Newbie - Which is better tiny bunkhouse or hybrid

[Travelinsarah]

HI Everyone - My family and I are looking to purchase our first travel trailer. We have Kia Sorrento so we are limited on towing. We have a family of 4 sometimes 5. So what is better mini bunkhouse max weight 3500 or hybrid pop out? The hybrid had more room but looks like more work and the bunkhouse just looks a little crowded. We like the Keystone Hideout 175BH or the Jay Feather 17x or Keystone Bullet 1650. Any advise for a novice?

[SusanDallas]

Before you purchase your travel trailer,try towing it. If the dealer won't let you tow, rent a trailer for a day & see how your vehicle handles it. I wouldn't purchase the travel trailer until the dealer let me test drive a used trailer they had on the lot. The salesman went with me & we drove up and down hills and highway driving. You will soon find out if you can tow it. With a Kia, I believe it is possible.

[drsteve]

Look at the sticker inside the drivers side door jamb. It will tell you the cargo capacity of your Sorrento. Then add up the weight of occupants and cargo that you will have in the vehicle, and that will tell you how much capacity you have left for the tongue weight of the trailer.

Then take a look at the hitch receiver. There should be a sticker telling the tongue weight limit of the receiver.

I suspect you will find that the Sorrento is not as capable as you believe it to be.

[APT]

Topic question: Everything is a compromise. You can make both work. Fundamentally, I recommend only choosing a hybrid vs. a hard walled TT if you specifically want to sleep under canvas. Otherwise, there are similar weighted TTs that you can pull with different compromises.

As far as what/how much you can tow? There are several ratings for vehicles that need to be considered. For towing RVs, most people will exceed at least one other rating well below the tow rating, especially with larger families. Add 750 pounds to any trailer dry weight and plan for 13% of that loaded weight as tongue weight.

[SoundGuy]

Travelinsarah wrote:
Maybe some of you are not aware that a Kia Sorrento is one of the top SUV towing vehiciles that is why we bought it. Dry weight is 3500 GWVR is 5489. I think that is plenty to buy either one of these campers.

Clearly you need to take a step back and learn more about what various TV & trailer ratings really mean, particularly the Sorrento's limited payload capacity. Kia Sorrento as a "top SUV towing vehicle"? ... hardly. :R

[spoon059]

Like other's said, check the numbers and KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN. It kinda sounds like you don't.

That being said, I would suggest a hybrid or popup. Smaller bunkhouses will have tiny little bunkbeds with little to no ventilation. They will be cold in the winder and HOT in the summer (I speak from experience). A hybrid or popup will have much better ventilation and be much more comfortable, plus they will feel bigger on the inside, yet be smaller on the outside while traveling down the road. If we didn't have yappy dogs, we would have a hybrid. They are truly a great compromise for camping!!!

[Bobbo]

Travelinsarah wrote:
Maybe some of you are not aware that a Kia Sorrento is one of the top SUV towing vehiciles that is why we bought it. Dry weight is 3500 GWVR is 5489. I think that is plenty to buy either one of these campers.

That's nice, but completely irrelevant. What does the door sticker say the payload rating is? Subtract from that number the weights of the driver and all of your passengers, and all the stuff you take camping that won't be carried in the trailer. THAT is the important number. That tells you what your maximum tongue weight can be, which can then be used to figure how heavy a trailer you can tow.

You are relying on marketing information from the manufacturer. As the marketing manager once said to Dilbert while he was spending a week in orientation in the marketing department, "what you see here will look like outright criminal fraud, but it's not, it's only marketing."

You say "I think that is plenty to buy either one of these campers." Wouldn't you rather KNOW that is plenty to buy either one of those trailers? There is no substitute for running the numbers on the particular tow vehicle/trailer.

We are not trying to attack you. We are trying to keep you from making an expensive (and possibly dangerous) mistake.

[SusanDallas]

I recommend you look at the KZ Sportsman Classic 180bh. I have one of these and tow it with my 2006 Kia Sedona EX. It has a queen size bed, 2 bunkbeds and a dinette that converts into a bed. Even with the extras I ordered, 6 cubit ft. refrigerator, roof ac unit and other options, the weight of the trailer was only 2700 lbs. I am in love with this trailer. I have had it over a year and taken it on 4 trips With absolutely no problems. My Kia pulls it like a champ. My rpms have never gotten higher than 2800 even in the hill country of Texas. I still get 18 - 20mpg when towing.

[afidel]

Travelinsarah wrote:
Maybe some of you are not aware that a Kia Sorrento is one of the top SUV towing vehiciles that is why we bought it. Dry weight is 3500 GWVR is 5489. I think that is plenty to buy either one of these campers.

1,278 to 1,537 lbs payload depending on configuration, well short of the almost 1,700 pounds of payload I have on my truck. As I mentioned we're at ~90% of ratings for both axles with 5 people, a camping load, and our 3,500lb loaded trailer. If you don't believe me look at the yellow sticker in the drivers door jamb, then load up the family (including your +1) and all the stuff you'd take camping that you wouldn't put in the trailer and take it to a CAT scale or similar weight scale. You'll see how much capacity you have left, then figure out if 15% of the trailer weight you're looking at would exceed what's left. Most likely it will.

[Travelinsarah]

Maybe some of you are not aware that a Kia Sorrento is one of the top SUV towing vehiciles that is why we bought it. Dry weight is 3500 GWVR is 5489. I think that is plenty to buy either one of these campers.

[theoldwizard1]

You would be better off with a large pop-up, but don't even think about a bathroom or hot water. Sleeping 3 adults will be difficult (assuming 2 kids).

[Bobbo]

I agree with seriously checking the vehicle's payload rating. Subtract the weights of all 5 people and see what is left for camping equipment that won't fit in the trailer, and trailer tongue weight. Report back what that number is and we can give you better answers.

Also, look at the label attached to the trailer hitch. What is the max tongue weight it lists?

[afidel]

Forget it you're not going to tow a trailer big enough for 5 with a crossover. I've got a half ton truck with almost 1,700 pounds of cargo capacity and I'm nearly maxed out with 5 of us in the truck hauling a 3,000 dry/3,600 GVWR trailer. An SUV with 5 people in it is going to be massively overloaded with a similar setup. Your best bet is to find a popup with the lowest tongue weight you can (many of the bigger high sided popups are actually heavier on the tongue than some light hard sided trailers) or upgrade to a crew cab pickup (from experience I'd say a 3/4 ton or at the very least an F150 with the HD payload option). The only other option I could see would be two vehicles, one to haul people and gear and the other to tow the trailer.

[the_bear_II]

For the size of trailer you can tow I see at lot more of the hybrid trailers in the campgrounds. I think the extra room is the reason.

[epeters]

Now having owned both (hybrid and TT) here are my thoughts:

Hybrid:
* Lighter for the room (no floor space is lost to beds)
* likely has bigger beds (ours had three queen beds)
* opens up to the outside better (think like a tent)
* beds will have higher weight ratings in most cases compared to bunk beds
* beds will be bigger than bunk beds (finding bunks in a TT that fits my 6 foot plus son with broad shoulders was really hard)

Trailer:
* Warmer in the winter and easier to cool in the summer
* better to keep the noise of the campground out (think getting kids to sleep next to the party by the fire next door)
* no need to fold up beds when leaving (less work to leave and set up)

Things that are mostly the same (not exactly, but similar)
* risk of leaks --- really the same on both. We had our Hybrid for 10 years, zero leaks... many TT don't go that long before leaking
* cost of maintenance
* towing - assuming you have the right set up on both

Given your vehicle, I would suggest the Hybrid if you find one in good shape (used) or new. You'll get a bit more livable space.