Travel Trailer Recommendations / Feedback

[Corey Cohron RIP]

Bill and I have been talking about getting a travel trailer for some time... not necessarily to offset the cost of hotels or anything (though that would be cool, too) while we're travelling for business, but more for the convenience.

It would be great to have a place for customers to sit down and chat while Bill's working, and it would be really great for Liam and Wil, too, since the always come with us!

We think we found one we like: http://www.coachmenrv.com/products/model/floorplan/detail/?ProductID=2&FloorplanID=266&SeriesID=54&Model=Travel%20Trailers&Series=Catalina

Anybody have an caveats about this company or this layout or this particular travel trailer? I'd appreciate any insight you might have, as we've never owned one before.

:thankyou: in advance!

[Jackpine]

Looks nice, Corey. I wish they showed the width of the thing. It looks very comfortable with the slideout and a genuine queen bed.

Have you looked at these? http://www.hilotrailer.com/trailers.html The 27T is very close to what you have there, 8-foot towing width, "fixed queen bed" and a slideout for additional room. It's a bit lighter than the one you are looking at, and, the ability to collapse for towing is a real plus, in my opinion. (Much less wind resistance and you don't have to worry about overhead clearances). We have a 17T, which is much too small for you guys, but is very easy to get into most small spaces, like National Forest campgrounds which is were we like to stay. I know you would prefer more "civilized" sites, so the smaller water tank sizes in the Hi-Lo are not a factor, because you'd be staying at places with full hookups.

We saw several used models of the larger HI-Lo's for sale when we were looking for ours. Never saw a single 17-footer that was used though. You'd save quite a bit getting a used one.

You WILL want a load distributing, anti-sway hitch to tow anything that big. Ours is from Equal-i-zer, http://www.equalizerhitch.com/and it's very easy to set up and use.

[soutthpaw]

I am thinking about getting a travel trailer too for the same reasons... Have Mother In Law's RV now... its nice but then you got to pull a run about everywhere... For what we do it would be easier to be able to drive to a location and drop it then be off with the Excursion.. Plus better power and mileage....
The RV is for sale by the way 1993 Winnebego 36' Vectra Diesel Pusher 5.9 cummins with full Banks power pack.. Plus Allison Electronic 6 speed... it runs great at 11.5 to 14mpg if you can keep the MPH down... I can't do 68-75 pretty much when driving it...
I would seriously look new right now or near new as people can't give them away. about 10-15 years old they just start to $100 you to death... fix here and fix there.....

you can write interest off as second home...
One thing to look for is if they have insulated holding tanks. gives you more of a 4 season coach. I prefer the aluminum over the wood framed units... esp down your way with lots of moisture/humidity
Not sure if you can get it on a travel trailer but our RV has ducted central heat and A/C which is really nice and makes the whole system more efficient...


That is exactly what we are looking at too http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/default22.asp?page=floorview&model=28A+&choice=cher&nav=rec&name=19&series=GreyWolfCorey. a Bunkhouse model... Oh as for slides..Avoid kitchen slides as you are constantly flexing and moving all your plumbing, electrical and gas lines... I don't need to tell you what will happen eventually with that setup.. So look for sliding living or dining instead... slides also have a tendency to leak... I am undecided if we will get a slide or not. it does add quite a bit of weight and if you are only spending a few days at a time in it, its not a big deal.... I did see one floor plan I liked, similar to what you posted but the bunkhouse had a slide out making a cool play area with a tv mounted on the wall enclosing the bathroom.... Ill post a link if I find it again EDIT here is an examplehttp://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/default22.asp?page=floorview&model=301BHD&choice=sierraor&nav=rec&name=3&series=Ttrailers
or this one
http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/default22.asp?page=floorview&model=28A+&choice=cher&nav=rec&name=19&series=GreyWolf

[Corey Cohron RIP]

Great info, Guys. We were looking at this layout for a couple of reasons:

1- It has the bunks for the boys.
2- The couch is across from the dining table, so if a few customers are hanging out while Bill works his magic on the laptop, they are in the same vicinity (a lot of layouts have the sofa and table on the same side of the trailer.
3- The "bedroom" has an actual sliding door, so we can close it off from "guests."
4- I really liked the corner kitchen being apart from the "living space."
5- I like that you don't have to walk through the bathroom to get to the bedroom.
6- The slide is only for the couch, so it's pretty light.

The RV place didn't have it in stock, but they're a fairly new facility and are expecting this model to be delivered in May. They're requesting it with the fabric we liked. :cheesy smile: Stock is about $23,000 (way out of our range), but we found it on being sold by a retail RV shop in Michigan for $14753, so we know that we should be able to get them down to about $15K. I also didn't know that you can finance a travel trailer for 10 years until yesterday, which is very cool for us. I don't see us using it for vacations or anything; it will be exclusively for business, so it's a write-off. :cheesy smile:

Anyone have experience with Coachmen as a company? Good OR bad?

[Corey Cohron RIP]

This is it listed on eBay. Lots of cool pictures -- way more than the Coachmen website, go figure... :doh:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ALL-NEW-CATALINA-BY-COACHMAN-28BHS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3 a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1308Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293 Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZit em370189349055QQitemZ370189349055QQptZRVsQ5fCamper s

[Jackpine]

This is it listed on eBay. Lots of cool pictures -- way more than the Coachmen website, go figure... :doh:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ALL-NEW-CATALINA-BY-COACHMAN-28BHS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3 a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1308Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293 Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZit em370189349055QQitemZ370189349055QQptZRVsQ5fCamper s

Corey, that's a GREAT price for the trailer described. And, I can see why you like the design. I just know how easy my low-profile one is to tow....

But in case you missed what southpaw said, the interest you pay on one of these things is tax deductible, just like a home loan! You can think of it as a vacation home on wheels! Your tax consultant will be able to confirm this.

Whether you'll do better having it as a business deduction or as I've pointed out above, a "home mortgage" deduction, is for you to decide. I know as a business deduction, you can depreciate it, so you may come out ahead that way.

- Jack

[ChuckD]

My input is get a 5th wheel toy hauler. Much easier to pull plus you can get queen double bunks in the rear with a queen up front. Right now around here people are selling big nice ones dirt cheap. It can be a multi purpose cause you can put a counter in the rear with the ramp door down and sell merchandise plus the boys will have their own beds and if you was to use it for private stuff you can put 4 wheelers or what not in there.
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/rvs/1136960240.html
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/rvs/1135123508.html
The bumper pulls can be found cheaper, just get a sway control hitch and air bags and you will be set.


http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/rvs/1133928963.html

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/rvs/1133013072.html

Go to places that high forclosure rates and you can get good deals.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/rvs/1131603244.html

If you want me to I can go and check out ones around here for you. I bet you will save several thousands cause people are wanting to get out from under them and keep their house.

[Power Hungry]

The problem with a 5'er is having something to pull it with. We are sans truck right now and would be looking for something to pull with the Expedition. Otherwise, we'd definitely look at the 5th wheel options.

[ChuckD]

Bill there is some nice bumper pull toy haulers out there. My point was you can use it as a "concession" trailer at the same time. It could cut down on cost plus provide family entertianment at the same time. That was my thaught as I have 4 children and that will be my route when the time comes cause there can be so many uses for it.

[88Racing]

Well Corey that is a very nicely laid out floor plan.

So the expy is going to be put to even more work.

I agree with Jack get the equalizer hitch. And you don't want to spend the money on that go with "super springs".
Bags are nice but one more thing to worry about. If the bag system isn't plumbed right you can get a sway wash going and the compressors aren't worth the postage it cost to ship them to you.

I see Chuck's point the 5th wheelers pull nicer. And they idea of a toy hauler that's good too. But its harder to control the climate on hot days with that big tailgate open. The other point Chuck has of shopping in the down turn areas is good also.

My personal preferences: airstream saffari or a diesel pusher.

Here another idea cut the back top off the expy and mount the 5th wheel hitch. JK

Lars

[soutthpaw]

The towing discussion comes up a lot on the FTE Excursion forum I frequent on a regular basis.. Yes you need a load equalizer hitch if you look at the data plate on the hitch its usually any trailer over 5000lb requires the LE hitch.. The air ride option is great because it allows you to level the truck to proper ride height which makes the geometry of the suspension and steering work at its optimum level. I installed air rides on my mom's Excursion for pulling her horse trailer and she loves them... much better ride and better trailering.
If you load the trailer properly you should not have a sway issue to start with. sway is caused by poor weight distribution in the trailer...

[88Racing]

The towing discussion comes up a lot on the FTE Excursion forum I frequent on a regular basis.. Yes you need a load equalizer hitch if you look at the data plate on the hitch its usually any trailer over 5000lb requires the LE hitch.. The air ride option is great because it allows you to level the truck to proper ride height which makes the geometry of the suspension and steering work at its optimum level. I installed air rides on my mom's Excursion for pulling her horse trailer and she loves them... much better ride and better trailering.
If you load the trailer properly you should not have a sway issue to start with. sway is caused by poor weight distribution in the trailer...

Yes souttpaw I agree with you on the LE hitch.

But on the suspension upgrade I only listed it due to my personal experiance.

Just remember on the bags I said "if they were plumbed right". But if the LE hitch is used the suspension should not need to be upgraded any ways. That would be more for 5th wheels.

Lars

[Jackpine]

The towing discussion comes up a lot on the FTE Excursion forum I frequent on a regular basis.. Yes you need a load equalizer hitch if you look at the data plate on the hitch its usually any trailer over 5000lb requires the LE hitch.. The air ride option is great because it allows you to level the truck to proper ride height which makes the geometry of the suspension and steering work at its optimum level. I installed air rides on my mom's Excursion for pulling her horse trailer and she loves them... much better ride and better trailering.
If you load the trailer properly you should not have a sway issue to start with. sway is caused by poor weight distribution in the trailer...

I'm not convinced this is the ONLY cause of sway. That trailer is a pretty big wind sail and it can react strongly to the bow wave of semi's and crosswinds through canyons like we have out here in the wild-wild west.

The reason I've got an anti-sway hitch is because when we first bought our trailer, I had a much lighter, smaller truck - a Nissan Frontier. I simply transferred it to the Ford when I got the more powerful vehicle. All I can say is with the hitch, I've never felt any "tail wagging" in either vehicle, but then, I DO make sure there is proper tongue weight on the hitch too.

The way the Equal-i-zer works is you get anti-sway "for free" through simple friction on the load transferring bars. Seems a pretty straightforward design to me.

And, southpaw, you're right about the need for an LE hitch. In addition to the 5000# trailer limit on a load carrying hitch, there's a 500# tongue weight limit if the hitch is load carrying. My suspension drops 1/2" all around when I hook up our trailer.

- Jack

[soutthpaw]

Yeah cross wind will cause sway too.. I was just pointing out the main cause of the problem that we can control...if you get sway just manually activate the trailer brakes with the controller it will straighten everything back out...
A lot of the Excursion folks seem to really praise the Roadmaster Active Suspensions setup for improved towing http://www.activesuspension.com/