Top 3-4 Travel Trailer Bunkhouses

[Seabeedaddy]

Subject line says it.. Top 3-4 Bunkhouse less then 30ft Travel Trailers out there. Wanna do some research before considering the trade.. Lite Weight/Realiability,etc...

[Indy317]

We have a Salem Cruise Lite 281BHXL. We are nearing the end of a 3.5 week trip and still love it. It has met all of our needs. Are there things we would tweak? Yes, but we can work around those things and keep them in mind in the future (waaaay future...it's a 2013) when we trade. I don't know how to link a floor plan, but I can tell you we have pulled it from Indiana all the way to Yellowstone and then some and haven't had trouble - knock on wood!

[mrp116]

Might want to look at this thread.

[Hunk_a_junk]

I recently purchased a lacrosse 318bhs at Tom raper rv. We really liked it until it started raining on our second camping trip. The carpet beside the slide out gets soaked. It has been back to the dealer twice now and going back for a third time this week. They cannot fix or even find the leak. It has been wet so many times I'm starting to worry about mold. Prime Time manufacturing does not seem to concerned about this issue and Tom Raper's service sucks. I would not recomend either one of them.

[jrichard]

About a year ago we bought a Prime Time Avenger 28bhs and are very happy with it. I also like the Jayco Whitehawk bunkhouse of similar size and the Prime Time Lacrosse 292 bunkhouse.

Reputation for customer service was critical and both Jayco and Prime Time do well in that regard. If a manufacturer has a reputation for good customer service, that's an indication of ( 1 ) a good product (though not necessarily the best), and ( 2 ) you'll be happy with the outcome if there is a problem with your purchase.

You might write down the things critical to you and use that list to narrow the search. As I indicated, for me reputation for customer service was #1. I also wanted to stay in the "average" pricing range, which ruled out Nash/Arctic Fox. For bunk house models, the important issues I considered (not necessarily in order):

1. Two full size bunks. We previously had a full bottom bunk and a 1/2 top bunk. The kids didn't like it at all and I saw no benefit.

2. Deep slide. We previously had a relatively shallow slide (like the Jayco 28bhs). The difference between a deep slide and a shallow slide is similar to the difference between a shallow slide and no slide.

3. Cargo carrying capacity...this is a reflection of the strength of the frame and suspension components. I wanted something relatively beefy as I bent the frame on a previous (ultralite) trailer...my fault, but it was totaled. That trailer had CCC +/-1000lbs and was at the limit with respect to the tire load rating. My current trailer CCC is +/-2700lbs and has room to spare on the tire rating.

4. Laminate v. tin...personal preference. I wanted tin because of potential delamination problems otherwise. There are a few manufacturers who use better materials to avoid delamination, but most do not.

5. Tank size. I compromised here, but recently installed a grey water recycling system that almost doubles our boondocking ability.

6. Make sure it's not too heavy especially relative to the payload capacity of your vehicle if you have a 1/2 ton. Do not fall into the trap of looking at GVWR of the trailer to determine if you can tow it...that unnecessarily penalizes the strongest trailers. Look at the unloaded weight and add a reasonable estimate for your gear (e.g. 1000-1500lbs).

Since buying my current trailer, I'd also pay attention to efficient storage (the Avenger is very efficient but it makes me realize how inefficient my last one was...and I just got lucky this time).

Good luck!

[Chromag]

I have the Crossroads Z-1 271BH that we've been very happy with. It comes in at 7,700 lbs GVWR and has two bunks in the back.

[RCHamblin]

I like my Outdoors RV Creekside 26BKS. Very well built

[PAThwacker]

I like the skyline layton 295. It has twin over full perpendicular bunks. My htt has 27X70 rear bunks.

[aclay]

Need more data. How many bunks/kids? Full time beds or you want to convert sofas etc? Tow vehicle or weight? Slides/no slides? Outside kitchen? Does tank size matter?

We had a Jayco Jayflight 26BH and liked it, but it was too small. 28BHS was nice too. The lance looks slick, and their campers have a good rep. Cougar has a few interesting ones.

We have a Sprinter 311BHS, but is 35' long.

[krobbe]

With a Keystone Bullet 294BHS, I like having the large second bedroom/living space for the kids or guests(can sleep up to 10). The framing is welded aluminum, it has 2 slides, a giant kitchen sink, well built, and the drywt is only 5635# and gvwr is 7575#.

[WoodGlue]

The Lance 2185 can sleep up to 7 people, is built in a superior way and is lightweight enough for your TV.



Lance makes the best Travel Trailers in my and many others opinions on RV.net

WoodGlue

[AlbertaNewbie]

my opinion only, all have 2 full bunks for longevity vs the small singles in the 3 or 4 bunk models.

1. coachmen 282bhds
2. rockwood 2702ss or flagstaff 27bess, same trailer
3. surveyor sv291
4. coleman 26?, similar layout to above

reasons I like these models
a. lightweight, generally have a 7500 gvwr with dry weights ranging from5200 - 6700lbs
b. major requirement of entry straight to the washroom for the kids without tracking throughthe entire trailer
c. build quality blows away Jayco and other similad popular "get it because it has a 2 year warranty" and really needs it to be useable for 3 years models.

again, just my opinion based on qualitative and quantitative analysis over the last 2 years. nlt meant to make anybody angry.