Travel trailer questions

[sneaky]

Just going to add that almost all of these are manufactured in northern Indiana. I worked with some of these sales guys. And yes, they are a slimy sort of folk. And northern Indiana is a shit hole.

Other than the ones made in Pendleton, OR that get hauled back to Indiana

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[sneaky]

LOL. So the little truck wasn't actually hooked up. Whoever has that site has an incredible sense of humor. I will say, the hygienist that works on my teeth told me earlier this summer they were in a campground that had a Tacoma with a fifth wheel plate. She and her husband are long time campers and the girl is no fool. Said 100% they were pulling a fifth wheel. That's next level for sure.

We drove around a couple huge long term campgrounds yesterday looking at stuff. We saw one Northwoods camper. An Arctic Fox 27. Just a cursory view from the road shows that to be a different vehicle for sure. It looks just like what we are after. We are 5 or six years out from travel nursing full time and moving our permanent residence to Wyoming. Probably upgrade to a 3500 if we go AF as those things are heavy. Glad for the conversation as those models get very little press, I'm sure due to not being part of the big groups in RV manufacturing.

They may have been pulling one of those older little 5th wheels with the Tacoma. I've seen several of those setups. 12 or 14ft looks like, mini 5th wheels lol

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[wapitibob]

Buy a nash, arctic fox, or a lance and don't look back. Made on the west coast for west coast use.

 

[Rob5589]

Just watched an Oliver walk through. Impressive design and quality.

True, then I saw "starting at 57k" so I moved on.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I've owned several trailers over the years. Currently own and Outdoors RV, probably then best I've owned. But like others have said, they will all have their problems.

 

[Hunt eat repeat]

I have a 2019 Nash and halfway live in it for work. It has been a great camper. The quality is much higher than say a Jayco but it’s still a camper and you have to take care of them and realize they are not built like a house. I have owned several and this is by far the best one of the bunch.

 

[hunt1up]

We acquired a local river front spot at a small campground a few years ago. We built a shelter, dock, and all the good stuff. Then I said "we need a camper!" The kids will love it! So in 2018 I went and bought a new Crossroads Zinger Z1, 25' bunkhouse. I didn't get slides as I wanted to keep weight down since it's just a place to sleep. I wanted 1/2 friendly for the rare occasion I do pull it, which is usually to and from storage. I'm pretty experienced pulling all sorts of trailers but I really hate pulling that thing. The idea of taking it down the highway at 70mph in the wind has zero appeal. I see guys on the interstate with similar or more mismatched rigs and wonder how they do it without being pissed the whole time.

Our camper has a 10 year leak warranty on the roof. But it's only valid if you give it an annual visual inspection. So if I personally see a problem they're going to honor that warranty? Seems unlikely. So every year I let the dealership winterize it for $70 and ask them to inspect the roof and give me a receipt saying it was good. I keep them in a folder every year before storage. If it ever leaks(more like when), I'll at least have documented dealer inspections over it's life. Mine also spends about 7 months a year in indoor storage so I'm probably good.

After a few summers of having a camper I'm pretty "meh" on them. I don't love it or hate it. It does it's job, providing AC, a bed, and keeping the bugs off, but I've never really felt at home in this particular machine. YMMV.

 

[KitsapDan]

We have been looking at a travel trailer, 24'ish feet, bunks for the kids, queen at a min for us, somewhere around 5500 gvwr, towing with '19 Ram 1500. There are so many and reviews vary widely. I read one that listed the 10 worst brands, then another with the 10 best. They overlapped on 7 of the 10.

So to those with TT experience, what brand/s should we absolutely stay away from?

many more have taken to the great outdoors of late, and it’s expected more will do so this year.

as with most newly popular trends, by next year some of these people will have found that camping is not for them, that fighting for increasingly expensive spots is not for them, that paying to store their new treasure when not in use along with the monthly payments is not for them, and it was all a bad idea.

my suggestion is to wait until fall or winter and watch the action on RVTrader.com

That all said, most campers are not of the highest quality, and roof leaks should always be your #1 concern if you buy used.

you might wish to consider a tent trailer as your introduction. Sure they’re not fancy, but they’re cheap and easily resold for a price similar to what you pay if you shop right. They are definitely cooler at night even with a heater unless you add more padding to the bunks. They’re also far easier to tow, store & maintain.

If you have toys a toy hauler is the ultimate camper. And definitely something to be said for that big drop down rear snd the wide open spaces in the back.

finally, if you truly believe this is a long term thing, and you have done time & skill, doing your own cargo conversion trailer of a (hopefully over-height) 8x20 or 8x24 trailer will get you the best quality in a design that works for you.

 

[Rob5589]

many more have taken to the great outdoors of late, and it’s expected more will do so this year.

as with most newly popular trends, by next year some of these people will have found that camping is not for them, that fighting for increasingly expensive spots is not for them, that paying to store their new treasure when not in use along with the monthly payments is not for them, and it was all a bad idea.

my suggestion is to wait until fall or winter and watch the action on RVTrader.com

That all said, most campers are not of the highest quality, and roof leaks should always be your #1 concern if you buy used.

you might wish to consider a tent trailer as your introduction. Sure they’re not fancy, but they’re cheap and easily resold for a price similar to what you pay if you shop right. They are definitely cooler at night even with a heater unless you add more padding to the bunks. They’re also far easier to tow, store & maintain.

If you have toys a toy hauler is the ultimate camper. And definitely something to be said for that big drop down rear snd the wide open spaces in the back.

finally, if you truly believe this is a long term thing, and you have done time & skill, doing your own cargo conversion trailer of a (hopefully over-height) 8x20 or 8x24 trailer will get you the best quality in a design that works for you.

For sure, we aren't buying right away since the kids will be back in school in a month. A pop up isn't completely off the table although we are planning a 3 week tour of some nat parks so not sure how comfortable a pop up would be in that case.

 

[KitsapDan]

For sure, we aren't buying right away since the kids will be back in school in a month. A pop up isn't completely off the table although we are planning a 3 week tour of some nat parks so not sure how comfortable a pop up would be in that case.

I’ve had two. If the nights don’t get too cold they’re quite comfortable so long as you’re not getting the smallest model.

how old are the kids?

 

[isocyanate]

No bugs, AC, a place to cook, out of the rain and wind. My wife pushed us into it, I was very resistant. It's a hassle and expensive, but makes her happy so I'm good.

My exact experience. We both work demanding full time jobs so the thing only gets out a few times a year, but happy wife and all. There’s worse things in life for sure.

 

[Silveroddo]

We went through at least 4 before the first one that “felt like home” had a really nice Montana that was just a little to big, ended up with an older 25’Jayco 5h wheel that towed great, no slides but a great floor plan and fit in any campsite we found, when we needed to move up to a bunk house after kids it took 2-3 tries snd we landed on another older Jayco that had everything we wanted. Everybody has their own way of doing it, not trying to sell the concept, but when you find something that works for your style there’s a lot of upside

 

[Rob5589]

I’ve had two. If the nights don’t get too cold they’re quite comfortable so long as you’re not getting the smallest model.

how old are the kids?

9 & 15

I've slept in one several times, my duck hunting bud had one we'd take to the refuges. Leaky, drafty pos. But we were usually 3 sheets by the time we crashed so it was all good.
The one big drawback is the toilet. I know some have them but they only have a curtain which isn't appealing to the wife and daughter for obvious reasons.

 

[Antarctica]

We went through at least 4 before the first one that “felt like home” had a really nice Montana that was just a little to big, ended up with an older 25’Jayco 5h wheel that towed great, no slides but a great floor plan and fit in any campsite we found, when we needed to move up to a bunk house after kids it took 2-3 tries snd we landed on another older Jayco that had everything we wanted. Everybody has their own way of doing it, not trying to sell the concept, but when you find something that works for your style there’s a lot of upside View attachment 306786

How did you get the sxs there? Camper doesn't look like a toy hauler...

 

[rayporter]

We acquired a local river front spot at a small campground a few years ago. We built a shelter, dock, and all the good stuff. Then I said "we need a camper!" The kids will love it! So in 2018 I went and bought a new Crossroads Zinger Z1, 25' bunkhouse. I didn't get slides as I wanted to keep weight down since it's just a place to sleep. I wanted 1/2 friendly for the rare occasion I do pull it, which is usually to and from storage. I'm pretty experienced pulling all sorts of trailers but I really hate pulling that thing. The idea of taking it down the highway at 70mph in the wind has zero appeal. I see guys on the interstate with similar or more mismatched rigs and wonder how they do it without being pissed the whole time.

over the years i have seen many trucks pulling rigs that were larger than they should pull. quite often they will tell you it pulls it just fine and we never have any trouble.

then a year later they get a big diesel dually.

 

[riversidejeep]

How did you get the sxs there? Camper doesn't look like a toy hauler...when there is a will there is a way.

 

[KitsapDan]

That Bigfoot is a nice unit.

 

[Silveroddo]

How did you get the sxs there? Camper doesn't look like a toy hauler...

Cheated, dad pulled it with his rig, lol. It’s a crew cab so it doesn’t fit in most standard toyhaulers, and we like the rig we have, so I’m working out the details of towing doubles. It’s been a challenge I’ve put a lot of thought into and that’s about the best I can come up with

 

[fsuindustries]

Man, I went through the same thing last year, we did a ton of research and decided to go with Outdoors RV. We bought a 2019 18RBS Perfect for hunting and camping Off Grid. You can store 70 Gallons of fresh water and its FourSeason Rated. Also, the trailer sits high off the ground and allows you to get into places other trailers won't go. Knock on wood, 1 year in, and its been flawless.

 

[Rob5589]

Man, I went through the same thing last year, we did a ton of research and decided to go with Outdoors RV. We bought a 2019 18RBS Perfect for hunting and camping Off Grid. You can store 70 Gallons of fresh water and its FourSeason Rated. Also, the trailer sits high off the ground and allows you to get into places other trailers won't go. Knock on wood, 1 year in, and its been flawless.

Just looked at them, good looking trailers. Unfortunately, all too heavy for my truck.