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BirchyBoy · 01-09-2016, 06:45 PM

We went to the RV show this weekend and found 2 or 3 different travel trailers that we really like. All are much bigger than our Passport, so our Grand Cherokee won't cut it. Like many, I wish I had made a different decision a year ago when we bought it, but times and priorities change.

We really liked a Winnebago 27RBDS and Kodiak 291RESL. Both are close to 6,500lbs dry. The Winnebago tops out at 7,700 and the Kodiak at 8,900. It is surprising how much cargo the Kodiak can carry.

We drove 3 trucks today. The first was a 2013 Ford F150 Ecoboost. It had the power, but the cargo capacity was only 1,300, which is barely more than our Grand Cherokee. It was a "Limited" edition and had lots of unnecessary stuff. The salesman said that he could likely find us a '15 with Ecoboost and Max Tow that met our needs for 5k more than used.

The second truck was a 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 with the 6.2L engine. I didn't even know that Chevy had access to the 6.2 for 1/2 tons! It had a cargo capacity of 1,700, which is much better and would be sufficient for what we're doing for the next 5 years.

The last truck was a '11 GMC 2500HD Denali with Duramax. It had a cargo capacity of 2,700lbs which is good for most any travel trailer but not for a fifth wheel we had our eyes on at the show. It also had 108k miles on it, which is a lot to me. Lots of people say it's just broken in, but there are many, many things that still wear out even though the engine and transmission probably won't for a long time.

I'm headed to look at a couple F250's tomorrow, both gas and diesel. They are 2012/2013 with under 40k on them and a little bit less than the Denali which was 40k.

Once we've drive all of them, we'll sit down and decide where we want to be with regard to campers over the next 5 years. If there's any chance we'll get a fifth wheel, we'll focus on a diesel most likely and probably a 1 ton. That said, I don't spend a lot of time in the mountains, so a gasser should be sufficient for 80% of our towing, which is in actuality less than 10% of our total mileage.

My wife really likes the looks of the GMC's the most and the Ford's the least. Since we're a one-car household, and I work at home, she does 90% of the driving around town and her liking the appearance is very important

She did say that the Denali 2500 didn't feel any bigger than either of the 1/2 tons we drove which is pretty great from my point of view.

01-09-2016, 06:45 PM	#1
BirchyBoy Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Colorful Colorado Posts: 798	The search is on! We went to the RV show this weekend and found 2 or 3 different travel trailers that we really like. All are much bigger than our Passport, so our Grand Cherokee won't cut it. Like many, I wish I had made a different decision a year ago when we bought it, but times and priorities change. We really liked a Winnebago 27RBDS and Kodiak 291RESL. Both are close to 6,500lbs dry. The Winnebago tops out at 7,700 and the Kodiak at 8,900. It is surprising how much cargo the Kodiak can carry. We drove 3 trucks today. The first was a 2013 Ford F150 Ecoboost. It had the power, but the cargo capacity was only 1,300, which is barely more than our Grand Cherokee. It was a "Limited" edition and had lots of unnecessary stuff. The salesman said that he could likely find us a '15 with Ecoboost and Max Tow that met our needs for 5k more than used. The second truck was a 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 with the 6.2L engine. I didn't even know that Chevy had access to the 6.2 for 1/2 tons! It had a cargo capacity of 1,700, which is much better and would be sufficient for what we're doing for the next 5 years. The last truck was a '11 GMC 2500HD Denali with Duramax. It had a cargo capacity of 2,700lbs which is good for most any travel trailer but not for a fifth wheel we had our eyes on at the show. It also had 108k miles on it, which is a lot to me. Lots of people say it's just broken in, but there are many, many things that still wear out even though the engine and transmission probably won't for a long time. I'm headed to look at a couple F250's tomorrow, both gas and diesel. They are 2012/2013 with under 40k on them and a little bit less than the Denali which was 40k. Once we've drive all of them, we'll sit down and decide where we want to be with regard to campers over the next 5 years. If there's any chance we'll get a fifth wheel, we'll focus on a diesel most likely and probably a 1 ton. That said, I don't spend a lot of time in the mountains, so a gasser should be sufficient for 80% of our towing, which is in actuality less than 10% of our total mileage. My wife really likes the looks of the GMC's the most and the Ford's the least. Since we're a one-car household, and I work at home, she does 90% of the driving around town and her liking the appearance is very important She did say that the Denali 2500 didn't feel any bigger than either of the 1/2 tons we drove which is pretty great from my point of view. __________________ Current: '17 Winnebago Vista 31BE / Wife, pesky Eski and loco Toto dog Former: '15 Open Range 256BHS / '05 F350 CCLB RWD V10 '14 Keystone Passport 238ML / '13 GC Trailhawk Hemi RIP Birch (pitbull)