Thank you for theses pod cast! We were getting ready to buy a 2024 Grand Design Solitude 390RK. And then canceled it because of all the flex frame and roofs. We are now looking into Riverstone RV's. Theses are absolutely built!
Very informative! I particularly liked the segment where you showed the bolts going through the 3-inch beam, illustrating how much stronger that is over a 2-inch beam.
Everywhere those wires touch that aluminum, there should be a wear resistant blunt edge, having those wires bounce and rub on such a small area will be a problem eventually.
I’m a wiring harness advocate having lived with the “rats nest” in our other units. Our Winnie is wired with a harness with all electrical CAD drawings available online (along with plumbing, sealants, etc.) and I greatly appreciate having that. I understand the trade off of flexibility over the constant quality of a harness, but, sacrificing constant quality for occasional flexibility isn’t a good trade in my opinion. Just add the outlets as standard and be done with it. Also I second the comment about chafe points in the roof trusses.
Interesting no electrical wire loom or electrical conduit for the wires running in between the metal roof rafters. With the motion of the trailer being towed those are rub points to bare the wires. Nor is there any cable management ie electrical zip ties to tie all wires together. Are there are grommets to protect the wires going through holes in the walls?
River stone makes a great product! I have viewed all of your videos on Riverstone. Love how well build the frames are. Love how good the cabinets are they have one of the best looking cabinets as well. Like how they do the riling it doesn’t look messy as well. How they do the roof looks very heavy and can last. Over all big fan of River stone. If a can afford a River stone I would buy one right a way. Riverstone is doing a lot of good stuff. Have a good day JD!
Eye opening stuff, keep up the great information you're bringing out. Please please do one with Brinkley next it would be amazing to see the difference, or similarities between their builds.
Make a 2 story hydraulically lifted 42’ long fifth wheel rv with a full solar 48v system with 45kwh battery bank instead of a generator plz. Like what Anderson mobile estates does but in fifth wheel rv fashion and dual tandom (8 tires) with a toy garage. Some of us full time in these things and we need a 2 story mobile house! The demand is there for this type of unit!! Get on it Riverstone!!!
Again, very good series, J.D.. Nick and his fly are good spokespersons for their product. He is knowledgeable, answers all questions and freely giving information. Everything they do helps verify why they are upper end unit manufacturer. All they do in the process shows they are committed to producing the best unit they can. I would prefer seeing the wire bundles secured a little better, but I can, from understand, with no access to wire runs, I can understand a lack of security. I didn't realize all a/c units are heat pumps as well, a nice option. Thanks to you and Nick for all your doing in these videos. God bless y'all and stay safe on your travels.
I really appreciate your showing us this type of video. I will say there are two major items that concern me on this rv. Running unprotected wires through aluminum roof trusses will lead to major electrical problems with these trailers. Those unsheathed wires are all going to rub / vibrate on those metal edges leading to shorts and electrical failures. How do they not realize this, and add an insulator at these contact points? They also still use plywood to secure the box to the frame. That was a major failure point on my 1986 Nuway. There is no way to repair that. Any sustained water leak that gets to that flooring will cause a failure.
I understand their reasoning on not wanting. wiring harness. And it’s certainly possible to do a top quality job without a harness. But that means bundling and securing wires. Color coding so that a problem can be traced. Making sure that grommets or other appropriate hardware is being used at potential chafe points. That I’m not seeing and I think at this price point I should be.
Do you know if it’s marine grade or standard grade 3/8 plywood for the roof sheathing? As this is a hung wall is a vapour barrier used on the side walls? Or will that be in the next video. Thanks
@BTBRV - is that wiring in a finished state, or do they just leave it as we see it in this video? I'm hoping that they take additional steps to secure the wiring, because there's no way this wiring system is going to survive as-is. Also, do they provide a CAD schematic for each trailer, or are these wired ad hoc? I've been impressed up this point, but what I've seen of the wiring is a big issue for me.
I had no idea that a company was doing a better job out there. Grand Design advertises that they are the best made so I assumed they were all the same. The companies that truly are doing a better job need to get the message out because the group I know are all turning away from the entire industry. Seems terrible that a few companies could take down an entire industry but that very well could happen. Great job for starting this discussion JD
I’m Looking for a Slightly Used RV, for Year Round Use. We usually get about 3 weeks of -8 degree Temperatures at the worst. Would this brand be a good Choice for that, or is there a Better Brand/ Model for that??
You can tour their factory but orders come through the dealership you use. We ordered our 2021 Riverstone with all the features available, interior color and the color scheme on the outside as well ordered in February and delivered in June.
Because they specialize in only building limited models of fifth wheels. 2015 was the start and when we purchased ours in 2021 it was unit number 2152.
Looks good but still I’ve cold feet, don’t think I could trust any of them. il stick to my motorhomes as alway. grand design ruined it for me and i dont even own one.
I have a new 3500 SRW Ram with the HO Cummins & couldn't tow any of their models. I do like the longer upper frame rail & can't see it actually adding that much more weight & cost.
While I find them beautiful and well built, they just don’t have a floor plan we love. They’re way too long and big to travel in, so it’s not one we would even consider. They need to really make some smaller floor plans, 34’11 to 38 feet before I’d even think about one.
Not really too big, you just need to have the proper tow vehicle (dually) and make reservations at newer (read: generally more costly). We’ve been full time traveling since 2015, and have had a Riverstone 39RKFB since Sept 2019. It did take a little bit to get used to making reservations for a 43’ plus tow vehicle, and we also travel with a Jeep.
You should look at a Cedar Creek. They have a lot of the same build features as they said. Cedar Creek builds them shorter. We have one, we bought it because of we felt confident in the features.
Thank you for theses pod cast! We were getting ready to buy a 2024 Grand Design Solitude 390RK. And then canceled it because of all the flex frame and roofs. We are now looking into Riverstone RV's. Theses are absolutely built!
Very informative! I particularly liked the segment where you showed the bolts going through the 3-inch beam, illustrating how much stronger that is over a 2-inch beam.
Everywhere those wires touch that aluminum, there should be a wear resistant blunt edge, having those wires bounce and rub on such a small area will be a problem eventually.
I’m a wiring harness advocate having lived with the “rats nest” in our other units. Our Winnie is wired with a harness with all electrical CAD drawings available online (along with plumbing, sealants, etc.) and I greatly appreciate having that. I understand the trade off of flexibility over the constant quality of a harness, but, sacrificing constant quality for occasional flexibility isn’t a good trade in my opinion. Just add the outlets as standard and be done with it. Also I second the comment about chafe points in the roof trusses.
Interesting no electrical wire loom or electrical conduit for the wires running in between the metal roof rafters. With the motion of the trailer being towed those are rub points to bare the wires. Nor is there any cable management ie electrical zip ties to tie all wires together.
Are there are grommets to protect the wires going through holes in the walls?
Yep, I was thinking the same thing.
I'm impressed with these videos
I know when the series is finished, I'll re-watch them al in one go! :) Luv this!
River stone makes a great product! I have viewed all of your videos on Riverstone. Love how well build the frames are. Love how good the cabinets are they have one of the best looking cabinets as well. Like how they do the riling it doesn’t look messy as well. How they do the roof looks very heavy and can last. Over all big fan of River stone. If a can afford a River stone I would buy one right a way. Riverstone is doing a lot of good stuff. Have a good day JD!
Eye opening stuff, keep up the great information you're bringing out. Please please do one with Brinkley next it would be amazing to see the difference, or similarities between their builds.
Ask and you shall receive
th-cam.com/video/iPChiCW5tdA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=yUo04IKyurXcUwaf
Make a 2 story hydraulically lifted 42’ long fifth wheel rv with a full solar 48v system with 45kwh battery bank instead of a generator plz.
Like what Anderson mobile estates does but in fifth wheel rv fashion and dual tandom (8 tires) with a toy garage. Some of us full time in these things and we need a 2 story mobile house! The demand is there for this type of unit!! Get on it Riverstone!!!
Again, very good series, J.D..
Nick and his fly are good spokespersons for their product. He is knowledgeable, answers all questions and freely giving information.
Everything they do helps verify why they are upper end unit manufacturer. All they do in the process shows they are committed to producing the best unit they can. I would prefer seeing the wire bundles secured a little better, but I can, from understand, with no access to wire runs, I can understand a lack of security.
I didn't realize all a/c units are heat pumps as well, a nice option.
Thanks to you and Nick for all your doing in these videos.
God bless y'all and stay safe on your travels.
I really appreciate your showing us this type of video. I will say there are two major items that concern me on this rv. Running unprotected wires through aluminum roof trusses will lead to major electrical problems with these trailers. Those unsheathed wires are all going to rub / vibrate on those metal edges leading to shorts and electrical failures. How do they not realize this, and add an insulator at these contact points?
They also still use plywood to secure the box to the frame. That was a major failure point on my 1986 Nuway. There is no way to repair that. Any sustained water leak that gets to that flooring will cause a failure.
At 100k more then the other offerings I hope it’s a better quality!
Hung wall, spring lighting, aluminum frames and heavy duty frames just like Carriage used to make the Cameo.
I understand their reasoning on not wanting. wiring harness. And it’s certainly possible to do a top quality job without a harness. But that means bundling and securing wires. Color coding so that a problem can be traced. Making sure that grommets or other appropriate hardware is being used at potential chafe points. That I’m not seeing and I think at this price point I should be.
Do you know if it’s marine grade or standard grade 3/8 plywood for the roof sheathing? As this is a hung wall is a vapour barrier used on the side walls? Or will that be in the next video.
Thanks
Another great video thanks for the information
@BTBRV - is that wiring in a finished state, or do they just leave it as we see it in this video? I'm hoping that they take additional steps to secure the wiring, because there's no way this wiring system is going to survive as-is. Also, do they provide a CAD schematic for each trailer, or are these wired ad hoc? I've been impressed up this point, but what I've seen of the wiring is a big issue for me.
Excellent video. Is Riverstone its own company, or is it owned by Forest River?
What type of materials are they using in slide floor. Are they using plywood or the plastic floor that river ranch uses.
Composite floor in slides. He mentioned he forgot to say that in the video.
We just got ours in February. We'll worth the money.
I had no idea that a company was doing a better job out there. Grand Design advertises that they are the best made so I assumed they were all the same. The companies that truly are doing a better job need to get the message out because the group I know are all turning away from the entire industry. Seems terrible that a few companies could take down an entire industry but that very well could happen. Great job for starting this discussion JD
Riverstone makes a great product and I would gladly buy a unit when I can afford it
Look at the price points. This rig is $60-$100k more than what you're comparing it to. It better be a higher quality.
It's a shame that they don't make a shorter version like a 37 ft
I am looking for part 3, not all ate numbered.
Riverstone list my interest with glued and screwed aluminum wall frames.
You can't afford one anyway.
I’m Looking for a Slightly Used RV, for Year Round Use. We usually get about 3 weeks of -8 degree Temperatures at the worst. Would this brand be a good Choice for that, or is there a Better Brand/ Model for that??
Please tell this man to blow his nose lol
Can you go to their shop and try to order one the way you want it?
You can tour their factory but orders come through the dealership you use. We ordered our 2021 Riverstone with all the features available, interior color and the color scheme on the outside as well ordered in February and delivered in June.
So why don’t they make travel trailers? Bumper pull campers.
Because they specialize in only building limited models of fifth wheels. 2015 was the start and when we purchased ours in 2021 it was unit number 2152.
Because no one would pay the kind of money they would want for a bumper pull built like these 5th wheels.
Looks good but still I’ve cold feet, don’t think I could trust any of them. il stick to my motorhomes as alway. grand design ruined it for me and i dont even own one.
I have a new 3500 SRW Ram with the HO Cummins & couldn't tow any of their models.
I do like the longer upper frame rail & can't see it actually adding that much more weight & cost.
While I find them beautiful and well built, they just don’t have a floor plan we love. They’re way too long and big to travel in, so it’s not one we would even consider. They need to really make some smaller floor plans, 34’11 to 38 feet before I’d even think about one.
Not really too big, you just need to have the proper tow vehicle (dually) and make reservations at newer (read: generally more costly). We’ve been full time traveling since 2015, and have had a Riverstone 39RKFB since Sept 2019. It did take a little bit to get used to making reservations for a 43’ plus tow vehicle, and we also travel with a Jeep.
You should look at a Cedar Creek. They have a lot of the same build features as they said. Cedar Creek builds them shorter. We have one, we bought it because of we felt confident in the features.