New Camper Selection

[falkamania]

Hi All,

I'm a rookie when it comes to camper camping. Next spring my wife and I are going to purchase a new camper. We are looking at the Sunset Trail Super Light ST270BH or the Sunset Trail Reserve ST28BH. I would like some pro's and con's on both set ups. I'm leaning towards the 270, for the weight difference. Does the 270 come with a 74" or a 80" bed? I've seen the floor plan and they have it as a 74, but the brochure say's it's a 80". I'm 6'3" so the 74 would be not be for me. Any info would be great help to me. THANK YOU!!

[Loneoak]

If there is an RV show near you, check it out. I find most people will buy based on whatever floor plan works best for them, within the confines of what they can tow and/or are comfortable towing.

Is the model you are looking at a travel trailer or 5th wheel? Our daughter has a 270BH fifth wheel, 2015 model. I can ask her to measure the bed if you want.

[DavisK]

I have an SF270BH, 5th wheel, and it has an 80" full size queen bed.

[Loneoak]

Originally Posted by DavisK

I have an SF270BH, 5th wheel, and it has an 80" full size queen bed.

Is this the one where the bed is stationary or the one where it comes out the front in a slide?

[OhioMark]

Originally Posted by falkamania

Hi All,

I'm a rookie when it comes to camper camping. Next spring my wife and I are going to purchase a new camper. We are looking at the Sunset Trail Super Light ST270BH or the Sunset Trail Reserve ST28BH. I would like some pro's and con's on both set ups. I'm leaning towards the 270, for the weight difference. Does the 270 come with a 74" or a 80" bed? I've seen the floor plan and they have it as a 74, but the brochure say's it's a 80". I'm 6'3" so the 74 would be not be for me. Any info would be great help to me. THANK YOU!!

What is the specs of your TV (Tow Vehicle). First thing to get out of the way is what you can tow.

[anaro]

You need to look at your wants and needs and balance them with what you can safely tow. Will you be camping at rv resorts with full hook ups, state parks with water/electric sites or dry camping/boondocking with no hookups? This will determine how large tanks you need. The less hookups, the larger your tank sizes need to be. Sit in the trailer and imagine your usage (moms clothes in that closet, pots and pans in that cabinet, kids toys in that drawer etc). Act out your daily activities (ie mom cooking, kids playing, dad walking from sofa to bathroom). Can you access things like the bathroom and fridge when the slides are in(if you want access to these when travelling). Make a spreadsheet with important must haves or have nots across the top and make/model down the side.

Now let's talk about weight. You need to make sure you are truly within your trucks actual capabilities, not the website capabilities. Best is to go weigh your TV (tow vehicle) and hand calculate your actual available capacities.... this is easy. Weigh the TV with all passengers, pets and gear that will be in it when towing plus a full tank of fuel. This can be done at a Catscale or at a local dump or grainery/feed store. Subtract your scaled weight from the tv gcwr to get your adjusted towing capacity. Subtract your scaled weight from your TV gvwr to get your available payload. Subtract your rear axle weight from your max rear GAWR to see how much room is available on your rear axle.

Now realize you will never tow an empty or dry trailer. On average people tend to add 1000-1500 lbs of stuff into their trailers. You do not know how much you will be loading into it so calculating using the trailer gvwr is safer. The brochure tongue weight is pretty much useless. Ideal trailer tongue weight is 13-15% of the loaded trailer weight. Again, calculate using gvwr until you have a better idea of what you will be loading. The loaded tongue weight needs to be less than your available payload and your loaded trailer Weight needs to be less than your adjusted towing capacity.

Good luck and happy hunting.

[falkamania]

Thanks for all the great information!! I have checked my trucks spec's a long time ago when I bought my boat. I'll have to go back over it again. It's a '09 Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab with tow package. What I remember it should have no problem towing either camper. My wife and I went through both trailers already, and we really like them both. The 270 is not a fifth wheel, and the bed is stationary. A question for you guy's is what kind of hidden things do you look for when purchasing? Where does Crossroads stand as far as quality? It sounds like their customer service is good so that's a plus. We really like the comfort in the Crossroads trailer. Thanks Again for all the info

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by falkamania

Thanks for all the great information!! question for you guy's is what kind of hidden things do you look for when purchasing? Thanks Again for all the info

Here is a link for a PDI. If you read it and follow it, you will get your answer and be better prepared when you make the purchase and pick it up.
http://www.angelfire.com/trek/buenavistas/

[Mr. T and Ms. B]

We have the 2015 ST28BH and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. You can get to the kitchen frige when the slides are in but you will have to come in through the bathroom. You can get to the bedroom area and the sofa via the front door when the slides are in. We love the island, the storage, and the full outdoor kitchen. Only wish the outdoor frige was bigger. We tow with a Dodge Ram 1500 Sport, factory tow package using the Anderson WDH and we don't have a problem towing. Both units are very nice and ours has the 80" mattress as well. Good luck with your choice.

[cw3jason]

My vote is for the ST28BH also. You will love the extra room the opposing slides give you and the island kitchen sink allows someone to be in the kitchen working and not be in the isle. You can access the whole trailer and pack just by opening the smaller kitchen slide as well as all the things mentioned by Mr. T and Ms. B.
The seperate entry to the Bathroom also comes in handy when flushing the black tank.

[DavisK]

Originally Posted by Loneoak

Is this the one where the bed is stationary or the one where it comes out the front in a slide?

No bedroom slide. Just opposing slides in the living area.

[falkamania]

How much wheeling and dealing should I expect at a dealer? What are some things I should mention to have thrown into a deal?

[Lloyd]

As much as you are reasonably comfortable with.

[drcook]

Wheeling and Dealing ?

Depends on if you are trying to buy a fresh on the lot trailer, or a new but 1 year old trailer and what niche the RV fills. The more popular the model, the time of the year, how soon RV shows will be all figure into what you can get the final price. In my opinion, the closer to the end of camping season, the better the deal as they know it will sit on the lot and suck up resources that could be used to get the next model year units on the lot ready for spring.

We bought our Cruiser 30QBX new for $10,000 off MSRP, essentially a $00,000 MSRP trailer for $00'ish, but it had set on the lot for a year.

[mike06081969]

I haven't read all the replies, but one thing you should look into is that I don't believe the Sunset Trails have walk-on roofs. That may not seem all that important, but there have been several times that I've needed to get up on the roof of the camper to fix something during camping trips, from getting "dirt dobber" (mud dauber) nests off the squirrel cage fan on the air conditioner to repairing a hole in the roof from a falling limb during a storm. It is very handy to have a built in ladder and a roof that is rated for the weight of a human. That's just my two cents, and the only reason I wouldn't consider a Sunset Trail even though they are really nice campers and very popular on this site. Just something to think about, and may not even be all that important to you.