Finally taking the plunge and buying a trailer!

[monkeybug]

I'm so excited that after years of dreaming we are finally ready to purchase a trailer, and I'm even more excited that my husband was researching campsites a FW last night with no prompting whatsoever from me!
Who knew that all it took to get him to plan a trip to Disney was to throw buying a camper into the mix? He's nixed the idea for years because with military rates at the other resorts FW didn't make financial sense to him. (clearly he wasn't taking into consideration that they don't let you drive golf carts around the other resorts, lol)
We were all set to buy a Jayco Jay Flight 28BH, but after the helpful folks at Rv.net set me straight on what my 6L Suburban can actually tow (no where near the advertised 8,100lbs) we have set our sights on hybrids.
We are specifically looking at the Starcraft Travel Star 229TB, does anyone have any perspective on this unit?
Any advice on what to look for and what to avoid for a newb?
I'm looking forward to yearly trips to the Fort to thaw out from Michigan winters!

 

[parrothead64]

That's basically the sister camper to our Jayco X23F except that I have a dining slide out. We are very happy with our unit and have had no problems with ours. We also tow with a GMC Yukon XL. The reason the 28BH wouldn't work is because the GVWR is 9250 which would be over your 8100, never look at the dry weight which is 6540. You obviously are going to put stuff in your camper and you also have to take weight of all the passengers into consideration. There's more to it than that, but that is the basic explanation. Good Luck with your purchase

 

[monkeybug]

That's basically the sister camper to our Jayco X23F except that I have a dining slide out. We are very happy with our unit and have had no problems with ours. We also tow with a GMC Yukon XL. The reason the 28BH wouldn't work is because the GVWR is 9250 which would be over your 8100, never look at the dry weight which is 6540. You obviously are going to put stuff in your camper and you also have to take weight of all the passengers into consideration. There's more to it than that, but that is the basic explanation. Good Luck with your purchase

How do you feel it tows with your Yukon?
The Jayco we were looking at had a GVWR of 7,500, but because our Suburban only has a 1,400lb payload that wouldn't work even though it's under our tow rating. At least that's how it was explained to me.
I'm happy to hear you've been pleased with your camper! I was nervous about a hybrid at first, but the idea is growing on me, I think it will be a good place for us to start, and maybe eventually we'll get something that can tow a bit more and get a larger one.

 

[Sundancer330]

Not sure where your at in Michigan but I purchased a Jayco from Haylett RV down in Coldwater last summer. Nice dealer to work with, no pressure from salesman, and they matched the best online price I could find. Check out their web site, they have many brands to choose from and have great you tube videos on most models. Good luck and happy camping.

 

[monkeybug]

Not sure where your at in Michigan but I purchased a Jayco from Haylett RV down in Coldwater last summer. Nice dealer to work with, no pressure from salesman, and they matched the best online price I could find. Check out their web site, they have many brands to choose from and have great you tube videos on most models. Good luck and happy camping.

Thanks!
We are actually living in Virginia right now, but are super excited that my husband received orders to Michigan's UP, and we will be moving in a little over a month! I can't wait to explore Michigan and Canada, so if you have any campground recommendations I'd love to hear about them!

 

[5kidsmommy]

Congrats!! We drive a suburban and decided on a hybrid for the same reason. We are a large family and I knew we wouldn't be able to tow as much as the dealers say you can. We have a KZ Coyote 23CFK. We love it. We chose this particular model because it has three queen beds, plus the dinette and sofa as sleeping surfaces and my five teens hate sharing beds, even though two of them did end up having to share.

Hybrids really are wonder. You get the perks of a hard sided trailer but they are lighter and you get to sleep in tent ends which I love. Enjoy!

 

[4077]

I'm curio

How do you feel it tows with your Yukon?
The Jayco we were looking at had a GVWR of 7,500, but because our Suburban only has a 1,400lb payload that wouldn't work even though it's under our tow rating. At least that's how it was explained to me.
I'm happy to hear you've been pleased with your camper! I was nervous about a hybrid at first, but the idea is growing on me, I think it will be a good place for us to start, and maybe eventually we'll get something that can tow a bit more and get a larger one.

How many people are you trying to sleep? I am just curious as there are non-hybrid bunkhouse models that are down in the 4500-5000 range dry and gross in the 6's. Of course, the nice thing with the hybrid is your beds are all out of the way and you have all that floor space for the layout. My DW is absolutely against having canvas in a pop up, hybrid, or otherwise, so I ended up with a Flagstaff Microlite 25 BHS. Mine is a 2014...

 

[Teamubr]

Congrats!

My first trailer ever was a Travel Star Hybrid. A little one and it was a 2000 model, so I think they may have changed a bit. I liked mine. The only thing I didn't like was trying to camp at a race when it got into the 40s at night. Despite the furnace running, it was cold under the canvas. We traded it after 2 years for a 33ft TT.
We towed both with a V8 Explorer. Had a tow rating of 6800lbs. It pulled the hybrid great! The 33ft TT was a little work. It didn't have any slides full, weighed about 65-6600. Because of the length, it whipped the Explorer around in the wind. I ran 2 sway controls to keep it tamed, but we towed it to Destin and Orlando from St Louis and a number of races 4-600 miles away.
I did eventually buy a F250 diesel, which promptly led to trading the TT for a 5er.

Enjoy the new camper and the move to the UP. Have a race friend that lives up there. I thought most of the UP was one big campground.

j

 

[Sundancer330]

Thanks!
We are actually living in Virginia right now, but are super excited that my husband received orders to Michigan's UP, and we will be moving in a little over a month! I can't wait to explore Michigan and Canada, so if you have any campground recommendations I'd love to hear about them!

You will love the UP of Mich, many great campgrounds National, State, and local. We camped in Munising last summer in the city campground which is right on Lake Superior, at night it is so dark you can see millions of stars and the northern lights are something else. Its also home to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, it was the first National Lakeshore in the National Park System. It runs for 42 miles, the cliffs are up to 200 feet above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble castle turrets, and human profiles. We spent a few days boating alone the shore by kayak and our zodiac boat, the water is so clear you can see boulders the size of a school bus in 40 feet of water.

 

[jeffrey1966]

We have a 2014 Jayco X23F and just love it. the unit weighs 4478lbs. and has a GVWR of 5995. My profile pic shows it set up at the Fort. I like the canvas tents because just as 4077 mentioned they don't take away from the floor plan. The one drawback to the canvas tent ends I have discovered happens during cold weather camping. When we turn the heat up on cold nights a ton of water collects on the ceiling of the tent through condensation. As soon as you move around in the tent the water droplets pour down. We have since purchased as set of Pop up Gizmos which are supposed to take care of the problem but have yet to test them out. This is my only "camplaint" about the hybrid. We tow it with a Diesel F350 and hardly know it's back there.

 

[FtW Mike]

Congrats on new Camper and you will LOVE The Fort. CM's and Fellow Guests are friendliest by far. Thank you and your family for your service

 

[monkeybug]

I'm curio


How many people are you trying to sleep? I am just curious as there are non-hybrid bunkhouse models that are down in the 4500-5000 range dry and gross in the 6's. Of course, the nice thing with the hybrid is your beds are all out of the way and you have all that floor space for the layout. My DW is absolutely against having canvas in a pop up, hybrid, or otherwise, so I ended up with a Flagstaff Microlite 25 BHS. Mine is a 2014...

We have 3 kids and 2 dogs, and a Suburban with a low payload because whoever owned it before us put literally every option available on that thing! lol! So it's got a 6.0L engine and a 4.10axle, but our available payload after accounting for our rag-tag crew is probably only 700lbs. The dealer and my husband assure me we can still tow at least a 6,000lb loaded trailer, but I'm nervous about that.
We haven't ruled out the utra-light enclosed trailers, but so far the ones we've seen are are considerably more expensive or far too used compared to the hybrid we like. I also kind of like the idea of an experience that's somewhere in-between a tent and a trailer. I love everything about tent camping except the packing, setting-up, and then tearing down.

You will love the UP of Mich, many great campgrounds National, State, and local. We camped in Munising last summer in the city campground which is right on Lake Superior, at night it is so dark you can see millions of stars and the northern lights are something else. Its also home to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, it was the first National Lakeshore in the National Park System. It runs for 42 miles, the cliffs are up to 200 feet above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble castle turrets, and human profiles. We spent a few days boating alone the shore by kayak and our zodiac boat, the water is so clear you can see boulders the size of a school bus in 40 feet of water.

We are crazy excited to be moving there! It's one of those places that nobody puts on their list, but everyone we've talked to whose been can't say enough about how much they loved it. It will be an adventure for sure, but I'm so happy to be going back to a place with so many opportunities to get the family outdoors! Of course, my excitement might diminish after my first winter there...

Congrats on new Camper and you will LOVE The Fort. CM's and Fellow Guests are friendliest by far. Thank you and your family for your service

I can't wait! We've been before just to look around and to see the Chip and Dale campfire show and it was love at first sight for me! I told my husband I'd be happy to go there even if it didn't involve any park days! (but who am I kidding? We'll totally be going to the parks too! )

 

[5kidsmommy]

When we first looked at getting a trailer we went looking for a pop-up. Ultimately though we liked the ease of hybrids. You can use it like a regular trailer when packing and when stopping at rest stops, it's nice to have access to the fridge and seating when we stop for lunch. I am sure you will enjoy the hybrid life, we love tent camping but my health isn't the greatest and I needed something a little easier to access.

 

[Sundancer330]

We are crazy excited to be moving there! It's one of those places that nobody puts on their list, but everyone we've talked to whose been can't say enough about how much they loved it. It will be an adventure for sure, but I'm so happy to be going back to a place with so many opportunities to get the family outdoors! Of course, my excitement might diminish after my first winter there...

Well you better enjoy snow, the UP averages over 200 inches most winters. Our last snowmobile adventure across the UP was the winter of 2013/14 they got a record 323 inches.

 

[parrothead64]

Yukon tows well, and we have the 5.3 with a 3:42 rear, so you probably won't even know the trailer is behind you. We drove all the way to Disney this past year, no problems. As others have said the hybrid is great that you have more floor space, and with our slide its even more. We sleep 2 adults and 3 kids in ours no problems, and we have even turtled in it at a Walmart. A little tight but it worked.

 

[monkeybug]

Oh I LOVE the snow! I'm the one who obsessively watches the weather when there is any chance of snow and practically tries to will it into happening! Lol! When we lived in Maryland there was a year that we got three blizzards and I think I was the only adult in my circle of friends who was still smiling in the snow. I've just never lived anywhere that gets anywhere near that much on a regular basis, and many people have told me the UP is surely going to cure me of my snow crush. We'll see.

 

[North of Mouse]

I'm curio


How many people are you trying to sleep? I am just curious as there are non-hybrid bunkhouse models that are down in the 4500-5000 range dry and gross in the 6's. Of course, the nice thing with the hybrid is your beds are all out of the way and you have all that floor space for the layout. My DW is absolutely against having canvas in a pop up, hybrid, or otherwise, so I ended up with a Flagstaff Microlite 25 BHS. Mine is a 2014...

Agree completely with your dw! Had a popup at one point in time for a couple years and we totally hated it. Seems it inevitably would rain when it had to be folded up, then we had 'wet' canvas inside until we could get home to pop it up and let it dry - never again. But, lots of people love them, so guess that's just our experience.
They do increase sleeping area without extra length to tow. But, having 'everything' accessible while traveling is a 'must' with us.

 

[Barney Fife]

Congratulations. How excitng.

Not to throw any doubt in your purchase. But please understand the mentality of the fine folks at rv.net. Its amazing how many people go to great lengths to get people to downsize their camper choice. Some appear to only be at peace if you're using a dually to haul a pop-up. Much too overkill over there.

I don't want to confuse you. But this is a big decision.

 

[monkeybug]

Congratulations. How excitng.

Not to throw any doubt in your purchase. But please understand the mentality of the fine folks at rv.net. Its amazing how many people go to great lengths to get people to downsize their camper choice. Some appear to only be at peace if you're using a dually to haul a pop-up. Much too overkill over there.

I don't want to confuse you. But this is a big decision.

To be honest, it's all a little confusing to me in regards to towing capacity, but the basic gist did seem to be that you need a semi to pull a pop-up! Lol! I'll admit that their advice did freak me out and was the initial reason we jumped ship from the Jayco to a hybrid or ultra-light, but now we are both finding appeal in something that is in-between a tent and a TT. We also will be traveling from Michigan to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California often, so I think being way under our tow capacity will be a benefit there.
I'm sure in a few years we'll be joining ranks with those that trade in their starter camper for something bigger and better though! And by then hopefully we'll understand a lot more about campers in general!

 

[Barney Fife]

Great points. Most of all, have a great time. We bought our first TT in 2004 and have never stopped. On our fifth one right now! My retirement dream in 2027 is the DW and I touring the country for about 3 months. RVing of course.