Carbon 33, Pros and Cons

[ctbruce]

Greetings from Kansas City, MO. I'm new to this forum and have a question I have not been able to find an answer for.

My wife and I currently own a Forest River Grey Wolf 26RR Toy Hauler. We love it but are looking to upgrade in the next year. The Carbon 33 looks like what we are wanting in a new trailer but would like to hear from Carbon owners the good/great and the not-so-good/great too. I would like to hear your honest opinions on your TH.

Thanks in advance for your comments and help. I trust those who have hands on experience way more than reviews in magazines.

Chip Bruce, RPh

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[dcg9381]

ct,
It looks like the dry weight of your camper is 4,998 lbs with a GVWR of 7,715 lb. That's pretty tow-able by modern 1/2 tons.

The Carbon 33 adds a slide and some more room. I read the dry weight as 8,985 and a GVWR of almost 13,000.

That's pretty up there in terms of weight if you've got a 1/2 ton. So I'd consider that first.

I think the Carbon line is probably the best toy hauler value out there. They don't have all the additional upgrades like fancy AV systems, hydraulic levelers, etc.

I see that costs vary wildly, so I'd start pricing with a nation-wide search.

At 33', if you're in the south, I'd look for 2 ACs, if possible.

Many of the components across both RVs will be the same, such as the Lippert frame. Keystone only offers a 1-year warranty (apparently the Forest River factory warranty can be extended +1 year for not much additional cost). Both companies won't support customers directly and require you to use a dealer - so choose your dealer carefully. As such, they seem to be pretty much on par.

[ctbruce]

dcg, thanks. Weight with truck will be fine.

Hadn't thought about the second air, but we live in North Missouri and not the south. Does anyone have an opinion about heating/cooling the garage area?

Dealer we are using is a top 50 dealer so not worried about that either. The biggest worry is that they are 40 miles away if service needed. My Forest River dealer is only 3 miles away. I'd buy from them again if they carried what I wanted. They have been great.

I guess what I'm really interested in is personal experiences with your Keystone product. And what you've liked or disliked about your Carbon and WHY!





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[dcg9381]

Bruce, I believe it'll have a ducted air system so the garage should cool with one AC - some messing with the vents may be required. You're probably fine if you're north of Arkansas...

Dealers in my area often have very different reputations for sales and service, just something to be aware of. IF you've owned another RV, I'm sure you're familiar. I've found that it's fairly impossible to get service (warranty) at anywhere other than the dealer you bought from.

I haven't seen any legit non-biased reviews that are consumer based. I don't think they exist for RVs. There are several Carbon owners on this forum.

On ours, we tossed the factory tires. The 33 is significantly under the weight of a 327 though, so likely you will be fine.

[1jeep]

while I don't have a carbon 33 I do have a carbon 327 5th wheel toyhauler and so far have loved it.

Why we chose it.
lightest toy hauler with a 12' garage we could find
nicely appointed interior, full size shower in bath, wood look flooring and residential door to the garage. Also ours came with a generator/3 batteries and second ac unit.
simplicity of not having multi hydraulic jacks and extra crap to break.

what I would have changed.
it would be nice to have an awning over the garage entry door.
Hey keystone how about some decent tires in a brand that I have heard of?!

some things that turn some people off might that it has a standard RV fridge and just a regular 3 burner stove with oven. A no frills led tv and basic car stereo with cheap speakers, but ot me if these bother me that much I can easily change them.


This is our second keystone product the first being a outback Sydney which we had for 8 years without any issues!

[ctbruce]

Thanks 1jeep. Just bought our truck so will have to wait on a fifth wheel until after I upgrade the truck in a couple of years. But I like your floor plan.

The biggest problem my wife has with the Carbon 33 is the small bathroom. The bathroom in our current camper is huge with a corner shower. She really likes that! Plenty of room to stretch out or dry off.

The extra awning over the second door would be a nice touch. Decent tires will be on a want list for everyone.

Thanks for your input and thoughts. I appreciate it a lot. I'm starting to think that the 33 owners are either shy, not too active on this forum or out all the time having fun in their 33. So far none of them have answered back. Maybe the later and they are having too much fun to write?

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[gtsum2]

We put over 5000 miles and 43 nights on our Fuzion 345 chrome since April and haven't had hardly any issues. Had a plumbing issue on the shower that rattled loose but we fixed it. Currently have a slow leak on the black tank valve as well as a ground short of some sort on the converter, but that's it. Everything has worked well and the build quality seems solid enough to me. I would consider another keystone product if in the market for another towable


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[Carbon33]

We have had our Carbon 33 since July 17, 2015 and went to Ohio to pick it up. We have camped 24 nights in it so far. I had a Forrest River XLR 24 HFS before this TH and decided more room would be nice, nut really liked this model. I am in a wheelchair and use the ramp door to enter the garage. The door between the garage and living quarters is wide enough to roll my wheelchair through. This is a hard to find option in a TH. The wife really likes the wardrobe slide and refrigerator - stove slide. The closets on each side of the bed need some work to be able to use them easier. Having 110 outlets on each side of the bed is good to charge your cell phone. We changed the lights to LED bulbs. We have boon docked 10 nights so that bulb change helps save battery. Run the generator to charge the battery up. The only warranty problem has been the left rear stabilizer jack had a bad weld and RV Wholesalers sent a replacement and we shipped the defective back. If your going to order I would get dual pane glass in the windows. I missed ordering that option. Wished the garage (10' now) could be anther 6" longer. I haul a Polaris RZR 1000XP that is 119" long a little tight to get in. We tow it with a 3/4 ton diesel with a 14,000 Equalizer WDH. Overall we really like our Carbon 33 and would like to camp 45 nights in 2016 (43 overall in 2015).

[ctbruce]

We have had our Carbon 33 since July 17, 2015 and went to Ohio to pick it up. We have camped 24 nights in it so far. I had a Forrest River XLR 24 HFS before this TH and decided more room would be nice, nut really liked this model. I am in a wheelchair and use the ramp door to enter the garage. The door between the garage and living quarters is wide enough to roll my wheelchair through. This is a hard to find option in a TH. The wife really likes the wardrobe slide and refrigerator - stove slide. The closets on each side of the bed need some work to be able to use them easier. Having 110 outlets on each side of the bed is good to charge your cell phone. We changed the lights to LED bulbs. We have boon docked 10 nights so that bulb change helps save battery. Run the generator to charge the battery up. The only warranty problem has been the left rear stabilizer jack had a bad weld and RV Wholesalers sent a replacement and we shipped the defective back. If your going to order I would get dual pane glass in the windows. I missed ordering that option. Wished the garage (10' now) could be anther 6" longer. I haul a Polaris RZR 1000XP that is 119" long a little tight to get in. We tow it with a 3/4 ton diesel with a 14,000 Equalizer WDH. Overall we really like our Carbon 33 and would like to camp 45 nights in 2016 (43 overall in 2015).
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your experience. That info is helpful. We have led lights in our 26rr and I like them so that would be a needed upgrade. How does the bathroom work for you? That is my wife's sticking point.

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[dcg9381]

2015 Carbon 327 - everything was already LED - exceptions being microwave, stove, etc.

[Carbon33]

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your experience. That info is helpful. We have led lights in our 26rr and I like them so that would be a needed upgrade. How does the bathroom work for you? That is my wife's sticking point.

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I have put grab bars up in the bathroom to make it easier for me to move around. The size of it works good for me. The sticking point for the wife and myself would be a walk in shower instead of a tub, but it works.

[steve slade]

I've got a carbon 32 but I'm gonna trade it in for the carbon 35. The carbon 31 32 and 33 have no patio option which I was not aware of until after I purchased. It would have been a deal breaker had I known. But the 35 comes with a 12 foot garage with a patio kit. So I'm gonna take the hit and trade the wife really wanted the patio and I wanted a 12 foot garage. Check all the seals on the roof of those units. I lost the seal on the front cap a many areas on the roof area joins. If you don't care about a patio I think u will be very happy with the 33. I love my 32 just wish there was a way to get a patio for it

[ctbruce]

Steve I totally agree with your logic. The Carbon 33 that caught our eye has the patio kit installed on it. My wife really wants that and may live with the smaller bathroom to get it. That and the flexibility that a generator adds really draw us. And the recliners. Those fit my lifestyle real well. Thanks for commenting.

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[CarbonFun]

We are Carbon 327 owners and have travelled over 10k miles from Washington State to Florida and back in 6 weeks in 2014. We love our Carbon and have done some upgrades to make it compareable to the Fuzion (upgraded stereo/speakers) added storage cabinets in the garage and upgraded the couch to a Cloud system. We only had 1 issue with our kitchen slide but it was covered by warranty at a dealer when we were in Indiana (we lucked out as we were.close to the manufacturer so we were able to get parts same day.)

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[CarbonFun]

Here is a link to our speaker upgrade that the hubby did.. (http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16861) to explain the Cloud system, it's sectional furniture we took from our home that we purchased from Furniture Row. Since our slide out area was so large and regular RV furniture wouldn't fill the space well we used our old sectional and converted it to fit in the space.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01/09/073005fc14c33cb10d6aa09ffcf2b59c.jpg

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[gary31]

We have a carbon 31 since memorial day 2015 and we really love it.
Like some have said the bathroom is small, but we bought it to carry toys while camping. So the size of the bathroom is sacrificed for garage space, we have stayed 30 nights at the beach and remote boon docking locations. Once again the speakers are low qty but functional. You will not have heat in the garage area only vented A/C so keep that in mind. I pulled this unit with my F150 but I tell you after trading for a F250 you will want to get a bigger truck if you pull a 33. By the time you add water fuel and toys you will have well over 10k lbs. Overall quality with this unit has been good it seems to have the things we need to be comfortable without breaking the bank.

[ctbruce]

We have a carbon 31 since memorial day 2015 and we really love it.
Like some have said the bathroom is small, but we bought it to carry toys while camping. So the size of the bathroom is sacrificed for garage space, we have stayed 30 nights at the beach and remote boon docking locations. Once again the speakers are low qty but functional. You will not have heat in the garage area only vented A/C so keep that in mind. I pulled this unit with my F150 but I tell you after trading for a F250 you will want to get a bigger truck if you pull a 33. By the time you add water fuel and toys you will have well over 10k lbs. Overall quality with this unit has been good it seems to have the things we need to be comfortable without breaking the bank.
I appreciate the insights. Very nice to know. We have a Chevy Silverado with everything towing on it. Plan is to use it for a year and then trade up to a 2500. I just can't do both in the same year.

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[BikerRN1]

I have a 2016 33. I love it! The step up into the shower is high, but a step fixes that. I replaced the shower curtain with a extended shower curtain and now have plenty of elbow room. I use the garage as a den after I get the bike out. Bought used, have not had any major issues so far. Have had it just over a year and use it a lot.

[BikerRN1]

https://www.amazon.com/Stromberg-Carlson-EXT-3542-Extend-A-Shower-White/dp/B0031XXW4O#

[George Cragg]

Hi! We just bought a used Carbon 31. Perfect size for us we think. My question to you is...with your atv in the back. Do you still have adequate tongue weight? Have you ever had any sway issues?
Im pretty confident that if the garage is not over loaded that this shouldnt be a problem but... just curious as we'll be loading ours prob to the max.
Your advice is greatly appreciated. thank you!

[travelin texans]

Hi! We just bought a used Carbon 31. Perfect size for us we think. My question to you is...with your atv in the back. Do you still have adequate tongue weight? Have you ever had any sway issues?
Im pretty confident that if the garage is not over loaded that this shouldnt be a problem but... just curious as we'll be loading ours prob to the max.
Your advice is greatly appreciated. thank you!

By listing your tow vehicle would be helpful in answering your repeated question. Also what brand of weight distributing hitch with sway control you have.
Just be aware that loading weight in the rear does not remove weight from the tongue in a pound for pound ratio.

[George Cragg]

Hi. Yes. I realize I posted twice. Sorry. Didn’t see it come up the fist time I tried. Somewhat new to these forums.
No... I was just curious to hear what experiences others with same unit had towing fully loaded.
I haven’t even towed it empty much less loaded... :- )
As it’s stored for us till spring.
The previous owner has what looked like a standard WDH with one of those cheap add on friction style anti sway bars on it. He claimed it only swayed in higher winds. So.. that tells me it’s not likely due to bad design causing light tongue issues. And something I can deal with in one way or anther.
This trailer ( as we ll use now) is on the upper end of my towing cap with my present 1/2 ton. With a rating of 10500.
But a dually is in our future so... not worried about that.
just like said though..Just wanted to chat with someone else that has used them.
Thank you

[sourdough]

Hi! We just bought a used Carbon 31. Perfect size for us we think. My question to you is...with your atv in the back. Do you still have adequate tongue weight? Have you ever had any sway issues?
Im pretty confident that if the garage is not over loaded that this shouldnt be a problem but... just curious as we'll be loading ours prob to the max.
Your advice is greatly appreciated. thank you!



George, realize the initial post you are talking to is about 5 years old. The original OP is still a member of the forum but hasn't posted much due to being very busy due to the current situation. You might want to start a new thread of your own and see what others have to say; there are probably others than Chip that have had the experience you are looking for.

[George Cragg]

ahh...yes. All good. Not super concerned about it. Or I guess I wouldnt have bought it :-) if it does have any sway issues Ill be able to deal with them one way or the other anyway as I do have a fair bit of RV experience.
Just though Id chat if they were still around.
Like you said. I could always just start my own thread. We'll see
Thanks man. Take care

[sourdough]

ahh...yes. All good. Not super concerned about it. Or I guess I wouldnt have bought it :-) if it does have any sway issues Ill be able to deal with them one way or the other anyway as I do have a fair bit of RV experience.
Just though Id chat if they were still around.
Like you said. I could always just start my own thread. We'll see
Thanks man. Take care


George it's easy to start your own thread; find the particular forum that fits; click on new thread in the upper left corner; title it, type your question and submit...that's it. I will say this, the old weight distribution hitches with the little add on sway bars leave a lot to be desired as far as control IMO and with the trailer you bought you will want something that works well.

[George Cragg]

If the trailer is designed properly and the towing setup is correct. The TV is adequate etc. There should be no need for any stringent sway control. I believe this trailer falls into this category.
That said. It’s not impossible that strong gusty winds can start a TT to sway to the point where additional sway control could be an advantage... or even necessary.
Now the guy I bought this Carbon from did a fair bit of towing in the foothills and mountain passes of southern Alberta. Strong wind gusts for sure . If his rather modest setup worked for him. It should also work for me. As I do believe these are well designed trailers. And my setup will be good.and proper.
Something like the Hensley should not be necessary. I’ve always though if you needed one of those. That somethings not quiet right. But... guess it’s always an option worst case scenario.

[sourdough]

Sounds like you already know all the ins and outs of towing and weights so good luck.

[notanlines]

George, if I might ask, what 1/2 ton truck do you tow with?

[wiredgeorge]

At about 36' and 13K lbs gross weight the model of his half ton really doesn't matter. I hope this Canadian gentleman doesn't kill himself or someone else.

[flybouy]

An optimist would think "maybe it's a lbs. vs kilos calculation issue" ?

[LewisB]

If the trailer is designed properly and the towing setup is correct. The TV is adequate etc. There should be no need for any stringent sway control. I believe this trailer falls into this category.
That said. It’s not impossible that strong gusty winds can start a TT to sway to the point where additional sway control could be an advantage... or even necessary.
Now the guy I bought this Carbon from did a fair bit of towing in the foothills and mountain passes of southern Alberta. Strong wind gusts for sure . If his rather modest setup worked for him. It should also work for me. As I do believe these are well designed trailers. And my setup will be good.and proper.
Something like the Hensley should not be necessary. I’ve always though if you needed one of those. That somethings not quiet right. But... guess it’s always an option worst case scenario.

Let's see:
> 35 foot pull trailer @ 13,000 pounds
> 1/2 ton tow vehicle - but protected by plans to purchase DRW in future
> Trailer is designed properly, setup is correct, tow vehicle is adequate
> No need for a weight distribution hitch with sway control
> Lots of experience & personal knowledge

...did I get it all? Sounds familiar...:banghead:

[notanlines]

Brad, Brad, Brad, you just don't understand!:eek::D