Educate me as to the finer aspects of travel trailers

My wife and I are currently considering picking up a used travel trailer. We want to have more freedom to travel and take our dogs with us more easily, we like the idea of taking some of the comforts of home along, and the kids would freaking love it. Which is why we haven't told them yet, we're just thinking about it.

Anyhow, the idea would be to find something we can buy used so that we can maybe sell in a few years without completely losing our shorts on the deal. Something that would tow easily and safely behind my F-150 (towing capacity 9200 lbs). To that end, I've been looking around, and there seem to be dozens of trailers in the 28-32 foot range, dry weight 5-6k pounds, queen bed in the front and 2 bunks in the back, around 10 years old, for around $10-12k. Like, literally dozens. General RV just up the road from us has about 5 that meet those criteria.

I know the basics of buying a used RV (check for evidence of water intrusion, make sure all the mechanical systems work, check for weird smells, etc). Honestly, I'm leaning toward just getting one at a dealer because it would have all that basic inspection type stuff taken care of. But I'm not opposed to buying from a private party, I'm sure I'd get a better deal, but as a travel trailer novice (somewhat, my family had a couple when I was a kid), I'd feel better getting one that's had a good once-over. I've also done a fair amount of towing, including a 20-foot enclosed car hauler with a load-leveling hitch, and my truck has the tow package with built-in brake controller and anti-sway.

On to my questions. Do brands matter? I see Jayco, Fleetwood, Dutchmen, Keystone, Forest River, and a bunch of others. Are some brands known for higher quality, better appointments, lighter weight, certain features? It's hard to tell what differentiates them for me, they all look pretty darn similar. Help me out.

I'd also welcome any tips or tricks for not just buying, but also camping itself. Getting a site, site setup, extra stuff I should have on hand, etc. The plan would be, if we pick one up, to go spend a weekend at a local state park just to get our feet wet, then probably set off for a week in late July to explore Kentucky and Tennessee.

Some possibilities that I want to check out: http://www.generalrv.com/product/used-2004-dutchmen-rv-sport-26b-dsl-353305-29
http://www.generalrv.com/product/used-2005-fleetwood-rv-orbit-290bh-352857-29
http://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2005-Jayco-Jay-Flight-29BHS-114624589
http://www.hwmotorhomes.com/2006-palomino-thoroughbred-271-sofakitchen-slide-MI-i1091383
http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/rvs/5006066450.html

This is a sampling, there are many more.

Airstream is known for higher quality. Way higher quality. I wouldn't buy from a dealer because in my experience (dealing with auction companies who were dealing with the dealers, I was the seller of repoed RV's) they seem to be the seediest of the seedy.

I'd avoid dealers as well, just out of frugality.

Have you considered a fifth wheel setup? They have much better road manners in my experience and weight should be about the same.

I'd look in the south, places like Florida and Arizona are where old people land after their dreams of wandering the country in retirement are squashed by the reality of dragging their homes around at 7mpg.

I know you've thought of this but a 9,200 lb tow rating gets pretty close once you fill all the tanks and stock the cabinets if you started at 6,000 lbs dry. Just something to remember....

KyAllroad wrote: I know you've thought of this but a 9,200 lb tow rating gets pretty close once you fill all the tanks and stock the cabinets if you started at 6,000 lbs dry. Just something to remember....

Knowing how the tow rating is rated, and knowing how the trailer will be actually used- one can easily push the tow limit right up to the absolute edge.

Tom may be wanting to drive around a lot- but I'm not sure how often he will be climbing a hill in the desert on a hot day.

(and it's too bad that F does not sign up for the wanted industry standard for tow rating)

KyAllroad wrote: Have you considered a fifth wheel setup? They have much better road manners in my experience and weight should be about the same.

He has an F150, so a fifth wheel really isn't an option.

Airstreams are really nice, but they cost a lot more because of it. I'd love to have one, but at double the cost, it's hard to justify. Besides, they don't have a toy hauler option.

I guessing quality is within 10% of each other with most of the manufacturers. Remember, that quite a few are just different stickers made by the same company. When you decide to get one, get the kids involved in looking. Check around and see if there's an RV show going on in your area as it's less pressure to look. But I'd definitly spend some time checking out different options. Do you need living space and willing to have a wet bath instead of a separate shower/toilet? With kiddos, would some combination of bunk beds be better than separate beds? How easy is it to convert to sleeping vs. just hanging out during the day? Will you and SWMBO be comfortable in the bed? Although many say "queen size" it's not the same and the setups can make getting in/out difficult. For camping, do you use any motorcycles/atv's? Toy hauler would work better for that.

And to echo the earlier thought, 5-6k lbs dry is what most quote. Keep in mind the weight when you add fluids and your stuff. Also, although your truck is rated for 9200, the lack of aerodynamics in an RV will really work a truck out. Personally, I would shoot for a total weight of under 7k for some breathing room.

Sounds like you're looking used, but check around because you can buy 1-2 year old new models for not much more. I've looked at a small toy hauler for me to use and locally they're around $22k, but I can get them online (Ebay) from a dealer in Indiana for about $14k.....

-Rob

Thanks. Yeah, a fifth-wheel is out, not only is it an F-150, it has the 5.5' bed.

As for the weight, I've seen quite a few in this range advertised as "tows easily with a half-ton", and if the trailer is in the 5-6k range dry, I figure even if I load it up I'm still safely under the limit for my truck. For now that's where I want to be. If we try it and decide we love it, then maybe down the road I'd consider a heavy-duty truck, but I don't want to go that far yet.

As for the dealer thing, one point is convenience. General RV is a big dealer in this area with several locations, including a new one they just built on the site of the old Ford-Lincoln assembly plant on Wixom Rd. It's bloody huge. So, the nice thing is that we can go and check out a wide variety of trailers. Wife and I will probably go tonight, get some first impressions, then bring the kids in on the decision after. But I am certainly going to check out some private sales. That Jayco in Northville intrigues me (see link in OP).

Jayco, Fleetwood and Keystone are pretty good brands. I would avoid Dutchmen. They are a "bargain" brand and are not as well engineered as the others.

My folks bought a brand new Dutchmen 20ft bunkhouse model in 1994. It was riddled with cheapness. The floor creaked, the finishing was subpar and they used the cheapest systems (electrical, water pump/plumbing/water heater/furnace).

When they filled the fresh water tank for the first time, almost half of the water leaked out and soaked the carpet (it sat overnight). One of the water lines was missing a 15 cent O-ring.

The furnace would run the battery flat overnight, even after my dad replaced the battery with the biggest deep cycle battery he could find at Sears. He ended up buying a 3800 watt generator just to keep the furnace going.

Still, they had it from 1994-2012 and used it dozens of times. They sold it to a family friend and then bought a 2011 Keystone 32ft Montana fifth-wheel. That Montana is so much better built. Of course it was twice the price (used even) as the Dutchmen was.

Some of those brands are all the same. For example:

Berkshire
Charleston
Georgetown
Lexington
Sunseeker
Tsunami
Cardinal
Cedar Creek
Cherokee
Coachmen
Columbus
Day Dreamer
Flagstaff
Palomino
r-pod
Rockwood
Salem
Sandpiper
Shamrock
Sierra
Surveyor
V-Cross
Wildcat
Wildwood
XLR Toy Haulers

Are ALL the same company! Forest River (Which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway- Warren Buffet)

Thor is another big company, with a similarly long list of subsidiaries.

Don't sweat the manufacturer.

I would, however, consider the age. There was a big shift in the RV manufacturing industry around 2006 or 2007 after the Hurricane Katrina/ FEMA fiasco. The construction methods and quality specifications improved drastically industry wide.

I respect your desire to buy from a dealer. But if the dealer price difference meant the difference between buying a 2005 model, vs a 2008 model, I'd have to skip the dealer.

SVreX wrote: Are ALL the same company! Forest River (Which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway- Warren Buffet)

Perfect, this is just the kind of information that I wanted. I suspected that this was the case.

I would, however, consider the age. There was a big shift in the RV manufacturing industry around 2006 or 2007 after the Hurricane Katrina/ FEMA fiasco. The construction methods and quality specifications improved drastically industry wide.

Ah, I didn't know that. Great info.

I respect your desire to buy from a dealer. But if the dealer price difference meant the difference between buying a 2005 model, vs a 2008 model, I'd have to skip the dealer.

Yep, and I will keep that in mind. I'm not married to the idea of buying from a dealer, but since I have a huge one so close by, I'm at least going to go there and look. If nothing else, it'll give us a better idea of what we're looking at.

Re: Airstream- while they may be great trailers- can you handle the image of a road pylon?

Damn airstreams really block up US2.

Its been quite a while ago, but some Airstreams were known to be prone to bent frames. It seems they got bought out and one of the first things they did was lighten the frame and put the bathroom at the back end of the trailer. It was not a problem unless you were prone to tow the trailer with the black/grey water tanks full.

I picked up a 2001 Keystone Cabana last year with some cosmetic issues. The plan was to do a quick fix and flip it. One of the problems the camper had was the Keystone decals needed to be replaced. Long story short, the decals were made from unattainium. In the end, the camper sold with the original crappy decals and my profit margin suffered.

Although the Keystone camper seemed nice, I have nothing good to say about Keystone's after sales support.

It's all about water intrusion. Get something with a one piece moulded fiberglass cap roof that extends down around the sides, and make dang sure all the pokey outy bits are well sealed with no cracked or shrunken grout. Then have someone who know the brand do the dry rot inspection for you. Everything else is just details.

Just to bring some closure to this, we ended up buying one from a private owner. 2008 Jayco Jay Feather 30U. It's their lightweight model, as you can probably guess from the name. 6170 dry weight, 7850 gross. 4 rear bunks, queen bed up front, one slideout, flatscreen TV, the usual amenities. It's in great shape, doesn't really need anything, but I'm going to seal the roof again and service the wheel bearings, just for my own peace of mind.

Pics:

We pick it up Sunday.

Very nice.

Nice. What's the "maxi-store" set-up? I've been pondering a trailer like this, but a general lack of space to store my bikes is an issue.

Ian F wrote: Nice. What's the "maxi-store" set-up? I've been pondering a trailer like this, but a general lack of space to store my bikes is an issue.

You can fold up the rear lower bunk on the right side and get some pretty big stuff in there. There are also passthroughs on the front and back. But that's about it, other than inside storage. It's one of the compromises of the lightweight design.

Dual doors are one of those features that you don't really think about until you have to entire camper filled with stuff and then realize that it's genius.

Good score!

Nice rig!

The only thing I would add, is carry couple of wood blocks, a good jack, a set of jack stands, and a spare leaf spring. My father has broken three springs on his Jayco in the last 70K miles. The blocks will get you off the road without calling a tow truck, the rest is because finding a spring, jack and stands, in the middle of nowhere, is almost impossible.

He changed the last one at a red light in some small town. The tow cop pulled up behind him, turned on the blues, and let him change it right there. Once the spring breaks, the tire hit and there is no moving it without blocking the axle.

Toyman01 wrote: Nice rig! The only thing I would add, is carry couple of wood blocks, a good jack, a set of jack stands, and a spare leaf spring. My father has broken three springs on his Jayco in the last 70K miles. The blocks will get you off the road without calling a tow truck, the rest is because finding a spring, jack and stands, in the middle of nowhere, is almost impossible. He changed the last one at a red light in some small town. The tow cop pulled up behind him, turned on the blues, and let him change it right there. Once the spring breaks, the tire hit and there is no moving it without blocking the axle.

Yeah, I figured I'd throw my aluminum racing jack in there just in case. On the topic of broken springs, apparently that was an issue with this particular model. We looked at two of them, and both had had their entire axle/suspension systems replaced under a recall a few years back.

Good info in this thread, and that looks like a great find.

Why can't an F-150 tow a fifth wheel ?

iceracer wrote: Why can't an F-150 tow a fifth wheel ?

His is only a 5.5 foot bed.

I saw a pic of my buddies Tacoma x runner with a 5th wheel...!

Joey

Brought it home. It was a windy, rainy day, and I could certainly tell the trailer was there. It wants to move the truck around, but I never felt like I was in any kind of trouble. Typical towing with a larger trailer, you have to be very attentive. The Ecoboost motor handled the weight just fine, it has torque for days. Got about 9 mpg on the trip (about 30 miles, mostly freeway). So, with a 26-gallon tank, that's going to be fun on road trips....

9 mpg, ouch.

That sounds low. That's only about 2 better than I get towing a 35' 5th wheel camper, behind my 460 powered F350. Were you running fast or bucking a headwind. I usually run 65-68 with the camper and get 6.8-7.2