ROG Formation
Thor Industries entered the luxury fifth wheel market in 2010 by creating Redwood RV, a new brand tasked with developing, designing and selling high-end luxury fifth wheels. Redwood RV began as a sister company of Crossroads RV and in 2013 the brands were merged under the management of Crossroads. In 2017, CrossroadsRV was merged under the management of Keystone RV.
Initial discussions on forming an owner’s club were raised in early 2013. It received some interest, but due to the very small number of owners it gained little traction.
When the company first began selling Redwoods, Redwood RV began an online owner’s forum, which was later sold to a for-profit company. It has no affiliation with the Redwood Owners Group.
Prior to the 2014 Rally, owners Chuck Treadway and Andy Patterson revived the discussion on the need for an Owner’s Club. At the 2014 Rally, they scheduled a meeting with all owners attending the Rally. The idea was well received and the owners clearly wanted the ROG to have ownership of its own not-for-profit website and a forum that was not subject to spam and advertising. After the meeting, Chuck and Andy met with the Crossroads President and General Manager who were very supportive of establishing an owner’s group.
Several owners were recruited to assist in developing the Redwood Owners Group. Owner and Redwood dealer Tony Lane met with the Crossroads/Redwood President and received a $10,000 donation for start-up funds. Chuck also developed an excellent relationship with the Redwood General Manager.
The development of the ROG took about 9 months of hard work for this dedicated group of volunteers. A new website was developed, and Tony graciously gifted his forum to the ROG.
Redwood RV hosted the annual rally until 2015 but starting with 2016 the rally has been planned and hosted by the ROG.
The ROG is a separate legal entity from Redwood RV and is entirely managed by fellow owners that freely volunteer their time.
ROG Achievements
Since its formation, Redwood owners have benefited greatly from the relationship between ROG and the Redwood Management Team.
The ROG has achieved:
- Transferable Warranty – the ROG broached this subject with Redwood management and negotiated the RV industry’s first transferable warranty.
- Annual National Rally – beginning with the 2016 rally, the ROG has planned, funded and hosted all subsequent national rallies. Redwood is the only Crossroads brand to hold a National Rally.
- Redwood Technician Complimentary Service – the availability of Service Center technicians commenced at the 2015 rally, negotiated by the ROG.
- Owner/Management relations – the ROG has maintained an excellent working relationship with the Redwood Management Team on behalf of all owners. This relationship is not available to with other Crossroads brands.
- Redwood President/Management Team Q&A – the ROG negotiated an annual discussion and Q&A session at the National Rally with the President & Management Team.
- Access to a well managed, safe and secure website and forum, operated by a non-profit organization, without wasting bandwidth on advertising material.
- Access to a website and forum where Redwood owners own the copyright to all content, ensuring current and future owners have control of the data in perpetuity.
- Owner input into product development – current enhancements to storage, suspension, brakes and tires are a result of owner feedback, facilitated by ROG.
- March 2021 Redwood announced that Sailun 17.5″ H-rated tires would be standard equipment on new units. This had been a two-year negotiation between ROG and the Redwood Management Team.