Smaller Travel Trailer

[Parafiredsl]

Hey all. New to the forum but have been reading posts for awhile and doing research. We are starting the process of upgrading from our 1998 Jayco Popup to a hard side TT. We are looking at all of the smaller bunk house models. We love our popup but with my wife and little girl we need a true bathroom/shower....not the little curtain cassette toilet. That being said alot of the preferred dealers many on here recommend dont make the smaller models. So just wanted to see if any of yall have any recommendations. Things that are important....

-dry bath
-bunkhouse
-2 door fridge
-holding tank size
-less than 25ft

Tow vehicle is not a issue as my Wife has 1/2 ton with a V8 and I own a F350 SRW. One of us will pull the 24ft boat the other the camper. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

[Brenwol1]

Originally Posted by Parafiredsl

Hey all. New to the forum but have been reading posts for awhile and doing research. We are starting the process of upgrading from our 1998 Jayco Popup to a hard side TT. We are looking at all of the smaller bunk house models. We love our popup but with my wife and little girl we need a true bathroom/shower....not the little curtain cassette toilet. That being said alot of the preferred dealers many on here recommend dont make the smaller models. So just wanted to see if any of yall have any recommendations. Things that are important....

-dry bath
-bunkhouse
-2 door fridge
-holding tank size
-less than 25ft

Tow vehicle is not a issue as my Wife has 1/2 ton with a V8 and I own a F350 SRW. One of us will pull the 24ft boat the other the camper. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Last year my DW and I bought our first TT with virtually the same requirements. Especially the 2-door fridge so we cam actually hold a week's worth of groceries and have an ice bin and freezer space.

Also wanted something small but fully functional. Another requirement for us was a four-season capability as we live in the southeast and camp year-round. The fridge and 4-season ended up being the most restrictive on "out-of-the-box" choices with no major upgrade work.

We settled on a Heartland Mallard M185BH. It's 21ft with bunks, 2-door fridge, full bath (minus sink) and just enough room for a couple and one or two smalls. About 3500 dry weight and 4200 loaded. We pull it quit well with a Ram 1500 standard cab, Hemi and 3.92 axle ratio (I think that's the number.) Tanks: fresh 52gal, gray and black are 42gal. We've been very pleased with our choice so far. I think this model may be made exclusively for Camping World, so you may have to go there to find one.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the forum. It's been an awesome resource for us!

Happy camping!

[rte1985]

My family is in the same hunt as you with just about the same criteria. The top two on my list right now are the winnebago micro minnie 2306 bhs and the rockwood 2509s. Both 25 feet and some change. full size bathroom, slide dinette and murphy bed for main bed. I was pro the micro minnie due to the bigger capacities but the wife is for the rockwood micro lite. I wonder which one is going to win out for us The rockwood does have tons of storage and larger tanks but less ccc and smaller tires. If you are in need of true 4 seasons and an orv dealer is close to you then I would really look at them but they are nowhere close to me. Also the lance 2185 I think is the triple bunk model but they are $$$$$. coachmen has a couple in their apex and freedom express lines that originally interested me but I feel the winnebago and rockwood line just have more going for them. good luck in the hunt!

[shane_the_ee]

I don't know what your price range is, but we considered the following models, all of which meet your stated criteria:

Lance 2185
ORV Black Rock 18DB*
ORV Creekside 18CK*
Keystone Hideout 19FL
Keystone Springdale 189FLB

The careful reader will note that the last 4 are all the same layout and all have 60gal fresh tanks. ;-) Northwood also made a Nash model in the same floor plan which was discontinued in the last 3-4 years....

*Discontinued, so you'll have to hunt them down on the used market. ORV does still make the Creekside 21DBS

[corum999]

Another suggestion - if you can take a look at the Dutchmen Kodiak Cub 175BH. We had very similar needs last year when shopping and found the Cub 175BH was a great fit.

Our family has been very pleased with everything about it so far.

[Parafiredsl]

Awesome information guys! A few models here I had not found. Thanks again and keep it coming...I did a ton of looking and research on our popup and it was a great great starter so just starting the process. Thanks!!

[Oct Prime]

Not all within your requirements, but close. It is 29’3” from tongue to bumper.
Otherwise, it has a dry bath, albeit small.
Two door fridge.
Spacious bunks
Island queen
Sofa and dinette.
7,000 lbs GVWR

26bh

[Persistent]

Quality Travel Trailer Brands
Last winter (2018) I joined the Dutchmen Owners forum and expressed my disappointment with my new Dutchmen Kodiak Cub. My opinion of Dutchmen travel trailers has not improved since then. My plan is to keep it and continue to use it because all the modifications and repairs have brought it up to my minimum standards. Total cost of ownership has not been lower than much higher priced trailers.
Yesterday I found a thread on iRV2 started by a new member who wanted advice on what to buy for his first travel trailer. What followed was a compilation of 1000’s of camper hours of experience and a list of brands from owners with firsthand experience. Needless to say Dutchmen and many other Thor companies were specifically not recommended. Their only advantage is low purchase price. Jayco is now a Thor company and the last 2? model years are also specifically not recommended. A short list of recommended brands and brief comments follow. I wish I had this information before buying.
Artic Fox
Difficult to find east of the Mississippi
$25k to $50k thermal pane windows
Hamersville Ohio (Cincinnati)
Outdoor RV
Difficult to find east of the Mississippi , $25k to $50k
Thermal pane windows, dealer in Denver.
Cooler in sun, Excellent support
Lance are $10-$25k more than the same length ORV Creekside or Timber Ridge.
2018 28'8" Timber Ridge was $34,700
Air Stream
Recent corrosion problem
Grand Design
Insulated well
Winnebago
Was Sunnybrook
Grand Design
One bad review
Elite Suites
Lance
Newell
TIFFIN
Excellent service
Nash

[Parafiredsl]

Originally Posted by Persistent

Quality Travel Trailer Brands
Last winter (2018) I joined the Dutchmen Owners forum and expressed my disappointment with my new Dutchmen Kodiak Cub. My opinion of Dutchmen travel trailers has not improved since then. My plan is to keep it and continue to use it because all the modifications and repairs have brought it up to my minimum standards. Total cost of ownership has not been lower than much higher priced trailers.
Yesterday I found a thread on iRV2 started by a new member who wanted advice on what to buy for his first travel trailer. What followed was a compilation of 1000’s of camper hours of experience and a list of brands from owners with firsthand experience. Needless to say Dutchmen and many other Thor companies were specifically not recommended. Their only advantage is low purchase price. Jayco is now a Thor company and the last 2? model years are also specifically not recommended. A short list of recommended brands and brief comments follow. I wish I had this information before buying.
Artic Fox
Difficult to find east of the Mississippi
$25k to $50k thermal pane windows
Hamersville Ohio (Cincinnati)
Outdoor RV
Difficult to find east of the Mississippi , $25k to $50k
Thermal pane windows, dealer in Denver.
Cooler in sun, Excellent support
Lance are $10-$25k more than the same length ORV Creekside or Timber Ridge.
2018 28'8" Timber Ridge was $34,700
Air Stream
Recent corrosion problem
Grand Design
Insulated well
Winnebago
Was Sunnybrook
Grand Design
One bad review
Elite Suites
Lance
Newell
TIFFIN
Excellent service
Nash

Thank you for the info. I read your post on the other new TT recommendation thread. Was a little dismayed to find that only Winnebago is in my area out of the long list you provided. I do have them on my list, however I have read and talked to more than a few unhappy owners on them... Houston has a Rv show in half a month, I will be going and walking through a bunch of different models. I would have considered traveling out of state to buy, however doing so would make warranty work and repairs next to impossible. So I am relegated to brands and makes that have dealers within 100 miles of me. Thanks again for the info.

[nrg2brn]

interesting. ive had 4 popups and 4 tt's and the winnebago winnie drop is the best tt ive had by far. NO issues, well besides adjust a bracket or two. I have found the craftsmanship better than others. curious as to what the issues were with the others. maybe the BIG ones are a problem.

[xjbeast96]

we have a Passport 175BH and have had no problems with it.

[Off Road]

If you travel out of state to buy an ORV trailer and need warranty work done on it they will reimburse you for the work that you have done. You just need to get preapproval from the factory. We love ours, you really should look at one before you buy something else.

[Persistent]

I don't think you should ignore 1 or 2 year old TT's of more brands than I listed. TT's that have been used a little are often better than new. Previous owners tend to get the fixed so you don't have too.
There are a couple of large used listing sites for both dealer and owner for sale TT's.