Bunks vs Bunk House

[TampaAppFan]

Our family is looking at travel trailers and debating the double bunks layout against the separate bunk room with typically 3 single size bunks. I only have a F150 which can pull a max of 8,000lbs. I like the Coachman Apex 300bhs at a dry weight of 6,000lbs but my wife thinks it is too big. She thinks we won't be inside the trailer much except to sleep and we can get by with something smaller and lighter. I don't know what we will like because we haven't had one but any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Our kids are 5 and 3.

[RPreeb]

When I was in high school, we did a family of 5 in a 15 footer, so it's not impossible. Today's TT's are a lot more feature rich than that little one was (that was 1964 that we first bought it). If you want to keep the truck then you may have to compromise somewhere else.

[Community Alumni]

I have kids the same age and ideally you want to bunkhouse, one with slides if you can swing it. You will probably be in the trailer more than you think. In the evening after the kids go to sleep, it's nice to be able to close their door and let them sleep while the parent wind down. Sometimes you have to keep the kids out of the heat of the day or bring them in for cooling off periods. Then there's times like nap time, rainy days, and times where you just want to rest. You'll appreciate the extra space and often times you get more storage. Ones with slides give a ton of space back there. It gives so much more space for changing closes and turns into a little play area.

If you're going to stay with the current truck then you may be able to find a bunkhouse that will foot the bill. Bunkhouses tend to be on the heavier side. The bunkhouses with slides add even more weight. You may have to stick with the lightweight models. The weight savings normally come at the cost of some quality though. If you're interested in upgrading the truck, you'll have a lot more options.

You'd be fine with a regular bunk model though. Plenty of people are out there using them everyday. On the last trip we saw a family of 5 making very good use of a 18 foot R-Pod so you can make just about anything work.

[IdaD]

We have three kids and a triple bunk setup and we're only going to keep it a few more years. The bottom bunk is tight and okay for a younger kid but a bit claustrophobic, and storage is a challenge. We bought it used for cash and knew it wasn't ideal but also knew we'd upgrade in a few years when we figured out what we wanted in the long run. We want a fifth wheel again for sure, and will either get a standard trailer with a separate bunk room or a toy hauler with drop down bunks.

With an F150 your options will be more limited. My sister has a lightweight TT with a rear queen slide and a quad bunk room in the front - you might look into that sort of setup. Truthfully there aren't going to be many trailers with a separate bunk room that you can pull comfortably with a half ton.

[SoundGuy]

nickthehunter wrote:
You need to look at the "payload" rating for your truck, it is on the yellow sticker on the door. It will say something like "Gross weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed __________ lbs." That is the number you need to start with to determine how big a TT you can tow.

Disagree ... that sticker number will only give you a rough idea as to what you're dealing with. The key here is to know what your particular truck's real world payload capacity is as it sits there with a full tank of gas ready to be hitched to a trailer. The only way you're going to know that for sure is to go weigh the truck with a full tank and all hitch equipment mounted ... if you don't yet have the weight distribution / sway control equipment allow 100 lbs as an estimate. Go weigh your truck, if you're in it at the time subtract your weight from the scale reading - the result will be your particular truck's actual curb weight, with no one and no cargo in it. Subtract that number from it's GVWR and you'll then have it's actual real world payload capacity. That's the number you're going to use to account for the weight of everyone in the truck, all cargo added to it, PLUS and any trailer tongue weight transferred to the truck once hitched up. Keeping in mind that gross tongue weight should ideally be somewhere in the range of 13% - 14% of the trailer's gross weight as it sits there loaded and ready to camp you may well be shocked at how such little payload capacity will restrict what you can actually safely tow with your truck.

[spoon059]

I'm not going to get into the weights or talking about specific campers.

I would strongly consider a bunk room model, simply for the air conditioning. If I remember correctly, it can get warm in Tampa in the summer. Typical bunks do not have air conditioning blowing directly upon them. If you close the curtains to keep it darker, it can get uncomfortably warm in there. Also, they tend to feel like a coffin.

A bunk room will usually have open bunks and heat and AC registers inside the room, allowing your kids to sleep comfortably. They will usually have a single door or curtain blocking off the room from the rest of the camper, allowing you to keep the room dark for them, but still allowing ventilation.

We looked at the Jayco 28BHBE and really liked it... except no AC vents to the bunks. We ended up going a little bigger and getting the 29QBS and are much happier with the result. We originally did the math and thought we could stay within our ratings on our Tundra... turns out we couldn't and had to upgrade to a heavier truck.

Be very careful with your weights, don't trust a salesman to have your best interest in mind, make sensible decisions and enjoy camping!

[jonmad]

Good advice here. I had also looked at the Coachmen Apex 300 but the living room slide only went out around 18 inches and only a futon in the bunk room. Ended up with the Apex 289 tbss. Has three bunks and a jackknife couch in the bunk room and a full super slide in the living area. My F-150 is rated to tow 9400 though. So far no problems. Hope you find something you like and can safely tow.

[theoldwizard1]

If you want to stay with your F150, you need a smaller/lighter trailer.

IMHO, the Jayco 17XFD hybrid would be perfect. A bit tight on storage, but overall a nice package.

The Jayco 25BH should work with a properly equipped F150 with a gross weight of 6750#.

[evanrem]

The separate bunk is nice in the mornings when we wake up before the kids and same in the evening if they go to bed earlier. There is more storage in general with a separate bunk room as they have cabinets for there clothes and other misc stuff. Like others said you will be close to the max with your current rig.

[nickthehunter]

No one here can answer that question for you. Only you can provide the real time info to figure out the answer. It's purely a math questions.

You need to look at the "payload" rating for your truck, it is on the yellow sticker on the door. It will say something like "Gross weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed __________ lbs." That is the number you need to start with to determine how big a TT you can tow. Once you have that number, you calculate all other loads in the truck like how much you the wife and kids weigh, how much you may be carrying in the truck bed (toolbox, firewood, etc.), plus the loaded tongue weight of the trailer and you get your answer.

See "this" for more info.

[SoundGuy]

TampaAppFan wrote:
I need to take a good look at the trucks towing capacity. We have the RV show in Florida in January and I think I will be looking at double bunks. That will make my wife happy.

You'll run out of payload capacity long before you get anywhere near that so-called 8000 lb tow rating. Fortunately there are plenty of shorter, lighter bunk bed models suitable for a family of four, the KZ Connect C231BH which features exceptionally wide bunk beds being an example. With a GVWR of 6000 lbs, easily towable with your F150. :B

[TampaAppFan]

Thank you all for the advice. I need to take a good look at the trucks towing capacity. We have the RV show in Florida in January and I think I will be looking at double bunks. That will make my wife happy.

[Rustycamperpant]

We have a double bunk layouit with three kids and through three seasons it has served us well. Our kids are now 8,9 & 11. We like the separate bunk room, but all I have seen are heavier. Id go double bunks. Are you sure about your tow rating? seems low to me for a 150. What is payload on the yellow door sticker? Just curious.

[rbpru]

Like the others I think you will run out of truck cargo capacity before you run out of towing capacity.

Look at the max cargo weight on the door jamb sticker. My 5000 lb dry weight h has a loaded tongue weight of 750 lbs. That is about half of the cargo capacity of my F-150.

Add in adults, kids, toys etc and carrying capacity goes rather quickly.

[MitchF150]

Consider that your F150 with a max tow rating of #8000 assumes you don't have any passengers or load anything else in the truck....

#6000 DRY trailer can be speculative as to what that all includes in that weight, but assume it means that probably not how much it really weighs when you buy it and add a few items to it..

What's the GVWR of that trailer? If it's much over #8000, then you might not like that F150's towing performance, but that's pretty speculative too..

Not saying you can't tow it... Just saying that it'll be a pretty much maxed out load..

When I was a kid, Mom, Dad, me and my little sister camped in a little 14' 1963 Shasta trailer... 🙂 That was a step up from the Army Surplus tent we used before that! Or the little 8' cabover camper we had.. (this was back in the early 70's)

We did move up to a 26' "bunk house" 1977 Taurus travel trailer and that was "Glamping" for sure! ha, ha!

Anyway, enough of my memories... Today is today and you gotta do what you gotta do.. I'd go for something in the GVWR of no more than #7000 on the TT. But, that's just me..

Good luck!

Mitch

[wowens79]

We started looking at one with 2 full size bunks for the kids, and it had a seperate outside door to the bathroom. We ended up with 4 smaller bunks.

What changed our mind was The amount of outside storage on the 4 bunk one, and having a door for the bunk room. When I started packing the trailer in my head, and thinking where to load chairs, grill, stove etc, we felt the 2 bunk one didn't have enough outside storage. We were upgrading from a popup, and we did not want to have to load outdoor items inside the camper.

We are really happy with the choice.