kbtravels wrote:
We are thinking about upgrading our Jayco 19RB to something with one slide-out to get more width / living space. Must haves are walk around or island queen bed, good storage space, enough floor space to roll out a yoga mat and have room to move, prefer a bigger fridge with a separate freezer compartment. Do NOT need fancy stuff like entertainment center, electric jacks, levellers, awning, etc. Would like to stay under 23' and under 4500 lbs. There seems to be very little out there that fits. Anyone have a suggestion?
I'll add another vote for the Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS. Our 2016 has been a faithful, reliable home on wheels for us for 2 1\2 years. Seems to check all of your needs list, as well. Living in the SE Texas area we are able to use it year round, and the unit has performed well in hot and cold weather (coldest extremes were north of San Antonio last January when we had 15-16F lows for two nights; hottest was summer before last in the lower Rio Grande Valley - about 5 miles from the Mexican border - went through 10 days of 105F temps). Point being that all systems have performed flawlessly in all kinds of weather.
Lots of storage space that we have not yet totally utilized, and my wife and I and our dog have enjoyed it every time we've been out. I would categorize the rig as a true "couple's camper." Though the jack knife sofa on the mini-slide is advertised as an additional sleeping option, I could imagine only one of our smaller grandkids camping with us. But I think that might be a push.
Weight-wise, when we are totally loaded with groceries, clothes, etc. and geared up for even an extended trip, our CAT Scale receipts see us clocking in at 4600-4700 lbs. That's with two full propane tanks but empty fresh, gray and black tanks.
Boondocking isn't our normal camping mode, but we did add a second G24 deep cycle battery on the occasion that I head to the deer lease. Our unit came with a full size, 80" queen bed, and we added a topper that makes our sleep absolutely delightful. And even though this is a relatively small trailer (22 1/2' hitch to bumper), we wanted to divide the interior sleeping area from the living/galley, so we installed draperies to allow one of us to sleep in while the other might be up earlier. So the space available works well for us both inside and outside (we use the 14' awning lots). But again, this is a unit that works best for two folks - and certainly your four legged companion, as well.
We've done a number of mods like most folks do, but recently we made a change for safety and reliability's sake; i.e. we replaced the original Chinese manufactured tires with a set of Goodyear Endurance tires. The previous tires were wearing prematurely and unevenly. - even though a check of our running gear confirmed that everything was solid and straight. So whichever trailer you end up getting, you might negotiate with your dealer for a better set of tires before leaving the lot.