Frustrated by short beds and uniformed salesmen

[Stevensondrive]

We are shopping for our first travel trailer. Something around 26-30ish long. The lighter the better.....

I'm 6' tall aka 72". Most of the mattresses are only 74" long. So with my pillow I'll probably be hanging off the end and not comfortable. Some of the salesmen acted like they had no idea the mattresses were shorter.

I'm finding it frustrating to compare brands and features. We have a toddler so we need a bunkhouse with a tub. I looked at a Keystone Premier that had the bunkhouse but no tub. 😞

And finding what a fair price is annoying too.....

This whole process is frustrating

[peirek]

2012Coleman wrote:
What does the door jamb sticker say - total weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed xxxx lbs?

Does your Ford guy understand that payload capacity will be exceeded before the mythical tow capacity?

This! Cargo capacity on a 1/2 ton will max out well before the mythical towing capacity.

[hawkeye-08]

Many salesmen do not realize there are two queens, RV queen and regular queen. We had a RV queen in our first travel trailer, replaced it with full size queen that hung over the end of the bed support and told the buyers when we sold exactly what we did and not to sit on end that is not supported. I know we could have fixed it by adding support but not a problem. If you find a trailer with the short version but otherwise like the trailer, you might be able to change mattress and add support if needed...

[All58Parks]

DutchmenSport wrote:
About "tubs"? IF you find a trailer with a bath tub, it will be so small, it will be virtually unusable. Your camper will probably have a 6 gallon water heater, which will not even be enough water to adequately heat, even a small bathtub, with enough water for even a small child to take a comfortable bath.

6 gallons of hot water will not go very far... Tubs are useless in a camper. Teach the toddler to take a shower, or just simply give him/her a cat bath. Or better yet, hose him down outside.

Respectfully, I have to disagree. For years we owned a 21' Hideout that had a tub in it and a 6 gallon hot water tank. We had 2 toddlers and gave them many comfortable baths in that tub. With both the electric and gas on, the tank would recover fast enough to add more water before the first round even got cold. I would definately look for that feature again, if I still had toddlers.

[bankmule66]

I have come to believe most rv salesmen and auto dealers know very little about what they sell.

[2012Coleman]

What does the door jamb sticker say - total weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed xxxx lbs?

Does your Ford guy understand that payload capacity will be exceeded before the mythical tow capacity?

[Stevensondrive]

dodge guy wrote:
The only thing I have to add is forget the tub. your camping, so you have to give somewhere.

And if you want a full size bed then you will have to step up to a larger trailer as those are usually the ones to offer a longer bed if it available.

You are going to get a call from a very angry 4 year old with comments like that! Lol. He loves his baths. I'm looking at a Keystone Passport 2670BH which has the 60x80 queen and a tub.

[Stevensondrive]

According to my ford service guy my truck can handle 14000 pounds which includes the truck. The truck weighs 6500 pounds. I do HVAC work and was recently at the scrap yard and weighed my truck. So I'm positive of that number. That was a full tank of gas and several heavy tools. I should be ok with a 5100 dry camper. 😉

[dodge_guy]

The only thing I have to add is forget the tub. your camping, so you have to give somewhere.

And if you want a full size bed then you will have to step up to a larger trailer as those are usually the ones to offer a longer bed if it available.

[2012Coleman]

Stevensondrive wrote:
Acdii, my F150 can tow 7500. So I'll be good.

Thanks for headed up

Yea - but how much can it carry?

Good luck.

[SoundGuy]

Stevensondrive wrote:
Acdii, my F150 can tow 7500. So I'll be good.

Thanks for headed up

Oh boy, here we go. :W

Have you weighed your truck with a full tank of gas and crunched the numbers to see what it can really tow? That's the only way you'll really understand what you have to work with, regardless of what Ford may claim as a tow rating for it. What are the specifics? - what model & year, actual curb weight with a full tank of gas, GVWR, GCWR, weight of everyone and everything else in the truck when it's towing, what axle ratio does it have, what transmission? ALL these play into what your particular truck can actually tow safely - don't consider this and you'll just be guessing. JMO, but having towed for 10+ years with several different 1/2 ton trucks I personally wouldn't want to tow any trailer weighing much more than about 6000 lbs fully loaded and ready to camp with a 1/2 ton truck. My suggestion is that before you go any further with this you actually crunch the numbers for your particular truck before committing yourself to a trailer you might not be able to tow safely. Goodness knows, you wouldn't be the first. :W

[Stevensondrive]

Acdii, my F150 can tow 7500. So I'll be good.

Thanks for headed up

[Acdii]

Don't trust the posted weights! 🙂 That 5085 pounds is more likely closer to 6000 pounds. I have a Coleman 274BH, rated at 4863 pounds shipping weight, empty weight actually came in at 5500 pounds. The good news though, fully loaded wet weight was 6300#, and towed easily with my 2014 F150 Lariat.

The Coleman is a nice trailer, and to fix the short queen I removed the top from the storage compartment under the mattress and extended it out to the full queen length and replaced that thin cheap mattress with a good one with memory foam. Can still use the storage and not have the feet hanging in the air, though I do have to climb over the wife to get to my side, but she likes it that way.

[Stevensondrive]

I think I've found a winner. Keystone Passport 2670BH looks perfect for our needs and wants.

Full sized queen bed
Bunks with tub
Plenty of sleeping for guests and hunting with buddies
Outdoor kitchen
Smooth sides
And only 5085 pounds!!!

[RSD559]

Our Highland Ridge ultra-light in the signature is a bunk model with a bath tub. https://www.highlandridgerv.com/products/2018/ultra-lite/travel-trailers/UT2704BH . As far as the bed goes, a long strip of additional mattress was included to make the bed a full queen. We threw it on the bunk for the grandkids and moved our adjustable beds with memory foam mattresses into the bedroom. I'm 6' 4" and my RV bed is more comfy than my home bed.

[jmign]

pickjare wrote:
Op, on the subject of bathtub or not:
BUY a trailer that has a small tub. Our trailer has a small tub and for kids it is as useful as the large tub in our house. When our kids were babies we bathed them in kitchen sink. Now 2 yrs. and 5 yrs. they bathe in the small tub. Works excellent. We have a 6 gallon water heater that produces truly scolding hot water. I don't know how the pipes, connections, and valves handle it. Think about it, if you mix 6 gallons near boiling water with 6 gallons cold water you fill a small tub with very comfortable warm water. Half hour later another 6 gallons is ready.

It's great, one of the best parts of our camping is the small tub and 6 gallon water heater. On an early spring outing last year, our kids both took hot baths at 7,000 feet with snow outside. I told them not many people have taken a nice hot bath way back in the mountains like that. It's what a camp trailer provides for us. Get the 6 gallon water heater and small tub. Good luck on the mattress.

Couldn't agree more. I'm thinking the people who tell you the bath wouldn't work do not have small children. Ours works perfectly. Our five year old can still bathe in there although she's beginning to prefer showers. The bath was a deal breaker for us.
As for the salesmen, they will be totally and utterly useless in my experience. They only give you access to look at the campers physically. They have no idea what they are selling or what features it has or doesn't. Do all your work online and then when you head to the lot know what units specifically you want to look at.