MichaelInCalifornia

You guys are no good for my wallet...

there has been few used trailers local to me, but now three are on my radar and I'm looking for opinions.

Needs: Wife and I for sure. Occasional, if not mostly, travel with adult daughter, husband and 4 year old.

2015 F150 3.5EB: Cargo weight 1909 lbs. Sorry, don't have the rest of the door sticker info with me, but the tow weight is over 10K lbs. Probably need the rear axle limits too.

Haven't looked at any yet, but here they are:

2004 Prowler 290FLS. https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/rvs/5187885125.html $9500.This one I think is on the heavy side. Single slide out. Sleeps 6, but not sure the hide-a-bed would be comfortable. I've never slept on one that is. Apparently, Fleetwood no longer produces TTs, only motorized units. 9400lbs gross, 6500 dry, 900lbs tongue.

2011 Coleman 274BH (Bunk House) https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/rvs/5196451403.html $12k, but I think I can get it for less. This one definitely sleeps everyone. Not as much floor space, but I don't know if it matters. The pics look like stock pics due to the watermark. 4630 dry + 2970 Cargo = 7600lb

2006, 28' Aljo camper trailer , no model number given. $12k. https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/rvs/5152385812.html from what I can gather, its almost identical to the Prowler above. I could not find a website. The mfg web site does not have Aljo listed. I wonder if they dropped the lineup. No clue on specs.

Weight wise, I think I only have one choice. What say the masses?

brulaz

I like the Colemen, it's almost new.
Good layout. But no slide, for better or worse.
Just dunno how it will hold up over time. It's definitely a light-weight.
You can get them with large tanks (60gal fresh?)

A lot depends upon how you plan to use it. Will you be staying inside a lot to avoid bugs or stay warm? Or is the inside just for cooking and sleeping?

Are you going to be living in it for months or days?

Are you going on rough roads? They can be hard on slides (as I've found out).

Good luck ...

MichaelInCalifornia

Rough roads, not intentionally, but out west, sometime you get that.

Only a few days at a time. Hopefully, mostly outdoors, but you never know.

brulaz

Our earlier trailer was a 24' without a slide. It was fine for a few days, but when we started spending weeks at a time in Florida over winter, it definitely got cramped.

So we got the new trailer with slide. MUCH better when camping for long periods, but the slide can be troublesome, and like I discovered this summer, rough roads can really screw it up.

For you, I would say forget the slide for now and get the simpler, newer trailer. You can always upgrade down the road once you know more what you like to do and where you like to go. Buying and selling used, you will not be taking a huge financial hit if you upgrade.

smokeywren

Aljo was made by Skyline RV. They dropped that name in 2014. Skyline made several different name brands, but they were all almost identical floorplans and features. Aljo was one of their brand names that was identical to a Nomad or Layton with the same floorplan. But for specs, you can check the current Layton and Nomad brand names.
http://www.skylinerv.com/


By "28' Aljo", it depends on what you mean by 28'. If it is the model number that includes "28", the M287 weighs 6,500 pounds dry. That model number indicates the length of the box, not including tongue, rear bumper, rear-mounted spare tire, etc.

If it's the total length tip to tail, the Model M-241 is 28' long and weighs 4,700 pounds dry.

So there a big difference in what you mean by 28'.

Skyline doesn't include a search engine or previous models on the website, but you can find them in NADA Guides. Here's the link for the 2014 model year Aljo TTs.
http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs/2014/A...ers-5th-Wheels


I have a 2012 Nomad Joey 196S. For 2012 model year Skyline made my exact trailer under brand names Nomad, Layton, Aljo, and one other (Mountain something?). That way they could have different dealers in one area that sold their TTs, but different brands so customers couldn't shop the dealer prices unless they were well-informed customers that knew the Nomad, Layton, and Aljo model 196S TTs were all identical.

There's nothing wrong with an Aljo TT as long as you understand that it's identical to the same floorplan in a Nomad or Layton.

MichaelInCalifornia

Smokey, thanks for the history lesson. All I knew is that internet links that went to Skyline didn't go where they were supposed to. Once I get a model number, maybe I can check the specs from the other lineups at skyline. If its as heavy as the Prowler though, its out of contention.

MichaelInCalifornia

We looked at the Prowler and the Coleman. The Aljo was sold.

Coleman: Pretty new and shiny. Not really any room inside to do anything but sleep. it was a bunkhouse model though. We would consider removing the sofa since we only need to sleep 5, not 8. I think we can do better.

Prowler: Shows its age. Its actually a year older by MFG date (01/03) though titled as a 2004. The right plastic fender was half broke off and there was a little rash on the left front corner. Roof looked good. Otherwise exterior was just aged due to years of exposure. Not bad.

Slider worked. Have no clue if its watertight and wouldn't know how to test. We really thought the extra space would be handy. Not so much in the summer, but certainly in the winter. We also liked the two doors.

The cabinetry was fairly well worn as expected with a few repairs needing to be made. I'm a pretty decent cabinet maker, so no big deal to me.

The biggest deal with the prowler is the weight. I'll start another thread about "can I pull this" to confirm my suspicions. If I could get that floor plan in about a 1500 lb lighter trailer, it would be a good thing.

feifel

iTrader: (3)

We bought a 2014 puma 27rbsc brand new for 14 I would keep looking there are some good deals on new ones out there it just takes time to look a bit