New owner

[mrollins12]

We are about to purchase a 2020 Hideout 338lhs. I purchased a 2019 Nissan Titan to pull it. However, now I’m a little scared after reading some reviews. Can someone please tell me they are happy with their Hideout?

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum!!

Congrats on your new purchase. Pretty much every RV has the same appliances in them so I wouldn’t worry so much about that. When you pick it up make sure everything works before you tow it home. There is a PDI checklist on this site, search for it and download/print it out. Look close at the doors, windows and drawers open and close them all. Check the roof if they allow it, if not then as soon as possible. Other than that, enjoy it.

[Logan X]

I’m very happy with my Hideout, I’ve had it for four years and used it a lot with four kids.

As with all RVs, you have to be prepared for stuff to go wrong. It’s different than buying a car. With a new car you expect to have no problems for three or six years. Trailers will have problems long before that. You just have to go in to it with the right perspective and mindset. If you are at least a little handy it is easy to fix most things yourself. Preventative maintenance is the key to not having major problems.

That’s a big trailer. Is the Titan up to the task of towing it?

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Logan X

That’s a big trailer. Is the Titan up to the task of towing it?

Please don't answer with "it's rated to tow xxxxx lbs", that means absolutely nothing. Post the sticker on the drivers door post with the payload & the GVWR of YOUR RV, not the useless dry weight or advertised tongue weight.

[Gary R.]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

How about some pictures when you get it home!

Take care!

[JRTJH]

Being "happy with a Hideout" and being able to safely tow it are two entirely different concepts.

Your trailer is a 9700 pound, 1100 pound tongue weight, 38' long "wood/aluminum box". It will completely overwhelm your half ton truck...

Yes, the Titan will "pull it" (make it move forward) but that truck is simply not up to the task of safely towing a 9700 pound, 38' trailer at highway speeds. Even if you can find a way to not be over the rear axle rating for your truck, you'll assuredly be "blown all over the highway" in any adverse crosswind situation not to mention having to fight 18 wheelers blowing by you, pulling you toward them then pushing you away from them as you fight their "bow wake".

You're not going to like the results of that combination.

[mrollins12]

From everything I’ve read, the Titan should be able to tow the Hideout. However, now I’m looking at the Forest River Rockwood ultra lite 2910sb.

[mrollins12]

Thanks! This is the kind of info I’m looking for.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by mrollins12

From everything I’ve read, the Titan should be able to tow the Hideout. However, now I’m looking at the Forest River Rockwood ultra lite 2910sb.

I have found Forest River to be more difficult to deal with when warranty claims are submitted, Keystone not so much. Take it for what it’s worth, but I personally don’t care much for Forest River products.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by mrollins12

Thanks! This is the kind of info I’m looking for.

If you're looking at 38' trailers with two bathrooms and a separate bunkhouse, I'd suspect you're not going to be "towing by yourself" but rather you've got a large or moderately large family. When you add the weight of 3 or 4 other people to the tongue weight, the cargo weight "plus extra people" you're assuredly going to overwhelm a half ton truck from any manufacturer. That trailer, being towed by a couple is in the 3/4 ton/1 ton truck category. When you add more people to the mix, more cargo that kids "insist must go on every trip" (from teddy bears to bicycles to my bestest friend, her mom said it's OK) there's simply no way to safely tow something that big with a Titan.

[mrollins12]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

If you're looking at 38' trailers with two bathrooms and a separate bunkhouse, I'd suspect you're not going to be "towing by yourself" but rather you've got a large or moderately large family. When you add the weight of 3 or 4 other people to the tongue weight, the cargo weight "plus extra people" you're assuredly going to overwhelm a half ton truck from any manufacturer. That trailer, being towed by a couple is in the 3/4 ton/1 ton truck category. When you add more people to the mix, more cargo that kids "insist must go on every trip" (from teddy bears to bicycles to my bestest friend, her mom said it's OK) there's simply no way to safely tow something that big with a Titan.

Yeah- Im considering all of this now. I’m looking at the Keystone lites. I’m just going to have to give up the half bath and the extra room with bunks, which is fine.

[notanlines]

It is general consensus among veteran RV'ers that the RV is bought first and the TV bought second.
Stay off the Nissan website. I'm just telling you, this is where guys and gals go to get credence for the bad judgments they've made. Yes, it is a step above the grocery-getters like the Hondas and the Jeeps, but no more than that. You are a long way from having enough truck for towing a 38' RV. And most members on any good RV site will go toe to toe with anyone saying otherwise.

[sourdough]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new trailer! Lots of good folks here with tons of knowledge.

If you have a Nissan Titan it isn't even rated to pull the 9700 lb. weight of the trailer - and that's max tow which is actually irrelevant. The numbers on your driver door pillar will tell you what you need to know; payload (carrying capacity), gawr (front/rear). What are those numbers? If you just read "maximum" capability numbers from every advertisement you will be sorely disappointed in your end product. You also need to look at the hitch limitations - what is it rated for? Less than 1000 lbs.? Won't work.

Another thing to consider would be the brakes. I have watched 3 comparison videos on towing between trucks in the Big 3 and the Japanese brands; Nissan and Toyota. In every case when they are measuring brake temps after a long haul down a mountain the Japanese brakes are far, far hotter than the Big 3 and lost some of their braking power - not so with the Big 3.

The U.S. is the biggest market for the Japanese (at least Toyota) and assuredly for the large truck market. Think about the progression of Toyota, which has advanced more than Nissan IMO; they started with the Tacoma (Taco), tried to get a little larger and made the T100 (couldn't sell them much), then they tried the 3/4 size Tundra...same story now we have a "full size" Tundra that Toyota tries each year to make more like American trucks (they still fall short). They try (the Japanese) to reverse engineer but just don't understand the dynamics because they, in Japan, have nothing like what we do here and certainly don't have very large RVs being towed everywhere.

Your Nissan, whether Titan or Titan XD, is overmatched by that trailer no matter what you "read" somewhere. It's unfortunate to hear that kind of stuff when you are excited about the "new adventure", but, I am positive you want it to be a fun and safe adventure which this could very well turn out not to be.

[mrollins12]

Thanks everyone! I haven’t bought the camper yet. Probably switching to a Keystone Lite.

[mrollins12]

Ok- I’m now looking at the 2020 Keystone RV Hideout 28BHS. I still have the 2019 Nissan Titan. Any advice or recommendations?

[Logan X]

Originally Posted by mrollins12

Ok- I’m now looking at the 2020 Keystone RV Hideout 28BHS. I still have the 2019 Nissan Titan. Any advice or recommendations?

That is still a very big trailer. To give some perspective, I have a Hideout 24BHSWE. It’s 27 feet long and the gross weight is 7600 pounds. I started towing with a half ton truck, which had a payload capacity of 1700 pounds. I have four kids. With that size trailer and the kids, I was over on the trucks payload capacity. I upgraded to a 3/4 ton diesel (F250) and I am right at the limit of the payload (2300 pounds) when I am fully loaded.

The first number you should be looking at is the payload for the truck. It’s on a sticker inside of your drivers door. It says all cargo and occupants shall not exceed xxxx pounds.

Calculate the actual hitch weight of the trailer you are looking at by taking the LOADED weight and multiply by .12 -that will give you a good approximate hitch weight (12% of the trailer weight). All of that hitch weight plus all of the truck’s cargo and occupants weight cannot exceed the truck’s payload number.

You will exceed payload long before you exceed max tow.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by mrollins12

Ok- I’m now looking at the 2020 Keystone RV Hideout 28BHS. I still have the 2019 Nissan Titan. Any advice or recommendations?

I am assuming you have a regular Titan and not the XD. Doesn't make much difference but a bit. The numbers from the door will give you FAR more guidance than brochures and asking vague questions. Post those and more educated responses will come.

[CrazyCain]

I like my hideout, small one with no bells and whistles (electronic wise), have had it going on 4 yrs. The key for me is the maintenance of the roof. Stickler on that. This spring i had to clean and "touch up" the Dicor around the skylight as it was developing very small cracking in certain areas. With the monsoon rains we had last week, i went into my trailer while it was pouring to check every nook and cranny for signs of water.. zero, no soft spots on floor or where ever. Other than simple general fit and trim repairs, we enjoy it. Enjoy what ever you end up buying.

[mrollins12]

The numbers from the door are 1543.

[sourdough]

Thanks. 1543 is a start.

You can approach buying an RV from a couple of directions; 1) select the rv that fits the family then a truck that fits the RV (optimal) or 2) buy/have a truck and fit the rv to the truck and then the family has to make do with whatever that fit may be (this seems to be where we are).

The 28bhs is basically the same weight wise as the original trailer you suggested. It will still pose a problem for the Nissan.

At gvw those trailers will run 12-1300lbs. of tongue weight (.13%). Add 125lbs. for a wdh/sway control and you now have enough payload capacity for a skinny wife....and that's it....and you will still be maxing out which is not a good thing. Going at it this way you ideally want to keep a minimum of a 10% safety cushion, so with that in mind you have now exceeded that threshold.

Since you are looking at a bunkhouse assuming kids? If so, realize a LOT of "stuff" goes with kids on a trip - Lord knows, you should look out my window today at the 3 tents and paraphanalia strung out across the way they pulled out of a large Class C.....and the large trailer they tow behind it....for "the kids".

Back to the trailer issue; with 1543 max payload minus 10% (ideally) you have 1389 to play with. Now, take the weights of all occupants in the truck and add them up; subtract that from the 1389. Let's say 500 lbs. for 2 adults and 2 kids; that comes to 889 left for payload. Take off whatever you will carry in the truck (bikes, tools you will have to have, jacks, blocks, ice chest, bbq, tent/screen porch, etc.) - say 300 lbs. Now we have 589. From that take 125 off for the hitch = 464 for tongue weight.

With those numbers, hopefully a little high to err on the side of safety you could probably look at a trailer with a gvw of about 4000 lbs. to fit. With that you can go to the Keystone website, pull up the specs on any trailer that seems to be of interest, add the shipping weight and carrying capacity and see where it fits against that 4000 lb. max. I'm sure it won't be the ideal trailer you would like to have but, again, in this instance the truck dictates what you must like vs family needs/wants.

Without knowing more about your anticipated needs/wants/usage it's hard to be more specific but I think you get the general drift. Looking at 9500 - 10,000lb. trailers for that truck is a waste of time IMO if you intend to keep you, the family and others on the road safe.