Keystone RVs East vs West

[sourdough]

Not seen anything on this but have observed some things in the last couple of weeks in my quest for a new trailer.

I've looked at tons of trailers, primarily Cougar and Montana HC (from Keystone W TX), and they have always had cable slides which I have mixed emotions about. The concept it great, they work great but need a solid bottom on the slide; not Darco. Never thought about looking for an RV on the E coast but saw some pretty enticing pricing so decided to look.

We discuss a particular RV on the forum all the time. I never knew that one built in the east could be appreciably different from the west - wrong. First the empty weight of the east unit (331rl) was approx. 600 lbs. less than W. To me the most important was that the Cougar 315rls and the Montana HC 331rl both had rollers on the bedroom slide, a ram on one superslide and cables on the other. Thought they had updated for 2020.....nope, west has cables on all slides...always have. East ones just have a bedroom with a note mentioning the location of a TV in the bedroom; W has a box for the TV whether you get one or not. Probably more but as we discuss our RVs, talking about specific units, it's probably pertinent to note that what you have in the same model may not be what "they" have in the same thing. Kind of eye opening. The sales guy in Lake City told me (used to work the shows), no, lots of differences. Went back and brought me back a brochure on the Cougar line....huge letters on it specifying EAST. Something to think about.

[LHaven]

I have to say, I don't understand the reason for the western/eastern thing. Sometimes, entire models are unavailable in one or the other.

When we were shopping for our current Cougar, we wanted to compare the 26 rear bathroom layout with the rear kitchen layout. We learned that the rear kitchen layout wasn't available in the west. We ended up walking through one in El Paso (Texas is the eastern region, go figure) as we drove through on an unrelated trip. Fortunately, we preferred the rear bath model anyway, so we got to buy it locally.

Like a lot of things Keystone does, this is unintuitive to me.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by LHaven

I have to say, I don't understand the reason for the western/eastern thing. Sometimes, entire models are unavailable in one or the other.

When we were shopping for our current Cougar, we wanted to compare the 26 rear bathroom layout with the rear kitchen layout. We learned that the rear kitchen layout wasn't available in the west. We ended up walking through one in El Paso (Texas is the eastern region, go figure) as we drove through on an unrelated trip. Fortunately, we preferred the rear bath model anyway, so we got to buy it locally.

Like a lot of things Keystone does, this is unintuitive to me.

It has more to do with marketing (what sells where) than with any "deprive certain regions" scheme/plot by Keystone.

Here's one example of the "east/west" philosophy:
Around 2010=2014, the Cougar Half Ton was a "western edition" produced ONLY in Oregon for the "western region" and the Cougar XLite was an "eastern edition" produced ONLY in Indiana. The brochures during that time indicated that each was designed for and contained features that were tailored for the "camping styles" of people in the region. The Half Ton models had larger holding tanks, more/larger windows (reportedly because buyers in the west dry camped more) while the XLite models had smaller tanks and fewer windows (because buyers in the east traveled in highly populated areas and usually stayed in places with hookups).

While I won't say that the above is the "correct approach for all buyers" I will say that Keystone, "openly printed that philosophy" in their brochures of the models.

There was never any "restriction" to selling or owning" any model in any region, but the cost of transporting trailers from the factory to the dealership probably limited trailers built in Oregon to the west coast region while XLite models were limited to the east coast states (as a general rule) for the same reason.

I know a number of people who travelled east or west to get a specific model/floorplan of a "similar trailer". We were contemplating a Half Ton 279FWWE which is nearly identical to the XLite 27RKS. The 279 had much larger holding tanks, but only one recliner while the 27RKS had smaller tanks but two recliners/chairs. The main reason we don't own a 279 (my preference of the two) today is that it simply was not available for purchase anywhere from here to Oregon at the time we needed a new trailer (a tree fell on our old fifth wheel). Had I been able to find one or had our dealer here been able to find one "in the Keystone pipeline" I would have a 279 today.

It's not a "clandestine plot to deprive" so much as it is a means to produce "tailored models of similar floorplans, some on the east coast and some on the west coast" while maintaining less variance on either assembly line, hopefully reducing mistakes between the models.

Now that the XLite is out of production, there's still some variance in features, but not nearly as much as there was between brands that were exclusive to one region.

[Logan X]

West is obviously better...

[Ken / Claudia]

Out west the company gets the tank valves correctly marked as gray and black.

[Alermon32]

'When we were shopping for our current Cougar, we wanted to compare the 26 rear bathroom layout with the rear kitchen layout. We learned that the rear kitchen layout wasn't available in the west. We ended up walking through one in El Paso (Texas is the eastern region, go figure) as we drove through on an unrelated trip. Fortunately, we preferred the rear bath model anyway, so we got to buy it locally.'
I'm searching for a good rear bath model right now. Which one did you choose finally and please, tell me about its advantages.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by Alermon32

I'm searching for a good rear bath model right now. Which one did you choose finally and please, tell me about its advantages.

We bought the 26RBSWE. It had exactly the floorplan we wanted, including our four must-have items: a king bed, recliners, a TV placed opposite the recliners (not at a right angle), and a radius shower I could fit in. Plus the ceiling clearance was adequate for me at 6'6", but that was true of all the Keystone models we looked at.

Actually, we did add one requirement to the list that we learned about while we were shopping: the bathroom had to be accessible on the road with the slide fully in. That was the factor that disqualified the eastern addition of that model.

[NH_Bulldog]

There are a bunch of threads on this site discussing the East/West differences. Some even have explanations from Keystone as to the thought process.