Travel Trailers for large families

[pattinsoldier]

We are looking to purchase our first travel trailer. We've been tent campers our entire lives, but we now have 6 kids and are looking to make camping a bit easier for us. We would like a travel trailer that sleeps at least 8 and a max weight of 6,000 pounds. We are currently considering the Jayco 267BHS and the Alpha Wolf 26DBH-L. We are a little overwhelmed with all the options! Which of these TTs would you choose and why? Are there any others that we should consider? We would really appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Edited to add: We will be towing with a Nissan NV 3500, which has max tow weight of 8700 lbs.

[Seon]

TenOC wrote:
... A van will not tow a large TT without burning up the transmission.

Whoa, I just switched from a 1/2 ton Yukon to a 1 ton e350 Ford van to tow my 7k lb TT. I hope I didn't make a mistake.

[Tvov]

Just a note about kids and growing up... we camped for years, watching our kids grow up. When my daughter hit teenage years, she started to get less enthused. Right around 15-16 she basically stopped camping with us.

My son still enjoyed camping with "the parents", but when he hit mid-high teens his weekends started to be taken up with, well, teenage stuff.

Your older kids may "move on" to other things soon, so a smaller camper may be worth considering. Or just get a big one and have nice roomy camper in a few years!

[pattinsoldier]

Claywoody, that’s great! Big families are wonderful! I’m curious, what travel trailer are you considering? Camping is definitely the perfect vacation for large families. We still haven’t pulled the trigger on our purchase as we keep hoping for a good deal on a used one. We are giving ourselves until May and then will buy new if we haven’t found anything by then.

[claywoody]

Thanks for this post! Also have an NV 3500 and considering a TT just under the recommended tow weight. I think mfg says 9400 lbs and the TT we are looking at is 8900 or 9200. We have 10 kids! Glad to see another big family out there learning to camp together. We just started last year and most of the kids are hooked.

[claywoody]

Thanks for this post! Also have an NV 3500 and considering a TT just under the recommended tow weight. I think mfg says 9400 lbs and the TT we are looking at is 8900 or 9200. We have 10 kids! Glad to see another big family out there learning to camp together. We just started last year and most of the kids are hooked.

[colliehauler]

Grit dog wrote:

rjstractor wrote:


Your NV3500 van is actually quite a bit stouter than a Nissan Titan pickup. The posters advising you to get a bigger tow vehicle probably don't realize that the NV3500 is a heavy duty commercial van with 8 lug wheels and a RGAWR of just over 6000 lbs. So it's every bit a capable as a 2500 series Suburban or other comparable vehicle. While it's not a diesel crew cab dually pickup, it should be a better tow vehicle than virtually any new SUV on the market, and a great choice for your family and trailer.

^ What he said!
Disregard the other fodder about your van pattinsoldier.
You are in the land of many uninformed opinions. Proceed as such and get that camper ready for spring time!

As long as your in the parameters of the Nissan capacity I would say go for it as well and enjoy making memories with your family.

[Grit_dog]

rjstractor wrote:


Your NV3500 van is actually quite a bit stouter than a Nissan Titan pickup. The posters advising you to get a bigger tow vehicle probably don't realize that the NV3500 is a heavy duty commercial van with 8 lug wheels and a RGAWR of just over 6000 lbs. So it's every bit a capable as a 2500 series Suburban or other comparable vehicle. While it's not a diesel crew cab dually pickup, it should be a better tow vehicle than virtually any new SUV on the market, and a great choice for your family and trailer.

^ What he said!
Disregard the other fodder about your van pattinsoldier.
You are in the land of many uninformed opinions. Proceed as such and get that camper ready for spring time!

[Grit_dog]

afidel wrote:

It's all relative, we did 5 people for 3 weeks in an 18' trailer, coming from a tent camping background it still felt luxurious by comparison.

You understand, but,
Some people, and mostly the crowd here who may have already forgotten what they did when they had little kids or when they were a kid, can't see past their own "preferences".
You're not going to have an un-crowded camper, vehicle, house, life with 6 kids. Pretty sure the OP's know that, made that choice, love their kids and now also want to go RVing.

There is zero issues with what they're planning to do.

[DarkSkySeeker]

deltabravo wrote:

TenOC wrote:
A van will not tow a large TT without burning up the transmission.

Bumping up the transmission... ???
What exactly does that mean?

"Burning" not "Bumping"

[StirCrazy]

I would look for something that can sleep the younger kids and yourself for now, and get a tent with cots for the older three . I know when I was old enought to be out in the tent I much prefered that than being in the camper.

Steve

[deltabravo]

TenOC wrote:
A van will not tow a large TT without burning up the transmission.

Bumping up the transmission... ???
What exactly does that mean?

[rjstractor]

pattinsoldier wrote:
Thank you all for the help. Our kids are 17, 15, 13, 10, 6, and 1. The total weight of the family is less than 1000 lbs. The Nissan NV 3500 is basically a Nissan Titan pickup, it has a V8 and heavy duty transmission. We were assuming the empty weight to be under 6000 as with 1000 of people we would have 1700 of stuff we could pack. We estimated with water, bikes, and baggage we would be something like 1500 lbs of additional weight. Some of the kids could definitely sleep in tents but we were looking to avoid this as being necessary. We have looked at the floor plans in question and everyone would fit. The 17 YO is about 6 ft tall, but each one has a place for him. We will look at the Roo.

Your NV3500 van is actually quite a bit stouter than a Nissan Titan pickup. The posters advising you to get a bigger tow vehicle probably don't realize that the NV3500 is a heavy duty commercial van with 8 lug wheels and a RGAWR of just over 6000 lbs. So it's every bit a capable as a 2500 series Suburban or other comparable vehicle. While it's not a diesel crew cab dually pickup, it should be a better tow vehicle than virtually any new SUV on the market, and a great choice for your family and trailer.

[afidel]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

pattinsoldier wrote:
Thank you all for the help. Our kids are 17, 15, 13, 10, 6, and 1. The total weight of the family is less than 1000 lbs. The Nissan NV 3500 is basically a Nissan Titan pickup, it has a V8 and heavy duty transmission.

My daughter's family has a Expedition which has a slightly higher towing capacity. 4 kids under 12. They are right at the limit towing a similar TT.

pattinsoldier wrote:
Some of the kids could definitely sleep in tents but we were looking to avoid this as being necessary. We have looked at the floor plans in question and everyone would fit. The 17 YO is about 6 ft tall, but each one has a place for him.

Those double bunks are ridiculously small. No 6' teenager will fit in one unless they curl up.

The Jayco bunks are 6' 4", plenty for a 6' tall kid. They're actually longer than the typical RV Queen mattress.

[afidel]

DarkSkySeeker wrote:

pattinsoldier wrote:
...we now have 6 kids and are looking to make camping a bit easier for us. We would like a travel trailer that sleeps at least 8...

It is going to be a challenge. With just myself and my girlfriend in our 27' TT, our stuff gets all over the place. Jackets, shoes, electronics, and other gear. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

It's all relative, we did 5 people for 3 weeks in an 18' trailer, coming from a tent camping background it still felt luxurious by comparison.