Upgrading from Tent trailer to TT. Input on brands

[mommo76]

We are planning to upgrade to a travel trailer from a tent trailer in August. Seeking input on brands. We want a bunkhouse model with an exterior kitchen, not big enough to sleep an army, but comfortable if it's pouring down rain and we want to escape inside with the grandkids. We've pretty much narrowed our choice down to a Outback Terrain or a Creekside. Any experiences or advice is welcome!

[mommo76]

campknitter wrote:
Congrats Mommo76. We are doing some research on Outdoors RV units as well.
I hope you will continue posting your experiences with the unit as well as your experiences with the dealer. If you don't mind me asking, did you purchase from Sumner rv? thanks

Yes, we did. The process so far has been painless and easy. If the state govt. doesn't shut down, we'll be doing our first trip on the 6th to Belfair State Park.

[GaryWT]

The 23dbs looks like a nice unit, enjoy.

[campknitter]

Congrats Mommo76. We are doing some research on Outdoors RV units as well.
I hope you will continue posting your experiences with the unit as well as your experiences with the dealer. If you don't mind me asking, did you purchase from Sumner rv? thanks

[Mike_Up]

mommo76 wrote:
If we didn't live in the land of rain and rain and more rain, I'd have gone for the Tent trailer again...it's just too frustrating to have to cancel a trip because it's just too damp.

Yep, rain while setting up or tearing down can make a trip not so enjoyable. While our Rockwood pop up did good in the rain, it was made so poorly, it was in the shop more than the campgrounds.

The Starcraft Pop Up was made with exceptional high quality, but the Aqualon tenting sucked and leaked "BADLY" on both bunkends. They both had to be replaced under warranty. After the last bunkend was replaced, we traded to the Jayco Jay Flight 19BH.

[DocnAK]

CONGRATS!!!

Just an FYI....

We have a 2015 Creekside 23BHS and LOVE IT!!! This will be our third TT in about 4 years and I think the last for awhile. It is so much better built than the others we had and it tows like a dream!!

[coolbreeze01]

Get a nice one.

[mommo76]

We got the 23DBS. It's a small kitchen, sink, stove, and pull out cutting board. I like the rule about sleeping people without making the table into a bed. We did look at Bullets at one place, but the sales was a little high pressure. They completely did not acknowledge that people look quite a bit before they bite.

To jerem0621: If we didn't live in the land of rain and rain and more rain, I'd have gone for the Tent trailer again...it's just too frustrating to have to cancel a trip because it's just too damp.

[GaryWT]

Good luck with it, I have never heard of a Creekside though. We own a Keystone a Premier and have never heard of any frame issues always. Hope you got your outside kitchen, that is one thing we love. I love watching the news in the morning as I make breakfast and what not.

My wife's rule whenever we buy or look at new is it has to have enough sleeping without using the table and couch as we do not go camping to have to do extra work morning and night. My one rule is the bathroom needs to fit me...

Which model did you get? I just looked up Creekside but did not see any outside kitchens.

[Doug33]

We moved from the PU to a TT for the same basic reason - it seemed to rain every time we camped, and dealing with wet canvas is not pleasant. Our Keystone Bullet is a pleasure to be in, and seems to be made fairly well. We've owned it for two years now and haven't had a single issue with it yet (I probably just jinxed myself - LOL). We'll be testing it next week because me, wife, and daughters (24 and 21) will all be in it for a week. And I'm sure it will rain several times, as it always does. Hopefully we'll be able to spread out enough so that we aren't ready to claw at each other by the end of the week.

[jerem0621]

We went the other way....TT to a tent trailer. One thing we found was the Flagstaff and Rockwood TT's and PUP's just seem to be better built...they have a great feel to them. Something I appreciate.

When we go back to a TT (if) we will consider Flagstaff And Rockwood first.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[mommo76]

Thanks. We did go with the Creek Side. Take delivery on the 3rd. Unbelievably excited!

[Tequila]

I would be tempted to go with a Northwood product. The fact you are a days drive from the the factory is a plus. Northwood owns Outdoors RV. Presumably quality is the same. It used to be a Fleetwood operation and Fleetwood was not known for quality. Post 2009 units should be OK.

[mommo76]

thanks for that info Tequila. Ours is an 02. Went back to the lot in Sumner and realized they had a used Outback on the lot. Just did a quick walk through (it was a '12) and just walking in felt two soft spots in the floor. Definitely not as well made as the Creek Side.

[Tequila]

mommo76 wrote:
Thanks for the input. Our tent trailer isn't so much outgrown as we've realized that living on the wet side of WA state, that it has serious limitations as to weather. We don't have a covered area large enough to set it up in to dry if we have to put it away wet due to rain. I love some of the features it has, mostly moving the stove and table outside to cook and the 360 degree air flow it gets.

Thanks for the input on the frames. The Creekside does seem to have better constuction and feels more solid. Of course, that also means more weight, but we have a Dodge Ram 2500 with a 6 speed Cummins Diesel engine and my husband says it can handle anything that we'll be able to back into the back yard.

It will handle it, I just bought a Dodge diesel. Mine is the 5.9 which ended in mid 2007 and it seems to have about the same power as my former 2003 Dmax, It had no issues towing up over a pass this weekend which was the first time. If you have a later model it has a larger engine, but is hampered by more pollution crap. I strongly suggest you get it fitted with Torklift stable loads, they make a difference with towing and a lot of folks with Dodge say the steering box brace like the one sold by BD diesel is well worth it. It fixes the infamous death wobble, but apparently makes the front end feel a lot more stable. It's my next mod. About $300 incl labor.

see http://www.dieselperformance.com/index.php/product/index/151P

IF you are in western WA, BD diesel is headquartered in Abbotsford opposite Sumas, they quoted me $350 Canadian installed. See the article on death wobble, it is more likely to show up when you load down your truck more as you will be doing. http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/0807dp-db-diesel-performance-steering-box-stabil... (article form 2008, price is a bit higher now)

Torklift is in Sumner. I will send you a PM.