Triple bunk Travel trailer under 36'

You may want to rethink this. A 36’ trailer is a lot for a half ton truck. You may have an 11k tow rating but that is useless when you don’t have the payload to carry the tongue weight plus 5 passengers and 2 dogs.

Get your truck payload off the door sticker and subtract the weight of all passengers and stuff in the truck. What’s left is available for the trailer tongue weight. Figure 13% of the trailer weight is on the tongue (for good stability) and leave a little room to spare.

Most half tons will max out with 7500lbs trailers or less. Know your numbers and don’t be fooled by the sales gimmick tow ratings. Many people here have made this costly mistake and quickly ended up spending a ton getting a bigger truck.

True "bunk house" trailers are hard to find, but there are a few out there. That is a lot of trailer for a 1/2 ton truck! Make sure the tanks are empty and don't overload the bed.

That trailer will have a tongue weight approaching 1000 pounds when loaded. Take that from your payload sticker and see what you’ve got left.

momma03monsters wrote:
Hi, I am looking for a triple bunk travel trailer, bumper pull that is under 36'. We will be pulling with a 2021 Ram1500, towing capacity of 11,000lbs. We have 3 small children and 2 dogs that we would like to camp with, and would like to upgrade to a travel trailer from tent camping. So far, we really like the Coachmen Freedom Express 292bhds. Are there other trailers out there that are similar in layout? The outdoor kitchen is a huge bonus, but not needed.

As others have said, you do need to watch your weights, but the only way to do that for sure is for you to look at YOUR numbers and not the assumptions of many on either side of the debate. I will tell you that we tow a very similar trailer in floorplan, length and weight with our F150. We are within all of our weights, but we travel with minimal fluids and nothing in the bed of the truck in order to stay well within those ranges.

I will also say that, unless you are taking 2 vehicles, the dogs will become a problem in a hurry. Hard to travel with 3 growing kids and 2 dogs in the cab of a pick-up. Our dog has to stay home for any trip longer than a few hours (where we are not taking 2 cars).

With all of that said, this floorplan is much like ours and it has worked very well for our family of 5. I will simply add that the outdoor kitchen is an absolute necessity for us. As the kids get older (ours are not 12, 15 and 16), the interior of that camper gets increasingly small. Being able to cook outside makes all the difference in keeping the center area of the camper from becoming overly cramped with people and stuff during meal times.

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:


As others have said, you do need to watch your weights, but the only way to do that for sure is for you to look at YOUR numbers and not the assumptions of many on either side of the debate. I will tell you that we tow a very similar trailer in floorplan, length and weight with our F150. We are within all of our weights, but we travel with minimal fluids and nothing in the bed of the truck in order to stay well within those ranges.

I will also say that, unless you are taking 2 vehicles, the dogs will become a problem in a hurry. Hard to travel with 3 growing kids and 2 dogs in the cab of a pick-up. Our dog has to stay home for any trip longer than a few hours (where we are not taking 2 cars).

With all of that said, this floorplan is much like ours and it has worked very well for our family of 5. I will simply add that the outdoor kitchen is an absolute necessity for us. As the kids get older (ours are not 12, 15 and 16), the interior of that camper gets increasingly small. Being able to cook outside makes all the difference in keeping the center area of the camper from becoming overly cramped with people and stuff during meal times.

We will most likely not be traveling with both dogs, as they are older and we are still in the research process. Most likely when we do get the travel trailer, it will only be one large dog(most likely a GSD). We plan to travel with very low liquids and maybe only our bicycles in the bed of the truck. If you don't mind my asking, what trailer do you have?

momma03monsters wrote:

We will most likely not be traveling with both dogs, as they are older and we are still in the research process. Most likely when we do get the travel trailer, it will only be one large dog(most likely a GSD). We plan to travel with very low liquids and maybe only our bicycles in the bed of the truck. If you don't mind my asking, what trailer do you have?

We have a Rockwood 8312ss. It's a 2013. They don't make that model anymore. We've had it coming up on 9 years and have been very happy with it. I expect we'll hold onto it until it's just DW and me.

Jayco 29QBS. Triple bunks in a rear bunk "room". Its a 9500 lbs trailer, tongue weight will be way too high for a Ram 1500. Half ton Rams have pretty low payload. You will NOT like towing a 36' trailer, or anything close to 11,000 lbs with that truck. Either do it right or don't do it at all.

If you're gonna keep the Ram, look at a hybrid for bunk beds and a popout bed for the kids. Otherwise, look for a truck with substantially more payload (2000 lbs +, those kids are going to continue to grow and want to bring bikes, toys, etc)

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Make sure the tanks are empty and don't overload the bed.

In my opinion, this is a bad recommendation. If you have to travel with limited or no fluids in your trailer, then you have the wrong trailer or wrong truck. You should be able to haul your trailer with the tanks all full. With very limited options to camp in a campsite with full services like dump and water, you often have to boondock if you want to go camping. If you boondock, you have to start with a full tank of water, that tank will be mostly empty on the way home but then the grey and black are full - or mostly full. We have had to fill 5 gallon jugs and add fresh water to get through a few day boondocking trip, for showers, etc. The trip home I have a very heavy trailer, full tanks, typically some water still in the fresh tank. When boondocking, your not going to have services near by. You might have to drive over a pass, large hill, or miles to the nearest services. Do you want to have your setup overloaded? Best to consider the real full weights then make a decision based on that. Plan ahead, not the opposite.

Thermoguy wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Make sure the tanks are empty and don't overload the bed.

In my opinion, this is a bad recommendation. If you have to travel with limited or no fluids in your trailer, then you have the wrong trailer or wrong truck. You should be able to haul your trailer with the tanks all full. With very limited options to camp in a campsite with full services like dump and water, you often have to boondock if you want to go camping. If you boondock, you have to start with a full tank of water, that tank will be mostly empty on the way home but then the grey and black are full - or mostly full. We have had to fill 5 gallon jugs and add fresh water to get through a few day boondocking trip, for showers, etc. The trip home I have a very heavy trailer, full tanks, typically some water still in the fresh tank. When boondocking, your not going to have services near by. You might have to drive over a pass, large hill, or miles to the nearest services. Do you want to have your setup overloaded? Best to consider the real full weights then make a decision based on that. Plan ahead, not the opposite.

I'm all for planning ahead and being thoughtful about weights. That said, we are in our 12th season of camping as a family and have never one boondocked. What might seem 'necessary' to some is never on the radar for another. We all do this differently, and our plans and expectations should match our particular usage.

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:

Thermoguy wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Make sure the tanks are empty and don't overload the bed.

In my opinion, this is a bad recommendation. If you have to travel with limited or no fluids in your trailer, then you have the wrong trailer or wrong truck. You should be able to haul your trailer with the tanks all full. With very limited options to camp in a campsite with full services like dump and water, you often have to boondock if you want to go camping. If you boondock, you have to start with a full tank of water, that tank will be mostly empty on the way home but then the grey and black are full - or mostly full. We have had to fill 5 gallon jugs and add fresh water to get through a few day boondocking trip, for showers, etc. The trip home I have a very heavy trailer, full tanks, typically some water still in the fresh tank. When boondocking, your not going to have services near by. You might have to drive over a pass, large hill, or miles to the nearest services. Do you want to have your setup overloaded? Best to consider the real full weights then make a decision based on that. Plan ahead, not the opposite.

I'm all for planning ahead and being thoughtful about weights. That said, we are in our 12th season of camping as a family and have never one boondocked. What might seem 'necessary' to some is never on the radar for another. We all do this differently, and our plans and expectations should match our particular usage.

You are very lucky, or retired. I booked my upcoming memorial weekend trip over almost 9 months ago and got the last site with power and services. If I don't boondock, I won't get very many camp trips in in the summer or can only go mid week. I'm sure there are sites, but maybe not at a place I want to go. Many campgrounds that have services, aren't what I consider camping. I was in a hotel this week in Oregon, the KOA next to the hotel had a industrial lot on one side and an apartment complex on the other. It had some nice trees and grass, but not what I would call camping. Oh, it was mostly full. I could look right in to the sites from my hotel window...