Travel trailer under 8000lbs/rear living /outside kitchen

[Mncst]

DH and I have changed our minds once again and are now looking for a travel trailer with rear living room. We love the big window in back. We want it to be under 8000lbs and an outside kitchen is a must. Anyone have any leads? Also, pros cons of rear living? Anyone have one that they do not like?

[TurnThePage]

dockmasterdave wrote:
We are also interested in the smaller rear living arrangement. There don't seem to be a lot of models with rear living under 31' and about 8 to 9000 lbs. Are there any specific models you have seen that you liked?

I like this Lance 2375. No outside kitchen, but well under 8000 lbs, and pretty darned nice inside.

[rsaylor3]

We have had our Cruiser Viewfinder Signature 32rlss for 2 1/2 years now. We do about 30 night a year, but for the last 4 1/2 months we have been living in it fulltime. We sold our house in 2 days, which was much quicker than the new builder could finish the new house:) We have a 10 year old and a 3 year old. It's an amazing set up with the opposing slides! Huge amount of room.

Ours has the TV/Fireplace right in front of the two rockers and within comfortable view of the large sofa. We do have an outdoor kitchen with little fridge, sink and 2 burner stove. We also have a outdoor tv that we thought we would use more!

This is my very first camper. It is a 32' box, and 36' total length. Once I had my hitch set up properly (which the dealership didn't do) it's been a painless towing experience.

If your current tow vehicle won't make it for over 8,000 lbs, you will have trouble finding this type of floorplan. My GVWR is over 9,000lbs, but I'm usually under that.

We looked for 2 years and spent time in a lot of floor plans before settling on this one. The extra room for us to "live in", vs a bunkhouse for the kids was a great trade off! The large sofa is great to just pull the cushions off and the older kid sleeps on it without even folding it out, it's basically a twin bed! As he gets older, he and his little brother will have a bigger bed than us!

Good luck with your choice. Go and spend time in a lot of trailers. Tell the salesman to come back later and just sit and feel it all out.

[Swell1]

Look at the SportTrek. They have several models that are rear living with a gvwr of 7000 - 8300.
Good luck

[Merrykalia]

I have not seen it, but my daughter is looking at a Keystone RV HIDEOUT 26RLS TRAVEL TRAILER and it has a rear living with sofa and 2 recliners, a decent size kitchen and a small outdoor kitchen (at least a burner and small fridge). It weighs in around 6500 lbs and is 29'11" long.

[1stgenfarmboy]

It may be imposible to find one with all three of your wants, those big 34ft TT's are awesome though.

[ktmrfs]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Our Keystone Outback 298RE has the rear living with opposing slide out.

What do we NOT like about this arrangement.... NOTHING!

It's absolutely wonderful. Ours has windows on all 3 sides of the slides, so we have almost a 360 degree view from the living room area. We also removed the kitchen table and chairs and the two rocking chairs that came with the camper and replaced it with a household three seater recliner sofa. I put wheels on it so it can be turned facing the back window. We absolutely love this arrangement.

Ours has an outside propane stove and a small sink with outside water. It's in a drop down hatch. It does not have a refrigerator, but is ideal for fixing stuff outside. We almost always carry an electric cooler with us for drinks so the refrigerator inside the camper is for food items. We often set the electric cooler outside, but it's just as easy to put it in the car or truck, plug into the cigarette lighter, and presto! Instant refrigeration anywhere .... even when not camping.

I do not know of any camper that would have the full outside kitchen with counter tops, cabinets, and refrigerators AND a rear living arrangement. Usually, those outside kitchens take up a good size foot print inside the camper and at best, will have a single bunk on the top of that "box" with bunks on the opposite side (usually a slide out).

We use the outside stove and sink all the time. We just place a picnic table within reach and usually use an electric griddle also for just about everything.

We love ours. There are absolutely NO negatives for us. It's a great camper!

We have the 295RE, the 298RE is the same trailer later model with a bedroom wardrobe slide.

I completely agree with Dutchman. We love the trailer, We've put over 35K miles on it, use it around 3 months/year and it still looks brand new. And that includes many trips with grandkids and or daughter SIL and grandkids.

and the living room, in addition to giving a great outside view on 3 sides, is almost 16 ft wide. very spacious and open

and with the slides in we can get to sink, stove, microwave, fridge, dinette, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen cabinets, etc. Great for rest stops. Something you can't do with many trailers with slides.

And it has big enough grey and black tanks to do a two week dry camp with DW and I or an easy week with kids/grandkids.


One thing I will say, is it is more of a "couples trailer" than a family trailer. yes you can easily sleep 6, but that means making up the living room beds etc. not a seperate sleeping area.

[dockmasterdave]

We are also interested in the smaller rear living arrangement. There don't seem to be a lot of models with rear living under 31' and about 8 to 9000 lbs. Are there any specific models you have seen that you liked?

[DutchmenSport]

Our Keystone Outback 298RE has the rear living with opposing slide out.

What do we NOT like about this arrangement.... NOTHING!

It's absolutely wonderful. Ours has windows on all 3 sides of the slides, so we have almost a 360 degree view from the living room area. We also removed the kitchen table and chairs and the two rocking chairs that came with the camper and replaced it with a household three seater recliner sofa. I put wheels on it so it can be turned facing the back window. We absolutely love this arrangement.

Ours has an outside propane stove and a small sink with outside water. It's in a drop down hatch. It does not have a refrigerator, but is ideal for fixing stuff outside. We almost always carry an electric cooler with us for drinks so the refrigerator inside the camper is for food items. We often set the electric cooler outside, but it's just as easy to put it in the car or truck, plug into the cigarette lighter, and presto! Instant refrigeration anywhere .... even when not camping.

I do not know of any camper that would have the full outside kitchen with counter tops, cabinets, and refrigerators AND a rear living arrangement. Usually, those outside kitchens take up a good size foot print inside the camper and at best, will have a single bunk on the top of that "box" with bunks on the opposite side (usually a slide out).

We use the outside stove and sink all the time. We just place a picnic table within reach and usually use an electric griddle also for just about everything.

We love ours. There are absolutely NO negatives for us. It's a great camper!