Which Bunkhouse?

[jbenoit28]

My wife and I finally are back on track to get our first TT. Baby #2 gave us a slight delay but she's worth it.

Below are the 4 models we narrowed our search down too. They all have very similar floorplans. We need to review the build quality on all of them and check out their options. We will camp a lot at Ft. Desoto, FL and that doesn't have full hookups. Because of this I'm concerned about the storage tank sizes. In the past we'd over filled the grey tank (rookies) with a borrowed trailer we used to have access to. Is upgrading the tanks on a trailer cost prohibitive or even possible? Any thoughts or opinions on these trailers would be very much appreciated. We continue to read lots of info located in this forum.

Thanks,

Joe

Sprinter 311BHS
Eagle 324BHDS
Denali 311BH
Colorado 31BH

[SmokeyWren]

We bought a new Sprinter, kept it about 10 years and 100,000 towing miles. It's a mid-priced RV, so it's neither an el cheapo nor a luxury trailer. It worked good for us.

All RV manufacturers install too small trailer tires and leaf springs. So regardless of which brand RV you buy, plan on replacing the trailer tires (and maybe new wheels to match the new tires) early in the life of the trailer. If you break a spring, replace them all with heavier-duty leaf springs.

Our Sprinter came with ST205/75R15C tires on 5.5" wide rims. We had two blow-outs on the first long trip, so I replaced them with ST225/75R15E tires on 6" wide rims. The 5.5" wide rims were too narrow for those bigger tires, per the tire manufacturer.

And in our case, we demand an excellent mattress in the master bedroom. The stock queen-sized mattress just doesn't do it. So plan on $500 or so for a good mattress. That's $500 from Sam's Club or CostCo, but more like $800 to $1,000 at most furniture stores for something like a Serta EuroTop firm queen-sized mattress..

[jbenoit28]

SmokeyWren,

Thanks for the response. Good tips on the tires and springs. I've had the same luck with my 28' Pace Enclosed Trailer. I had to replace the tires with E rated since the D's can't deal with the weight and heat. What if the trailer has those Torsen (? no leaf springs) axles?? Do those need to be upgraded as well?

Middle of the road trailer is about what we can afford and we try to keep things as long as possible.

Did you ever have issues with the size of your storage tanks? Did you ever upgrade them?

Thanks,

Joe

[SmokeyWren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbenoit28 What if the trailer has those Torsen (? no leaf springs) axles?? Do those need to be upgraded as well?

I doubt it. I have those (Dexter TorFlex) on my 7x14 CarMate cargo trailer and no problem with the suspension. We just returned from a trip where we hauled about 3,000 pounds of a friend's household goods from Midland to Phoenix, and no problems with the trailer suspension during that almost 2,000-mile round trip. Of course that trailer has the oversized ST225/75R15E Maxxis tires, so no tire problems either.

Quote:

Did you ever have issues with the size of your storage tanks? Did you ever upgrade them?

Our Sprinter was a 25' 5er, with tanks of 40 for black water, 40 for grey water, and 20 gallons for fresh water. We never had any problems with the size of the tanks, but it limited how long we could delay before finding a dump station and dumping the black and grey water tanks. When we went to Texas Motor Speedway and dry-camped for a few days twice a year, we hauled extra fresh water in 5-gallon jugs in the tag trailer we towed behind the 5er. In 10 years of camping at TMS, we never had to use the expensive "honey wagon" to dump our holding tanks.

So no, we never replaced the holding tanks with bigger tanks. That sounds like a big job for someone that knows what they're doing.

[maconswife]

We have the sprinter 32bhds and love it. We have 5 boys, and empty our black tank every other to every 3 days...that's with three kids who just like to watch the water go down the hole. I had not even considered upgrading the tanks. I will say that you have to learn to conserve water. I use two bins for washing dishes- one soapy, one clean. All the kids use the same bathwater. Granted, they're all under 10yrs old. We also have a diesel ford excursion 4x4. It pulls great, but we're considering increasing the exhaust via a larger tail pipe/muffler thingy (sorry, that's The Man's department). I can only tell you what he says (it's all Greek to me).

[jbenoit28]

Maconswife, thanks for the reply. 5 boys under 10? Wow, brave soul. Great idea on the dishes. We do something like that when we are racing just to clean our utensils etc. I'm trying to work with my oldest girl (4) on the whole "conserve water" deal. She likes to dance in the shower, not very good for grey water storage.

Glad to hear your setup is similar to ours. A new exhaust is also in our future. Simply put: Larger diameter pipe helps lower the exhaust gas temps which can run high when towing. Better for the engine. Shame Ford doesn't come out with a new version of the Excursion.

We just got word that our Sprinter has arrived at the dealer. We will have slide toppers installed and a rear ladder so I can easily install the cover when storing the trailer. Can't wait.

Joe