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Old 02-01-2019, 04:13 PM   #1
melanie83103
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Default quality of Vista Cruiser or Visa trailers

Hello - can anyone give me input on the quality of the Vista Cruiser and Visa travel trailers? I read that some people have had problems with the axles, which cause the tires to wear out at only 2500 miles? Has anyone had this problem?

We currently own a Gulfstream Amerilite 16BH and are considering upgrading to a used 2012 Visa 23 BHD. We bought our Amerilite new in 2014, and although we have used and enjoyed it in several cross country trips, we have been unimpressed with the quality of its construction. I realize the Amerilite is an entry level trailer, and am wondering if the Visa and Vista Cruiser trailers are a bit better?

Thank you!
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Old 02-02-2019, 04:57 AM   #2
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We recently bought a 2018 Vista 19BFD and we are liking it more as time goes by. We were in your situation wasn't sure of the quality and reports in the past of axles bending on earlier models, we were a little cautious in buying the Vista. But now that we have it and made some changes to it we are very happy with it. We have had three other campers all had fiberglass roofs and that is what we wanted stay with but wanted a larger camper.The quality of all campers is not the best by my experience but the Vista or Visa I think is average perhaps a little better than most.We replaced the small plastic sink with a larger stainless steel sink and was surprised the counter top was constructed using plywood instead of MDF like our past two campers. Being a woodworker I think that is a big advantage having the plywood instead of MDF. We have a neighbor down the road with a 2013 Visa with a double axle and a slide and bunk beds and they are happy with theirs and they said it has held up well with no problems.With the axles there has been some with problems in the past, I called the manufacture and they said that has been fixed. I don't know if the 2012 you are looking at has or had a axle problem. I would find out the strength of the axle the weight capacity and check the cargo capacity of the camper. Gulfstream should have a label somewhere on the camper giving the cargo capacity. I think that was the problem with the earlier Vista's they put a low rated axle on them with very little cargo capacity and the axles were bending not able to support the weight when campers were loaded with cargo.
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Old 02-10-2019, 10:10 AM   #3
amblttow
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Quote:
Originally Posted by melanie83103 View Post
Hello - can anyone give me input on the quality of the Vista Cruiser and Visa travel trailers? I read that some people have had problems with the axles, which cause the tires to wear out at only 2500 miles? Has anyone had this problem?

We currently own a Gulfstream Amerilite 16BH and are considering upgrading to a used 2012 Visa 23 BHD. We bought our Amerilite new in 2014, and although we have used and enjoyed it in several cross country trips, we have been unimpressed with the quality of its construction. I realize the Amerilite is an entry level trailer, and am wondering if the Visa and Vista Cruiser trailers are a bit better?

Thank you!
We have a 2011 Visa 19 RFD and we find the quality equal to or better than others (Jayco, Glendale, Dutchmen, FR to name a few) we have had. Only complaint is this unit was built without sufficient ground clearance- we had a 3" lift kit installed after losing 2 stab. jacks at a gas station entry. By the way- these units don't have axles, they are torsion suspension.

Cheers
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Old 02-10-2019, 11:56 AM   #4
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I don't know what year they made the change from a torsion suspension to a leaf spring axle, it may have been when they changed the name from Visa to Vista. I am a little concerned about the clearance and hoping we don't drag the back end with a dip in the road. Maybe the campers with a leaf spring axle have a little more clearance. Happy to know there is someone that agrees with me that the quality is good or better than some other brands.
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Old 02-10-2019, 01:38 PM   #5
amblttow
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I notice that the Vistas are noticeably higher off the ground- about what we have now. You'll probably be ok on all but very rough roads/entrances and exits. Unfortunate they made the change-torsion suspension is the best.
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Old 02-10-2019, 02:52 PM   #6
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I am glad that we have more height and I agree with the torsion suspension I wish they hadn't made the change,I guess they made the change to reduce cost of building camper. Our past two campers had a torsion suspension a r-pod and Vibe they were just a little to small for us.
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Old 02-10-2019, 03:53 PM   #7
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Flower,
I own a 2012 VISA 19 RGU. I had numerous problems with the build quality upon delivery. Great engineering design- poor execution. Almost 30 things I had to fix upon delivery. BUT, Ultralight is synonymous with ultra-cheap. Less structure is light. I am about to put the third axle on it. BUT, I think you are in luck. The tandem axle rigs I believe use leaf springs. They have more capacity and mount to the light weight/cheap frame in 4 locations not just 2 per axle. In a tandem they mount in 6 places I believe. If torsion springs are overloaded, the tires will have excessive wear on the inside only. I had my delivered with the factory supplied and dealer installed 4" lift kit. I have had no problems with clearance. All Vista's I have seen are lifted. The quality of newer trailers are not what I had in a 1979 I restored. Buying a 7 year old camper could be a good thing. The previous owner has already fixed all of the manufacturing construction flaws. IE: water heater and fresh water tank held in by one metal strap and the water fittings. 6 months in I found the furnace fell through the wimpy shelf it was mounted to and was hanging by the GAS LINE! A lot of the caulking in and out was next to the seams, not sealing the seams. My cabinet over the right window tried to fall off. I discovered that there only a few studs in the whole trailer. The cabinet was screwed to the wallpaper covered Styrofoam only. My water pump failed due to chunks of the tanks fouling the pump. When I replaced it with a quality pump, the installation instructions insisted there be a filter before the pump. My black water tank clogged in the first few months. I had to reach up into the drain (YUCK) and pulled out the round piece of the floor from where the drain went through the floor. Someone dumped the scraps into the toilet. All current sinks are made of paper chip thin plastic. Watch out, the awning mounts at the top are screwed into the single layer of fiberglass/foam. The bottom awning screws were installed without pilot holes and subsequently split the 4" chunk of wood behind the skin. I epoxied the top screw holes and replaced the lower split wood. The rear bumper is too thin to mount anything to it. The "stabilizing" jacks are under rated and are not capable of correcting a tilting situation. I replaced them. They did use 5 ply plywood for the cabinets. But, it is about 1/8" thick. I installed shelves and drawers in the kitchen. It came as just big open boxes inside. The original Dometic single door fridge was not properly installed to duct the heat correctly up and away from the coils. We could never keep things gold in 80 degree weather. It died last year. I replaced it with a 2 door NorCold. Note: when you defrost the fridge the melting water drains out the back of the fridge all over the inside of the trailer behind the fridge, starting to rot the fridge shelf. I installed a drip pan under the water drain to send the excess water out of the camper. 2 doors are the way to go. I did take it out a few times in the salt in winter. The "powder coated" frame is now totally rusting. I am going to paint the frame this spring. All in all the VISA/VISTA platform is a great start, with some elbow grease, vs a $100,000 Airstream. I also wanted the fiberglass roof and am happy with my Purchase.

Did that help?
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Old 02-05-2021, 09:45 AM   #8
CJA
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We purchased out Visa erd new in 2013. Our first long trip we dragged the back end coming out of a gas station and found one of the tires was down to the cord. After some checking we found that the axle was severely out of alignment. I had the axle straightened and put a lift kit on and a new step at the door. This has solved our major issue, but I keep making improvements. I’ve modified the cabinets, added to the battery bank, added a power hitch lift, replaced the mattress, and deal with continuous maintenance.
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:55 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amblttow View Post
We have a 2011 Visa 19 RFD and we find the quality equal to or better than others (Jayco, Glendale, Dutchmen, FR to name a few) we have had. Only complaint is this unit was built without sufficient ground clearance- we had a 3" lift kit installed after losing 2 stab. jacks at a gas station entry. By the way- these units don't have axles, they are torsion suspension.

Cheers
I have a clearance issue with our 2019 19ERD on the tracks that lead to our side yard storage. More the fault of the grade than the trailer. We thought about a raise kit, but instead will have the tracks regraded. BTW, we normally tow with the stabilizer jacks removed. We put on a quick release fitting so it is pretty easy to pull them off & on.

This is our first RV, but if I had to categorize our trailer overall, I would say that there is a big incentive at the factory to throw these together as fast as possible. There isn't much attention to detail. Sorry I can't compare to others.
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Old 12-06-2023, 12:31 PM   #10
rroy
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Hello Flower. Given your knowledge of Cruisers, here's a question for you: we are having trouble unlocking the pass-through storage door on our 2021 19ERD. Do you have any suggestions before I call a locksmith? Thanks.
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