Noobie Bullet owner from Arkansas

[Jeepshots]

Dove into the camper trailer world last week. All of this started with our planned trip to St Joseph, MO, to see the total eclipse in August. At the time, we were going to rent a camper. Slowly started exploring ownership, ready to pull the plug on the idea if it wasn't panning out. Researched bunk houses, settling on either the Keystone Bullet or the Heartland Wilderness. Basically came down to weight differences, and we went with the 24' Bullet bunkhouse. Bought it up in Michigan, so we loaded the family up Sunday night and drove straight thru, getting there Monday evening. LakeShore RV let us stay in the RV that night, and we took possession the next day. Immediately had them install some upgrades - electric tongue jack, and slideout awning. Took four days to tow it back home with our 2012 Dodge Durango AWD Citadel. Wind was not fun! Used an EAZ-Lift 1200# WDH with sway control. Anyhoo - i'll be lurking in the background, gleaning valuable info on how to live with, take care of, and enhance/mod our camper.

[Jeepshots]

Checking to see if signature works....

[sourdough]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new rig!! Travel through Conway quite often headed to Fairfield Bay.

[PARAPTOR]

to The Forum From Western PA

Congrats on your new Bullet!! Enjoy

Thanks for adding a signature makes it much easier to Id your TV and Rig

Be Safe and Happy Camping

[66joej]

Welcome to the forum from Radium Hot Springs BC.
Enjoy making memories in that new Bullet.

[4LowNGo]

I have a 15 230bh bullet. I also pulled mine with a durango but it was an R/T. After the first trip I traded it for a crew cab Silverado 1500. Hemi had the power I just didn't like the feel of the shorter wheel base suv towing it.

[Jeepshots]

Originally Posted by 4LowNGo

I have a 15 230bh bullet. I also pulled mine with a durango but it was an R/T. After the first trip I traded it for a crew cab Silverado 1500. Hemi had the power I just didn't like the feel of the shorter wheel base suv towing it.

Totally understand after pulling it home 1200 miles... I'm sure it'd pull much better behind a longer wheelbase vehicle. But the durango is the family vehicle, and i don't see my wife willing to drive a truck. Looks like i'll wind up selling all my broke-downs and getting a 2nd hand truck to tow the camper. At the moment, we're just planning on local area campgrounds, nothing cross-country, so a truck trade-in will be in the long-term planning.

[busterbrown]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Bullet. I, too, bought mine from Lakeshore RV this time last year as an anniversary gift for my wife. The coach has been great so far as we spent 44 nights in it last year. If the mod bug bites you, you'll end up spending lots of discretionary income to make your RV truely "yours". These are some of my upgrades and mods.

Just curious if Michael did your walkthrough? He was the service tech that did a wonderful job of demonstrating and explaining the various systems. Gave me plenty of space to do my own "PDI". My sales rep Mike seemed peeved that I took longer than an hour to walkthrough my coach. Pushed the paper signing along as if I was holding him up. Boy, I'm sure glad I don't buy RVs every year. Lakeshore RV had the most competitive pricing out of all the Midwest dealers I sourced from.

I originally bought an EasLift WDH to tow my 35 foot trailer but decided to buy a mid-range Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch instead. Used it about 3 months until an eye opening, white knuckle return trip home in 35 Mph cross winds. I had to upgrade either the truck or hitch. Researched a premium Hensley Arrow sway ELIMITATION hitch, bought it, and haven't looked back. Saved our rig on a 2000 mile trip down to Disney's Fort Wilderness. Since your mid sized SUV wheelbase is much shorter than a 1/2 ton truck's, you'll be fighting sway on any windy day. Traditional friction anti-sway bars can mask the problem but don't solve it. You may want to invest in a better hitch or upgrade your TV sooner than later.

Good luck with your new trailer. It's a rolling memory maker for sure.

[ctbruce]

Welcome to the forum from Kansas City, MO! Enjoy your new rig!

Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Fuzion Impact 312
2017 3500HD Silverado LTZ

[DAN d]

welcome to the forum enjoy

[Jeepshots]

Originally Posted by busterbrown

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Bullet. I, too, bought mine from Lakeshore RV this time last year as an anniversary gift for my wife. The coach has been great so far as we spent 44 nights in it last year. If the mod bug bites you, you'll end up spending lots of discretionary income to make your RV truely "yours". These are some of my upgrades and mods.

Just curious if Michael did your walkthrough? He was the service tech that did a wonderful job of demonstrating and explaining the various systems. Gave me plenty of space to do my own "PDI". My sales rep Mike seemed peeved that I took longer than an hour to walkthrough my coach. Pushed the paper signing along as if I was holding him up. Boy, I'm sure glad I don't buy RVs every year. Lakeshore RV had the most competitive pricing out of all the Midwest dealers I sourced from.

I originally bought an EasLift WDH to tow my 35 foot trailer but decided to buy a mid-range Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch instead. Used it about 3 months until an eye opening, white knuckle return trip home in 35 Mph cross winds. I had to upgrade either the truck or hitch. Researched a premium Hensley Arrow sway ELIMITATION hitch, bought it, and haven't looked back. Saved our rig on a 2000 mile trip down to Disney's Fort Wilderness. Since your mid sized SUV wheelbase is much shorter than a 1/2 ton truck's, you'll be fighting sway on any windy day. Traditional friction anti-sway bars can mask the problem but don't solve it. You may want to invest in a better hitch or upgrade your TV sooner than later.

Good luck with your new trailer. It's a rolling memory maker for sure.

Thanks! Yes, I had both Mike's. And Michael the tech was wonderful - not sure if it was a line or not, but he confessed that he was looking to purchase the same coach as the one we were getting. He seemed really interested in it as well. Had a few things to fix - exterior kitchen slide was bent, so it kept falling off track; TV was loose on mounts (they used the wrong screws), minor stuff like that. Mike the sales guy gave me a $75 credit in the store (I think from my 1st Responder ID), and they gave us a $50 gas card for leaving good review on eBay. Once we got into the signing, Mike was off onto other things, and we didn't see him again. LakeShore had the best prices of anywhere i looked. Figured i could drive up and spend the gas both there and back, and still come out way ahead of getting it shipped to me. I'll look at the Hensley Arrow hitch. Might be a purchase for next year. After the mondo-trek back from Michigan, we don't have the desire to do any long distance camping any time soon. Gonna hit all our local state parks.

[Tbos]

Welcome to the forum from Southern MD. I've talked to Lakeshore about some pricing but don't plan on upgrade until I sell the house. It's good to hear you liked the dealer.


2016 Passport GT 2810BHS, 2016 F350 CC DRW

[busterbrown]

Good for you for queezing as much out the sale as possible. God knows the margins the dealer sees on each unit.

I see that you bought slide toppers from Lakeshore RV. If you don't mind me asking, what did they charge you for each? I has theM install 2 on my coach and there was a discrepancy of what Michael quoted me and what the front office wrote me up for. This was wasn't noticed til after they were install and prior to payment. After a bit of haggling (and dialog/threat to remove them), they honored the techs (Michael's) quote.

[Jeepshots]

Originally Posted by busterbrown

Good for you for queezing as much out the sale as possible. God knows the margins the dealer sees on each unit.

I see that you bought slide toppers from Lakeshore RV. If you don't mind me asking, what did they charge you for each? I has theM install 2 on my coach and there was a discrepancy of what Michael quoted me and what the front office wrote me up for. This was wasn't noticed til after they were install and prior to payment. After a bit of haggling (and dialog/threat to remove them), they honored the techs (Michael's) quote.

We were quoted $445 for the topper, and $250 for the power jack. Michael said that their normal price for the topper is in the $600 range. I thought $445 installed was a good price. I just double-checked our paperwork and the proper price was reflected in it.