Choosing a travel trailer

What models are me and the wife considering?

wow, my first question is much weight can you tow with your vehicle? Next how many beds, Baths. Who and how tall is the tallest person. what kind of weather will you be living in? Kitchen Bath all important things to think about. Can you take living in a small space? Then the question of towing pins 4-6-8? Then will you tow or will be setup?

I can't give you any feedback on those models or manufacturers but do your homework on which offers the best warranty and see how well others rate the dealership you buy from. Be prepared to fix small things that go wrong with your camper or, be prepared to have it sit at the dealer for weeks to get those small things fixed. Nobody makes a perfect camper.

Don't make the mistake we did 6 years ago and let the salesman sell you a camper too heavy for your tow vehicle. Post the specific model you are looking at and what you plan to tow with to get feed back on the combination. Also with 3 kids, things can get a bit cramped in smaller campers and you will want to upgrade sooner than you think. It took us 5 years (kids now 15 and 10) to upgrade to a TT with a slide and I'm so thankful we did.

I have a Dodge Ram 3500. Towing should be no problem. We are looking at Salem cruise lite 273QBXL
Catalina coachman 273BHs
Imagine 2800BH
The tallest of us is 5ft 10. Kids are 10 and under.
We are definitely trying to get a bigger trailer to accommodate us for the next 10 years but don’t want to go so big that we can’t get it into any parks.
We are not hardcore campers but have talked about selling our house and potentially living in it for a year. Last time we were buying a house we lived in our pioneer ck180 and it was cramped.

Living in Vancouver island British Columbia. Weather is pretty mild mild mostly. Trailer will not be used in winter unless we are living in it eventually.

With a 3500 towing AND payload probably won’t be an issue. You should be able to determine trailer length limits in your national parks. U.S. national parks are here: https://outdoorsrvmfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/National-Park-Trailer-Length-Chart.pdf

I totally second the comments about TT weight and the TV ability to tow it. Be sure the truck can easily tow it.
Along those same lines, look at carrying capacity. That is the amount of stuff you can put in the trailer. Example: GVWR (I think that is the right one) Maximum trailer weight is 10,000 lbs. Empty weight is 7,000 lbs. Carrying capacity is 3000 lbs. I have seen some trailers where carrying capacity is 800 or 1000 lbs. Not enough in my book.
Look for storage compartments. Is there enough for your stuff? Some trailers will have more than others.
Look for seating arrangements. This may not apply to you, but with kids it might. Where do you sit when looking at the TV? Many trailers are awkward with the TV 90 degrees offset from the viewing angle.
Look for capacity of tanks, especially if you plan to dry camp.
Beware the size of the master bed. Some queens are 60x72, others are 60x80. Don;t go by the descriptive name, check the measurements. Same for bunk beds, I assume.
When we were shopping, we liked the Imagine. Almost bought it, but Arctic Fox won the day for us.
Good luck!!

Trousers_81 wrote:
I have a Dodge Ram 3500. Towing should be no problem. We are looking at Salem cruise lite 273QBXL
Catalina coachman 273BHs
Imagine 2800BH
The tallest of us is 5ft 10. Kids are 10 and under.
We are definitely trying to get a bigger trailer to accommodate us for the next 10 years but don’t want to go so big that we can’t get it into any parks.
We are not hardcore campers but have talked about selling our house and potentially living in it for a year. Last time we were buying a house we lived in our pioneer ck180 and it was cramped.

the Grand Design Imagine should be a way better trailer, than the other two, as they are entry-level trailers.
GD has a much better rep than the other two brands.
of course, it'll be more expensive.

Another vote for Grand Design Imagine.

For the most part, RV's use the same appliances and construction techniques...at least until you get into the very high end.

I would consider the layout as a primary driver.

Don't forget access with the slides in. If one of the munchkins needs to go NOW...much easier if you can get to the bathroom without opening the slides. Likewise the fridge for a quick lunch.

Go thru or at least imagine while in the trailer, the normal day to day processes (cooking breakfast, daily ablutions, setting up for bedtime, etc...)