I am looking at used LQ trailers. 8’ wide, 7’6" slant. What types of things should I be looking for. I-m going from a 2+1. What problems might a used LQ have? 2006. Thanks in advance
Look for leaks, evidence of prior leaks! I bought a used one site Unseen from a dealer. I bought based on pictures and their word that it was pristine. When it arrived it had obviously leaked and had been leaking for a while. The dealer ended up taking it back and whatever service tech had “certified “ it clean lost their job.
make sure you personally inspect it and have someone who knows trailers go over it as well.
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All the same problems an RV has: plumbing, toilet, gas leaks, water leaks, sticky awning, fridge that won’t switch from power to gas, on and on. More if there is a slideout. Yes I owned one. I also lived in an RV for 9.5 months. If you are really looking at buying a true LQ trailer, I’d take it to an RV dealership with a service center for a PPE.
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Other than the obvious horse trailer stuff- Leaks would be my number one, seals around doors and windows, no soft spots anywhere. Then that everything (that you aren’t willing to fix) works- have them plug it in, check AC, appliances, water, holding tanks, etc. How heavy is it to crank up and down if there’s a manual jack- I wish I had checked this one before buying mine for sure!
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Something you should consider is adding an electric jack if it doesn’t have one. Living quarters add a ton of weight to a trailer, especially if you’re going 8 wide.
My new trailer also has an electric awning, but that wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me.
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Look at the quality of cabinetry and doors. This is a good indication as of the quality used on the rest of the components. I’m not going to brand bash here - but there are a lot of very popular LQ trailers that are very poorly made - especially when it comes to the living area. If they use cheap cabinets and doors you can rest assured they used the cheapest hardware for the slide-out and you will have trouble.
Arguably the most popular brand in our area has damage to the flooring because of their poor slide-outs.
Whatever you do- do not buy a new Bison. I am posting my friends story from her FB:
I am not sure where to start. I am not into drama and I have been very quiet about this. Feel free to share.
We started a search for a new trailer over the winter. We have friends who had purchased Bison Premiers and were happy with them. We found one we liked. We bought it on April 20. When we got to the dealership, they were repairing items on the trailer.
We arrived early and they weren’t ready for us. The hot water heater did not work even after all their prechecks. They replaced the board in the hot water heater and that seemed to fix it. We hauled the trailer home. The blanket rack broke on the way home. Molding in the living quarters came loose. The shower faucet was not sealed. The hot water heater quit working again.
Every haul resulted in another problem. The joke every time I hook up is “What will break this time?”
Breaking screw heads, kick wall separating, light fixtures falling and breaking, caulking around the sink coming loose, seams separating.
We were told by Bison we needed needed to do the repairs and they would send the supplies. I told them no.
They then said we had to take it to a warranty center. That appointment took several weeks to get and 6hrs of driving by the time it was all said and done.
They were supposed to fix everything and do a complete inspection. That was in May. They fixed everything we told them to fix. They did not inspect the trailer.
We took the trailer home. IMMEDIATELY when I arrived home I had more problems. More kick wall separating, window latches breaking, and when we had our trailer repair guy out we found seams that were NEVER sealed and there was water leaking between the outer and inner walls.
Bison paid for our technician to repair the issues and sent the sealer for the seams to be repaired. That was in May.
In June, the handle in the shower fell off, more screws started backing out.
In July rubber was dry rotting and rubber grommets began falling off, the slide out began leaking, the closet wall completely failed and fell apart, the thermostat quit working properly, the seams on the gooseneck began separating, the pull out couch is breaking, the table bed supports broke, more molding broke, the outer skin panels on the trailer began separating.
We contacted Bison again. The trailer was now becoming unsafe to haul. The earliest appointment at their warranty center was August 27, that was in mid July. I set the appointment and told them they needed to have it back to me by September 6th as I have commitments. So the trailer sat for weeks waiting on the appointment.
My husband sent them another list of issues and requested the trailer be replaced or refunded as we are paying for an item we can’t use. The request was denied.
While we waited on the appointment date, an attorney recommended we have an independent trailer repair technician inspect the trailer. In addition to our list, the repair tech also found broken welds, screws that we never installed to bolt down items and other problems. He diagnosed the trailer with structural failure.
We dropped the trailer off at the warranty center on August 27th. We made multiple calls during the week to find out the status. The calls were not returned until August 30th and that was just to state they hadn’t looked at the trailer. On Friday, August 31, I decided to drive up there. My husband called about an hour prior to my arrival to find out the status on the trailer. They stated they were just getting ready to pull the trailer in. When I arrived an hour later (2:30pm) the trailer was still sitting in the lot. They were a little surprised to see me. I told them I would be waiting on the couch until they inspected the trailer that was dropped off for our appointment 4.5 days previous. It was not a pleasant conversation as my patience has completely run out. After about 30 minutes they came to get me to show me the issues.
They took me to the shop to view the problems with the trailer and explain why they could not repair it.
I appreciate the time they took and the honesty they had with me.
Some of the observations from The warranty center:
With the weight of only one person in the horse compartment and rear tack, the flooring was crackling. When the mats were pulled up the welds on the trailer floor are broken.
One of the main welds on the nose cone is cracked and shifting.
There is seam separation in the gooseneck on both sides and the external wall. They took pictures with me present while they were explaining to me how and why this happens. We also sent pictures and video to Bison.
There are broken welds from the nose cone all the way to the rear of the trailer. And those are the ones that can be seen without pulling the trailer apart.
There are welds broken under the mangers.
The skin is separating from the trailer in MULTIPLE locations.
All these separations are allowing water to get under the skin and more separated when I hauled it home from the warranty center.
The warranty center stated this is due to internal failure of the supporting structures of the trailer. There was no way to identify that defect without pulling the trailer apart to find the problem.
They also stated they had previously told Bison that this sounded like a structural failure after they had spoken with my husband regarding the issues. I was told by the warranty center that Bison told them it was NOT structural failure and they would just need to replace the skin and apply more glue. That Bison would be sending new skin pieces for the nose cone with glue. The warranty center told me they could do what Bison suggested but they were not going to as it was just a bandaid and would NOT address the “UNDERLYING STRUCTURAL PROBLEM”. They told me this trailer would have to go back to the manufacturer, be broken down, structural items addressed.
The warranty center was very direct about the issues (which I appreciate) and stated the cracked weld in the nose cone is indicative of a structural problem within the trailer. That those do not fail without problems internally. They also listed several of the structures internally that could be causing the issue. However, without tearing down the trailer he could not tell me where the problem was located.
When you get in the gooseneck to get to the bed, the floor under the bed now crackles with the weight of only one person.
This also resulted in 6 more hours of driving to return with an unusable trailer. Bison was called (no answer and the call was 45 minutes prior to the close of business). They were sent an email with the warranty center copied as well as the dealership. The warranty center immediately denied they had told me there was a structural problem.
The dealership responded saying they were sure we would hear from Bison.
6hrs later still no response from Bison. If everyone else has checked their email and responded, I know Bison has too. I told them they have until Tuesday at 5pm to come up with a solution or an attorney would be involved.
This has cost us tons of $ in just hauling the trailer to and from the warranty center. I have a very expensive trailer with less than 10k miles that we bought new in April that can’t be used due to it literally falling apart at the seams. I have not even listed ALL the problems we have had. I have a manufacturer that has been extremely difficult to work with, unresponsive to many phone calls and emails and extremely rude in many interactions. We are paying for a trailer we can’t use. Repair appointments take over a month to get in.
We have hauled one horse at a time in this four horse. It had two horses in it for 90 miles. Over 5000 miles the trailer was empty. It has never been fully loaded.
The saga continues.
DO NOT buy a BISON. RUN far and fast.
These are just some of the pictures
Feel free to share and save someone some heartache
Bison Coach
