Advice needed on lite RVs for a family of 4!

[Akjordan90]

Hi everyone! We are a young family of four hoping to start camping regularly during the summer with my parents. We have a Pilot that is able to tow a maximum of 5000 pounds, so we know we will need to be well under that. We won’t be traveling far to camp!

I grew up with a pop up but am hoping for something a bit sturdier. We have considered hybrids (pop out beds) or extra light bunkhouses like the Coleman Lantern. Anywhere I look, reviews on everything are extremely mixed or very negative.

Advice?? Thank you!!

 

[SeilerBird]

Most RVs are designed for two old people. 4 people really tax a unit. Storage space and holding tanks especially tax use.

 

[Akjordan90]

I can definitely see that! We plan to camp about 45 minutes away and only for two nights at a time Max, so I’m hoping to just pack light and enjoy!

 

[Onyrlef]

Take a look at Trailmanor, it's a hardside fold out style camper. Most are well under 5k lbs, they are low profile for towing and never sway.

 

[Akjordan90]

Take a look at Trailmanor, it's a hardside fold out style camper. Most are well under 5k lbs, they are low profile for towing and never sway.

I will look into that, thank you so much for the specific recommendation!

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Something that made camping with (grand) kids a little easier to manage was to have one parent schlep the kids and some of the "stuff" to the campsite in a separate car, leaving the tow vehicle for "other stuff" and tow capacity. For short/nearby trips this could work out pretty easy. Then you're not dealing with stuffing everything/everyone into one vehicle.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Akjordan90]

Something that made camping with (grand) kids a little easier to manage was to have one parent schlep the kids and some of the "stuff" to the campsite in a separate car, leaving the tow vehicle for "other stuff" and tow capacity. For short/nearby trips this could work out pretty easy. Then you're not dealing with stuffing everything/everyone into one vehicle.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

That is genius honestly- we’re only camping a bit down the road. THANK YOU!

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

And grandpa's little secret - I got to go to the campground a day early to 'set up' and had the place to myself for a while after everyone leaves. Takes a lot of pressure off setup/teardown and packing. Allows for a bit of schedule freedom too, some can come/go at different times if needed.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[JudyJB]

One warning: Remember that grandkids do get bigger with time. So make sure that whatever sleeping arrangements you have when they are little will be big enough when they get to be 6'1" tall. (My son had to buy a trailer with bigger beds for his teenaged son, so it is a big consideration.)

 

[Larry N.]

Take a look at Trailmanor, it's a hardside fold out style camper. Most are well under 5k lbs, they are low profile for towing and never sway.

Yep, I owned one for four years -- nice rigs, well balanced, light wind resistance because they are not very tall when ready to tow. A few folks even towed with a car. TrailManor

You might check out these videos I made on setting up and tearing down:

 

[Akjordan90]

Yep, I owned one for four years -- nice rigs, well balanced, light wind resistance because they are not very tall when ready to tow. A few folks even towed with a car. TrailManor

You might check out these videos I made on setting up and tearing down:

Thank you so much! I’ll watch and am eager to research these!

 

[Onyrlef]

Yep, I owned one for four years -- nice rigs, well balanced, light wind resistance because they are not very tall when ready to tow. A few folks even towed with a car. TrailManor

You might check out these videos I made on setting up and tearing down:

I miss mine, not the recirculating Thetford Toilet so much, I understand they've finally discontinued those.

 

[Akjordan90]

One warning: Remember that grandkids do get bigger with time. So make sure that whatever sleeping arrangements you have when they are little will be big enough when they get to be 6'1" tall. (My son had to buy a trailer with bigger beds for his teenaged son, so it is a big consideration.)

That’s my hope/fear- I want to get something we can use for a long time!

 

[camperAL]

Greetings Akjoran90,

You might take a look at the smaller Lance Trailers. I thought those were pretty nice. Do make sure they are light enough for you to tow. Don't believe anything a dealer tells you as they simply want to make a sale.

Happy Shopping!

​

 

[Kirk]

We won’t be traveling far to camp!

If you look at the statistics you will see that most vehicle accidents happen when one is close to home so do not overlook any of the safety rules for that reason.

Anywhere I look, reviews on everything are extremely mixed or very negative.

Keep in mind that unhappy customers are far more likely to make reviews than the happy ones when you look at reviews. It has become very popular on many RV forums to suggest that you have more problems with new than used, but that has not been my experience. It is important that you evaluate the dealers just as carefully as the brand of RV, since any warranty work will need to be done by them. But it is also important that you keep a positive attitude about the RV you buy and don't allow others to convince you otherwise. A new RV is much like combining a house and a car into one structure and most of either of those will have at least a few warranty issues.

 

[Onyrlef]

Keep in mind as well, the Pilot has a unibody frame and you may not, emphasis on may, be able to use a weight distribution hitch. If that's the case hitch weight will be critical. The Trailmanor for example is designed ( axle aft of center) to have a lot of hitch weight ( why they never sway) If your mfg'er warns against a wdh you wouldn't be able to tow it w/o squirrely steering issues.

 

[Isaac-1]

If you look at the statistics you will see that most vehicle accidents happen when one is close to home so do not overlook any of the safety rules for that reason.

Kirk, please don't remind me, the last 4 accidents my wife and I have been in (over the last dozen or so years), have all occurred on the street we lived on, 3 of which occurred on the block our house was on. I was hit by someone backing up as I turned into our driveway (don't even try to picture that one), my wife was rear ended by someone texting and driving while stopped at the corner to the south of our house, and we t-boned by a teenager in a Yukon that blew through the traffic light at the corner north of our house.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I looked at a Trailmanor this year and for many it would be a good option. OTOH - I realized that event the 20-30 minutes spent setting it up was too much for me. I also found it rather "flimsy" - not trying to pick a fight, it just wasn't the option for me.

Traveling with kids, one will likely want to stop somewhere for a rest/lunch stop and in this case using a pop-up is not practical. OP says they will camp close to home but that may not always be the case.

With kids I always thought a bunkhouse (bunkbed) model TT would be useful. In more helpful mode I found this decent list of bunkhouse trailers under 5000#

26 Bunkhouse Travel Trailers Under 5000 lbs 【2023 】 Camper Outdoor

26 Recommended Options for a Bunkhouse Travel Trailer Under 5000 lbs for 2023, including specs, photos, floorplans, 360 tours, and videos.

www.camperoutdoor.com

 

[Larry N.]

I realized that event the 20-30 minutes spent setting it up was too much for me.

Getting the TM from road ready to completely unfolded is, with practice, less than 10 minutes, perhaps closer to 5 minutes (same the other way). Leveling is, of course, much the same as any other TT.

I also found it rather "flimsy"

Curious- I didn't find it flimsy, compared to other TTs.

The main reason we changed was that our knees and back were getting less and less amenable to bending over/squatting to get at the lower cabinets, though we also took a big jump to a motorhome at that point, so dual reasons.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You will want to stay well under 5000 lbs (trailer GVWR) if there is going to be 2 adult + 2 kids in the Pilot. Passengers and gear carried in the tow vehicle reduces its trailering capability somewhat. But the suggestions in that "26 Bunkhouse" article mostly fit that requirement. And if you use two cars to travel, you have more carrying capacity.

A hybrid model typically works nicely for your situation. You get extra bed space for the kids and it is typically at least a little isolated from the adults, so you can stay up a while after the kids go to bed.