Yeroc

Hello Everyone,

Looking for some opinions on towing experience with the Outdoors RV 21rbs. I will be towing it with my 16 F150 lariat with 3.5eb, max tow. Yellow door sticker says 1709 lbs. The trailer is just under 25 feet from the hitch to the rear ladder. The manufacturer lists the dry weight at 5395, hitch weight 610, and max trailer weight of 7500. We will likely never come close to the max weight rating. The trailer I looked at on the lot had a info sheet for that particular trailer that was right about 5500lbs. We will not have much weight in the truck-just me, my under 100lb wife, and 7month old son. This trailer is on the heavy side for its length, but I think being on the shorter side & heavier side is better than being to long.

I am feeling pretty good about this trailer being well within the capabilities of my truck but thought I would get an outside opinion.

I will likely upgrade my rear shocks to the bilstein shocks, add clip on tow mirrors, and the dealership recommends the blue ox wdh with sway control.

Any opinions on this setup are appreciated!

Thanks!

The trailer:
http://outdoorsrvmfg.com/creek-side/...e-21rbs/#specs

The mirrors:

clarkbre

You in the PNW? Creekside isn't a very common trailer...but a VERY nice trailer.

Once your hitch is dialed in, the truck and trailer combination will be fine as far as weight and length goes. The set up in my signature has worked well for my family and the F150 pulls really well for what it is. My trailer is 29' overall and I wouldn't want any longer. I've towed my parents Passport 195RB and it was a bit easier due to the shorter length. Weight wise, the 3.5eb will handle the load well. You will limit out your payload long before the actual towing capacity. However, with 1709 of available payload, you could have a full 15% tongue weight at 7500 and still have 575 lbs of payload left over for the family and gear.

If you want to play with weights, check out this Weight Distribution Spreadsheet. It should help see real world weights of your truck and trailer and help dial in your WDH.

A few other pieces of unsolicited advise:
1. Your MPG will suck no matter what. Be happy with high single digits...if you hit 10+ MPG while towing, you're doing well.
2. Not to knock your floor plan decision, but plan ahead. If this is a long term purchase that you plan to keep for years consider getting something with dedicated sleeping quarters for the kid(s). We have 2 kids with a bunkhouse and love it. Not having to breakdown and set up the dinnette twice a day (or more for naps) makes the whole experience that much better.
3. Buy your 2nd trailer first. Take time and don't compromise on your wants and needs. You'll always want more and feel the need to upgrade. If you buy exactly what you want with all the bells and whistles, you'll never compare your trailer to another.

Hope this helps. Just some insight from a recent trailer buyer with kids and a truck with the problem circled in blue!

Gladehound

I applaud you for pursuing a reasonable size trailer for your truck. Correctly set up, your truck should easily handle it and you should have enough payload to set it up well.

I second the bunk house comment above. It's so nice to be able to have a cup of coffee or some breakfast at the dinette while the kids are still asleep in the bunks. Each bunk has a curtain so I can turn on the lights without it glaring in their eyes. A little separation is nice when they aren't babies anymore. My TT is 27 foot ball to bumper and tows very easily.

I like your thought about shorter and heavier. I think a small heavy trailer is much easier to handle than a large light one that blows all over the place.

smokeywren

I agree with the others. Instead of the 21RBS, go for the 21DBS. Yeah, you lose some storage space, but you gain two bunk beds. Converting the dinette to beds and back again is okay in a tight squeeze, but unacceptable for enjoyable RVing.


Replace the lost storage space with plastic covered tubs you store in the bathtub when the kids are using the bed. Move the storage tubs to the bunks when someone needs to take a bath. Been there, done that.

Yeroc

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

I am from the PNW--oregon.

I get what you guys are saying about the floor plan, and we may live to regret it, but we decided against the bunkhouse floor plan. We contemplated a rear kitchen with a fold out couch floor plan but decided the trailer size was going to be to large, heavy, and expensive to get what we wanted. The Outdoors Rv 23krs, and Nash 24m were the other contenders. The 23krs was going to be quite a bit more money and was starting to get into the upper limits of what I want to tow (also the couch does not really fold flat for sleeping, and would need to be swapped out). The 24m was fine but does not have the quality found in the Outdoors rv units.


The smaller trailer will fit in the parking spot I have available at my house without making any modifications, and will fit into smaller campsites.

I appreciate the opinions of the tow-ability of this trailer. Does anyone have anything to add in regards to the hitch and tow mirrors? The hitch is a chunk of change but think that it is worth it. Amazon has them listed for about $600 and the dealership has them for slightly more at $650. Any other hitches I should consider?

Has anyone used the tow mirrors I referenced with the chrome skullcaps? Or have any other options on them?

Thanks again!

Here is the other trailer we were considering:
http://outdoorsrvmfg.com/creek-side-23krs/

clarkbre

You won't regret the purchase. You'll work with what you have and enjoy time with your family on the road. That alone is well worth it.

Your ideas are totally understandable regarding parking as well. Get what fits. One of our criteria was to have it parked at home...it's amazing how much the kids (and adults) enjoy driveway camping. It can also act as a guest house...just a thought.

Hitch: It's hard to say without knowing the exact model. Is Blue Ox a good brand....yes. However, their range of hitches is broad and you need to compare apples to apples. A few things I would look for or advise:
1. Integrated sway control with the trunnion bars. These usually allow backing up without disengaging and it's one less part to deal with on the hitch itself.
2. If it's truly a $50 (or even $150) difference in the hitch between the internet and dealer, by local. My only caveat to that is know fully how the hitch is supposed to be set up and WATCH THEM DO IT, VERIFYING IT IS DONE CORRECTLY. I let the tech "adjust" my hitch, took his word for it and later found out he torqued 2 of the main nuts and bolts to 18% of their 320 ft lbs requirement.
3. Go on etrailer and look at hitches. They have lots of educational material.
4. 2 other brands to consider that are fair priced and work well are the Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution w/ 4-Point Sway Control and the Husky Center Line Weight Distribution w/ Sway Control.

Mirrors: The clip on mirrors you referenced are good. With a relatively short trailer like you are getting, they will work fine and won't be obtrusive when you're not towing. My experience was different. With the overall trailer length pushing 30', I opted to buy the aftermarket, knockoff tow mirrors. I LOVE THEM...when towing. Driving around town sucks and I wish I had the clip on mirrors to take off for daily driving.

Not sure what dealer you're working with in PDX but I know Apache carries both brands you've mentioned. If they are anything like the Everett, WA branch, they are the benchmark of dealers. We weren't able to buy our Surveyor through them but wished we could have. They came highly recommended from 3 coworkers and my parents who all had nothing but absolute positive things to say about their buying and service experience. While I didn't buy from them, they will be servicing my trailer no doubt.

Sorry for the long winded response....F150's and trailer are my passion!

Yeroc

Clarkbre: Thank you for the response, and not long winded at all!

My wife has family that comes to visit from out of town and I will likely use the trailer as a guest bedroom at some point-that is for sure!

I planned to get a hitch with the sway control built in and it makes sense to buy local if the price is similar as the online options. I will probably try and see if they will give me the "Amazon" price as a part of the deal. From everything I have read the blue ox seems to get pretty good reviews.

I sometimes wish I had the tow mirrors on my truck but I don't tow a whole lot so being able to remove them will be nice. I can't justify the cost for the factory ones and don't want to give up the power/blis etc.

Thanks again for your input!

Gladehound

Just a comment on tow mirrors. I have the factory tow mirrors. If I bought a truck without them I would have replaced the factory mirrors with full pull out tow mirrors (OEM or aftermarket). I love them for both trailering and driving empty because the convex portion is so large that there are no blind spots. I can still see a car in the mirror when it is passing my side window. They are big for parking in tight spots and I sometimes fold them in, but it's a small trade off for the visibility. I fully understand that they are too big for some people's taste and respect that, just wanted to put in a word for the fantastic visibility.

pilotpip

Bunks are great. When I buy, I'll be going with a bunk house. My kids are currently 2 1/2 and 1 so it would be a little while before I'm comfortable putting the oldest in the top bunk, but it's the way to go. My father in law has a Jayflight 28rbs and we use it deer hunting. It's comfortable with an adult in each bunk. We took a weekend trip with them, and the in laws and there were 9(!) sleeping in it with 2 adults on each bunk and an infant in a pack n play. Wouldn't do that again.

He tows it with an F-250. I've towed it with my 150 and it's right at the limit. I have an HDPP and hellwig anti sway bar riding on P rated tires. On a 60 mile tow I never felt out of control but it's not something I would want to do with my 2 young kids in the back seat for a long trip. I think you're wise going with a 21' trailer. Your truck will handle it quite nicely once the hitch is set up.

I'm going to have to take a closer look at the one you just posted. Looks like a nice trailer and I like the floorplan. A slide is a must for those rainy days where you're inside. The extra room is a life saver.

thrifty biil

Not sure what year truck you have, I bought aftermarket trailer mirrors on ebay, for about $150. The OEM mirrors are so expensive! I have the mirrors permanently installed, I really like them even when I am not towing. I have a camper top on my truck, with limited visibility so the mirrors really help.

My aftermarket mirrors have the same functionality as my original stock mirrors on my 2010 Lariat.


I used to live in the PNW (Enumclaw, WA). Most of our camping was on the other side of the mountains (liked to see the sun, warmer, etc.). Anyway, every trip seemed to be up and down mountain passes. The Vantage climb on I-90 is a doozy, steep, long, and hot (in the summer).

Don't underestimate your real trailer weight. If you are buying new, ask the dealer to run it across a scale, that will give you a real "empty weight". Forget the "info sheet" its likely garbage.