Thinking about upgrading from pop-up

[TrueBlueKC]

Hi I'm brand new here and my wife and I are thinking about buying a TT or hybrid. We have had our pop-up for 7 years and love it but we like the idea of easier set up. We also would like a bathroom and a bigger sink and bigger fridge. We could go with less sleeping room and more moving around and storage room. We need to be able to sleep 3 as our son (14) will be with us most of the time for the first few years then will likely be tired of camping with us all the time.

We have a '99 Suburban 1500 4X4. It's tow rating is 6000# so I guess we're looking for a GVWR of 5000 or so.

We have 3 reputable dealers in the area as well as a Camping World. I would like to avoid Camping World based on reviews. One dealer has a lot of Jayco, one has a lot of Keystone and one has a lot of Forest River.

We like the Jayco Jay Feathers and the Keystone Passports but something like the Cherokee wolf pup is closer to my price range. I'm hoping to find something new or slightly used for around $15000 if possible. Is it a good idea to wait until late summer when the 2017's are on the lot and try to get a 2016? How much less will they sell them for If I wait a few months?

I appreciate any comments or suggestions anyone may have.

[gmw_photos]

TrueBlue, it sounds like you are from my home town, the home of the 2015 World Series champs 🙂

As to the dealers you are looking at over there at Grain Valley, I have heard many, many good things about the Jayco dealer.

I do trade at the CW, but have not bought a camper there, so I can't comment on their trailer sales.
The "other" dealer there....well let's just say when I bought my Funfinder in the fall of 2011, they really did not want to deal with me at all on price. Don't know if they are still a FF dealer.
Have not been back there since trying to shop with them in Oct, 2011.
I had decided on a FF 189FDS, ended up buying it over in Cincinnati from Holman RV. I personally did not mind the 1200 mile round trip drive to get it.

Thoroughly enjoy my 189FDS. It weighs right at 4000 pounds ready to camp ( with empty water tanks though ) and tows well behind my Frontier.

[adam9280]

rbpru wrote:

* A TT has a lot more maintenance.
* You can expect 10 MPG
* You will travel at 55 to 60 mph and about 300 miles a day.
* You will need a tow vehicle that is up to the task.

Those are the reasons I went from a tent to a hybrid.

[adam9280]

camp-n-family wrote:
We loved our hybrid but it's not any less setup than a pop up. Consider a hard side with slides if you want the room with the least setup.

We went from a tent to a hybrid trailer 3 years ago. You're correct on the amount of setup/teardown. We're already tired of the amount of time and effort it takes to put down the beds and put on the sheets and blankets.

Thinking about a murphy bed model with beds for 3 kids. Hasn't been an easy search.

[DE88ROX]

TrueBlueKC wrote:

DE88ROX wrote:
If you can hold off until an RV show comes to down, thats always an option too.

My TT retailed for over 18k. I only paid 11K at the show.

I just went on NADAGuides.com and looked it up. At this moment, its going for right around what I paid for it in 2012

Thanks I wasn't sure about shows. We have been to the rv show but always figured if you can haggle that much at the show, you could do it at the dealer if the timing is right.

I didn't haggle at all. That was the show price.
I seriously thought about selling it as soon as I brought it home. Could've made a few grand profit easy. hahaha

[PAThwacker]

Having owned a glamper pup and bunkhouse hybrid I would reconsider going back to a pup. It comes down to how you use the camper to dictate which is best. I do 3 tent trips per year when I couldn't drag the hybrid. Those 3 events would have been awesome with a pup. I'm now divorced and have kids part time. The type of pup I would get would be a toy hauler type. Flagstaff 31hw or 282txr

[Durb]

We sold our third Coleman pop-up as my wife wanted a shower and bathroom and not having to crawl over each other getting out of bed. Being anal, I poured over every stat and floor plan plus looked at build quality for a year. I finally made my decision on a trailer that weighed 4,800#. Inside there was an option build sheet and their respective weights including front step and insulated windows. They even added a pound and one half for the upgraded mattress. My 4,800# trailer was actually #5,200 dry and towed at 6,000#. Fortunately I had enough truck.

That being said, my research paid off and we loved the trailer. Never looked back at a pop-up.

[TrueBlueKC]

DE88ROX wrote:
If you can hold off until an RV show comes to down, thats always an option too.

My TT retailed for over 18k. I only paid 11K at the show.

I just went on NADAGuides.com and looked it up. At this moment, its going for right around what I paid for it in 2012

Thanks I wasn't sure about shows. We have been to the rv show but always figured if you can haggle that much at the show, you could do it at the dealer if the timing is right.

[DE88ROX]

If you can hold off until an RV show comes to down, thats always an option too.

My TT retailed for over 18k. I only paid 11K at the show.

I just went on NADAGuides.com and looked it up. At this moment, its going for right around what I paid for it in 2012

[iv_nurse]

We had a beautiful highwall popup before I became very ill in 2009. Afterwards I was no longer able to handle the set up (my husband is disabled). So happy we were able to get the travel trailer and continue to enjoy camping.

x2 for the "throne". When we went from the popup to the travel trailer that was one of the areas I had dh try out for size (he's 6'8")He tried out the bed, couch, dinette and even stood up in the shower. What we forgot...was to shut the door! Can't be done. LOL!

[TrueBlueKC]

TrueBlueKC wrote:

marquette wrote:
I second renting something in the size you are looking for first. I had a 99 Tahoe and was surprised at how much drag a 6x12 cargo trailer had on it. I tried a 22ft Wildwood Xlite that was 3615lbs by the yellow door sticker with my 2001 Suburban for about 4000 miles and sold it for a 14.5 ft TT. It's lower and narrower and tows like a dream. I understand wanting to move up from a pop up because that is what we did. After the Wildwood we even considered a Aliner because of the ease of towing but the cabinet storage, refrigerator that is not mounted on the floor and a bathroom kept us in a TT. Don't over estimate your Tahoe's towing capacity and you will have a much more positive experience going to a TT.

I looked at Wildwoods but immediately scratched them off my list due to the weight. The 21 foot I saw had a dry weight of 3800# but a CCC of 3600#. That's a GVWR of over 7,000 lbs! The trailer I buy will have a gross weight of around 5000 lbs. which would keep me well within my limits especially with weight distribution.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I've been told dry weight is not a good number to go by.

Oh, I just realized that you weren't towing 7,000 lbs. that is the max rating. I am learning a lot on these forums. I don't even feel my pop-up. It's 2500#s fully loaded and I never needed to know about payload and tongue weights and such.

[TrueBlueKC]

marquette wrote:
I second renting something in the size you are looking for first. I had a 99 Tahoe and was surprised at how much drag a 6x12 cargo trailer had on it. I tried a 22ft Wildwood Xlite that was 3615lbs by the yellow door sticker with my 2001 Suburban for about 4000 miles and sold it for a 14.5 ft TT. It's lower and narrower and tows like a dream. I understand wanting to move up from a pop up because that is what we did. After the Wildwood we even considered a Aliner because of the ease of towing but the cabinet storage, refrigerator that is not mounted on the floor and a bathroom kept us in a TT. Don't over estimate your Tahoe's towing capacity and you will have a much more positive experience going to a TT.

I looked at Wildwoods but immediately scratched them off my list due to the weight. The 21 foot I saw had a dry weight of 3800# but a CCC of 3600#. That's a GVWR of over 7,000 lbs! The trailer I buy will have a gross weight of around 5000 lbs. which would keep me well within my limits especially with weight distribution.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I've been told dry weight is not a good number to go by.

[TrueBlueKC]

It's interesting that we bought the pop-up for convenience and now want a TT for the same reason. After 10 years of tent camping and countless thunderstorms we decided we wanted to sleep off the ground.

So much to think about. Towing is a breeze but a toilet is nice. There's always give and take, I suppose.

[rbpru]

A few things I miss about my PUP are,
* Not much hassle getting to the gas pumps.
* Not much change in mileage do to wind.
* I can store it in the garage.
* I can push it around with the post wheel.
* I can take it though the Drive-thru at McDonalds.

TT convenience is handy but it has its price.

[Jebby14]

don't buy more trailer than you can tow. I grew up pulling popups and love them (would still have one if not for the wife wanting a tt and me being smart enough to know how that goes) they are more convenient for setup but still need to be leveled and maintained. in my opinion saving 15 min setting up is not worth the extra hassle to tow but then again I can do a popup in a hurry. just remember you will add weight quickly and almost always run out of cargo capacity before towing capacity once you remove tongue weight passanger weight fuel weight hitch weight cargo weight ect.

[TBammer]

We love our Jay Feather 242. It has all the amenities for camping for 2. Also, light enough to be pulled with a 1/2 ton.