Happilyretired
New member
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2018
- Posts
- 2
I recently took advantage of my work's early retirement packages and retired. The plan is to fish more and camp more. Mainly flying fishing near the Rockies with plans to visit Alaska soon. The children are adults and until we have grandchildren, it will be a trailer for two. Because of the locations of some of the fishing rivers/creeks, there will be some gravel roads (forestry trunk and secondary forestry roads). The tow vehicle will be a 2016 Nissan Frontier 4X4 Crewcab: curb weight 4,574, GVWR 5,666, Max payload 1,242, Max towing 6,100, tongue load 610, GCWR 11,230.
I know I have a marginal tow vehicle so the plan is to limit my TT to about 3,000lb-3,500lb. dry. Choosing a floorplan was super easy, we looked at the various products at an RV show and settled on a light weight floorplan with walkaround bed, dry bath and dinette for two, i.e. something similar to the Jayco SLX7 195RB floorplan. Then talking to various salespeople there really hurts the brain: "Oh no, the SLX7 can never survive a forestry road, you need a Hummingbird" "R-Pod is the right answer" "No, SLX7 is 7wide you want an 8wide like the Bullet, much more room" "Your truck has a 6,000 lb. you should be looking at 6,000 lb. trailers"
OMG!!! Who ever thinks mixing a bunch of RV sales people in the same room representing different brands is a good idea. Instead of buying something, we walked away confused.
Almost every manufacturers make a "Rear Bath" model which has a murphybed or walk around bed plus a dry bath in a 7wide or an 8wide. At $20,000CAD or $15,000USD, there are quite a few choices for "RB" models, like the R-Pod RP-180, Hummingbird 17RB but these pod trailers disappear when the requirement of a walkaround bed is added. I like the look of the pods but I want a walkaround bed. We won't be boondocking for weeks at a time so a 20lb LP, 20gal. fresh 15 gal. grey 15 gal. black should be enough. We camp with my brother in law a lot while fishing, he says he only uses about 5lb. of propane a weekend and that is for cooking, fridge and showers, seems light but until we have our own, hard to tell. My wife and I are both book people, don't need TV or speakers. AC? we are in Canada, there is about two times in my life I felt I NEED AC but the AC gives us the flexibility to head south.
What's left? Just the dealers at the show have the Keystone Bullet 1800RB, Jayco SLX7195Rb, the Wolfpup 16FQ, the Camp Lite RL180, RL181, RL182, The Palomini twins to the Camp Lite's, the Starcraft twins to the Jaycos, the Winnibago Minis; the list goes on and on and these are just the models available at the show and they are all in my price range. They all use the same Dometic or Norcold appliances. The mattresses are all equally uncomfortable (gotta upgrade those, lol). After visiting, I did a whole ton of reading, I am still confused, so here I am.
1. 7ft vs. 8ft - Upside of an 8, more room, downside worse mileage, harder to maneuver around corner or backing up. So if I don't need the room stick with a 7wide? Am I missing anything?
2. Fiberglass vs. aluminium sidings - I like the looks of the fibreglass but some people think they are harder to fix, are they worth the money for a small trailer that will be hitting tree branches constantly?
3. 14in. vs. 15in. tires - it is all about the clearance height right?
4. Aluminium rims vs. steel rims - it is just about the look and weight right?
5. All aluminium frame - the Keystone guy is pushing hard on an all aluminium frame, my reading tells me it does not matter, right?
6. Am I right to stick to 3,000-3,500lb. dry?
7. Black tank flush, why do the pods all have it but the others don't?
8. Why are the pod style trailers (R-Pods, Hummingbirds, Minniedrops) so much more expensive than the others? Are they actually built better?
Right now the leading candidate is the 2019 Camp Lite RL-180 for $19,000CAD (about $14,500USD), 7wide, fibreglass body, huge winshield up front, bigger fridge, 13,500btu AC, walkaround bed, dry bath, 14in steel tires (may need to upgrade rims and tires), 3,164 dry weight. The second choice is a 2019 Jayco SLX7 195RB Baja Edition at $18,000CAD (about $13,600USD). The Camp Lite looks great but it is cheaper than all of the fibreglass trailers like the R-Pods, Hummingbirds, Bullets and only slightly more than the aluminium siding products like the Wolfpup and SLX7. I keep thinking I am missing something, must be something wrong with the Palomino's (Forest River).
So, I know exactly what floorplan I want, I need a lot of help with the different brands, may be the simple answer is that there is no difference between them and just buy the cheapest one. I am not opposed to used, just want to narrow down the make and model first.
I know I have a marginal tow vehicle so the plan is to limit my TT to about 3,000lb-3,500lb. dry. Choosing a floorplan was super easy, we looked at the various products at an RV show and settled on a light weight floorplan with walkaround bed, dry bath and dinette for two, i.e. something similar to the Jayco SLX7 195RB floorplan. Then talking to various salespeople there really hurts the brain: "Oh no, the SLX7 can never survive a forestry road, you need a Hummingbird" "R-Pod is the right answer" "No, SLX7 is 7wide you want an 8wide like the Bullet, much more room" "Your truck has a 6,000 lb. you should be looking at 6,000 lb. trailers"
OMG!!! Who ever thinks mixing a bunch of RV sales people in the same room representing different brands is a good idea. Instead of buying something, we walked away confused.
Almost every manufacturers make a "Rear Bath" model which has a murphybed or walk around bed plus a dry bath in a 7wide or an 8wide. At $20,000CAD or $15,000USD, there are quite a few choices for "RB" models, like the R-Pod RP-180, Hummingbird 17RB but these pod trailers disappear when the requirement of a walkaround bed is added. I like the look of the pods but I want a walkaround bed. We won't be boondocking for weeks at a time so a 20lb LP, 20gal. fresh 15 gal. grey 15 gal. black should be enough. We camp with my brother in law a lot while fishing, he says he only uses about 5lb. of propane a weekend and that is for cooking, fridge and showers, seems light but until we have our own, hard to tell. My wife and I are both book people, don't need TV or speakers. AC? we are in Canada, there is about two times in my life I felt I NEED AC but the AC gives us the flexibility to head south.
What's left? Just the dealers at the show have the Keystone Bullet 1800RB, Jayco SLX7195Rb, the Wolfpup 16FQ, the Camp Lite RL180, RL181, RL182, The Palomini twins to the Camp Lite's, the Starcraft twins to the Jaycos, the Winnibago Minis; the list goes on and on and these are just the models available at the show and they are all in my price range. They all use the same Dometic or Norcold appliances. The mattresses are all equally uncomfortable (gotta upgrade those, lol). After visiting, I did a whole ton of reading, I am still confused, so here I am.
1. 7ft vs. 8ft - Upside of an 8, more room, downside worse mileage, harder to maneuver around corner or backing up. So if I don't need the room stick with a 7wide? Am I missing anything?
2. Fiberglass vs. aluminium sidings - I like the looks of the fibreglass but some people think they are harder to fix, are they worth the money for a small trailer that will be hitting tree branches constantly?
3. 14in. vs. 15in. tires - it is all about the clearance height right?
4. Aluminium rims vs. steel rims - it is just about the look and weight right?
5. All aluminium frame - the Keystone guy is pushing hard on an all aluminium frame, my reading tells me it does not matter, right?
6. Am I right to stick to 3,000-3,500lb. dry?
7. Black tank flush, why do the pods all have it but the others don't?
8. Why are the pod style trailers (R-Pods, Hummingbirds, Minniedrops) so much more expensive than the others? Are they actually built better?
Right now the leading candidate is the 2019 Camp Lite RL-180 for $19,000CAD (about $14,500USD), 7wide, fibreglass body, huge winshield up front, bigger fridge, 13,500btu AC, walkaround bed, dry bath, 14in steel tires (may need to upgrade rims and tires), 3,164 dry weight. The second choice is a 2019 Jayco SLX7 195RB Baja Edition at $18,000CAD (about $13,600USD). The Camp Lite looks great but it is cheaper than all of the fibreglass trailers like the R-Pods, Hummingbirds, Bullets and only slightly more than the aluminium siding products like the Wolfpup and SLX7. I keep thinking I am missing something, must be something wrong with the Palomino's (Forest River).
So, I know exactly what floorplan I want, I need a lot of help with the different brands, may be the simple answer is that there is no difference between them and just buy the cheapest one. I am not opposed to used, just want to narrow down the make and model first.
