Jayco Qwest 8U, Coleman Taos, or Starcraft Venture 1706??
KyKat
to one of three models:
Jayco Qwest 8U
Coleman Taos
Starcraft Venture 1706
Somewhat leaning toward the Coleman because of it's reputation
but the Starcraft Venture was a very attractive looking unit although
a little bit more expensive.
Could anyone make any recommendations or comment on these
models? The starcraft also brags about the "aqualon" fabric?
Is this a sales gimmick or is this actually a superior fabric?
Thanks for any advise that you could give.
Debbie
like best of the three campers. All 3 brands have great
warranties and good reputations. I have no complaints about the
Aqualon on my camper, its supple and durable, havent had a
condensation problem or leaks. I would check the reputation of
the dealers you are considering by word of mouth or agencies
like the BBB and figure in the distance of these dealers as well
for maintenance purposes.
Debbie, Buffalo NY
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LtlHippo
Aqualon on my camper, its supple and durable, havent had a
condensation problem or leaks. >>
We haven't had a problem either but then again we haven't gotten to camp with
it yet. Seriously, people say if you just undo a small corner or two, there
shouldn't be a problem. Our Venture looks like a very reliable, well made
camper and I am thrilled so far.
Barb-Animal lover, nature lover, camper, and mom.
Jim and Linda King
KyKat,
First of all, what is your tow vehicle? If it requires a weight distributing
hitch, forget the Starcraft. Jayco's use surge brakes, which do not work with
conventional sway controls (although you may not need sway control with a
camper of this smaller size).
Personally, we prefer the Sunbrella, as we had problems with our Palomino
tenting sweating terribly inside. Others have not all had the same experience
with vinyl coated tenting
.
Linda King
'94 Chevy Astro
'99 Coleman Bayside
ewa...@my-deja.com
owner of a 1999 Starcraft Venture 1706, I would be happy to answer some
more specific questions about this model in detail for you. The
U-shaped dinette is what really sold us on this model (didn't see it on
many other small units). See my reply to tmangan under the thread
"Venture Pop Ups" for some more information. Good Luck and happy camper
hunting!
-Erik Waibel
'99 Starcraft Venture 1706
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
KyKat
mc
"If it requires a weight distributing hitch, forget the
Starcraft..."
Can you explain your rationale here? I don't understand.
mc
Jim and Linda King
>
>"If it requires a weight distributing hitch, forget the
>Starcraft..."
>
>Can you explain your rationale here? I don't understand.
Well, it's not my rationale at all. We found out when doing our shopping for
our popup last year, that Starcraft will void the frame warranty if you use a
weight distributing hitch. Apparently the frames cannot withstand the extra
stress.
Same with Jaycos and sway control hitches. The surge brakes and sway control
do not mix. Apparently there is a new sway control product just out that is
compatible with the surge brakes.
Our Astro needed the WD hitch, and we knew we wanted sway control from the
start. That narrowed our selection quite a bit.
thumper
Same with Jayco's???
You certainly can use a WD hitch with a Jayco! And, as you mentioned, there
is indeed a Sway Control available for surge brakes made by ACAR. However,
I've yet to hear from a Jayco owner who's actually needed it.
Jim and Linda King <love2...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:20000327230906...@ng-fv1.news.cs.com...
Mark J Strawcutter
>Starcraft..."
>
>Can you explain your rationale here? I don't understand.
Because Starcraft sez "don't use a WD hitch". I believe it has
something to do with the A-frame not being strong enough.
Mark J Strawcutter
Indiana PA
'97 Coleman Key West
Mark J Strawcutter
>
>You certainly can use a WD hitch with a Jayco!
Please read what she wrote:
>> Same with Jaycos and sway control hitches.
Mark J Strawcutter
thumper
Please re-read the entire post she made. Nothing at all against Linda in the
least, she's the best.
However, in the context of reading her response moving from the usability of
using a WD hitch on Starcrafts due to weak frames in the previous sentence
and going right into, 'Same with Jayco and sway control hitches', can, to
the casual observer, mean that not only is there an issue with not being
able to use WD hitches but also Sway Controls with Jayco's.
Both by the way are absolutely incorrect, so I figured I'd take the time to
properly clear any potential confusion and kill two birds with one stone.
Admittedly, I'm a little hypersensitive being one who's been left with an
incorrect impression or two in the past and would much prefer erring to
over-clarification than to risk any possible wrong impressions.
Again, for the record, You most certainly can use a WD hitch and even a Sway
Controller with a Jayco, if you so desire. However, in my experience, both
are a waste of money unless you actually find that you need them for your
specific application.
Better?
Mark J Strawcutter <mjs...@grove.iup.edu> wrote in message
news:Yo2E4.9$Nz5....@news.sgi.net...
Jazzmanian
Here's what I've compared to date...I've been comparing 10'
models, but most of this should apply.
Jayco good items...
-flooring coated bottum and sides before assembly.
-metal wheel wells
-rollers on bed slide outs
-1 piece tent (less zippers to break)
-larger fridge standard
-generally found jayco to be lightest dry weight against similar
models by coleman.
-standard with roof vent
-one some floorplans could access fridge while "down"
Coleman good items...
-coated tent support poles inside
-niceties, bells and whistles
-bed support poles attached to beds for quick setup
-coleman ten material is reported to have less condensation
-full tubular steel frame for extra strength
-multi-part tent (could be less expensive to repair/replace a
single panel)
Starcraft good items
-Aqualon ! strong, bendable, water tight
-standard roof vents
-metal wheel wells
-frdge access when down as well
Jayco bad items...
-vinyl tenting seems lowest tech of all three, can't be used in
cold weather.
-C-channel frame
-bed support poles seperate
-one piece tent (could be problem if you need to repair/replace)
Coleman bad items...
-plastic wheel wells (one rock in cool weather)
-plastic sliders for beds
-multi part tent (more zippers to break)
-smaller fridge
-in many floorplans swing level galley blocks fridge access when
the unit is down.
Starcraft bad items...
-plastic sliders for beds
-sparseness of bells and whistles (still very nice)
-C-channell frame
Of note - I do not know yet if the starcraft is a multipart
tent, so if you like or dislike that option you might want to
check.
Also of note, I prefere the aluminum covering to vinyl. It has
been reported that vinyl sides can crack from road use, where
aluminum has a certain amount of bend to handle this. Also both
covers are strong, but if the bad circumstance of a harder hit,
I'd rather see a dent in aluminum, that a crack/hole in vinyl.
Well that's some of my research results so far.
Jim and Linda King
>control
>> do not mix.
>Linda,
>
>Same with Jayco's???
>
>You certainly can use a WD hitch with a Jayco!
If you look again at my original post, I said, "The same with Jaycos and sway
control hitches". Did not mean to infer any conflict with Jaycos and WD; only
a conflict with the standard sway controls.
Jim and Linda King
>
>Please re-read the entire post she made. Nothing at all against Linda in the
>least, she's the best.
>
>However, in the context of reading her response moving from the usability of
>using a WD hitch on Starcrafts due to weak frames in the previous sentence
>and going right into, 'Same with Jayco and sway control hitches', can, to
>the casual observer, mean that not only is there an issue with not being
>able to use WD hitches but also Sway Controls with Jayco's.
>
>Both by the way are absolutely incorrect, so I figured I'd take the time to
>properly clear any potential confusion and kill two birds with one stone.
Could you explain why you say both of my statements are incorrect?
thumper
What was incorrect was the two possible misinterpretations that I mentioned
and hoped to clarify. As I wrote, in the strictest sense, you were
absolutely correct and I wanted to make sure no casual readers came off
thinking there was problem using WD hitches and/or appropriate Sway Controls
with a Jayco if needed. That's all! Certainly didn't mean to ruffle any
feathers, that's for sure! :-)
Jim and Linda King <love2...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:20000329105936...@ng-fl1.news.cs.com...
Jazzmanian
Colemans. Roofs, seals, tires, etc.
Im just making an obvservation here, but it does give me
worries, if Coleman is such good stuff...why does it need
repairs so often ?
dbrooks
I have 1706. Used one season so far.
It's great.
db
Jim and Linda King wrote:
> >Linda:
> >
> >"If it requires a weight distributing hitch, forget the
> >Starcraft..."
> >
> >Can you explain your rationale here? I don't understand.
>
> Well, it's not my rationale at all. We found out when doing our shopping for
> our popup last year, that Starcraft will void the frame warranty if you use a
> weight distributing hitch. Apparently the frames cannot withstand the extra
> stress.
>
> Same with Jaycos and sway control hitches. The surge brakes and sway control
> do not mix. Apparently there is a new sway control product just out that is
> compatible with the surge brakes.
>
> Our Astro needed the WD hitch, and we knew we wanted sway control from the
> start. That narrowed our selection quite a bit.
>
Jim Carnes
board are with Colemans. Discussion of Coleman trailers may seem to dominate
the discussions at times, but remember that Coleman is the sales leader (last
time I heard anyway) and has been for a long time which means that there are
more Coleman trailers out there than other brands.
Bob Woods
<jazzmania...@yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:
> Has anyone else noticed all the posts re: problems with they're
> Colemans. Roofs, seals, tires, etc.
>
> Im just making an obvservation here, but it does give me
> worries, if Coleman is such good stuff...why does it need
> repairs so often ?
>
Not necessarily to defend Coleman here, but, it seems that within this
newsgroup there are more Coleman owners that other brands, and because
there are more Coleman owners there will be more Coleman problems. I
will, however say there were definitely problems with the roof/seal in
past years, but that was fixed in 1999. We Hope. <VBG> The real issue
there is setting up a transferrable warranty on the roof for second
buyers.
Tires are warrantied by the tire maker, not by the trailer maker, just
like cars, and that shouldn't be a buying factor (except for tire size,
I suppose) with a new pop-up.
Bob (Cathy, the Kids and the dog)
'73 Jayco 10 Eagle
'00 Coleman Mesa