To my knowledge most of the Ragen 5th Wheel trailers were built by Lippert. Still waiting to get mine back from the dealership in Santa Rosa for a collapsed spring equalizing bracket failure. Which bent the other brackets. All Brackets and Suspension parts are being replaced thanks to the extended warranty.

 

Generally speaking, I think the hanger brackets, suspension, axles and brakes on most RV's are from either dexter or al-ko. I don't know on the ragen, though. I've seen some trailers have cracks around one of the hangers that appeared to be from underfilling the weld at the end of the bead.

In any case, glad they are taking care of it under warranty for you.

 

I just got a call at 4:45 pm the trailer will be ready tomorrow. The axles were not replaced, but are Dexter's. Once I get it home I'm having a freind of mine beef up the cheesy factory brackets. Also Lokking at the pin box area for defects/cracks as some have noted on this and other sites.

 

Well, got the trailer back today. It runs straight. The extended warranty cover all of the suspension component plus $300.00 of the On site road repair in order to move the trailer.. There is a $100.00 Deductable and the original teardown $300.00inspection they did not cover. The bill came to $2220 and some change.
My cost out of pocket $143.00 Road Repair, $441.00 three new tires, Deductable $100.00 and $300.0 Inspection, for a grand total of $984.00 out of pocket.

They would'nt pay for the plastic inner wheel well that's on me too. I'll have to order it.

Right off the bat I noticed the 6 new Frame brackets and shackles are all considerably thicker then the factory ones. Still no lateral support though. I'm having a friend take care of that. This weekend while I was out I looked at several new toyhaulers and guess what, they all have some form of additional bracing welded in or on the front and back of each frame bracket! Also checked the pin box no problems there. YET.

Anyway y'all have a happy New Year!

 

What a pain in the rear...

Glad you got it fixed.

I'm looking at a bigger toyhauler myself, but I generally go used. I don't get to go often enough to justify the depreciation cost of a new one. Also I wonder from the stories I've heard if it isn't easier and less aggrivating to just fix anything that comes up yourself, rather than messing with warranty...

 

I would agree with you on a used TH. The depreciation is a killer and if you take out a long term loan it's harder to trade-in without coming up with a ton of cash down to make up for that depreciation. This is our 2nd TH the first was a 20' Tahoe tow behind. As we have figured out bigger isn't always better. The 5er is great we love it but because of it's size we can't get to some of the places we used to go unless we sleep in the truck tent and dry camp. On the flip side, we can load our 14' aluminum boat with motor attached and on it's trailer inside the 5er and go to the lake. I love seeing peoples eyes open up when we take it out. We could not do this if we had a 5er with a seperate garage area.

Only draw back to a used trailer is buying one which had major problems that were not fixed properly. I would also agree if you can fix the issues yourself it will save a lot of time and money. If I could weld thats what I would have done. I had bought the extended warranty which helped, a lot. I am having a friend of mine reinforce all of the frame to suspension brackets so this never happens again.

We generally use our TH once a month and not always hauling toys, we love the vesatility and extra room by using the ramp as a room/deck. Out at New Melonas Res. we once used it as a dance floor. We have small home so we also use it as an addition to the house quite often so our friends can have thier privacy when they stay the weekend.

Good luck on your search!

 

Yeah, I kind of prefer a seperate garage. Patio Hauler's have neat tip out large windows and velcro screens that make it a nice, open area. It also doesn't have the typical drop down rear wall, and uses a ramp.

The bummer factor with my 30' is that it would be nice to have a sleeper sofa in addition to the dinette, and that it isn't wide enough to fit two big utilities side by side. It's tough to turn the 2nd one sideways when it's half on the ramp.

I'm actually thinking about looking for one of the 39' versions of the same thing, with a 14' garage and a sofa and dinette... To get two quads in I'd only have to turn the 1st one sideways (which is easy when it's all the way on the flat floor), and if I wanted to I could fit 3...