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JNKS2010's avatar
JNKS2010
Explorer
Dec 28, 2014

Newbie- picking out first TT

Ok- I have narrowed it down to 2 TT's that we are interested in. One is the Bullet 272BHS and the other is that same concept but loses the sofa to shorten the overall length by 3-4 feet. Being new at this we were thinking to go with the smaller trailer (which is 27ft). We will be traveling with myself, my husband and 2 daughters. My concern is that I don't want to grow out of our trailer in a year but we also don't want to get more trailer then we will be comfortable pulling. Our truck can handle both. What do you recommend?

25 Replies

  • Ages of the kids?

    By age 6 or 7, the extra space in the longer trailer will be greatly appreciated.

    You are probably anticipating spending little time actually in the rig, just for sleeping, and maybe some meals. But there will be rainy days, cool days, hot days when everyone will spend most of the day inside.

    IMHO it's usually easier to handle a longer trailer than a short one, especially when backing up. The longer the distance between the axles and the hitch, the easier it is to control backing up.

    You didn't mention what you plan to tow the trailer with - i.e. your truck, SUV.

    The 272BHS most likely weighs between 5,200-5,500 lbs. It can be loaded to 7,500 lbs total weight. That might be too weight for a HT pickup depending upon the individual configuration.

    Yes I know the MFR listed dry weight is 5,030, but only the sticker on the actual trailer will show what it weighed when it was on the factory floor - without propane in the tanks, without battery, without spare tire, etc. One of the first things you should do after picking it up is take it to a scale and get an accurate weight of your specific trailer.

    I pulled an almost identical size Grey Wolf bunk house with an F-150, and frankly 6,800 lbs with any wind made towing work, not fun. Actual CAT scale weight - it didn't have a slide - so that was about 5-600 lbs of the weight difference (The slide is worth the weight penalty - definitely, especially with kids). When I moved to a Ram 2500 truck, it made a world of difference.

    If you have the TV (tow vehicle) capacity and a properly setup equalizing/anti-sway hitch - the larger trailer would be a better choice in my opinion.
  • Also being a family of 4, I would go with the larger trailer just so you have a couch. We don't do a lot of indoor activities in ours, we are definitely outdoor people, but one full day in a trailer because of bad weather will have you wanting just a bit more room that 4' will offer. It's really hard to sit for a couple of hours at a dinette...those seats get really hard quickly.
  • Personally, for 4 people I'd get the bigger trailer. 3-4' is not a big deal and a couch to sit on for a rainy day may just save your sanity. Just make sure your truck has the capacity for family and stuff with enough payload left for the hitch load. The Bullet 272BHS is a little over 5,000# empty so when you add stuff for a family of 4 plus battery, propane and some water we'll say 6,000#. 15% of that is 900# of hitch. Don't know if that 2015 GMC is a 1500 or 2500.

    Since you say you are a newbie, you need to look at more than the trailer tow rating for your truck. There is a difference between pulling a boat and a TT for example. The "box" of a TT make lots of wind drag.

    Have fun and enjoy.
  • The larger of the two is 30'9" and the smaller is 27'10"....not sure there will be a huge difference in what sites they will fit in. Maybe I am wrong?
  • look at where you want to camp and see if the bigger of the 2 will fit the spaces, I started out with a pilgrim 241BHSS, went to a Montana 3750, and now I have a bullet 207RBS, the bullet has opened up a lot of places that the other 2 would not fit in