Wheels, Tires, Suspension, has Keystone stepped up?

[bsmith0404]

I haven't looked at a new (2015) Keystone luxury RV yet. If anyone has, I'm curious if Keystone have upped their game yet? On my last RV transport run, I took some time while in the yard to look over the Jayco Pinnacle and North Point 5ers sitting on the lot. When I compared them to my Alpine, I was surprised to see that the large luxury RVs all had a heavier wheel rated at 3750 lbs and 110 psi, had steel valve stems, and MorRyde suspension (If memory serves me correct it was the CRE3000, I don't believe it was the SRE4000). They still had E rated tires, which was a bit disappointing to see considering the rest. They use the Rainier trailer tire, which after a bit of research seems to be a better tire than the Towmax, but still a Chinese tire with some reports of blow out issues. Jayco is also putting a 2" receiver hitch on their 5th wheels. I don't know if this new for 2015 or if Jayco has been doing this for a few years.

My last Jayco was a 2008 and didn't have any of this equipment as OE, but it was an Eagle not a luxury line. I also don't recall seeing any of this or the dealer talking up the suspension on the Pinnacle when we were trying to decide between that or the Alpine in 2013/2014 models. When I saw the running gear the first thing I thought was that Jayco has addressed most of the running gear issues that we are complaining about on this forum. Does anyone know if Keystone has stepped up their game on the newer luxury models as well?

[Javi]

My Cougar has the CRE3000, Correct Trac and metal stems but still Towmaster tires..

[rbev2308]

My 2014 Alpine had the T09 Sendel wheels rated at 3750 and 110 psi but not the G series tires which I switched out before I had left the lot since they had 19 months of age on the date code and just did not want to chance it. Other than that, nothing else was special all normal build specs consistent from 2010 and on...

[bsmith0404]

Sounds like Keystone may be going in steps, upgraded wheels in 2014 and upgraded suspension in 2015. I wonder if these are now standard or dealer ordered upgrades. I don't see anything on any manufacturer website that talks about these as upgrades, some show G rated tires and pin box upgrades.

[larry337]

Full size Cougar fifth wheels have had the Moryde CRE3000 since around 2012. Not sure about the X Lite and TT line. Montana has had the CRE4000 for at least 2 years now. Its nice but I wish I had better tires, they are on my upgrade list.

[dcg9381]

The Carbon I bought had 15in wheels, they were rated for 110 psi and had steel valve stems. However, it was using the same old China tires rated for ~80psi.

Suspension is standard leaf spring - from Dexter, I believe. Brass bushing. It does have an equalization system between the axles.

Axles are in spec for gross weight, when subtracting the pin weight.

I would say this is business as usual and not an upgrade.

[Bob Landry]

A suspension upgrade would be the Dexter equalizer kit with shackles, bronze bushings and wet bolts. Without that, different tires and wheels are pretty irrelevant. Switching from one Chinese tire to another is also not an upgrade.

[larry337]

A suspension upgrade would be the Dexter equalizer kit with shackles, bronze bushings and wet bolts. Without that, different tires and wheels are pretty irrelevant. Switching from one Chinese tire to another is also not an upgrade.



The Moryde suspensions on the Cougars and Montanas are an up grade. Alpine and Avalanche list grease-able wet bolts and bronze bushings as standard features. I assume they are the Dexter but it doesn't say it. It seems the travel trailers are still running the cheap suspension as they dont mention anything. I agree it's time to put better tires on these things. The difference in price can't be that much and any knowledgeable consumer would gladly pay it. Might even make them choose a Keystone over a competitor.

[bsmith0404]

When we were shopping around, we looked at a Big Horn by Heartland. We could have upgraded to a Goodyear G614 tire over the standard E, it was a $1600 option. That was a bit surprising, it seemed they were charging the full price for the tires without any type of credit for the Es. Not sure if that included a rim upgrade as well or if they just changed to the better tire. We also looked at a Cedar Creek by Forrest River, it had the G614 tire on it, but that was the only good thing I found about that trailer. Looking at the Keystone website, I noticed the G614 is an option with some brands (Montana and Raptor), but not with others. Looking at the Jayco website Goodyear G614s are an option on all of the heavier 5ers and Maxxis 808 16" tires are an option on lighter 5ers and most of the TTs. I don't know what they charge for the upgrade. Strangely enough, I've never seen/transported one with a tire upgrade. An educated buyer would most likely pay for the upgrade, but I doubt most buyers would even ask and most dealers don't order it. It wasn't even an option on my Alpine, and the rims are not heavy enough to put a G rated tire on it. So for me, the upgrade to a G614 would cost in the neighborhood of $2,000 which some on this forum have done.

[BOWWOW]

I'm glad to see Keystone trying to build a better unit. After rebuilding my Fuzion I can tell you that per SQFT it was the biggest piece of crap I have ever purchased new. I don't think that I will be buying another Keyster.