Nu-Wa 5th Wheel

[Jerry Osage]

First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.

Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?

I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.

Any opinions?

Thanks,
Jerry O.

[My Names Nobody]

Post by Jerry Osage
First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.
Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?
I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.
Any opinions?
Thanks,
Jerry O.
--
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what
they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
-- H.L. Mencken

I like Alpenlite's attention to detail...

[Jerry Osage]

Post by My Names Nobody

Post by Jerry Osage
First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.
Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?
I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.
Any opinions?

I like Alpenlite's attention to detail...

So do I, and I must say that the the dealers sales force seems to be
of a higher quality, the ones I have encountered let the trailer speak
for itself and are very low key. While some dealers sales force would
be right at home on some vacant lot used car dealer.

Jerry O.

[Lon VanOstran]

Post by Jerry Osage
First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.
Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?
I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.
Any opinions?
Thanks,
Jerry O.

Of the 3 you've mentioned, only Alpenlite would be on my long list. My
short list contained only Excel by Peterson Industries, and Sunnybrook.

We bought the Sunnybrook because the Excel is too well made for my truck.

Lon

[Advocate]

Post by Lon VanOstran
Of the 3 you've mentioned, only Alpenlite would be on my long list. My
short list contained only Excel by Peterson Industries, and Sunnybrook.
We bought the Sunnybrook because the Excel is too well made for my truck.

Wheeew Doggies...I just did a web search for used Alpenlite's...those babies
are expensive.

[Lon VanOstran]

Post by Advocate

Post by Lon VanOstran
Of the 3 you've mentioned, only Alpenlite would be on my long list. My
short list contained only Excel by Peterson Industries, and Sunnybrook.
We bought the Sunnybrook because the Excel is too well made for my truck.

Wheeew Doggies...I just did a web search for used Alpenlite's...those babies
are expensive.

Check out the Excel. Heck, there's a triple slide Excel for sale here at
North Ranch. (Congress, AZ)

Lon

[Janet Wilder]

Post by Advocate

Post by Lon VanOstran
Of the 3 you've mentioned, only Alpenlite would be on my long list. My
short list contained only Excel by Peterson Industries, and Sunnybrook.
We bought the Sunnybrook because the Excel is too well made for my truck.

Wheeew Doggies...I just did a web search for used Alpenlite's...those babies
are expensive.

The folks whom I know that own Alpenlites keep them for a very long
time. The only negative I ever heard was 8 years ago about wheels
falling off. Haven't heard anything bad since.

I would take an Alpenlite over a NuWa in a heartbeat. I'd take a
Peterson Excel over any of them, but they are heavy.

[Jerry Osage]

On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 16:48:05 -0700, Lon VanOstran

Post by Lon VanOstran

Post by Jerry Osage
First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.
Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?
I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.
Any opinions?
Thanks,
Jerry O.

Of the 3 you've mentioned, only Alpenlite would be on my long list. My
short list contained only Excel by Peterson Industries, and Sunnybrook.
We bought the Sunnybrook because the Excel is too well made for my truck.
Lon

I looked at Sunnybrooks in Texas last spring. with only a casual
inspection they seemed well made.

Here (Northern Ca) all I have seen is Brookside, the low end of
Sunnybrooks line, and they did not have any of the qualities you
ascribe to the Sunnybrooks. IMHO they are poorly made, overpriced as
compared to their competition, and must be riding on Sunnybrooks
reputation. A reputation which will suffer if the Brooksides I have
checked out are in fact representative of the line.

I will attempt to find some Sunnybrooks around here to check out
closer this time around, although the Alpenlite will be hard to beat
on quality, if not price.

Thanks for your input.

Jerry Osage

[Steve Wolf]

I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.

Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

[Lon VanOstran]

Post by Steve Wolf
I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.
Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

Nu Wa???????????????????
Suit yourself, but I wouldn't crawl in the basement of one with someone
in the bedroom. Been there. Done that. Scared the crap out of me.

Lon

[Janet Wilder]

Post by Steve Wolf
I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.
Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

That was in 1997. So many things change from year to year. I bought a
1996 King of the Road fifth wheel. Good rig and we were happy with the
quality and construction. When we went to replace it with a 2000 model
the construction had changed radically and those models weren't even
closely related to what we had.

In 1997 NuWa would, for a charge, do custom work, like cabinets, etc. by
2000 they adopted a "what you see is what you get" policy.

It's really important to research the closest model year to what you are
considering. Nothing is static, especially quality JMHO

[rvfulltime]

Post by Janet Wilder

Post by Steve Wolf
I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.
Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

That was in 1997. So many things change from year to year. I bought a
1996 King of the Road fifth wheel. Good rig and we were happy with the
quality and construction. When we went to replace it with a 2000 model
the construction had changed radically and those models weren't even
closely related to what we had.
In 1997 NuWa would, for a charge, do custom work, like cabinets, etc. by
2000 they adopted a "what you see is what you get" policy.
It's really important to research the closest model year to what you are
considering. Nothing is static, especially quality JMHO

I've been reading a yahoo group for HitchHikers and several people have
indicated that they have had NuWa do custom work on their newly
built trailers. If I were to have a custom trailer built I would seriously be
looking at a New Horizons rig. I agree that models and construction
methods and even parts can change dramatically from year to year.

[Janet Wilder]

Post by rvfulltime
I've been reading a yahoo group for HitchHikers and several people have
indicated that they have had NuWa do custom work on their newly
built trailers. If I were to have a custom trailer built I would seriously be
looking at a New Horizons rig. I agree that models and construction
methods and even parts can change dramatically from year to year.

See how often things change! Our friends with a 97 Snowbird wanted an
02 Hitchhiker. They had a couple of custom cabinets made in the
Snowbird. NuWa would not do any custom work for them even though they
were to be repeat customers.They got a Mountain Aire. When we looked in
late 99, there was absolutely no custom work available from NuWa. We
took a factory tour and got that info straight from the factory.

The same month we visited NuWa's factory, we visited Peterson's factory.
Absolutely no comparison. Those Excels were, IMHO, the best-built
production rigs of all. If they would have put 3 axles on the model we
wanted, we'd of had a deal. They listened to us 2 years later and
started to put 3 axles on the same rig, but it was too late. (We'd been
to Travel Supreme, Teton, Newmar, King of the Road, Peterson, NuWa and
Carriage.) We went with Newmar and spent 2 and a half months with the
factory rep customizing the rig.

If I were looking for another fulltiming fiver today, I'd skip Newmar
completely because of the new management and probably go with New
Horizons. In late 1999, however, they had a different owner, and I
would not have bought one then.

[Jerry Osage]

Post by Steve Wolf
I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.
Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

Thanks, Steve. It is nice to have another opinion that reinforces
mine. I just wish that I had done a plant tour last spring when I was
in Oklahoma. They are definitely on my short list.

Jerry O.

[Janet Wilder]

Post by Jerry Osage

Post by Steve Wolf
I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.
Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

Thanks, Steve. It is nice to have another opinion that reinforces
mine. I just wish that I had done a plant tour last spring when I was
in Oklahoma. They are definitely on my short list.
Jerry O.

Did they move? The last I heard NuWa was in Kansas.

[Jerry Osage]

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:49:04 -0600, Janet Wilder

Post by Janet Wilder

Post by Jerry Osage

Post by Steve Wolf
I went with a motorhome in 1997 but was only looking at Nu-Wa when
considering fifth wheels. Their engineers appear to be familiar not only
with camping (the various outlets are where one would need them) but they
are highly capable for winter camping.
Steve
www.wolfwords.com under the motorhome link

Thanks, Steve. It is nice to have another opinion that reinforces
mine. I just wish that I had done a plant tour last spring when I was
in Oklahoma. They are definitely on my short list.
Jerry O.

Did they move? The last I heard NuWa was in Kansas.

No, they are still in Kansas. However, last spring I was in Oklahoma
and Kansas was close. It could have been a 2 day trip. Now I'm near
Smith River, Ca. and Kansas is a 3400 mile round trip.

Jerry O.

[Mike Z]

Post by Jerry Osage
First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.
Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?
I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.
Any opinions?
Thanks,
Jerry O.

I'm with Lon. Crawl in the basements.

And I don't think I would buy one without getting it weighed. I looked at a
tricked out one that had about a 2500 CCC and about 2000# of options, yet
the weight sticker showed the exact same weight as the brochure.

As an aside, the place was closing out year enders for 25% off and still
happily making money.

Mike Z

[rvfulltime]

Post by Jerry Osage
First off, let me say that I have ordered the rv.org package.
Now with that out of the way, does anyone here have any experience
with Nu_Wa and/or Alpenlite trailers?
I am seriously considering the Nu-Wa 35LKRSB 5th wheel and an
Alpenlite 34 RL and as a distant third an Everest 344J.
Any opinions?
Thanks,
Jerry O.

We own a HitchHiker Discover America made by Nu-Wa. The floorplan
you indicated is a HitchHiker Champagne model. HitchHikers are designed
and built for full time living and travelling. The HitchHiker II is not.

Before buying, my wife and I did a lot of research, including reading the
reviews from rv.org. NuWa has a reputation for building quality 5th wheel
trailers and providing excellent service. You will find cheaper trailers of
similar size elsewhere. We chose the the 31.5 LKTG (now 32LKTG)
because we liked the floorplan and didn't want one that was real heavy.

The Everest is the top of the line trailer from Keystone. We looked at
them too, but Keystsone's reputation steered us away. I don't know
much about the Alpenlite.

I doubt that any trailer is built perfectly, without any problems. In the two
years we've owned ours we've had a couple of problems and NuWa
service was outstanding. One time we had a water leak in the kitchen
that we couldn't find. We were near the factory in Kansas, so we dropped
off the trailer and asked them to fix it and to fix the damaged battery tray
caused by my overfilling the batteries. They installed a new batttery tray
free of charge. Another time it was late at night and I had another problem
so I sent them an email. They called back two days later. Still another time
the globe on a lamp broke and they sent us a new globe within a week.

The model you've chosen is heavy. I would look hard and close at the
weight values, including options, of the trailer and the truck you plan to
pull it with. Not all light duty trucks will be able to legally pull it, control it,
and stop it, if you are close the the trailer's maximum weight. A note of
caution, if your truck/trailer combination is knowingly overweight, you
may not be insured.

Good Luck.