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Nice, man that look like an apartment in that 5th wheel, that is kind of heavy from the specs I pull up, how do your F450 tow that, I know that it was a piece of cake?
Moving On To A Brinkley, But Very Grateful For My Time As A GD Owner
Nice, man that look like an apartment in that 5th wheel, that is kind of heavy from the specs I pull up, how do your F450 tow that, I know that it was a piece of cake?
Keep us posted. Maybe some pics of storage and under carriage. I agree on making ours and even a lot of newer rv's seem outdated.
That is one of the biggest reasons we did not jump, way to much white for us. Yeah you can accessorize with color but white and real camping are not compatable especially when you add dogs into the equasion.. maybe for resort where there is more pavement and less mud for the dogs to track in... and believe me they tried hard to get us..even offered 20 Grand trade for our '14 it made us think real real hard but still could not get past all the white/light lack of color.
At this point, we have only traveled locally, but I anticipate the F450 making easy work of it. We will stretch our legs a bit after my September 30th retirement. November 1st, we head out on a 2500 mile trip to Big Bend NP. That will be the first big test and I'm really looking forward to it. I love hitting the open road!
Apparently, I have only taken pictures of the pretty stuff! Because the Brinkley is not a drop frame, the passthrough storage is similar, but larger (140+ cubic feet), than our 303. It is three inches taller which actually make a pretty big difference. The passthrough is finished beautifully and there are sliding doors to access the area behind it. All keyed alike slam latches on storage doors. Standard RV Lock on the front door, which we had upgraded to on the Reflection. 8,000 lbs. springs and axles, 17.5" H rated Cooper tires. 6 point hydraulic leveling. The outside of the trailer looks as good as the inside. There is no silicone caulk anywhere. On the skirting where other trailers use screws, the Brinkley usually uses rivets. Standard 370 watt solar with 50 amp controller. Upon visual inspection, it appears to be very well put together, but of course, only time will tell.
Real camping? How am I going to do any real camping in this 43' beast? I don't think the color palette is the limiting factor! Up until this point, our camping has been about long weekends and two week road trips to national parks. We are preparing to enter a new phase, post retirement. We're moving to Arizona but intend to return to San Diego for weeks, or possibly months at a time. This is where our 3 year old grandson is! Oh, and our kids and friends as well. We also want to head out and explore the the cities and towns east of Colorado. We will likely seek out full hook-up, paved locations. What we need is a portable apartment and the Brinkley fits that bill perfectly. I anticipate purchasing another RV to use for our more adventurous "real camping". Maybe that will be a small travel trailer, Class C, or even a Class B.
It fits you well then, I have no doubt it will be a good rig we were very impressed with the build that is why we talked to them at the show. it's a beast. We still like being in the woods or forest settings which is why we stayed at 33 ft or less. It still limits us but not as much as a longer rig would. I still miss getting into places not many could with our old Aliner. 33 ft was our compromise length.
A spare room would be great, you're going to love it! One thing that I'm curious about is if the warranty was transferrable. Seeing mixed things about that on line
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We ended up in the 303 for the same reasons as you and enjoy the same type of camping as you. We used portable solar panels so we could seek the trees instead of avoiding them. For the most part, the 33' length was not too limiting. We also enjoy the open desert, which will still be possible in the Brinkley.
The warranty is transferable, but I don't anticipate using it. I have already registered as the new owner with Brinkley. I would come out of pocket a few hundred dollars before I put myself through the pain of RV warranty work. Hopefully Brinkley will approve mobile techs if it is absolutely required.
MODERATOR NOTICE:
All the posts about legal trailer lengths (including mine) have been moved to a separate thread.
It can be found here.
Thanks go out to one of our members for suggesting we clean this thread up to keep it on track.
All the posts about legal trailer lengths (including mine) have been moved to a separate thread.
It can be found here.
Thanks go out to one of our members for suggesting we clean this thread up to keep it on track.
That would follow the pattern of the Fenech brothers. They sold Montana to Keystone then GD to Winnebago..that's what they do and made a boatload of $$$ doing it . Their recipe seems to work for them !
Scott'n'Wendy
Senior Member
I've seen various places where the Brinkley guys are saying this is not true and likely rumours started up by Forest River. Not sure why he singled out Forest River...but...sometimes these rumours are denied for a year or two and then , all of a sudden the rumour happens..lol
Scott'n'Wendy
Senior Member
What gets people excited about Brinkley? Not bashing, I'm not in the market at the moment so I haven't been following RV trends. Is it mainly the styling? It certainly stands out. One camped next to us late in the season last fall. I'm not sure if I'm a fan or not atm. Remember seeing a trailer that looked like that on the outside in the early 90's. Probably before they learned to make swoopy decals and just painted the outside.
IMO, the only significant problems currently mass produced RV trailer have are barely capable frames and severely under engineered suspension. While the electrical system isn't the best, it is probably fine for 95% of rv'ers. Does the Brinkley brand build their own frames and did they design a significantly better suspension? The rest of the RV is just a wood and aluminium box with third party vendor's appliances and bits in it.
IMO, the only significant problems currently mass produced RV trailer have are barely capable frames and severely under engineered suspension. While the electrical system isn't the best, it is probably fine for 95% of rv'ers. Does the Brinkley brand build their own frames and did they design a significantly better suspension? The rest of the RV is just a wood and aluminium box with third party vendor's appliances and bits in it.
Brinkley does a lot of things different than most of the RV's out there.
No ugly big boxy valances.
Dovetail drawers with self close on drawers and doors.
Integrated blinds into the window trim for a clean look.
17.5" Cooper tires standard.
Over size axles in some cases.
Azdel walls
Painted finishes vs stain.
High grade caulking on the roof that is almost maintenance free.
Lots of other things of course. They are unique and more homey (IMO) looking inside vs the same Elkhart IN styling.
Are they perfect. Heck no but they do have a pretty good reputation as of now. Same as GD did early on. CS is top notch like GD was early on. They're still new and growing so a better gage will be in 5+ years.
I'm kind-a with Scott'nWendy on this... Not sure of the attraction. It is sort of like when folks went gaga over Alliance when they started. And if we back up further - the same went for Grand Design.
I think it has to do with people hoping the next new RV manufacturer to startup will be better than the last. And since new manufacturers/vehicles always attract attention and usually have some new 'whatever' to attract that attention folks flock to it and fawn all over it.
Not unlike new housing areas, new cars/trucks, TVs, etc. After a while they become normal and whatever attraction there was ends up blending in with the rest of the similar brands as there really isn't anything new or innovative.
We came close to buying one when they first came out. A big problem for us was the payload on them. The one we were looking at was the one like the Reflection 303. It had less payload than our 2014 Reflection 303.
Some of this is just personal preference (beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder): valences, paint versus stain, styling, unique and more homey, blinds in the windows, dovetailed drawers.
Better: (but is it really a selling point): 17/5" tires (there are lots of good 16" tires); 9/16" studs would be a better selling point IMO. Adzel walls.
I'm not sure about "high grade caulking". Actually never heard of this. I'd like to know the brand so I could start using it.
Again - I think everything comes down to personal preference. For every upside, there are downsides. e.g. I have blinds in some windows at home - not a cheap experience when they fail; but I like them.
One thing left out which also might differentiate then (for now) - the Curt spring loaded pin box. Maybe their paint scheme too - but that too is a personal preference.
Reputation: they are getting as many complaints on line as older manufacturers. A friend who just brought one home last week has already had to take it back to the dealer for inoperable frig, misaligned cabinet/drawer fronts, bad hinge on storage door and some other odds and ends.
The Brinkley line certainly has its following. And it definitely sports a unique modern look. Also, will take the testimonials about its quality too. Quite the good looking trailer and hope it serves the OP well.
But, we fall in the camp of being more interested in the "utility" of a 5er that is reasonably priced, lighter weight for towing, and has certain amenities that fit our needs "camp" living wise. Sure, one could spend more money on fit and finish, but we never planned on doing so anyways since we never felt like we could spend that much time in a small confined area when touring while camping anyways.
We always planned on this RV experience as a short term (5 - 10yr or sooner due to life events) excursion. In our opinion, our plain old 2019 Reflection interior/exterior along with a few upgrades (thermostats, fridge/pantry cooling, EasyStart, IS, RV Armor roof) still put us at a price we can enjoy and eventually move back to stick built living without crying to much about the cost to camp ratio. This is just our example of "our own". Happy Trails!
But, we fall in the camp of being more interested in the "utility" of a 5er that is reasonably priced, lighter weight for towing, and has certain amenities that fit our needs "camp" living wise. Sure, one could spend more money on fit and finish, but we never planned on doing so anyways since we never felt like we could spend that much time in a small confined area when touring while camping anyways.
We always planned on this RV experience as a short term (5 - 10yr or sooner due to life events) excursion. In our opinion, our plain old 2019 Reflection interior/exterior along with a few upgrades (thermostats, fridge/pantry cooling, EasyStart, IS, RV Armor roof) still put us at a price we can enjoy and eventually move back to stick built living without crying to much about the cost to camp ratio. This is just our example of "our own". Happy Trails!
Scott'n'Wendy
Senior Member
Like Larry says, whether some of those points are positives or not depends on the customer. But the oversize axle point is interesting. Did they engineer a proper/better mounting to the frame? Is the frame stronger? Better spring design? If it is just same old, same old, then the main weak point of trailers is still there...with heavy duty axles on 1920's leaf spring and mount design that will wear out in 1000 miles and possibly crack the frame, break a leaf, shear a spring bolt...you know...we've read about it hundreds of times.
But if it's different, I'd really be interested.
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