Mike Up wrote:
Well we looked at the Ameri-Lite 259BH because it was very similar to the much heavier super slide Jay Flight Swift 267BHS that we just didn't have the payload in our truck to pull, with our family and gear. The Ameri-Lite 259BH was only 200 lbs heavier than the none slide Jay Flight 26BH so it was very hopeful until I walked in.
And no I'm not bashing, I'm simply telling like it is. For tall people, it's cramped. With my ball cap scraping the ceiling, it just left me very uneasy and with an uncomfortable cramped feeling. My last 2 pop ups had 6'6" ceilings and I never felt cramped or had my hat even hit the Air Conditioner! I have a hard time believing the ceiling height is 6'4", it looks to be more like 6'2" like I said before. It's bunks aren't a single over a double but more like a single over a twin, which is misleading from the floorplan. This would had been a downgrade over our 19BH which has a double, 48" bunk under the single bunk. That smaller lower bunk also lowers your storage under it since it's smaller, which wouldn't fit all of our gear that we have now under the lower bunk.
Since storage was a MAIN REASON for going to another trailer, the lack of cabinets, with shelves instead, was a very important point.
For a shorter family with less storage needs, this is a very good floorplan but for us, it's extra 1' width from the wall to the super slide's wall was not worth the scacrifice in height, storage, and bed size with a premium price and heavier weight to boot!
Not bashing as I know it's a budget model just like my 2008 Jay Flight was then, when the G2 Jay Flight was available.
I've only heard good things about Ameri-Lite as far as reliability and even the saleman praised them for their reliability even though he stated Jayco was the best out of any brand.
But things didn't go well for the deal so most likely we will stick with our 19BH and get it repaired.
BTW, here's the floorplans:
Jay Flight 19BH
Jay Flight 26BH
Amerilite 259BHS
Misleading as the bottom bunk is not a full bed, but a twin bed. The walk way between slide out and gallery is much narrower than the floorplan would have you believe. It's only about 1' wider than the walk way from the 2 Jay Flight models.
With RV mattresses, they tend to run smaller than their residential counterparts. For instance, an RV queen bed, is really in between a double and a queen IMO. I think that ameri-lite is using "full bed" as a work around rather than saying twin, as an RV full size bed I do believe is a little bit bigger than a twin, and an RV double bed is closer to a residential full.
I like to look at the bed dimensions in RV's as they are never the same as their residential counterparts.
All this boils down to though is back to your point about never take the floor plan as your selling point. YOu have to physically check them out. For instance, in my Jayco, the queen bumps all the way up against the middle wall, but in the floorplan, it appears to have quite a bit of walking around room in between mattress and wall. It does not. Barely enough space to shove the comforter and sheet down in between. But I still bought the unit as it was really perfect for us in most every other way, and we liked the double door way so that neither of us had to climb over each other to get up in the middle of the night.
