So tell me about your perfect couples travel trailer

[5akman]

Over the years our family has transitioned from a Coleman tent trailer to a KZ bunkhouse with rear queen bed slide and now a Keystone Sprinter 5er. The kids are grown and gone, my knees are bad and my wife hates the steps up to the 5er bedroom. Its time for a new to us bumper pull trailer.

We've probably spent 50 hrs between the two of us researching used trailers, reading reports, watching youtube videos etc and we're confused as all HECK!

We want a couples trailer floor plan, 24' - 30', at least one slide, true queen bed. Sleeping more than the two of us is not a necessity but being able to seat 4-6 people for board games, movies or conversation would be nice. No need for washer/dryer hookups or anything fancy like that. Our budget is maxed at about 15k. We both retire in two years and want to do the occasional 1-3 week road trips. My wife prefers hookups vs boon docking.

Our tow vehicle is a 2001 Dodge CTD 2500 QCSB 2wd, factory camper/tow package with 70k on the clock in pristine condition. I'm a diesel nut and have done all the engine/transmission upgrades needed to handle a decent sized trailer (I figure 10,000lbs or so). I'm not opposed to buying a HA or PP hitch.

So, for those of you in our situation, what trailers do you have and why do you like them? I'm more interested in chassis/build integrity vs fancy decals and outside kitchens. Our Sprinter has the normal front/rear filon delam and there is just no excuse for such poor construction and I don't ever want to have to deal with stuff like that! 🙂

Thanks

Lance

[MitchF150]

Here is the floor plan of my "perfect couples trailer". I'm 6'3", so the queen bed works fine for me. (my feet always hang out the end of beds my whole life, so no big deal for me!)

We have the theater seat option, so no table, no couch, no hosting any parties! 🙂

We don't 'group camp' with family or friends, as we just like to get away for a long weekend ourselves..

We utilize the outside a lot, so mostly eat outside and stay outside or exploring the area during the day. Specs of the rig are in my sig.

[Grit_dog]

Look at small/med size toyhaulers.
They’re everything you describe wanting.
Heavier chassis than comparable TT.
Open space.
Plenty of seating/seating room.
You got plenty of truck to tow it.
They track better than a lot of TTs (when not hauling heavy toys). No sway or wdh needed because they have a lot of tongue weight (may need a new hitch in the truck)
Even though you’re more full hookup, they generally have bigger tanks.
Plenty of them in the $15k range for older ones in good shape.
Quality wise? Good luck. Just find one that everything works and don’t leak.

[prichardson]

I have found that a rear living floor plan works good for your described situation. Since you are looking at used; probably more important than brand is age and current condition. I would avoid anything with foam core floor construction.

[bucky]

We have just done the same thing. From a Ram diesel dually and a giant 5th wheel we went down to a 2010 3500 Chevy Express 15 passenger van and a 2015 Puma 30RKSS. The van was necessary to haul all of the "stuff" that fit in the underbelly of the 5er but not in the TT. We removed some of the seats and may remove one more row.

The 6.0 Vortec engine does just fine pulling the 8800 pound GVWR TT.
I did find a low mileage Ram 1500 with the diesel but found that the specs were too light for towing our TT.

Storage will be an issue so a truck cap will be needed if you go with a pick up. The fridge will be smaller and you can forget that big closet in the nose of the 5er.

We found several "almost" trailers in our search in your price range so they are out there.
Good luck with all of it