32' Bounder. It has countless hours of living and 87000 miles. Everything still works! Of course it has had a few repairs over the years but then of course, my dog, my cat, my car, my house and I have all needed repairs in the last 14 years. Notice I didn't mention my wife! She is perfect and I haven't fixed a thing on her!!!!

Larry

 

[terry49]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Hi Larry
Is your Bounder a Fleetwood product? I tend to agree with you guys on this matter. I haven't got the first response from any of the people who were bad mouthing the Fleetwood products. May be they were just having a bad day. Everything needs ocasional maintainance.
Thanks
Terry

 

[Larry]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Terry,

Fleetwood is the largest RV manufacturer in the world. Bounder, Flair, Pace Arrow, American Eagle and a host of others are Fleetwood products.

Check out FLEETWOOD

Larry

 

[BobW]

Fleetwood Ratings?

I don't know about all Fleetwoods out there, but, I won't buy one. I do repair on RV interiors. Last year I had an opportunity to visit the factory in ILL. I brought a Class C back with me. On the way, the microwave fell out of the upper frame, the stove rattled so bad I had to take it out of the hole it was setting in. It swayed all over the road, 2800 miles of one big hand full. The Tioga is made as cheep as any I've seen. They just slap them together as fast as they can. Junk.

 

[C Nash]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Bob,
Was this a brand new unit?? If so, I hope you delivered it back!! Had it been serviced for delivery, tires properly inflated and such? I guess maybe you was just picking it up for a dealer. If so, hope you reported all these problems well, guess if the microwave was laying in the floor they MIGHT find this. Please tell us more.

Chelse L. Nash
fulltimer03@yahoo.com

 

[Gary B]

Fleetwood Ratings?

REALLY: the stove rattled so bad I removed it from the hole it sat in, and the mircowave fell out of the upper frame at 2800 miles WHOW, and it swayed all over the road my my, I quess with a mirco falling and crashing and the ripping out of a stove, it would be a handful to handle, all the while trying to figure out how to redo the interior. What a story, I better git rid of my Fleetwood right away, least one of my grandkids gets trapped under a falling microwave, or forbid they fall out the hole where the stove sat. Too worried to travel now! GB

 

[BobW]

Fleetwood Ratings?

This was a Tioga class C with a Ford V10. I didn't have time to check the tire presser on anything else. This was for a rental outfit in Portland. i think the worse part of this was the other traffic coming towards me. Every time one did, it blew me 6" off the road. After a while, I got used to it and corrected the wheel just before I was passed. Also, head winds going west, were so that it wouldn't go into over drive. I don't know how much wind, but, not much.

 

[C Nash]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Bob,
How fast were you driving? Test drove a 99 v10 35 ft. class A Intruder the other day and it had no trouble going into OD course, I never went over 60. It did ride rough but, nothing fell off. Guess I'll take my helmet for the next test drive Hey Gary, wanna get rid of that pile of crap before you get hurt. Go on and take that trip just remember to take plenty of duct tape. Might be a pretty good idea to go ahead and tape it up good!! Bob, really would like to hear more with details. Thanks

Chelse L. Nash
fulltimer03@yahoo.com

 

[RonaldMartel]

Fleetwood Ratings?

I believe there is a little give and take with everything. There were a couple differences between Fleetwood and Skyline TT's that I noticed and think that you should look at. FLT uses particle board in different applications vice plywood. Specifically, the bed frame, and laminated counter tops and sides vice real wood. The bunk beds on FLT have a weight limit of 150 lbs. My 250 lb Skyline salesman sold me when he hung from the cabinets and challenged me to try that on a FLT. Also check out the insulation. Every company does something a little better than the others. Just look at what is important to you.

 

[fjohn56]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Funny......how you never hear from the complainers again. nor do you get any real complaints. Usually, its just because they were sooooo excited to get one that they forgot to do their homework. JMHO

 

[bootsbuck]

Fleetwood Ratings?

On the Fleetwood make sure you tape the 7-way plug to the cap of the 7-way receptacle. If you don't, the Bargman plug can fall out while you are under way (even when you put the little latch on the cap over the latch on the plug) This can result in the loss of brakes on your 5th wheel and BIG problems. bootsbuck

 

[Gary B]

Fleetwood Ratings?

bootsbuck, please explain how that is a Fleetwood thing? As far as I know Fleetwood doesn't mfg 7 way plugs, Bargman,& Pollak make plugs male and female. I think this is another as mentioned by fjohn56 :laugh: :clown:

 

[Butch]

Fleetwood Ratings?

If you are interesed in a Diesel Bounder, check out this site:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1863158074

 

[ralphie]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Ok fjohn56, I'm back and I'm ready to complain. Not really, I just don't spend my entire life on the boards and I guess I missed this thread. I'm really tired of complaining about my Bounder, so I won't go into details, again. I am definitely an unhappy FW customer. Believe me, the numerous problems I've experienced with my Bounder have been very real and have messed up more than a couple of trips. However, I'm a fair type of person, so I'll admit that there are a lot of happy Bounder owners out there. So there you go, a negative post!

 

[Gary B]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Hi ralphie, why don't you do what we did get rid of it, we had a Holiday Rambler piece of crap that I and my wife both hated!!! Sold it aqnd bought a Fleetwood Bounder and just love it, maybe you can find a Holiday Rambler and have the same kind of luck.

 

[C Nash]

Fleetwood Ratings?

Now you tell me Gary . After I went out and spent my kids inheretance (guess I better get my dictionary before fjohn see this )inheritance (wasted 10 minutes looking that up and then couldn't see it and now Ralphie is going to accuse me of spending a lifetime on here :sleepy: ) on a Holiday rambler, I find out they are no good Well, can't go get a Bounder cause they are no good . Guess I'll just build my own :laugh: