# ultra-lites



## bailey1 (Aug 9, 2011)

Hey from nw pa. Better half and I just put the denali tt away for the winter, and as usual the first thing I do is start surfing and shopping for a new unit. I talked to an rv salesman, and he said something I hadn't given any thought to. He said on an ultra-lite or super lite 5er, you lose structural integrity because they use 1/4 inch osb for the flooring. He said eventually a person would experience problems down the road. Any thoughts?


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

He made a generality that is not true. Never believe a salesmen. You need to do your homework and the salesmen helps you acquire the rig, but knowing about rigs ultra light or not are your responsibility. The RV Salesman is dishonest, not because they lie, but because they don't tell you everything.

First, not all ultra lites are made with 1/4" OSB. This day and age there are many other materials that are used to gain strength and lose weight and OSB is one material if properly used is as strong as plywood. It's also true that heavier rigs are not necessarily stronger either. The larger ones will have problems because as they are bouncing down the road, they bounce heavier and harder than ultra lights which break and loosen things up. Then this will be the argument that an ultralight trailer salesman will use. Remember that Salesmen will often slam the competition in order for their product to look better in favor of sticking to the attributes of their rigs - they are trying to prevent you from leaving for the "other side".

The biggest problem you will run into with trailers is that the salesman can't see the interior walls and construction of the rigs they sell. They can show you diagrams of how the trailer is put together and how it compares to others, but that doesn't mean the factory follows this process consistently. All rigs I have checked including mine will have some manufacturing problem no matter what was designed. Things from loose wires, wire run through metal opening withOUT protective materials, different materials which go against design and safety still occur, and many many more. Salesman's fault? No. Company's fault? No. It's luck of the draw with the delivery pressures at the factory and who's doing the work. Even the highly regulated automotive industry has these problems and with the RV industry not really having self-regulation within the factory, the problems aren't gonna be related to ultra lite versus heavyweight.

This is why one RV brand owner will have a great rig and another will have a "lemon".

You'll need to measure way more in support than whether it's lightweight or not. The weight only helps with the tow vehicle used for towing. I guarantee you I get better fuel mileage with my big Ford, towing my 14,000 lb trailer than others with a small SUV towing a lightweight trailer. Get what works for you, then the rest is a lot of luck. Just hope that the good luck far outweighs your bad luck or you'll be changing your rig combination to get there.

Enjoy your search.


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