We are debating between two travel trailers. We are wanting to downsize from our 33' travel trailer to something below 30' and closer to the 25' range. The two trailers we have narrowed it down to is the Open Range Light 221RQB and the Lance 2185. Just looking for some feedback on these brands and your good and bad experiences. Thanks!

We love our Open Range TT but it is not a light model. Very few problems since we bought it new over 3 years ago. I did change out the junk tires to some good Maxxis tires after one year.

We have had a 2015 216RBS for a little over a year. Probably spent around 100 nights in it and towed it over 10,000 miles. Only problem has been a broken leaf spring that Lippert took care of at our RV site while we were on the road.I have had to adjust the slide cables once and I modified the plumbing so both gray tanks are connected together. I just didn't like having separate bath and kitchen gray tanks and didn't like the requirement to connect two drain hoses while at a park.It's never been back to the dealer for any kind of work because it's never had a problem that needed repairing. We traded in a 2015 Jayco we had for 2 months that just wasn't working out. You might want to take a look at this:Open Range Forum

hohenwald48 wrote:We have had a 2015 216RBS for a little over a year. Probably spent around 100 nights in it and towed it over 10,000 miles. Only problem has been a broken leaf spring that Lippert took care of at our RV site while we were on the road.I have had to adjust the slide cables once and I modified the plumbing so both gray tanks are connected together. I just didn't like having separate bath and kitchen gray tanks and didn't like the requirement to connect two drain hoses while at a park.It's never been back to the dealer for any kind of work because it's never had a problem that needed repairing. We traded in a 2015 Jayco we had for 2 months that just wasn't working out. You might want to take a look at this:Open Range ForumThanks! I love hearing this. I am a member of the OR forum but I have a hard time navigating it due to the way it is set up. And I have posted and not really had much response so I thought I would try here to see. I feel like sometimes on the owners forums you hear all the bad things and surely there are good things to hear too :)

Posting to follow this subject. We purchased a 2016 Jayco Eagle 284BHBE this spring thinking we would be bringing a couple kids/grandkids every trip, doesn't look like that is happening so we are wanting to downsize to around 25' range also but want quality.

270wsmhunter wrote:Posting to follow this subject. We purchased a 2016 Jayco Eagle 284BHBE this spring thinking we would be bringing a couple kids/grandkids every trip, doesn't look like that is happening so we are wanting to downsize to around 25' range also but want quality.I feel like it is hard to find a "quality trailer" in the shorter range (at least with bunks which is what we need as a family of four). I feel like once you go smaller you have to enter into a lightweight category which seems like some of the quality goes down with that or you get really small tanks which is why I like the Open Range.

Open Range or Lance | Good Sam Community

rwess
Explorer
Aug 21, 2016
Never ever buy an Open Range product. The 1st 3 years we owned ours it was in the shop more than at home. Extensive leaks flooding the entire underbelly 3 times. Water leak on rear window, 3 times the dealer said that he could not duplicate, repaired it myself with sealant. Awning almost fell off, screws holding awning on were only in the sidewall and no framing. Had to replace both A/C's. Decals fell off. Outside walls are so thin that you can see the framing underneath, probably thin to save weight. Plan to finally get rid of that beast soon.
bobndot
Explorer II
Aug 21, 2016
It appears to have 3 slideouts ? If so, i would learn about the mechanics of that brand of slideout .
FrankShore
Explorer
Aug 20, 2016
You might want to look at the Factory Tour Video for Lance Camper

Lance Camper Factory Tour Video

And Lance Owners of America

Lance Forum

I love my Lance
2milesup
Explorer II
Aug 20, 2016
Lots of OR fans in here, I don't have any experience with them. I am very happy with my Lance (mine's a 2285) as far as quality build and light weight. Head over to the Lance Owners of America site, you'll get lots of advice there. The site isn't an official Lance website and you'll find a little bad and mostly good there.

Good luck!
hohenwald48
Explorer
Aug 19, 2016
The OEM tires (Westlake) on my Open Range have more than 10K on them and so far have been trouble free. I guess that could change tomorrow.
guidry
Explorer
Aug 19, 2016
We love our Open Range; however, I would highly suggest, no matter what RV you buy, immediately change to good quality tires! And a tire pressure monitoring system! Those two things will be worth every penny you spend on them. Manufacturers use the lowest bid for tires and unfortunately there are many stories about blow-outs and damage to buyers' new trailers.
campincandice
Explorer
Aug 19, 2016
We are in our 3rd season with our Open Range, and love it! We're seasonal campers due to work schedules, sleeping in it 4 nights/week for almost 7 months. We also travel when we can. Only problem has been the awning lights, which I dislike anyway! We love ours and would definitely buy another!
DinTulsa
Explorer
Aug 19, 2016
We have an Open Range Roamer 310BHS, Similar to the OR Light 308. It's a great trailer, very solid compared to some of the other units we looked into. I would recommend Open Range to anyone.
hohenwald48
Explorer
Aug 19, 2016
For us, there is just the two of us and a dog. Very rarely our granddaughter will go with us for a couple of days. The 216 floorplan is ideal for us. I think the floorplan you are looking at is a new one.

Our 216 weighs around 7800# loaded and ready to go. I carry about 900 of that on the tongue. I have my Honda EU3000iS mounted on a rack above the propane tanks so that increases my tongue weight by 130# or so.

I tow with a 2013 Nissan Armada and have never had a problem. Just a couple of weeks ago we went from WY thru CO on 91 from Copper Mtn to 24 thru Leadville and on to Salida, CO. No problems towing thru the passes at all. A little slow on the uphill sides but that's why they have a right lane. :).

You're right about the Open Range forum being difficult to navigate but the moderators over there refuse to consider changing anything.
Moon8211
Explorer
Aug 19, 2016
270wsmhunter wrote:
Posting to follow this subject. We purchased a 2016 Jayco Eagle 284BHBE this spring thinking we would be bringing a couple kids/grandkids every trip, doesn't look like that is happening so we are wanting to downsize to around 25' range also but want quality.

I feel like it is hard to find a "quality trailer" in the shorter range (at least with bunks which is what we need as a family of four). I feel like once you go smaller you have to enter into a lightweight category which seems like some of the quality goes down with that or you get really small tanks which is why I like the Open Range.