Choosing our first travel trailer! Big family

[Jas1317]

I got so much help here narrowing down our truck choice/needs so I am going to follow up with a post for recommendations for choosing a travel trailer.
We will have a pickup with towing capabilities of 13,000lbs+
2 parents with mild towing experience (horse trailers not campers), 3 young kids, and 2 dogs looking to hit the road for several months-long cross country road trips 🙂
We have done a decent amount of research and visited camping world, checked out lots of new and used travel trailers.
We are honing in on something in the 30-33’ range with bunk beds in a back room type set up for the kids and preferably an outdoor kitchen. We have seen a lot of Jaycos. I will be so grateful for any insights you experienced people don’t mind typing out to me. Thanks in advance! We are complete newbies.

[Jas1317]

Are there any campers that don’t have so many negative reviews?? There are SO MANY bad reviews!
Where we are in NY there isn’t much other than camper world!

[kellem]

If your educated and not intimidated then deals can certainly be had at CW.

Bought 2 trailers there and never returned one for warranty......didn't say no issues though.

[Thermoguy]

My only experience with Camping World, went to look at a trailer. The guy asked me what truck I had. He told me my 2500 could tow any trailer on the lot. Might need Air Bags... Also said you only need a dually for a large in bed camper. Needless to say, if a sales guy tells you your truck can pull any trailer, then you need a new sales guy. He is only interested in the sale. It's your problem once you drive off. So, know your trucks capability before you ask the sales guy.

[camp-n-family]

GrandpaKip 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 has a bunk room in back with king sized futon on the bottom and 2 single bunks above and decent storage. Outdoor kitchen with a sink (most nowadays don’t seem to have sinks anymore) and a 2nd entry door directly to the bathroom. A nice feature so the kids don’t track all the dirt through the trailer.

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.

That leaves only 1600# for cargo and I’ll bet the “dry weight” is higher than advertised. Wouldn’t be surprised to see that trailer with about 1000# cargo. With your family, it will most likely be at max or over. That’s not a particularly good scenario.

1k of cargo still leaves 500lbs of payload. What’s the problem? Our trailer is stickered delivered from the factory at 6420lbs. (Might be 6240 as I always get the numbers mixed but it’s in storage and can’t be bothered to look. I went with the higher worst case scenario). It has plenty of payload left. Loaded for 2 week trips with our family of 4 and 2 dogs we regularly scale at 7600lbs with full fresh water and we don’t pack light. I scale it every trip as there is a granary around the corner. That still leaves another 400lbs. It also came with heavy axles (4.5k I believe) and D rated 15” tires unlike most TTs with axles rated less than gvwr that rely on the tongue weight to be carried by the TV so a little over won’t hurt anything.

As for the outdoor kitchen it comes down to personal preference but we won’t own another trailer without one. Absolutely love ours and do 95% of our cooking with it. Even in the rain as the large door overhead covers you. Having the second fridge and freezer, even though it’s only electric, is really handy. Another thing good with this layout is that the fridge and bathroom are both accessible even with the slides in.

Towed it with a half ton for the first 2 years. Plenty of power, not enough payload for tongue weight and all the passengers op has which is why I suggest nothing less than a 3/4 ton.

[CFerguson]

Jas1317 wrote:


...Please tell me more about avoiding camping world. They had so many choices!...

In my case the bodybuilder sales manager got in my face to try to intimidate me into signing the contract. They had tried to paper shuffle to hide the numbers and then the 'just initial here' BS. Tactics that were lower than any used cars salesman i have ever heard of and i called them on it. Seems that crooked people dont like having the Truth pointed out to them.
Reported it to CW corporate management and all they did was shine me on. I take that to mean that the behavior is within corporate policy.

Look around there all you want, but buy from someone you can trust.

[Jas1317]

wing_zealot wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
My 3500 is my Daily driver - I don't know why that is a consideration - it's not a dump truck...

It's a consideration because some vehicles (like a F250 & F350) won't fit in some parking garages. Ask me how I know this. And that is just one example; there's also considerations like mpg for commutes to work, ability to fit between the gate posts to park behind the house, ability to fit in the garage (more real life experiences of mine), etc.

I’m okay with those kinds of limitations - we also have a midsize suv

[Jas1317]

Sorry I figured all 2500s are very similar in capacity

2020 GMC SIERRA 2500 HEAVY DUTY†
Maximum conventional trailering capacity of up to 18,500 lbs†
Maximum fifth-wheel/gooseneck rating of up to 18,510 lbs† (As shown 18,500 lbs†)
Maximum payload of up to 3,979 lbs† (As shown 3,563 lbs†)

[wing_zealot]

2012Coleman wrote:
My 3500 is my Daily driver - I don't know why that is a consideration - it's not a dump truck...

It's a consideration because some vehicles (like a F250 & F350) won't fit in some parking garages. Ask me how I know this. And that is just one example; there's also considerations like mpg for commutes to work, ability to fit between the gate posts to park behind the house, ability to fit in the garage (more real life experiences of mine), etc.

[2012Coleman]

My 3500 is my Daily driver - I don't know why that is a consideration - it's not a dump truck...

[GrandpaKip]

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 has a bunk room in back with king sized futon on the bottom and 2 single bunks above and decent storage. Outdoor kitchen with a sink (most nowadays don’t seem to have sinks anymore) and a 2nd entry door directly to the bathroom. A nice feature so the kids don’t track all the dirt through the trailer.

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.

That leaves only 1600# for cargo and I’ll bet the “dry weight” is higher than advertised. Wouldn’t be surprised to see that trailer with about 1000# cargo. With your family, it will most likely be at max or over. That’s not a particularly good scenario.

[valhalla360]

Jas1317 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
What is the truck that you have and what is the payload on the sticker on the door jam. Saying that it has to be a "daily driver" makes the 13.5k tow rating odd...

With some real details, that will tell us more about what you can really pull.

A 2500 pickup - daily meaning when we aren’t camping my husband will use it for work, drive around town, drive kids places, etc.

Year, make and model? Payload rating?

Once you are up to a 3/4 ton, the mention of daily driver is a bit of a red herring. We use ours as a daily driver but usually when people talk about daily driver, they are trying to get away with a marginal vehicle.

Trailer length is only marginally related to towing capability. What is the GVWR of the proposed trailers.

[Jas1317]

valhalla360 wrote:
What is the truck that you have and what is the payload on the sticker on the door jam. Saying that it has to be a "daily driver" makes the 13.5k tow rating odd...

With some real details, that will tell us more about what you can really pull.

A 2500 pickup - daily meaning when we aren’t camping my husband will use it for work, drive around town, drive kids places, etc.

[valhalla360]

What is the truck that you have and what is the payload on the sticker on the door jam. Saying that it has to be a "daily driver" makes the 13.5k tow rating odd...

With some real details, that will tell us more about what you can really pull.

[Jas1317]

2012Coleman wrote:
Tow capacity is not a number you use to figure out what you can tow travel trailer wise. Tow capacity is determined by pulling a flat trailer with weight in ideal conditions and a driver who's first job is a jockey - with nothing else in the truck. It's not what the truck can pull - it's what it can carry. If your thinking 250/2500, consider a SRW 3500 as you most likely will want a bigger trailer/Fifth wheel in future.

Research Payload.

Good advice on Grand Design products. I've had nothing but good experiences from them including a major repair on my awning done out of warranty, and their willingness to let a mobile repair guy fix a recall issue - yes, they sent a recall notice for a possible electrical issue. Some people on here with an axe to grind will tell you that they are junk - yes stuff can go wrong, but you can learn from their two forums who to talk to to get things that should be resolved - resolved to your satisfaction. You won't get that many places.

For my first TT, I bought an entry level Coleman from camping world. After sitting between uses, I'd open it up and get overwhelmed by off-gassing Formaldehyde. Could not leave clothes or sheets in it - they would become unusable until washed. Camping world had it for warranty repairs in the first month. After not being called a few days after my promised date, I called them. They didn't know where my TT was - wasn't sure they remembered working on it as the tech I was working with had departed the day before.

They finally found it on the used lot where people were going through it and removing things that were in there. Would not accept a claim for missing items or damage caused - the vinyl wood grain on the bathroom cabinet was peeling - like someone pulled on it.

Good luck

NIGHTMARE!!

[2012Coleman]

Tow capacity is not a number you use to figure out what you can tow travel trailer wise. Tow capacity is determined by pulling a flat trailer with weight in ideal conditions and a driver who's first job is a jockey - with nothing else in the truck. It's not what the truck can pull - it's what it can carry. If your thinking 250/2500, consider a SRW 3500 as you most likely will want a bigger trailer/Fifth wheel in future.

Research Payload.

Good advice on Grand Design products. I've had nothing but good experiences from them including a major repair on my awning done out of warranty, and their willingness to let a mobile repair guy fix a recall issue - yes, they sent a recall notice for a possible electrical issue. Some people on here with an axe to grind will tell you that they are junk - yes stuff can go wrong, but you can learn from their two forums who to talk to to get things that should be resolved - resolved to your satisfaction. You won't get that many places.

For my first TT, I bought an entry level Coleman from camping world. After sitting between uses, I'd open it up and get overwhelmed by off-gassing Formaldehyde. Could not leave clothes or sheets in it - they would become unusable until washed. Camping world had it for warranty repairs in the first month. After not being called a few days after my promised date, I called them. They didn't know where my TT was - wasn't sure they remembered working on it as the tech I was working with had departed the day before.

They finally found it on the used lot where people were going through it and removing things that were in there. Would not accept a claim for missing items or damage caused - the vinyl wood grain on the bathroom cabinet was peeling - like someone pulled on it.

Good luck