Wow, ton of replies. Thank you guys. I had been lurking for a couple of weeks and found a ton of good information already, so I appreciate it.
path1, thank you for the link to the FAQ section. I feel kind of retarded for not seeing it before.
I've already settled on a couple of things, yes, I am going to stay in the 23-26' range. I've already done a couple of weeks pulling a pop up camper (totally different i know) and I hated the single axle, super close to me feeling. I also know that my backing up skills aren't that great yet, so anything over 27' is probably way too big for me to handle.
I found a couple of interesting options locally that I've looked at so far.
2002 Terry Dakota 725H. No Slide, Tripple bunk, Ultralight series that shows a dry weight of 3600lbs, so adding 3-500lbs of water and another 5-600 lbs gear should put me in a "comfortable" 48-5000lbs range. and I mean comfortable for my skills in Idaho mountains, not just for the truck.
I like the idea of a slide out for space, but they seem to add about 1000lbs, and most slides don't roll with bunks it would seem. I'm shopping in the $5000-$8000 range here so admitedly I have simply been keeping my eye out on local sales for a few months since bunk models don't come up for sale alot, and frankly I'm a little in the cheap end of the scale.
carrnutt I am completely jelous of that beautifull 31SQB you decided on. I think I have the same taste as you as your purchase reasons mirror my own, but that will likely be a "once the kids are out of college" purchase LOL.
Another one I have been to see is this guy right here
26' Skyline Trailer w/Bunk. I like the larger tub and sofa, but it forces me to use the sofa for one of the kids (-1 bunk) and significantly older/heavier.
For some reason NADA seems to report much lower values for resale values for TT's in the Idaho area vs what people are actually trying to sell them for. Not sure if that's common to NADA, or common to people, or both.
Anywho, the ages of the trailers I am looking at is why I decided to post in these forums to find a starters guide so I could research what I am in for as far as maintenance. that FAQ post looks like it may be a week or two of reading alone, but looks very well worth it.
Thank you again for everyone's replies. any other tips are more than appreciated.
