Hi, I am new to this, we are looking for our first travel trailer and truck. Any trailers out there that we should stay away from completely? We are looking at small trailers 16-20ft. Don't have a truck either but we are leaning towards a Toyota tundra. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Travel Trailers Not to Buy???
- Thread starter garrett
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2006F350
Well-known member
Find the trailer you want, then take the specs to find a tow vehicle. A tundra is going to be somewhat limited in what it can tow safely.
Larry
Larry
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Since you are buying both, be kind on yourselves, and your pocketbook, decide in a trailer you like and then on the truck that can pull it. The important criteria for a truck is, does it have the tow rating to comfortablly pull your trailer. If you are buying a small trailer, you can find a lot more trucks to pull it, no doubt. But find a trailer that has a floor plan, and price, you can be comfortable with first.
Cabbie
Well-known member
From my experience; stay away from the Montana Mountaineer. I've had one now for about three years and it's been a constant parade of small issues. Still looks good inside and is still perfectly functional but I can tell that it was put together like a cheaper trailer then advertised and priced as a high end unit.
On the other hand; I owned a Komfort for two years and never had a problem with it. I just out-grew it and at that time, Komfort didn't have a floor plan that fit what I thought was needed.
On the other hand; I owned a Komfort for two years and never had a problem with it. I just out-grew it and at that time, Komfort didn't have a floor plan that fit what I thought was needed.
OMG! It is funny you mention that as we had just looked at the 5th wheel mountaineer and I thought to myself, that I could not really tell the difference between in and our Jayco Eagle which is a mid level trailer! Glad I got a confirmation on my sanity! 
F
Frizlefrak
Guest
JMHO, of course, but consider a fifth wheel over a bumper pull, and at least a 3/4 ton pickup to pull it with. There are some very nice small fifth wheels around, and a fifth wheel pulls so much nicer than a bumper pull.
If price is a concern on your tow vehicle, you might be better off to consider a used 2-3 year old 3/4 ton over a new 1/2 ton pickup, which lets Toyota out. I'm not bagging on Toyota, they make a great pickup, but as far as I know they're only available in 1/2 ton. Ford, Chevy, Dodge, all a matter of preference.
1/2 ton pickups are really light duty vehicles. 3/4 ton and up have better brakes, suspension, cooling, charging, etc as they are set up to tow and haul heavier loads.
Good luck on your search!
If price is a concern on your tow vehicle, you might be better off to consider a used 2-3 year old 3/4 ton over a new 1/2 ton pickup, which lets Toyota out. I'm not bagging on Toyota, they make a great pickup, but as far as I know they're only available in 1/2 ton. Ford, Chevy, Dodge, all a matter of preference.
1/2 ton pickups are really light duty vehicles. 3/4 ton and up have better brakes, suspension, cooling, charging, etc as they are set up to tow and haul heavier loads.
Good luck on your search!
My neighbor here in AZ said today after returning from Fla. He is planning on selling his 2003 Desiel with Cummins and Allison tranny in a Sierra Extended cab and a 5ver of 30' HR Alumascape of 2001 vintage. Said he just averaged 12+ Mpg from Texas to here. I could find out more if anyone is interested. Nice looking rig and bugs are gone. The whole shabang at 1 stop.
Just out of curiosity Cabbie,
What kind of problems have you had with your Montana Mountaineer. We just purchased a 2007 and we love it. I have never owned a camper before, but grew up camping with my Dad. He has always either had a camper or houseboat. I thought that I had done my homework on campers until I read your string. Now you have me terrified that I made a huge mistake.
Please Respond. ???
What kind of problems have you had with your Montana Mountaineer. We just purchased a 2007 and we love it. I have never owned a camper before, but grew up camping with my Dad. He has always either had a camper or houseboat. I thought that I had done my homework on campers until I read your string. Now you have me terrified that I made a huge mistake.
Please Respond. ???
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
dcooper said:
From another point of view we have had two Bounders and now an American Eagle all which have given excellent service. Fleetwood has always been good for us.
Cabbie
Well-known member
Hello Clean
Just to give you a little background. The trailer is a 2002 model that sat on the lot for over a year before I purchased it ( found that out later). It was built sometime in the winter and transported from Indiana to Portland Oregon. I say that because thee was salt buildup under the trailer and it wasn't cleaned up adequately by the dealer. So I've had corrosion problems on many of the electrical connections under the trailer. That came to my attention when my slide-out stopped half way out in Vagas, so I was underneath the trailer in 115 degree heat cranking it out by hand. But I cleaned up the contacts after I'd settled down and it worked just fine. The biggest problem we've had was that we started to get a lump under the kitchen linoleum, the dealer looked at it and said that one of the screws that hold the floor to the frame had worked loose and they just put it back in. Several months later after the trailer was out of warranty we started getting a couple of more lumps. I pitched a fit with the dealer that I didn't care that the trailer was out of warranty, they didn't fix the problem when it was. The dealer got permission from Keystone to pull the linoleum back on Keystones dime to see what was going on. What they found was that none of the screws holding down that section of the floor had hit the cross member of the frame. They had to pull out the linoleum, pull out the cabinets, redrill and reattach the flooring, return the cabinets and replace the linoleum. Keystone paid for all of this.
That's the biggie, little things, both of the hooks on the outside that hold back the doors have been replaced because the plastic cracked and broke, I've had to replace the screen door latch. I had to add a bolt latch across the sliding bathroom doors to keep them from flying around during transport. The microwave quit working but when I pulled it out and checked it out in my house it worked fine. Put it back in and it's been working over a year.
My daughter went to raise the TV antenna and the crank assembly came apart in her hands (covered under warranty).
I've had the brakes replaced twice ( once under warranty ) once not.
On the plus side we've never had a problem that shut down a camping trip, the trailer doesn't leak and we've put it to the test many time on the Oregon coast and it pulls like a dream. Keystone and the dealer were wiling to work with me on any issue I've had.
It's just that the Mountaineer is billed and priced as a upper end trailer, but I had better results with my Komfort for the year and a half that I had it. Perhaps not a fair comparison, the Komfort was seven feet shorter and didn't have a slideout, and is was then a medium priced trailer.
Just to give you a little background. The trailer is a 2002 model that sat on the lot for over a year before I purchased it ( found that out later). It was built sometime in the winter and transported from Indiana to Portland Oregon. I say that because thee was salt buildup under the trailer and it wasn't cleaned up adequately by the dealer. So I've had corrosion problems on many of the electrical connections under the trailer. That came to my attention when my slide-out stopped half way out in Vagas, so I was underneath the trailer in 115 degree heat cranking it out by hand. But I cleaned up the contacts after I'd settled down and it worked just fine. The biggest problem we've had was that we started to get a lump under the kitchen linoleum, the dealer looked at it and said that one of the screws that hold the floor to the frame had worked loose and they just put it back in. Several months later after the trailer was out of warranty we started getting a couple of more lumps. I pitched a fit with the dealer that I didn't care that the trailer was out of warranty, they didn't fix the problem when it was. The dealer got permission from Keystone to pull the linoleum back on Keystones dime to see what was going on. What they found was that none of the screws holding down that section of the floor had hit the cross member of the frame. They had to pull out the linoleum, pull out the cabinets, redrill and reattach the flooring, return the cabinets and replace the linoleum. Keystone paid for all of this.
That's the biggie, little things, both of the hooks on the outside that hold back the doors have been replaced because the plastic cracked and broke, I've had to replace the screen door latch. I had to add a bolt latch across the sliding bathroom doors to keep them from flying around during transport. The microwave quit working but when I pulled it out and checked it out in my house it worked fine. Put it back in and it's been working over a year.
My daughter went to raise the TV antenna and the crank assembly came apart in her hands (covered under warranty).
I've had the brakes replaced twice ( once under warranty ) once not.
On the plus side we've never had a problem that shut down a camping trip, the trailer doesn't leak and we've put it to the test many time on the Oregon coast and it pulls like a dream. Keystone and the dealer were wiling to work with me on any issue I've had.
It's just that the Mountaineer is billed and priced as a upper end trailer, but I had better results with my Komfort for the year and a half that I had it. Perhaps not a fair comparison, the Komfort was seven feet shorter and didn't have a slideout, and is was then a medium priced trailer.
Hiller
New member
Hi
I tow with a Sunline 2699 with a Tundra and have had great success with both the Truck and Sunline trailers. As long as you keep in mind that the tundra has a towing capacity of about 7,000 pounds you will be OK. we took a trip from Virgina to the Minn. state fair and then around the UP of Michigan it was quite nice vacation with no towing issues at all.
As for trailers not to buy I can only say look for quality construction inside cabinets and underneath and you will soon get a feel for what manufacturer's are selling. We looked at every travel trailer sold in the East and only found 3 models which impressed us. Sunline, Arctic Fox, and Sunnybrook.
For what its worth
Hiller
I tow with a Sunline 2699 with a Tundra and have had great success with both the Truck and Sunline trailers. As long as you keep in mind that the tundra has a towing capacity of about 7,000 pounds you will be OK. we took a trip from Virgina to the Minn. state fair and then around the UP of Michigan it was quite nice vacation with no towing issues at all.
As for trailers not to buy I can only say look for quality construction inside cabinets and underneath and you will soon get a feel for what manufacturer's are selling. We looked at every travel trailer sold in the East and only found 3 models which impressed us. Sunline, Arctic Fox, and Sunnybrook.
For what its worth
Hiller
Riverdog
Well-known member
Shayne said:
You must meant Duramax not Cummins.....the Duramax is used in GM products, wheras the Cummins is used by Dodge.
Riverdog
Well-known member
Cabbie,
In spite of your problems with the TT it sounds like you've had a good experience getting service from your dealer & Keystone. I'm currently in the market for a TT & it sounds like you are from Oregon. If so, I live in WA, would you mind sharing the name of your dealer.
Thanks,
Riverdog
In spite of your problems with the TT it sounds like you've had a good experience getting service from your dealer & Keystone. I'm currently in the market for a TT & it sounds like you are from Oregon. If so, I live in WA, would you mind sharing the name of your dealer.
Thanks,
Riverdog
Cabbie
Well-known member
RiverDog
I got my trailer from the Holiday RV in Hillisboro OR. They also have a location in Greashem.
http://www.greshamrv.com/
I've also had very good experiences with Curtis trailers; there's two in the Portland area.
I got my trailer from the Holiday RV in Hillisboro OR. They also have a location in Greashem.
http://www.greshamrv.com/
I've also had very good experiences with Curtis trailers; there's two in the Portland area.
Thanks for the response Cabbie
Sounds like you had a brief time of some real frustration. Hope all is well now. As I said before, we have an 07 Mountaineer and like it very much. I will make sure I keep an eye on things for warranty purposes. One thing I would like to recommend for all who read this. Don't buy a pig tail plug for you generator from Ohio Kipor. I bought one and they wired it wrong. I sent 240volts through our Mountaineer and was lucky enough to only fry my converter, TV, and home entertainment center. I haven't had a chance to contact them yet, but believe me I will soon. This was done when I was testing the new generator a week before leaving on a trip. Luckily enough, the dealor helped out with some things. Others I had to foot the bill for myself.
Sounds like you had a brief time of some real frustration. Hope all is well now. As I said before, we have an 07 Mountaineer and like it very much. I will make sure I keep an eye on things for warranty purposes. One thing I would like to recommend for all who read this. Don't buy a pig tail plug for you generator from Ohio Kipor. I bought one and they wired it wrong. I sent 240volts through our Mountaineer and was lucky enough to only fry my converter, TV, and home entertainment center. I haven't had a chance to contact them yet, but believe me I will soon. This was done when I was testing the new generator a week before leaving on a trip. Luckily enough, the dealor helped out with some things. Others I had to foot the bill for myself.
Obviously Cabbie has had more trouble than he should. Sounds like at least some of it should have been avoided if the dealer had cleaned the underneath better after it was transported across country. Has anyone else owned a Montana or Mountaineer model for several years that can relate how good or bad their's has been. I have my eye on a couple of late model used ones locally (2003 & 2005) and like what I see, but maybe they're not built as well as they appear to be?
Cabbie
Well-known member
brown5150
New member
Do not a buy a Ragen any size!!!
