Cruiser Aire questions

[glock19]

I am searching for a fifth wheel trailer to replace my 2010 Crossroads Cruiser. In reading the various forums, there seems to be and lot of good and bad in every brand. You would expect this with the quality of most trailers being manufactured today.


My question is for owners of Cruiser Aires. How pleased are you with your trailer? Are there any inherent issues that seem to be common with these trailers over the last couple of years.


I ask this because in reading about other brands there seems to be issues like frame problems, peeling decals, leaking, and other things that are occurring in a large number of the units manufactured. I don't mind dealing with problems but I hate to buy a trailer knowing something is definitely going to give me trouble.


Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Papa-T]

We have the 2016 Cruiser Aire CAF25SE which to my surprise was longer than expected at 29’ 9’. We had the usual led lights go out on the awning. The one thing we didn’t pay attention to was the main slide closes off access to the bedroom and the bathroom when closed. We’ve never owned a camper that did that and we just didn’t put it together in our head when purchasing. But besides that luckily we haven’t had any other issues however we do keep ours in an enclosed metal building which saves the roof, decals, etc.

[stormseeker]

Our 2015 has had a couple of component problems, like a heater board failure but nothing in the construction of the unit itself. We moved down from a much more expensive unit and although we do miss the luxury, we don't miss the additional weight and length in hauling and maneuvering and have not found the Cruiser Aire poorly built.

I think it's pretty much the luck of the draw on how solid a unit you end up with although you can improve your chances with a really thorough check out before purchase. The bad fading issues may have been a systemic problem but we never experienced it (using a cover). However, I don't think you should get spooked by reading forums because very few people write in to say they don't have any problems and those that do have problems are usually in the minority.

One thing I would strongly suggest is to upgrade your tires before you hook up for the first time. There are enough forum threads -I could tell my own horror story- that indicate tires to be a systemic problem that you need to be aware of. I think it's a problem with most brands.

And stuff happens. Do an exhaustive walkthrough before you buy and get any potential problems fixed up front. That's really all you can do. Oh, and have fun with it. The joys far outweigh the annoyances.

[Papa-T]

Yea we dropped down from a 36’ also. Good idea about the tires. I just replaced my China bombs that came with the unit a few months ago. I purchased Goodyear Endurance and also replaced the spare. Great tires. Don’t worry about my tires exploading now.

[Borkfarm]

We purchased a Cruiser Aire and after 21 nights of camping and winter setting in we had a list of about 15 items that needed attention. Nothing serious, just a leaking slide seal, one seal cut short so flies were enjoying our camper every warm morning in the cool fall days. It's just I and my wife, so we have plenty of room. Ours is the floor plan with a rear kitchen and also the outdoor kitchen. We love camping and we have a very good dealer in Iowa.

[glock19]

Originally Posted by stormseeker

And stuff happens. Do an exhaustive walkthrough before you buy and get any potential problems fixed up front. That's really all you can do. Oh, and have fun with it. The joys far outweigh the annoyances.

Thanks for your comments, however I'm not sure I can agree with you about the pre-delivery inspection. Naturally, a buyer should spend a lot of time inspecting the trailer before taking delivery. This inspection only shows visible problems that happen during trailer construction. Issues that are chronic (i.e. frames, de-lamination, slide problems, decals that deteriorate) that occur frequently 6 months to a year later can not be detected at delivery time.



I've owned several trailers in the past 35 years and fortunately never had a serious problem (or at least one that I couldn't fix). I've also seen the quality of newer trailers take a nosedive. For my next trailer I would like to select one that at least is not a "known" problem producer.


As far as tires, my first move will be to change out wheels to 16" and mount LT tires. I did exactly that on my 2010 Cruiser.