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Old 11-25-2019, 10:40 AM   #81
sourdough
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,598
Quote:
Originally Posted by rodgebone View Post
Flybouy and JRTJH, you are both absolutely correct - its not just Keystone and we knew that when we shopped for our TT. the reason i singled them out specifically is because A) i bought one and B) i felt Keystone was a better quality product than the dozens of other brands i looked at in my price range. i just wished they had matched their production quality with better engineered products as overall quality was the #1 factor in our purchasing decision. dont get me wrong as we are VERY pleased with our Keystone overall. EVERY mfg has issues and i get it's a mass production thing to keep the initial purchase price down to get the customer in the door. but at the end of the day there is no real cost savings considering the extra repairs down the road not to mention the time, money & hassle of having our full time home down at the dealer's shop. personally i would have gladly paid extra to have better quality products but i understand everyone's purchasing factors are different. it just irks me that a popular & well established mfg would use poorly designed products KNOWING they are going to cause the customer MORE money in the end. these bearing systems and water pumps have been around for a LONG time without design upgrades and continue to fail. the time for this industry standard to change is well overdue. it just isnt justified.

It's been discussed many, many times on this forum regarding the "quality" some want in an RV vs what the masses want to spend; the two shall never meet.

Having looked at lots of trailers I continue to think that Keystone builds the best floorplans at the best price (bang for the buck) if, IF they would just quit using the Darco under the slides and cable slides. I have communicated that to Matt Zimmerman's office at Keystone. IMO the Darco is a FAR worse issue than the pumps or grease zerks because there is no easy cure.

Shurflo pumps have been around for a long time. Used my first one about 1980? and never had one fail that I recall. Noise? Yes. Replaced due to that - yep. Some like Flojet better but it's a wash to me so not sure where the RV manufacturers would go with that.

Eaz Lube bearings are another hit/miss. Some really like them and love that they are advertised as something the owner can take care of. Probably have grease covered drums; who knows - but they're happy...right?

That said, quality in one person's eyes isn't in another's so the manufacturer is going to go with the most cost efficient option. Going in, a knowledgeable buyer knows that if the hubs have grease zerks (as most do from any manufacturer) they are meaningless and you are going to have to do wheel bearing mtce. anyway - no big deal; sort of like knowing it's an RV and those tires, though they look brand new, have to come off and be replaced because they have aged out. It's the nature of the beast.
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