Anyone have experience with Jayco Eagle, Eagle HT or Fox Mountain 5th Wheels

[BarryG]

Thinking about a fifth wheel. Have it narrowed down to a few choices
Fox Mountain (made by Northwood of Arctic Fox fame) 285 rls
Fox Mountain 335bhs
While they are lighter weight than the Arctic fox's they have the same frame etc and are still 4 season models

Other ones we are looking at are from the Jayco line
Eagle HT 26.5 bhs
Eagle HT 27.5 bhs
Eagle HT 29.5 bhds
Eagle HT 29.5 fbds

Eagle 31.5 fbhs

Obviously most of them are bunkhouse models except one (the one I like the most 285rls but the wife has other opinions I say the heck with the bunkhouse let them sleep in a tent or on the floor they aren't with us all the time, but as we all know if momma ain't happy no one is happy). Each has their own floor plan drawbacks of something or other as far as we are concerned but each of them would do for our needs. While I am familiar with the quality of Arctic Fox the Fox Mountains have only been out a few years and have not heard much about them except what the dealers tell me. They have tons of storage in fact I cant hardly believe it wouldn't be more than you could possibly use. However they seem nicer than the Jayco's a bit heavier but still lighter weight compared to the Artic Fox's. Don't know much about Jayco's. They don't have near the storage but more than we have now in our popup tent trailer Some of the materials, fit and finish seem to be of less quality in the Jayco's but we are also talking approx 10k less a unit as well.
Anyone have personal experience or have done research ratings etc on any of those models or brands. Love to hear any thoughts on them
Thanks

 

[RustyJC]

We owned two Jayco Designer 5th wheels years ago - a 1996 3030RKSS and a 2000 3610RLTS. Both were good units at their price point and gave us good service with minimal problems. I'm sure a lot has changed, but Jayco is still a family-owned business that doesn't have to answer to Wall Street for quarter-to-quarter results, so I don't have any reason to think they've dropped their quality control. Northwood has an excellent reputation for quality as well, of course. I don't think you'd go wrong either way, but you're right - as the price points differ, content will differ as well, so it's not a direct apples-to-apples comparison.

Rusty

 

[Ram4Sam]

I haven't owned either brand but did buy a bunkhouse 5er to accommodate the kid and any friends.....conclusion? Forget the bunkhouse. With the exception of a few foul weather camping days, the kids always wanted to stay in a tent so they can be kids.....most of the time, the bunkbeds were just used for storage. Which actually worked pretty well because we pulled the curtains closed to hide the mess. The downside was that to make room for the bunks, the bathroom, in our case, was quite small.

Sam

 

[GAmes]

After pulling virtually every brand out there, my next 5er will be a Fox Mountain.

 

[CThomsen]

I've got a 2013 Jayco 31.5 FBHS. Bought it October 2013. Other than a few minor issues discovered on first trip the unit has been perfect. I have 4 kids so the front bunkhouse is great for us. I upgraded to 16" wheels which I think are now standard. We are more than satisfied with ours. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Wertles]

2 5th wheels ago, I had a 34' Jayco with bunkhouse. It was great. I didn't have 1 problem in 5 years except with an ST tire. I have owned 2 Jayco's since then with similar results. A new one from the factory will have an issue or 2 as with every other camper I've ever known. I now have a a Jayco class C and they come with a 2 year warranty compared to the competition's 1 year. I don't know what the 5th wheel warranty is.

 

[CThomsen]

5th wheels also have 2 yr. warranty

 

[BarryG]

I had noticed the two year warranty on the Jayco units one of a variety of reasons I was intrigued by them. Appreciate the info provided haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet still contemplating and looking.

 

[RustyJC]

When we owned Jaycos, they had a 2 + 3 warranty - 2 years bumper-to-bumper with an additional 3 years structural warranty. I suspect they still may have this.

Rusty

 

[Jim W]

We look at the JAYCO Pinnacle at the Chicago RV show this year. A nice unit but did not like some of the features on the units at the show. There is now a 2 year warranty only on them and this covers everything on the trailer. One of the features I did not like was the leveling system this is pure electric driven only no hydraulic fluid to the landing gears.

In some peoples opinion this could be a + in mine this was a negative feature. I did like the slide motors and slide mechanism and how they are not under the slide but on the side of the slide.

I looked at serviceability on the JAYCO units and believe this would be very difficult to access some of the electrical components if they failed. Such as the leveling motors on each leg, with each leg having it's own according the dealer principle.

Jim W.