New Travel Trailer question

That is a perfect size trailer for a 1/2 ton truck. My personal rule of thumb is 1/2 ton trucks shouldn't tow anything longer than 30' in total length. This should keep you within the truck's weight limits, payload capacity, towing capacity, and tongue weight.

 

There isn’t much point for me to chime in because I agree with many people here, but I will say that the airbags addition isn’t satisfying any legal restrictions - it will deal with any sag you have. When I tow our 30’ I keep 5 lbs in the bags only. I only put in air when I’m hauling materials so I don’t overwork the leafs. Also, adding pressure messes with your WDH so you need to find what you like and keep it there so your hitch setup is consistent.

You will be pretty much at the max payload for your truck, so loading the box with stuff must be done with care (or not at all). Making the move to E tires will make handling improvements. Also, 2X 6 volt batts and 2X filled 30 lbs propane tanks will be well over 200 lbs, which is not included in the dry weight rating.

I would head to a scale with all your camping gear and passengers, disconnect and weigh steer and drive axles, then connect to trailer and do the same for every axle on the truck and trailer combo. Then you can really know and also adjust your WDH as needed.

Finally, the surface area of your trailer is my biggest concern. Lost of sail to grab that wind. Our 30’ is awesome, but I’d only camp with it a few hundred miles from home, not complete a major trip like going across the nation (only because you’d need to be quite focused and alert - fatiguing after doing this for more than a few hours).

 

Agree with the majority of the comments here in addition to experience with my personal blunders. Go slightly shorter and lighter with the trailer. Puling is not so much the issue it's the towing experience, stopping, and handling. Doable for sure with some add ons and due diligence.

 

This wouldnt be my first time towing. I actually do a lot of towing with a car and dump trailer pretty regularly. I have towed with a 32' bunkhouse. And drive a ramp truck. I just sold my Class A if you wanna talk about white knuckling driving across country with the wind and semi trucks was no fun. But it was a learning curve and keeping your eye on the road is always an automatic. Unfortunately the shorter rigs dont have the layout that we're looking for. Its great to hear what everyone has to say and thank you for this.

 

My brother just got a left over '22 of this exact trailer. Never, ever, would I use a Tundra for it. Even if weights are in check (payload won't be), it's just too much sail for a 1/2 ton.

 

How does he like it?

 

I think it's too soon to tell. Will know more by mid season. Bunk room is nice, and the space is a better flow than their previous Jayco Jayflight, but time will tell. Their Jayco was a pre-COVID build and this one had some QA issues found during their PDI.

If you aren't sold on a Mallard, highly encourage you to go look at Grand Design as well. Everything is coming down and haggling for 30-35% is back. We had good luck working with Campers Inn, Merrimack and leveraging pricing from OH to negotiate. If you are willing to travel, OH (Cold Spring? Something like that) was ~$5k less and only about 15 hours away from Boston.

 

Mallard trailers used to be really badly built in the 90s. Not sure if that's changed.

 

I think a Google search yields similar results for current models, but that said, I think it depends on what people are looking for. Similar to vehicles - If getting traded in every few years, likely fine. For me, I just can't imagine smaller tanks than what I have with the GD Imagine line, but this wasn't what the OP was asking about, so I'll stop here.

 

i love good deals. Do you know what he paid for the 22 mallard?

 

~41/42k out the door, or so I believe.

 

Dang. I buy mine from dealers around the northern Indiana area to get the best deal. Then pay about $1k to have them delivered to me. Paid $33.5k for my Outback 292URL at a dealer outside of Chicago.

 

I heard the mid west has the best deals. I want to be close to 30's or under for a camper

 

Right now New 2022 Heartland Mallard m32 is $39K in Chinchester NH a 2023 model is $49k. These rvs are moving as the season is coming up.

https://rv.campingworld.com/rvdetai...eartland-mallard-m32-bunkhouse-30k-GRV2083868

 

Yup. This off-season has been kind to buyers. After the shows up here, the deals have continued. He bought his at campers world Boylston (the old Flagg RV)

I'm still baffled by the current prices, though. We got our 2020 GD Imagine 2800BH (pre-COVID build) at 33% off, out the door well under 30k. We're in this thing for a long time because I refuse to pay 40-50k for a bumper pull. That's a lot of hotel or cabin rental.

 

At this time, I think your less than $30M is pretty optimistic if you are looking for a late model, good sized camper. Prices are just beginning to drop, particularly in the used market. There are a lot of folks that bought during the price runup and are starting to sell. They obviously feel the need to get a lot for their camper. That will take a while to work through the market.

 

I found some already. I have to take a short drive but 2 in mind already. Both under 30k and bunkhouse layout.

 

Good luck and happy shopping! I'll keep an eye out for a Tundra/Mallard combo.

 

I think their ratings have come up considerably. Not because they got any better, everyone else just got worse. Not really a fair statement since there seem to be a few companies still taking pride in their products. Grand Design seems to be one of the better brands I've learned from talk around the campground.

 

I really wanted a GD but there were no used ones to be had and the dealers wanted $70k CAD for new ones.

 

I hear Grand Design is one of the better built trailers but I met a guy who said there parents GD trailer 5th wheel still had its own set of problems. These homes on wheels rattle and shake and things definitely come undone from time to time. PM is so important with these rigs

 

Pandemic built rigs were ugly. Every rig will have issues, but I believe the GD issues are overall less significant, and their customer service has a great reputation.

That said, lots of good brands. I just can't consider them because of the tank sizes. That's really what sold us. Loved the finished, loved the design, and we love being able to go an entire long weekend with a family of 4 and not have to worry about always having full hookups or tank capacity. I am shocked the M32 does t have at least the same size tanks as my 2800BH given it sleeps more.

 

I dont boon dock so its really not an issue. But I know what you mean as far as tank capacity. I dont plan on buying new so warranty is not going to happen anyways. Most warranty doesn’t transfer to the next owner.

 

So much truth to this. We absolutely loved our old trailer, and we love our new one, but the gray water tank is a huge downside. It's only 30 gallons, so 4 showers will wipe it out. If we are not at a site with a sewer hookup, we are super careful with things like doing the dishes inside and such. I bought a portable tank that I can dump into and pull it to the campground dump station, so overall it works for us, but I would really, really prefer to have a larger tank so this wouldn't be an issue.

 

I joined the GD Tundra Haulers FB group and bugged out after quickly determining they were nuts IMO. There were no RVs too big for the Tundra to tow (including the Admin) and I wasn't into being the payload policeman.

 

You mean like the admin that pulls this 37fter that weighs 11k lbs with over 1k tongue weight?

 

Yeah, like that one.

 

It is a good forum where people can share thoughts without the threat of being intimidated. They don't really put up with abusive posts. Best you left. @Cpl_Punishment And you like his post? You are an Admin here? So you run folks off this forum that don't agree with you....got it....good luck guys. Peace out.