Camper Purchase Help

[Big Lee]

I always heard the rule of thumb that any RV will only be 20 degrees cooler than what it is outside

Mine will freeze you out. I always say our camper has hotel cold AC.

[smokeless]

We currently own a 35 ft 5th wheel. My tow vehicle is a 99 Ford F-350 7.3. When we went shopping, we had made a list of what we wanted. This wasn’t our first or second travel trailer. I wanted a big bath. She wanted a nice living area. After much looking, we found what we wanted.
RV dealer will tell you, sure your truck will pull it. Check your trucks weight capacity beforehand. Don’t go too big.
Think about where you will be camping. Will that new trailer fit in the spots. I know some 5ers that won’t fit in normal sites. Too tall.
I also have a dedicated outlet at my house. We check everything out before a trip. It’s nice to have the a/c on while cleaning and loading up.

[BlackoutRam2500]

Look at the Salem Hemisphere 37FL. It's above your budget, I found one for $44,000 brand new, but the layout is spot on.

https://youtu.be/sB_3muYN6bk

We have 4 kids so having a real living room and a real kitchen with storage is a must.

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

[sandbill]

You can learn A LOT about what's out there in the RV/ camper world these days by going to one of the BIG RV shows. Who knows when they will take place again though? Be patient, take your time, consider Airstream.

[Palmetto]

We bought our first one last month, and have kids about the same age. Ours is a Grand Design Transcend 265BH, and is in that price range. It is a new style bunk layout, and we really like it. It's an open concept, and makes it feel very roomy. Also has a huge bathroom, and allot of kitchen counter top space. It is GD's entry level camper, but has allot of extras that most brands don't include on entry level.

We chose theater seating over the table/booth. We spend most of our time outside, and I like that we can all kick back and watch a movie once we get cleaned up.

Also, I think the outdoor kitchens on campers are over rated. I may be in the minority, but I think they are just selling points that take up too much storage space! They have a cheap little grill that I would never use. I would rather use my Blackstone, or charcoal grill. The fridge is just something else to pull amps, as I keep drinks in my Yeti that sits in the shade under the camper. We don't really need a sink becuase there is a water hose quick-connect at the tail of the trailer. Plug in a coiled slinky hose, and it does the job perfectly without adding water to my grey tank.

Make sure you have a place to park it out of the sun. It's going to go downhill fast if stored outside. I installed a dedicated plug in my shop, and park it under a lean-to.


Another thing to think about is length. We went with this camper because I didnt want to stray too far from 30'. Ours is 32'9" from bumper to hitch. You get one of those 40'ers, and you might play heck trying to get it manuvered in some campgrounds!

[Palmetto]

You can learn A LOT about what's out there in the RV/ camper world these days by going to one of the BIG RV shows. Who knows when they will take place again though? Be patient, take your time, consider Airstream.

We did this. RV shows are usually later January, early Feb.

[WItoTX]

We bought our first one last month, and have kids about the same age. Ours is a Grand Design Transcend 265BH, and is in that price range. It is a new style bunk layout, and we really like it. It's an open concept, and makes it feel very roomy. Also has a huge bathroom, and allot of kitchen counter top space. It is GD's entry level camper, but has allot of extras that most brands don't include on entry level.

We chose theater seating over the table/booth. We spend most of our time outside, and I like that we can all kick back and watch a movie once we get cleaned up.

Also, I think the outdoor kitchens on campers are over rated. I may be in the minority, but I think they are just selling points that take up too much storage space! They have a cheap little grill that I would never use. I would rather use my Blackstone, or charcoal grill. The fridge is just something else to pull amps, as I keep drinks in my Yeti that sits in the shade under the camper. We don't really need a sink becuase there is a water hose quick-connect at the tail of the trailer. Plug in a coiled slinky hose, and it does the job perfectly without adding water to my grey tank.

Make sure you have a place to park it out of the sun. It's going to go downhill fast if stored outside. I installed a dedicated plug in my shop, and park it under a lean-to.


Another thing to think about is length. We went with this camper because I didnt want to stray too far from 30'. Ours is 32'9" from bumper to hitch. You get one of those 40'ers, and you might play heck trying to get it manuvered in some campgrounds!

I've looked at this one a lot, but the only downfall is no wall for the bunks. How do you all like that set up? Do you all go to bed at the same time?

Grand Designs are VERY nice, and well built.

[jwstrother]

We bought our first one last month, and have kids about the same age. Ours is a Grand Design Transcend 265BH, and is in that price range. It is a new style bunk layout, and we really like it. It's an open concept, and makes it feel very roomy. Also has a huge bathroom, and allot of kitchen counter top space. It is GD's entry level camper, but has allot of extras that most brands don't include on entry level.

We chose theater seating over the table/booth. We spend most of our time outside, and I like that we can all kick back and watch a movie once we get cleaned up.

Also, I think the outdoor kitchens on campers are over rated. I may be in the minority, but I think they are just selling points that take up too much storage space! They have a cheap little grill that I would never use. I would rather use my Blackstone, or charcoal grill. The fridge is just something else to pull amps, as I keep drinks in my Yeti that sits in the shade under the camper. We don't really need a sink becuase there is a water hose quick-connect at the tail of the trailer. Plug in a coiled slinky hose, and it does the job perfectly without adding water to my grey tank.

Make sure you have a place to park it out of the sun. It's going to go downhill fast if stored outside. I installed a dedicated plug in my shop, and park it under a lean-to.


Another thing to think about is length. We went with this camper because I didnt want to stray too far from 30'. Ours is 32'9" from bumper to hitch. You get one of those 40'ers, and you might play heck trying to get it manuvered in some campgrounds!

We recently bought a new Grand Design as well (Imagine 3170BH) I agree with everything Palmetto says except I like the fridge in our outdoor kitchen. It allows us to store extra snacks and drinks. Like he said the grill in the outdoor kitchen sucks we carry a blackstone as well.
Ours is 37' and it is tougher to maneuver around but it is worth the hassle for me because of how much room we have in the camper.

[Palmetto]

I've looked at this one a lot, but the only downfall is no wall for the bunks. How do you all like that set up? Do you all go to bed at the same time?

Grand Designs are VERY nice, and well built.

We love it. Yes, we are usually done by 10 pm and ready to crash. Plus, with the mid bathroom you have 2 doors between the front bed, and the living room. So we could get good separation from the living room if we needed to.

[Bryan11]

If you need bunks, try looking at mid-bunk design with rear living. I currently own a camper with the rear bunk room but i hate having a single couch and booth in the living/kitchen area. I am in the process of buying a newer Grand Design Solitude with the mid-bunk design which is basically a separate bedroom plus you get the layout of a rear living room with an island for the kitchen.

[Dale Moser]

We bought our first one last month, and have kids about the same age. Ours is a Grand Design Transcend 265BH, and is in that price range. It is a new style bunk layout, and we really like it. It's an open concept, and makes it feel very roomy. Also has a huge bathroom, and allot of kitchen counter top space. It is GD's entry level camper, but has allot of extras that most brands don't include on entry level.

We chose theater seating over the table/booth. We spend most of our time outside, and I like that we can all kick back and watch a movie once we get cleaned up.

Also, I think the outdoor kitchens on campers are over rated. I may be in the minority, but I think they are just selling points that take up too much storage space! They have a cheap little grill that I would never use. I would rather use my Blackstone, or charcoal grill. The fridge is just something else to pull amps, as I keep drinks in my Yeti that sits in the shade under the camper. We don't really need a sink becuase there is a water hose quick-connect at the tail of the trailer. Plug in a coiled slinky hose, and it does the job perfectly without adding water to my grey tank.

The one I just bought has a cheap little 2 burner stove that slides out. I'm gonna take it out next week, and attach the drawer slides that it rides on to the sides of a little blackstone, and put a quick connect on it to plug up to the trailer propane. So far I like the little fridge, I keep "my" drink in there, and a couple for my son so he's not in an out of the camper so much during the day. Our outdoor shower is right next to the outdoor kitchen, so we have a water source that doesn't fill up the grey tank like you said. The outdoor sink would be a waste imo.

[WItoTX]

We love it. Yes, we are usually done by 10 pm and ready to crash. Plus, with the mid bathroom you have 2 doors between the front bed, and the living room. So we could get good separation from the living room if we needed to.

The one thing I really like about your set up is you can get to the bathroom without having to push out the slide, so if you have to take a pee break on the road. Thanks for the input.

I am pretty set on the Jayco Eagle HT 295DBOK because of the two slides, full bunk house, and wall between the living area and bunkhouse, but those Grand Designs are just so well built.

[Dave]

I know you said you have a RAM Cummens, but watch the towing capacity. I've seen more than one person get talked into a bigger rig than they should be, by the salesman/wife/kids/their ego, and end up having a miserable time towing because they were right at or just under their max towing capacity.

[Mike D]

I know you said you have a RAM Cummens, but watch the towing capacity. I've seen more than one person get talked into a bigger rig than they should be, by the salesman/wife/kids/their ego, and end up having a miserable time towing because they were right at or just under their max towing capacity.

Yep. Ram makes it really easy to find out the capacities of your truck by its VIN #.

https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing-guide.html

Scroll down to “look up my vehicle”.

Pay attention to payload capacity as well as towing capacity. You need to know gross pin weight and gross trailer weight to ensure you are within the truck’s limits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[twistedmidnite]

We bought a heartland trailrunner 31db. Its a bumper pull but has a bunk room with two bunks, toilet, sink and shelf for a TV. My son and nephews (ages 6,10,11) love it and call it the "man cave" lol