Choosing our first travel trailer! Big family

Jas1317 wrote:

spoon059 wrote:

camp-n-family wrote:
A model like our Keystone Bullet 31bhpr would fit the bill. There are several brands that have the same floor plan but I found the Keystone to be the lightest by a large margin and the quality was better than most.

It’s 34’ tongue to bumper and only 6400lbs dry. 8k gvwr. I wouldn’t tow it with less than a 3/4t truck or van.

Not to trash your brand by any means, so please don't take it that way, but I would NOT recommend a "lightweight" trailer for longer trips. Lightweight trailers have smaller tanks and more fragile build. They are lighter because they have thinner cabinets, thinner seats, thinner supports on the beds, etc. That's fine for a weekend trip, but that stuff will wear out and break quickly on a longer trip. Small tanks can become a problem out West where you might be staying at a state or federal park with no hookups and less than ideal bath houses.

Storage will be minimal and your cargo carrying capacity (including water) will be significantly smaller. Clothes, toys, bikes, food, computers, work stuff, chairs, etc all need to be stored someplace if you want to use them over a longer trip. A lightweight trailer likely won't have large storage areas and won't have a lot of available weight in the GVWR.

On edit I see the OP has a 3/4 ton truck, so some of that weight can be put in the truck, but it would still requiring shuffling things around constantly and exposing things to the weather.

I wondered about this with the lightweight trailers - I was told at camper world that they are just as sturdy, just made better/lighter/etc. But what you are saying makes sense. What travel trailers do you recommend?

Lightweight doesn’t have to mean cheap and flimsy. I’m not sure where all the weight savings comes from but our trailer uses a lot of aluminum in its structure (including the framing under the bed) instead of heavier wood. The aluminum is stronger. Cabinetry is hardwood. The appliances are the same as every other trailer. Our trailer has the same layout as heavier brands so it has the same amount of storage. It may have smaller tanks (40gal fresh, 30 black and grey)but that’s only an issue if you boondock a lot. They are big enough for our family of 4 to last comfortably for 5 days.

We have pulled this trailer over 40,000kms in 7 years. Halfway across Canada twice, rough interstates, mountains, dirt roads etc. We have friends that camp with us on occasion. He is 400+lbs. Never had anything fall apart or break.