Please anyone and everyone chime in on this...

I tooo would love to hear the pros & cons on this subject...

Thanks A Bunch

I am glad you like your Integrity. That is the website where I first found out about them(oktrailerdepot). I will definatly check them out.

IMO- what it all comes down to is- what do you need, what you want ( that is very different from a need) and how much you have to spend.  most trailer brands are pretty darned good but, of course, you'll always fine someone who had a problem and ,will therefore swear off and swear about, that brand. It cannot be helped.

Otherwise, ask people about their trailer and dealer- which can sometimes be more important.  Don't compair apples to oraanges such as a 25k bison to a 45k 4-star ( just an expamle) I should think one could get alot more luxury and stuff with a 45k trailer so you have to NOT say gee that bison was skimpy.

I bought a used Exiss that fit what I needed ( all ally,LQ) with what I wanted ( midtack) and i could afford it. I would have considered other brands, i was not married to the Exiss sticker, but it just so happens that is what I ended up with and I am satisfied. Is it without blemish or faults> Nope but its close enough for me.

We also bought a CM within the past few weeks and are very happy with it. We looked all winter at so many different trailers it made my head pin. All aluminum is tough to beat and worth the money in the long run. I consider the CM to be a top line or near top line trailer. There are other comparable rigs out there. The Keifer and Exiss are excellent middle of the range trailers, great buys for the buck. After getting so tired of looking at so many trailers, I finally settled on two items to look at and weed out my selections.

1. Get down on your hands and knees and look at the girders or cross beams under the unit. How close to each other and how heavy? You'd be surprised at the corners that are cut to save money here.

2. Drop one of the horse windows to just below horizontal and try to twist it diagonally. If they've spent big money on heavy windows, the quality probably flows throughout the rig. If you can flex the windows easily, they have saved money and gone lighter duty in other areas also.

With these techniques you can tackle a large trailer show and quickly narrow your search down to a few trailers and then concentrate on the features you want.

Wow, paintpaddy... Good advice on checking those windows... They can get pretty abused...

Thanks for that advice...

Window hinges can actually make or break a deal for friends ofours that rodeo full time for a living. They were offered a sponsor trailer, for $0, and turned it down because of piano hinged windows that flexed. One of their horses has a tendancy to rmove cheap windows, so the always go with heavy duty hinges. The integrity my buddy just bought has about the beefiest window hinges you can get.

And N2ridin, you'll get over that

You know the window thing has TOTALLY opened my eyes. The trailer I have now (silver star) I had for just two weeks when an itchy horse tore off the window! I had NO IDEA that could happen until then. I also look for the sturdyness of the windows. The door latches are a big one for me also. I check how the saddle racks are attached also. All this stuff I have had problems on the trailer I own. To me ventalation in the horse part is a must. I do not like those itty bitty bus windows. They don't provide enough air. I live in Louisiana. It's hot here year around.

Thanks for all the great tips!

By the way what does the underneath of an Integrity look like? Is it sturdy?

The underneath floor system on the INTEGRITYs places the cross members on 5" centers---probably one of the best reinforced floors in the industry.  Most aluminum trailers have crossmembers on 10" to 15" centers which is still good, but INTEGRITY goes that extra mile to make it even better & safer.

Please don't bite my head off for this statement, but this is what I have been told.

I always look for joist (floor, wall & roof) 16" O.C. (on center) because that is the standard building code. I have been told that the flooring system that has joist placed closer together is not always better. It is because the floor need that much more support than others. I am sure that is not the solution on all joist placed closer together and I am sure it also doesn't mean that if you see them placed 2 feet apart the floor is strong. Just watch out on things such as joist placing. Closer isn't always better. It could just mean the floor is heavier or not as sturdy so the extra support is needed.

Kelly, I too hope no one bites your head off over a simple trailer discussion.

16" centers are great on a house where you have 2X8 or 2X10 girders on edge sitting still on a cement foundation. For something that's gonna be jigging on down road on 2" or 3" I-beams, you'll get longer life out of the closer together dimensions like in the Intergrity, CM, 4Star, etc.

Paint Paddy, I so agree. I guess I typed things different then I was thinking. I hope everyone just understands what I was pointing out. I did not mean to actually compare the horse trailer to a house, but to compare the purpose of having the studs placed closer together. The pros & cons of it and what the dealer is trying to tell you. (dealer may say, hey look at this extra support but in reality he should be saying, hey the floor is so heavy and not as secure they needed the extra support). Sorry if I messed that up and made it sound different.

There are places who make custom mattresses, I would suggest trying that route.  A local one advertises prices that aren't really all that expensive.

Thanks for your recommendations.  I think I'm going to keep looking for a full size thinner mattress.  You're right, they should be cheaper because it seems eveyone has gone to the extra thick pillow top mattresses.  I really didn't want a foam mattress.

LaVerne