New to Travel Trailers: Looking for Opinions

You'll find that essentially all brands have a model with that exact same floorplan. You can find them in aluminum or fiberglass sided. There's nothing special about the construction of the Gulf Stream. It's your traditionally built basic stick and tin trailer.

Coachmen has a 292BHDSLE in their Freedom Express line. I would say that the Coachmen has a better construction. If you're not that close to buying then have a look at the units that have at least one slide in the back. We originally thought about going with a quad bunk setup like this, but went with one that had a slide back there. With toddlers, you'll definitely enjoy the extra room back there.

The dealer I have been to sells about 5 different brands, including Gulfstream Amerilite models. I looked at them and they are lower on the scale of quality and build. The dealer said the same thing.
I think the price of around $17K for that large of a trailer reflects it as being a lower end trailer.

proxim2020 wrote:
You'll find that essentially all brands have a model with that exact same floorplan. You can find them in aluminum or fiberglass sided. There's nothing special about the construction of the Gulf Stream. It's your traditionally built basic stick and tin trailer.

Coachmen has a 292BHDSLE in their Freedom Express line. I would say that the Coachmen has a better construction.

Agreed on all points.

Many manufacturers copy each others floor plans, and either add or subtract features or design aspects.

And to Coachmen being better build than Gulftream, from what I saw at the local dealer, I agree there too.
The Coachmen was better than same floor plan Forest River units at other dealers too.

Doing a bit of Internet searching for your desired model, I just clicked on a couple dealerships, nothing specific:

MSRP: $26,300 - Dealer price: $18,900
MSRP: - Dealer price: $18,495
NADA suggested list price, no additions specified: $22,828

Your price sounds very good.

This will be an "entry level" camper. It will serve you well, provided you do not abuse it and are diligent on maintenance and repairs immediately when things start showing up. It's definitely not a high-end trailer. No doubt the cabinets will be particle board with wall paper that simulates wood. Drawers and doors will be cheaply made and probably will not hold up very well to the rough rigors of young kids.

But for a starter, first time camper, at a price that a young family can afford and uses it for vacations a few times a year, it may serve you well.

The same floor plan comes in dozens of different models and manufacturers. Depending upon how much you are budgeting, it might do well to visit other dealership with the same floor plan.

Print the floor plan and the "stats" information (tank sizes, weight, etc), and take the print out to competing dealers and see what they have available. Once you've stepped into a higher end trailer that has the same floor plan as the one you are considering, you might change your mind on this one and be willing to pay a bit more for something more "stout" and robust.

As always my advice is to decide what you think you want, then rent a similar sized model.

A week or so of travel and camping will tell you if you really want to pull one of these barns down the road.

You will discover 10 mpg, 250 mile days, 60 mph and cross winds etc.

Renting is expensive but it beats buying the wrong unit.

Siv,

Welcome!!!

In regards to the 279, I guess the big question is where would you like to do most of your camping at: national forrest, state parks, private parks (KOA or similar), etc? As listed, you generally would want a shorter trailer for the np, the sp ideal length will vary some but usually allow a little longer rv, and the private parks usually allow the monster trailers.

If you aren't limited to a certain length, consider a brand that has a floor plan like our 32 BHDS as mentioned with 2 young kids. It is a dual slide, couch and dinette in one slide, and bunks in the rear slide. Adds a fair amount of room to the bunk room. And the bottom J Cube chairs (other brands are very similar) fold out to a queen bed I think it is.

Some things to look for when shopping are:
Tank capacities- will you always have full hook up, or electric only? The longer the trip, the larger the tank you may need without using the cg shower house.

Axle ratings- one unit we looked at had 2-4400lb axles, but a 95XXlb gvwr. The manufacture added the "dry tw" (tongue weight) to the total axle rating for a higher gvwr. Our trailer had 2-5000lb axles, and a 9975lb gvwr (or something like that). Also look at the ccc (cargo carrying capacity: gvwr- unloaded trailer weight)) of the trailer. I would suggest skipping any trailer with less than 1500lbs or so.

Tire size and rating. Make sure you have enough tire capacity.

Outdoor shower location: if you think you would use it, see where it is located. Our friends bought a newer 5ver and not paying attention until after it was home, the outdoor shower is under the awning. Not many people would like mud under the awning if preventable. Ours is between the two slides. And if wanted, we can clip a shower curtain to both slides for a little privacy. Not suggesting a full on shower outside, but if the kids are a little shy it can help.

You have enough truck, but make sure to still get a good wdh (weight distribution hitch) with integrated sway control. And size the wd bars for the loaded tw, not the "dry" tw. Usually the manufactures "brochure" tw does not include the weight of the propane tanks or a battery on the tongue. That can add ~120lbs for 2-30lb tanks and a battery, or ~160lbs for 2-30lb tanks and a battery. That is even before loading the trailer. For comparison, our dry tw of 920lbs is about 1400lbs loaded.

Good luck shopping from a fellow twin parent!!!

That's what I was thinking Need-A-Vacation, look at the use of it and places you intend to park it as use it.
Its a big TT, my daughter has the same floorplan in a Prime Time Avenger. You need a lot of pivot room to back it into spaces, especially using a long wheelbase truck. It's a lot easier to use this on a seasonal site or at RV parks with pull through sites but that tends to get expensive.
Pulling it into gas stations to refuel the truck can also be a chore. Installing a large in-bed fuel tank would help with that. Only diesels can have automatic gravity flow, gasoline needs to have a pump. You still have to stop, to pump the gasoline into the truck. ( Transfer tanks )

As said, I would question the quality at that price of a new unit.
There are bunk model floorplans on the market that are shorter than the one here and better quality.
The more slide-outs you have, it involves more parts and motors. Also the weight of large slides can be a chore to manually retract if you have to do that at the time of a component failure. I question the quality of those components at that price.

Personally, if I could find a TT that builds the foundation first, on top of their own manufactured frame , then adds the water and holding tanks on top of that base, that would make better sense to me.
Outdoors RV and maybe Arctic Fox might build them that way, not really sure. Hopefully, someone who owns one of those units will chime in. If not, I'm sure youtube has a factory tour of the build process on line.
Having the water and holding tanks supported by a solid floor makes the most sense IMO. It also allows the tanks as well as water lines to be easily insulated and heated and not exposed to extend your colder weather RV'ing.
Again, its build quality, you can read posts here regarding water tanks falling out of trailers. ( This industry tends to cheap out. Some mfg.'s do not even bother using chewing gum and string to hold them in place ). I would think a better built RV will hold its value a little better to offset the initial higher cost.

proxim2020 wrote:
You'll find that essentially all brands have a model with that exact same floorplan. You can find them in aluminum or fiberglass sided. There's nothing special about the construction of the Gulf Stream. It's your traditionally built basic stick and tin trailer.

Coachmen has a 292BHDSLE in their Freedom Express line. I would say that the Coachmen has a better construction. If you're not that close to buying then have a look at the units that have at least one slide in the back. We originally thought about going with a quad bunk setup like this, but went with one that had a slide back there. With toddlers, you'll definitely enjoy the extra room back there.

Thanks proxim2020 for the reply!

My wife and I were initially looking into much smaller Coachmen Apex model with bunks (185BH) as were thinking of pulling with our Toyota Highlander then gave up that idea after a brief research showed that the SUV might not be an ideal tow vehicle so we went ahead bought a most capable truck we could afford.

Thanks for suggesting Coachmen 292BHDSLE, looks great but seems to be on outside of our budget range. We're trying to be around $16k before Tax/Title. Will search online if I can locate a deal on this one..

I do agree on needing the extra room for all the screaming and running around!!

deltabravo wrote:
The dealer I have been to sells about 5 different brands, including Gulfstream Amerilite models. I looked at them and they are lower on the scale of quality and build. The dealer said the same thing.
I think the price of around $17K for that large of a trailer reflects it as being a lower end trailer.

Thanks deltabravo for the response!

You're right about the hit in the quality we might have to take at the price we're paying. Unfortunately our budgets dictates our buying decision. We have an excellent local Gulfstream dealer to address any warranty issues so that might help.

deltabravo wrote:

proxim2020 wrote:
You'll find that essentially all brands have a model with that exact same floorplan. You can find them in aluminum or fiberglass sided. There's nothing special about the construction of the Gulf Stream. It's your traditionally built basic stick and tin trailer.

Coachmen has a 292BHDSLE in their Freedom Express line. I would say that the Coachmen has a better construction.

Agreed on all points.

Many manufacturers copy each others floor plans, and either add or subtract features or design aspects.

And to Coachmen being better build than Gulftream, from what I saw at the local dealer, I agree there too.
The Coachmen was better than same floor plan Forest River units at other dealers too.

We looked into couple of Coachmen trailers and they did look better built..