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Trousers_81's avatar
Trousers_81
Explorer
Jun 05, 2019

Choosing a travel trailer

Me and my wife have been looking at travel trailer for the last month and it’s practically impossible to choose or know which is the right one to buy, we are looking at bunkhouse models, we have three kids. We are looking at an imagine by grand design and a Catalina or Cherokee from a different dealer and a Salem by forest river from a other dealer, of course they all claim theirs are the best. Does anyone have any good or bad things to say about any of these trailers. We are leaning towards the inagaine from grand design but don’t know what to decide. We have lots of time to make a decision. No rush but would like to hear what people have to say. Thanks.

24 Replies

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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?