2010 Keystone 32BHBS vs 2011 Fourwinds 311bhds

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MightyMouse

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Aug 9, 2013
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So, I'm ready to purchase a travel trailer (again) and was just wondering what your opinions are on the above listed TT's were.??
The 2010 Hornet is $15,500 (in GREAT Condition)
The 2011 Fourwinds is $17,000 (in Great Condition)
The 2010 Hornet is aluminum sides, the fourwinds is composite.  They are within 10lbs weight wise and both have 3 bunks, a U shaped dinette and an ourdoor kitchen.  These are our biggest desires.
The hornet has a rounded composite front, so it's plenty aero dynamic and it does come with a cover and a weight distributing hitch with sway control. 
The fourwinds comes with nothing extra.
The Hornet's floor plan provides a rear master bed with slide, so it's very spacious, the fourwinds has a rear bunkhouse with slide, so the master is cramped, while the kids get all the space.. 

I'm leaning towards the hornet, but would like your advice and opinions on these two models.  Both are very well maintained and barely used. 

Both have power awnings, manual tongue jacks, power slides, dual slides, dual doors one to kitchen one to bathroom.  So they are very very similar in size and the floorplans are the same other than the bunks are on the opposite end.

OK.. Ready go.! Give me your thoughts.
 
Since you indicate that both are in great shape, I'd suggest that you get the one with the floor plan and features that suit you and your family best, since that's basically going to be where the most satisfaction or dissapointment will appear. If possible, sit in each, with family, and imagine yourselves going through day to day routines on an imaginary trip -- note which things bother you the most and which make you feel best.

Once you've done that, the decision should be easier,
 
That's the thing.. They are so similar it's nearly impossible to do that.. The only differences are the bunkhouse and bedroom being on opposite ends.

So, with that being said, if the door was only on the side of the bunks that would be a problem, but since there's a door on both sides of both trailers it's not a problem.. I suppose my only thing to check is if the fourwinds has pocket doors.  I don't like accordion doors, nor curtain doors.

I guess it really does come down to price and price alone at this point.. Features and what not area the same and I suppose having extra space in the master bedroom is nice.. With younger kids we can keep all clothes in that room so they don't make a mess every time they get dressed..

Yeah.. The Hornet sounds like the better option to me.. 

Next is finding a way to get the bank to approve a loan (for some reason NADA doesn't show a 2010 32bhbs hornet)..
 
The banks and loan companies don't use the online NADA, they use the printed , much more complete version if needed.
 
IMHO - I'd get the one with the bigger master bedroom.  It's been my experience that kids can handle being cramped better than adults, and everytime you or your spouse bang your knees, or have to contort just to get dressed - you're going to wish you had the bigger bedroom.

Just my .02 cents.
 
I didn't notice much difference in the bath tub.. In the end we decided on the Hornet.  We picked it up on Saturday and took it straight to the campgrounds for a little "trial run".  We figured out what items we need to get and we will be taking it back out for a nice 3 day weekend on Friday evening.  It pulled fairly well, the Excursion didn't struggle until we got to one crazy crazy hill.  Then it was floored and just maintaining speed.  What's worse is that the tanks were empty..

I plan to put a tuner on the truck and I have a brake controller on the way.. Those will both make towing a little easier.  Once I get a few other things sorted out on Ginormica (that's the Excursion's name) I think it'll be ready for a nice long out of state voyage.. Unfortunately I lack time off for the remainder of the year and there aren't really and other holidays left.. :(
So, for the rest of this year it'll be the local campgrounds for us.. 

The camper itself is very nice.  It was very well maintained.  The previous owner went on about how he was OCD and by looking at his garage it shows.  The garage is cleaner than my house..    The camper didn't come with the cover, which is kind of a bummer, but that's ok..  We'll get over that.
Everything worked fine.  Tanks still have plenty of fuel in them and the only problem I'm having is getting the stove ignition to kick on.  I'm not sure if there is a safety switch or something..
The electric awning is kind of time, i will eventually put an electric tongue jack on it. 
As I said, the guy was pretty OCD so everything inside and out looks and functions like new.  I have no complaints and we are all (me, my wife and the 4 kids) very happy with the purchase.
The best part.  We bought our 03 EB Excursion with 81k miles (6.0PSD) and the camper for waaayyy less than most people spend on their cars. 
Hopefully we have years of happy memories with the kids and can keep them away from bad influences. 

Thanks for all of the help .. The big deciding factor was the extra space in the master.  Kids can suck it up..  :D
If momma's not happy no one is!

 
We did enjoy our first trip in it. We are really looking forward to our next trip this weekend!!

Thanks for the well wishes.
 
MicheleF said:
Congratulations!  I'm sure you'll love it, and the extra room in the master!

What a great TT we picked up.  It was so comfortable in there this weekend.  3 day long camping trip that was rained out all day Saturday was still a great experience.  We had massive thunder and wind storms, the awning was out most of the day and the flex points on it work very well to prevent damage to the awning (I eventually brought it in because I didn't want to test its limits).  The stoves worked well and made coffee quite quickly.. The horrible game of monopoly was at least comfortable on the U-Shaped Dinette as my daughter destroyed me and my wife.  Then late at night on Saturday after the rain had stopped and the boys were asleep (baby on the bed) we heard some gunshots.  We looked out and saw the fireworks were going, so we watched from indoors in the dry AC while sitting/laying on my bed.  I cracked the window a little to get some of the fireworks noise (just isn't right when it's quiet) and we enjoyed the most comfortable firework show in our lives.

The only thing that concerns me is the toilet.  It will not let me leave water in the tank.  To my understanding this will cause a smell at some point. 
  Other than that everything worked great, it tows great for an 8000lb trailer and really is perfect for our family.
 

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