Coachman Clipper 17QB

[terryg]

Hello,
My wife and I are purchasing a 2015 Coachman Clipper 17QB tomorrow. We are moving up from a Casita, just had to have a little more room.

I was wondering if there are any more Clipper owners on this forum. I am also wondering if there is a specific Clipper owners club, or a Coachman club for owners of the smaller TTs. With any RV we have owned in the past, Casita and Safari Trek MH, we always enjoyed our time with other others at rallys.

Thanks,
Terry

[bigjoey38]

SoundGuy wrote:

bigjoey38 wrote:
... looking at a Coachmen RV Clipper Ultra-Lite 17FQ ...any other feedbacks..? I am also looking at KZ Spree or if the budget allows a Trailmanor.

Since you're looking at Coachmen you might want to take a look at the Coachmen Apex Nano, specifically the Nano 187RB which is the same floor plan, length, and weight as the Clipper 17FQ. I don't own one but do own a Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS and I suspect if you looked at the details of each you'd find the Nano to be better constructed, better finished trailer than the Clipper and more similar to an Apex or Freedom Express. Although the Nano is not much shorter than my own FE it is much lighter, and narrower, my only real concern being the Nano's single axle vs a dual axle which in turn translates into a much lower CCC (Cargo Carrying Capacity). Despite that concern I've been through a Nano and I've otherwise liked what I've seen in comparison to my FE.

Thanks for the info going to do some research,

[SoundGuy]

bigjoey38 wrote:
... looking at a Coachmen RV Clipper Ultra-Lite 17FQ ...any other feedbacks..? I am also looking at KZ Spree or if the budget allows a Trailmanor.

Since you're looking at Coachmen you might want to take a look at the Coachmen Apex Nano, specifically the Nano 187RB which is the same floor plan, length, and weight as the Clipper 17FQ. I don't own one but do own a Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS and I suspect if you looked at the details of each you'd find the Nano to be better constructed, better finished trailer than the Clipper and more similar to an Apex or Freedom Express. Although the Nano is not much shorter than my own FE it is much lighter, and narrower, my only real concern being the Nano's single axle vs a dual axle which in turn translates into a much lower CCC (Cargo Carrying Capacity). Despite that concern I've been through a Nano and I've otherwise liked what I've seen in comparison to my FE.

[bigjoey38]

Hi Guys

looking at a Coachmen RV Clipper Ultra-Lite 17FQ ...any other feedbacks..? I am also looking at KZ Spree or if the budget allows a Trailmanor.

Thanks

Joe

[terryg]

We just got back from our first trip (4 nights) with our 2015 Clipper FQ17. It worked just fine for us. Several things we didn't like, but are learning to live with them with the understanding that we didn't but the most expensive camper on the market. You get what you pay for.

For a camper this size, we enjoyed the extra room over our old Casita, especially the bathroom and bed. We don't like that the AC runs all the time, no thermostat to shut it off. Loud too. But we are mostly cooler weather campers, so this is something we can live with. The good thing is the AC is there when we need it, cold too.

The shower doesn't have a shower enclosure. We found this odd. The dealer said later that the walls were water resistant. We plan to cover the walls of the shower before we use it again.

Too much heat behind the stove top, hot to the touch. And this is without the stove on. I guess the heat is coming from the fridge motor, and there is very little insulation, if any.

No drawers in the kitchen. We didn't even notice this when we were purchasing it at the dealer. Wow, how could we miss this we asked ourselves. But again, we are adapting, using round stand up utensil holders. No towel holders, toilet paper holders in bathroom.
But the nice vanity in the bath more than makes up for lack of holders.

Bed is hard to make, just not enough room on the sides. Again, we figured out a way as most of us humans have the ability to reason.

All in all though we like our camper. We know that we could have spent $35000 and bought a like size Big Foot and have a perfect camper. Instead we spent $13,200 out he door tax and all with a few imperfections we can live with.

We love the storage under the bed. Easy to get too a cooler we stored under there to keep a few cold food items in, with lack of room in the fridge. Nice. Large enough to also keep a portable key board and dulcimer.

Anyways, maybe this review will help someone make a wise decision.

Terry

[terryg]

popeyemth wrote:
We have a FREEDOM EXPRESS 191RB that we like a lot.
The extra 2 feet is nice.
I see the FQ has a walk around bed that was what sold us on ours.
We spend as much as two weeks at a time in our slide in and are very glad to use the Coachmen after that 🙂

We in fact liked the Freedom Express 191RB more than the Clipper 17FQ, but I knew that weight wise the larger TT would be pushing the envelope and asking for problems with our tow vehicle. Enjoy.

[terryg]

KFCCaravan wrote:
Hello Terry

My family and I are enjoying our first season in a Coachmen Clipper. Ours is the 17BH and we tow it with our Grand Cherokee. We're having a blast and really enjoying the trailer without any major complaints. We're actually loading it up right now for another trip into the Rockies this weekend.
The quality seems to be on par with other TTs out there. Not amazing but certainly sufficient considering the lower price point of the Clippers.
There is a Forest River Coachmen forum but it is not specific to the Clipper line as far as I remember. I'm pretty sure there are at least a couple other Clipper owners on this forum too.
Enjoy your trip and let us know how you like your new trailer.

Brett

Hi Brett,
We sold our Casita in March and about a month ago got the urge to buy another small camper. We were looking for something a little larger than the Casita, one that we could leave the bed made during the day, ample room for two adults to move around in, a decent bathroom, and larger holding tanks (were were used to 15 & 10 gal). And we were also looking for a brand new TT at a price that fitted our fixed income budget. After searching the internet and viewing and reviewing many different TTs, we decided on the the Clipper 17FQ. It has everything we wanted and my tow vehicle will have not trouble pulling it.

This TT is around 400 lbs more than our Casita 17 dry, and we hardly knew we were pulling a camper. Ours is a 2006 Toyota Highlander, rated at 3500lbs with a heavy duty transmission cooler installed. Yeah, its on the edge of being too small, but I trust the vehicle, I keep the speed down, and it's paid for.

Enjoy your trip to the Rockies. While we are purchasing the 17FQ today, we probably won't be taking delivery on it until Mon. or Tues.

Terry

[terryg]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I can't find a 17QB in the listings. Did you maybe type something wrong???

I like the layout of the 17FQ is your similar ?

You are so right. I wrote it wrong, it is a 17FQ.

[KFCCaravan]

Hello Terry

My family and I are enjoying our first season in a Coachmen Clipper. Ours is the 17BH and we tow it with our Grand Cherokee. We're having a blast and really enjoying the trailer without any major complaints. We're actually loading it up right now for another trip into the Rockies this weekend.
The quality seems to be on par with other TTs out there. Not amazing but certainly sufficient considering the lower price point of the Clippers.
There is a Forest River Coachmen forum but it is not specific to the Clipper line as far as I remember. I'm pretty sure there are at least a couple other Clipper owners on this forum too.
Enjoy your trip and let us know how you like your new trailer.

Brett

[popeyemth]

We have a FREEDOM EXPRESS 191RB that we like a lot.
The extra 2 feet is nice.
I see the FQ has a walk around bed that was what sold us on ours.
We spend as much as two weeks at a time in our slide in and are very glad to use the Coachmen after that 🙂

[CavemanCharlie]

I can't find a 17QB in the listings. Did you maybe type something wrong???

I like the layout of the 17FQ is your similar ?