Keystone Hideout "quality" ?

[Fishwater]

We're thinking of trading in our bumper pull for a fifth wheel & there's a leftover 2018 Keystone Hideout 308BHDS available for a really great price locally. We used to own a Passport a few years ago but traded it for our current Flagstaff which was a substantial jump up in quality over the Passport. As times & camping style changes we really want to expand our range & I'm thinking a fifth wheel with the same exact lay out of our current bumper pull is the direction I want to head in.

I have plenty of truck to pull it, 2015 F-350 diesel with over 3k of payload, factory 5th wheel prep package. I understand that the price point has certain shortcuts taken but I'm wondering if anyone out there has any experience with the Hideout 5th wheels & can let me know their thoughts, concerns or issues?

[WTP-GC]

Fishwater wrote:

The size of the grey or black tanks don’t concern me since we are always at resort sites with full hook ups. What does bother me is that there are very few fiver floor plans with just one bath, I don’t want or need two black tanks to deal with. As it is my OCD has me flushing my single black tank for at least an hour, fill, soak, drain & repeat, I’m not interested in doing that X2. Plus I’ll take that half bath as additional living space.

For you, it sounds like a smaller tank is fine. We camp a lot of places that lack full hook-up so we need a little more grey water capacity. But when we go to places that do have full hook-up, a 5 gallon tank would be enough because we just leave it open most of the time 😉

And I'm with you on the 2nd bathroom and black tank. There have surely been times that we wish we had a second bathroom, but for the most part, I don't believe its worth the lost space to have that 2nd bathroom.

[Fishwater]

I went & looked at this particular 308 & it was in rough shape brand new as it sat on the lot. The worse part was that the outdoor kitchen door was so warped that it wouldn’t latch close, I’m sure they’d replace it but it’s sitting outside exposed to the elements half open with snow in the kitchen, no thanks. Overall it’s the same floor plan we currently have so we know that it works but I think I need to spend a little more to get similar quality to what we already own.

The size of the grey or black tanks don’t concern me since we are always at resort sites with full hook ups. What does bother me is that there are very few fiver floor plans with just one bath, I don’t want or need two black tanks to deal with. As it is my OCD has me flushing my single black tank for at least an hour, fill, soak, drain & repeat, I’m not interested in doing that X2. Plus I’ll take that half bath as additional living space.

[WTP-GC]

I have no input on the quality of that model, but when we were shopping for a new 5th wheel, we more/less had an order of precedence: floor plan, overall length, grey water capacity, and carrying capacity. Once we found a floor plan, we narrowed it down based on length, then narrowed if further based on the other factors. After all those were satisfied, we tried to pick the best quality rig.

All that being said, I would end the consideration of your rig as soon as I got to grey water capacity. 39 gallons for a bunkhouse trailer is nowhere near sufficient enough IMO.

[mtofell1]

I have that exact model (2016) and it's been a good unit. It's had a couple things but nothing that it ever had to go back to the dealer for. I really wasn't looking for the cheapest trailer but the floor plan is exactly what I/we wanted. The rear bunk room for the kids is amazing. I wish the bedroom had some more space but the 1/2 bath is nice.

I was pretty impressed with some of the items it came with at that price point - nice shades, ceramic toilets, decent carpet and furniture, etc. Sure, it's got some cheap stuff too.

On the weight thing you'll be surprised how fast it adds up. I'm right close or slightly over my 3000# payload once loaded up with family, sliding hitch and basic supplies. The dry weight is right around 9K but loaded up with some water and supplies it's right around 11K.

One last thing, be careful how low to the ground the rear end it. I've ripped jacks off a couple times and also snagged the spare tire. I've had some heavy duty rollers welded on and had the spare tire mount extended to get it up away from the bumper. PM me if you want to see pictures.

For the money I'm overall happy with it. I paid around 31.5K but got some credit towards a hitch and installation so I can't remember exactly my price. I remember I could have saved another 1K or so if I'd been willing to drive 500 miles. I think I've seen them around 29K on RV Trader.

[Earl_E]

We had a Hideout tt and had no problems with it. However it was pretty low end. Not great insulation, cabinet slides cheap, slide out didn't seal real well, etc. We only sold it because we didn't like the floor plan. Our Sunnybrook is much better made by comparison. But the Hideout was trouble free so so just depends on what you are looking for.

[wiredgeorge]

I would try keystoneforums.com as you are more likely to find actual owners. I own a Cougar and can't speak to that model. You do know that is a bunk house model and that means you could have small people stowing away while you try and relax and get away to camp. Hmmmm KIDS! That's what they call them... almost forgot. Seriously, looks like a nice family trailer. The F350 should be plenty of truck for that trailer as noted. Just one more note, if the trailer is somewhere being sold in a galaxy far far away, keep in mind most dealers don't much care to honor warranties or work on trailers they didn't sell but you probably already knew that. Lots of folks on the Keystone forum go traipsing off to discount sellers thousands of miles away and then find that the local Keystone dealer doesn't know them... good luck!