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Old 03-05-2012, 03:24 AM   #1
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Hi all:



We are looking at purchasing a Zinger 23FB. This is our first RV purchase and we are nervous as heck about it! My dad has a fifth wheel but we wanted something smaller; I feel like this floorplan fits our needs pretty well. It will just be me, my husband, and our (currently 3.5 years old) daughter. We live in Texas and hope to roadtrip during the summer to see the US and then weekend camping around Texas.



My husband is tall so we liked the extra headroom and I don't want to deal with slides, so like this layout. The outdoor kitchen seems like something we would use a lot, and my husband doesn't want something much longer than this one. Does anyone have this trailer and have and feedback/advice on it?



Also, the dealership is trying to sell us the 5-year service plan. I kind of feel like it's a waste of money, but would like feedback on whether people would recommend it.

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Old 03-05-2012, 04:46 AM   #2
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The zinger is a wonderful trailer, but I think with having a small child you will want to have a bunk to put her down for naps and things without having to lose your sofa. Also making a bed everyday can get really old. We have a 4 1/2 yr old (was 3 1/2 when we bought the TT). She loves to play in the bunk. having that separate area has been a blessing. Our zinger has been perfect for our family. Crossroads has really good customer service and the 2 yr warranty is really nice. Here is a zinger Z1 (ZT 251BH) that is similar length and weight to what you were looking at but has bunks. The bunks will also come in handy for when your child is a little older and wants to bring friends along. http://www.crossroadsrv.com/z-1/floo...BH&type=tt



Happy hunting and i hope you find the perfect trailer for you. Camping has been a wonderful experience for our young family.
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Old 03-05-2012, 06:46 AM   #3
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Prior to this 5th wheel, I has a tt with tribble bunks stacked up(another brand and much older). The kids loved it and again, as mentioned above, they came in handy when the "friends" came along. Actually, one of the funniest sights and best memories was watching one of my 250 lb buddies try to get out of the middlebunk the morning aftera night at the World of Beer Expo in Frankenmuth MI. Priceless!
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Old 03-05-2012, 09:31 AM   #4
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FWIW my last trailer was a 25'4 Winds bumper pull. It was a nice trailer for just the DW and myself. Almost the same layout without the outdoor kitchen, there was a wardrobe there. It did not have a slide as I didn't want the hassle and problems with slides and I was cheap. A trailer with a slide would have a cost more. Biggest mistake I made lately.



You're cooking something on the stove and hubby is on the couch watching TV. He decides he needs to go the water closet and has to make an appointment to get by you at the stove. The little one has no place to go without being in the way. And then my daughter and her husband went with us one weekend. All I can say is it's a good thing the weather was nice. 4 adults just flat didn't fit. It was a place to sleep and that was it.



The picture is what that trailer morphed into and we love it. Lots of room. More cabinets than DW can fill up, yet. Our daughter and 2 Gkids went with us and no problems. They had room to play and everybody was happy.



Personally I would never have another without a slide. It was almost like going from a 800 sq ft apartment to a 2500 sq ft house.
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Old 03-05-2012, 09:56 AM   #5
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avvidclif speaks wisely about room. Go sit in the trailer with the whole family. let your 3 1/2 yr old run around and have mom pretend to cook. Dad can pretend to watch the game, get up and go to the bathroom etc. If you have a pet to bring along think about tripping over them too. Think about where you will put everything (ie mom's clothes in that cabinet, dishes in this cabinet and DD's toys in that drawer etc) This led us to our 30ft super slide zinger.For many no slide or a minimal slide is plenty. We wanted space for DD to run around when trapped on a rainy day and we have a 70 lb dog to tripover as well. We haven't regretted the extra space. The only thing is the slide will make the TT heavier so what you are towing with comes into play. What are you towing with?
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Old 03-05-2012, 10:58 AM   #6
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2007 nissan Titan king cab Texas edition.





thanks for all the feedback so far....its been really helpful and definitely giving us a lot to consider.





I like all the storage in this unit and think it will be sufficient (at least for our first one!) we anticipate mainly cooking outside - in Texas you don't want to heat up the inside!
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Old 03-05-2012, 11:28 AM   #7
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The most regrets I hear from people with kid(s) is they didn't go with a bunkhouse the first time around. We had triple bunks in the last unit we just sold. Our new unit is a bunkhouse as well. ST22BH. The last unit we had was longer with a sofa such as shown in the floorplan you are looking at. The sofa became a dumping ground for us and was not used as intended. But the bunks are the kids favorite area. When we told them we were getting a new RV, all they cared about was if it had bunks. It is nice to be able to give them their own space to get away into. And you don't have to make up bed every night and take it down every morning. On occasion the bunk also was needed to "send" the kids into for some "time away" ie TIME OUT!.
So as you can tell we are big fans of bunkhouses. The unit you show seems set for perhaps someone on the other side of the kid rearing period of life. We also opted for the grill attachment on the rear bumper, combined with a campstove on a table we will set up an outdoor cooking area.
I recommend looking at the Sunset Trail, 22 BH. The floorplan is wrong on the web page, http://www.crossroadsrv.com/sunsettr...BH&type=tt
but the 360 video is correct. The unit has a mini slide and the weight/length may be attractive to you..
We will all be interested in what you decide.

Best of luck

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Old 03-05-2012, 01:15 PM   #8
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You can probably tow these trailers but remember to double check all of your weights including, total tow capacity, tongue weight (TW) rating, and payload. Remember that the listed available payload on the drivers door sticker only includes a 150 lb driver. A good idea is to load your titan up as you would for camping w/ people, pets and gear and a full tank of gas and go weigh it. Subtract the weighed # from the trucks GVW to get your available payload. Most 1/2 tons will run out of payload before they run out of tow capacity. Double checking this will prevent you from needing to upgrade your truck in the first year. I say this having towed my TT w/ an armada that was overloaded. THe armada had a 9100 tow capacity but I later learned about tongue weights and payload and found I was over on both. The armada only had about 800 lbs of available payload. Not adequate for a TT that has a 7700 lb GVW (6700 lbs loaded ready to camp). You can figure a more realistic tongue weight by using 13-15% of the trailers GVWR. Also remember (and it looks like you paid attention to this) that the empty or shipping or UVW weight is a useless number, utilize the GVWR so you don't overload your truck. Sorry if you already knew all of this, a lot of first time buyers know some but not all of this. Just trying to help prevent others from making the mistakes I did.
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Old 03-06-2012, 12:35 AM   #9
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After looking at the GVW (thanks for that advice!) it looks like this one may be too heavy. We'd be okay locally, but one of our goals is to visit the USA some with it, and we think it will end up being too much for the transmission. Looks like we need something that is about 4,000 or so dry . . . so back to the drawing board!



It's a shame - we really liked this one and the price was really good at just under $15,000 with lots of upgrades.



http://www.exploreusa.com/inventory/...er-ZT23FB.aspxEdited by: mcwicktx
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Old 03-06-2012, 03:08 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mcwicktx
After looking at the GVW (thanks for that advice!) it looks like this one may be too heavy. We'd be okay locally, but one of our goals is to visit the USA some with it, and we think it will end up being too much for the transmission. Looks like we need something that is about 4,000 or so dry . . . so back to the drawing board!



It's a shame - we really liked this one and the price was really good at just under $15,000 with lots of upgrades.



http://www.exploreusa.com/inventory/...er-ZT23FB.aspx

If my 1-cent is worth anything, I would think your Titan would handle the 23FB without worry. Check the numbers and allow for your gear. We did, and while we eventually plan to upgrade, we tow our ZT27BHSE with a 6-cyl. Trailblazer (5300# rating as we areequipped). Fully loaded, trailer is at the limit around 5K. She handles well if speed is kept down.

I agree, a bunkhouse model is good with kids. I wanted a shorter unit, but the 27BHSE was a steal at $11K (show price - new) and the TB handles it well. The Sunset Trails are also very nice.
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Old 03-06-2012, 07:27 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewbldavis

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcwicktx
After looking at the GVW (thanks for that advice!) it looks like this one may be too heavy. We'd be okay locally, but one of our goals is to visit the USA some with it, and we think it will end up being too much for the transmission. Looks like we need something that is about 4,000 or so dry . . . so back to the drawing board!



It's a shame - we really liked this one and the price was really good at just under $15,000 with lots of upgrades.



http://www.exploreusa.com/inventory/...er-ZT23FB.aspx

If my 1-cent is worth anything, I would think your Titan would handle the 23FB without worry. Check the numbers and allow for your gear. We did, and while we eventually plan to upgrade, we tow our ZT27BHSE with a 6-cyl. Trailblazer (5300# rating as we areequipped). Fully loaded, trailer is at the limit around 5K. She handles well if speed is kept down.

I agree, a bunkhouse model is good with kids. I wanted a shorter unit, but the 27BHSE was a steal at $11K (show price - new) and the TB handles it well. The Sunset Trails are also very nice.

While you probably won't be at full GVWR, not pushing your TV's max will help you in the hills and when semi's pass you. I can tell you all kind of stories about the armada being pushed around (ie pushed down a 7% grade in VA by the TT). Towing that close to max or over max is not safe and is not a pleasant driving experience. Trust me, I have been there and will never be there again. I have been towing trailers (mostly horse trailers but have towed cars and boats and now my TT) for over 20 yrs and have never been so scared as some of the situations I got into w/ the Armada. I am a little surprised that your titan isn't really rated for it? I had thought it might be but wasn't sure about your payload. Do you have the factory tow package? Then again, I was also surprised by the numbers on the Armada.
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Old 03-06-2012, 08:56 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anaro

Quote:
Originally Posted by ewbldavis

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcwicktx
After looking at the GVW (thanks for that advice!) it looks like this one may be too heavy. We'd be okay locally, but one of our goals is to visit the USA some with it, and we think it will end up being too much for the transmission. Looks like we need something that is about 4,000 or so dry . . . so back to the drawing board!



It's a shame - we really liked this one and the price was really good at just under $15,000 with lots of upgrades.



http://www.exploreusa.com/inventory/...er-ZT23FB.aspx

If my 1-cent is worth anything, I would think your Titan would handle the 23FB without worry. Check the numbers and allow for your gear. We did, and while we eventually plan to upgrade, we tow our ZT27BHSE with a 6-cyl. Trailblazer (5300# rating as we areequipped). Fully loaded, trailer is at the limit around 5K. She handles well if speed is kept down.

I agree, a bunkhouse model is good with kids. I wanted a shorter unit, but the 27BHSE was a steal at $11K (show price - new) and the TB handles it well. The Sunset Trails are also very nice.

While you probably won't be at full GVWR, not pushing your TV's max will help you in the hills and when semi's pass you. I can tell you all kind of stories about the armada being pushed around (ie pushed down a 7% grade in VA by the TT). Towing that close to max or over max is not safe and is not a pleasant driving experience. Trust me, I have been there and will never be there again. I have been towing trailers (mostly horse trailers but have towed cars and boats and now my TT) for over 20 yrs and have never been so scared as some of the situations I got into w/ the Armada. I am a little surprised that your titan isn't really rated for it? I had thought it might be but wasn't sure about your payload. Do you have the factory tow package? Then again, I was also surprised by the numbers on the Armada.

Please don't misread that - I am not suggesting a marginal tow vehicle by any means. I have been RVing since a child with travel trailers, etc. and I can't believe the crap I see people tow with what. According to Trailerlife, a 2007Titan with the tow package can handle 9500#. They tend to be a reputable source, andI was also surprised the 23FB weighs 600#more than our 27BHSE. Must be the super cool bathroom setup

If your truck is equipped properly, even if you use the whopping 2600# cargo capacity, you are still almost 2K under. As for us, we intend to upgrade to a Suburban-but VERIFY your equipment. I was suprised to learn a Sub without tow package is only rated for just over 5K, versus 8K with proper equipment (same engine). Heck, I may go 3/4 ton just because. You can't put a price on good equipment and safety.

Side Note: Whatever you do, spend time on hitch setup, too. You can tow with a 1 ton and it will be white knuckles if hitch isn't correct.
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Old 03-06-2012, 11:17 PM   #13
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No tow package so that's part of the reason we are limited. This weight trailer would probably be fine, but we don't like the idea of cutting it so close. The truck is paid off so we don't want to have to upgrade it just to tow a trailer. =)

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Old 03-07-2012, 02:04 AM   #14
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Bummer.
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Old 03-07-2012, 04:47 AM   #15
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It's okay; we are going to keep looking around and see what else works. You guys brought up good points about the bunks so we may explore that option in a smaller, more compact floorplan. =)
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Old 03-07-2012, 10:20 AM   #16
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;od luck...the Slingshot GT22FS is nice with bunks and would tow easy...

I do recommend Crossroads products. We were dead set on a Jayco until we looked at our Zinger...we love it!

Happy Hunting!
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Old 03-07-2012, 11:20 AM   #17
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No matter what you decide on you will like! And after a few years you find out which features are important and which are not. When I shopped for our last unit, I knew what I wanted and just as important, what I did not want. It was hard for some dealers to understand this.
Also, remember when looking that some dealers will say, "sure you can tow this". But you need to ask how you intend to tow. If you are doing weekend trips with less time behind the wheel you may be able to get buy with a little less of a tow vehicle. But the longer trips make a stronger vehicle more appreciated. We are towing with a 1500HD, which has the same tow capacity of the 2500HD and it works fine for what we do. We too do not want to upgrade as everything we have is currently paid off and that is a nice feeling also.

Best of luck, please let us know what you decide.





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Old 03-07-2012, 12:55 PM   #18
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Yeah I think these guys summed it up. Most importantly, be safe. You are running with a lot ofweight behind your tow vehicle and your most precious cargo with you in the car. You don't want anything to happen to them or yourself. I believe the reason you buy a big camper is for the rainy days. We have a Zinger 31SB -it is awesome on the rainy days. The kids have their own room and we have ours. I never knew camping could be so "rough".
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Old 03-07-2012, 01:25 PM   #19
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If you are gonna use that truck to tow, I would put a transmission cooler on it. It will help prolong the life of your truck when towing. I actually destroyed a durango years and years ago towing a horse trailer with no tranny cooler. No wonder the poor thing kept overheating on me and the dealership couldn't find a cause.
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Old 03-07-2012, 08:36 PM   #20
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I agree with Anaro, if you don't have a trannytemp guage you can add those for a lot less than an engine replacementand if you have the slightest inkling of mechanicalness you can do it yourself. Edited by: tabrown2001
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