264BHW or 287BHSW...what to choose...what to choose?

Mystere · 02-01-2016, 11:02 AM

I'm going to be getting a new TT in the next week and I'm trying to decide between the 264BHW and the 287BHSW. We like the 287's layout and extra space a lot but we're trying to decide if it's worth the extra $4000 and higher weight. We are a family of 4 and one of my goals is to get something that I won't feel I need to upgrade in a couple years.

I'd be interested in hearing anybody's thoughts on these two trailers. Do you feel the 264 is enough space or do you wish you had more space? Are the slide outs reliable or do they break down a lot? Do you find that the 287 is too much space and you wish you got a lighter trailer to tow? etc...

Also, I'm being quoted prices around $13,400 and $17,400 for the 264 and 287 respectively. Based on your experiences do those seem like good prices?

Thanks in advance!

Fairenatic · 02-01-2016, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystere

I'm going to be getting a new TT in the next week and I'm trying to decide between the 264BHW and the 287BHSW. We like the 287's layout and extra space a lot but we're trying to decide if it's worth the extra $4000 and higher weight. We are a family of 4 and one of my goals is to get something that I won't feel I need to upgrade in a couple years.

I'd be interested in hearing anybody's thoughts on these two trailers. Do you feel the 264 is enough space or do you wish you had more space? Are the slide outs reliable or do they break down a lot? Do you find that the 287 is too much space and you wish you got a lighter trailer to tow? etc...

Also, I'm being quoted prices around $13,400 and $17,400 for the 264 and 287 respectively. Based on your experiences do those seem like good prices?

Storage is the real issue with these two models. Not much in the kitchen, I am afraid.

Thanks in advance!

The problem with the 264 is that there is very little storage, especially in the kitchen. I would not pay over $12K for it.

The the 287 should not be over $16, 700. Maybe less.

I suggest requesting an on line quote for Indiana RV Express. Ask for Jessica.
If you want to buy local, use these prices to beat the local dealer over the head with.

Good luck. Maybe with the money I just saved you, you can upgrade!!!!

need-a-vacation · 02-01-2016, 11:29 AM

Welcome!

Guess the first question is what do you have for a tv (tow vehicle)? If it's a '06 or newer it will have a yellow sticker in the drivers door, stating "all passengers and cargo must not exceed XXXXlbs". What is that amount?

About how much does the family weigh? Younger kids? If so, they only get bigger and heavier....

If you currently have a trailer, about how much additional cargo is in the tv?

Asking these questions because a lot of us have bought a trailer that is a little to heavy for our vehicle based in the gv cargo capacity. All passengers, cargo, any accessories added to the vehicle after it left the factory, and the trailer tw (tongue/hitch weight) all add toward the vehicle payload capacity. Just because a tv can "tow" 10klbs doesn't mean it has the payload for the tw, passengers, and cargo. There is a huge difference between towing a flatbed trailer vs a tt (travel trailer).

As for price, not sure what year they are but on average you should get close to if not 30% off msrp per Jayco's website. We got about that off our '16- 32 BHDS this past July.

Also look into a good or wdh (weight distribution hitch) with integrated sway control. The Reese Dual Cam, Reese SC, and Eqaul-I-Zer 4 way system are all very good. The DC is a little more finicky setting up, and the SC and 4 way system are a little easier (and very similar to each other). Reese does offer a little more but you can't go wrong with any of the three.

Having a little more room never hurt anyone. Only downside is if you want to stay in a national park where the sites are smaller. The larger trailer may not fit.

Good luck deciding!

Mystere · 02-01-2016, 11:38 AM

Thanks. I have a F150 with max trailer tow package which gives me 11,500 tow capacity on paper but I did not think about the payload capacity. I'll have to look into that.

For the prices I should have mentioned those were out the door prices including hitch setup. The prices before tax, hitch, fees, etc was about $11,700 and $16,400 if that helps.

**Crabman** · 02-01-2016, 12:43 PM

I can tell you this without going into the weights and what your truck can pull (and do not buy something you cannot safely tow), My first trailer had no slide and was too small. My current trailer has a small sofa slide and is OK for a family but if I had done it over again I would have gotten a larger slide to have more space in the living room area. My next trailer may not be much longer but will have the large slide for sure. So when you say you do not want to upgrade again in a few years my recommendation would be the larger unit with the slideout for a family of 4. The 26BH is a nice and popular floorplan but with no slide they can get a bit tight in the middle. Just my 2 cents.

Gone campin · 02-01-2016, 12:53 PM

I think it all depends on you and your family - you will get a spectrum of answers on here depending on how people use their TT. We had a similar decision between a 26BH and 26BHS. We are a family of 4 (our kids are 3&5yo now) and a dog. We don't tend to sit around in the camper (even on rainy days) when we go camping. It is really a place to cook some meals (mostly outside) and sleep. We are off to see the sights, swim, hike, etc... Our dog spends more time in the camper than we do...
Given that, we opted against the extra cost/weight/maintenance of the slide. We have camped a season and a half in it now and couldn't be happier. Works for us, but not for all.

**Crabman** · 02-01-2016, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gone campin

I think it all depends on you and your family - you will get a spectrum of answers on here depending on how people use their TT. We had a similar decision between a 26BH and 26BHS. We are a family of 4 (our kids are 3&5yo now) and a dog. We don't tend to sit around in the camper (even on rainy days) when we go camping. It is really a place to cook some meals (mostly outside) and sleep. We are off to see the sights, swim, hike, etc... Our dog spends more time in the camper than we do...
Given that, we opted against the extra cost/weight/maintenance of the slide. We have camped a season and a half in it now and couldn't be happier. Works for us, but not for all.

Very true, some want only a backpacking tent and others want a 5 slide 300K class A. In the end it all comes down to personal preferences and choices, camping styles, affordability, and can I tow it.

Country_Mouse · 02-01-2016, 01:22 PM

What are the weights of the two trailers? If you search F150 on here you will probably see a lot of threads talking about it's limitations specifically regarding payload. A heavier trailer will have a heavier tongue weight therefore taking up valuable payload. Definitely something to take into consideration especially if you will have more kids.

RACarvalho · 02-01-2016, 01:22 PM

If you are a family of 4 and think you need a 4000 sqr ft house then go with 287, if you have a family of 6 and live with comfort on a 2200 sqr ft house, then the 264 will be fine for you... How about that?

We are a family of 5 and are considering the 26BHSW as a compromise since it has a small sofa slide... But we camped 2 weeks last December in a 10'x14' tent for two weeks straight so we are a family that like to live close together....

About the weight, if you figure out that the 287 is too heavy, Passport have a 29ft that has as much as space and weights only 5K lbs....

borninblue · 02-01-2016, 03:24 PM

Neithier.....27BHS. Perfect for family of four!

hboy · 02-01-2016, 05:46 PM

Man I've had both these campers (kind of). I had an 09 26BH, and have a 28BHBE now.

The '09 26BH was good to cut our teeth with. NO ROOM. But if this is your budget, or will fit your family, etc, then it is what it is. I bought this camper because I didn't know if my family would like camping, and it was a cheap camper so I wouldn't get too hurt on the deal if I had to get rid of it. We got rid of this camper because we wanted more room.

The '15 28BHBE got us more room with the slide out (huge difference in space). We thought we would like the U shape dinette, but really, it is not that convenient to get in and out of. We are a family of 5 and I was sitting in a fold out chair at the wobbly table (we are 5 skinny people). WE loved this camper for 2 seasons. Now it's for sale because we want more room again.....

I think the trend with new rv'ers can be: buy a rig, then upgrade in a couple years. I hear that a lot. If you are not sure you are 100% committed to the RV'ing, I would error on the side of "lowest investment" for the time being. Try it out, see what works and what doesn't work. If you like it, great. If you want to upgrade down the road- then you don't have a ton of money tied up in a camper or stand to loose tens of thousands (not exaggerating). If this is you, I would shop newly used campers to start with. Campers are (or can be) a money pit, even if nothing breaks (WDH; hoses; housewares; bedding; tools; tow vehicle modifications; insurance; storage; etc). If you only use it a couple times a year, it's much cheaper to rent a camper than own one.

If you know you will be RV'ing and think you will be tight on space, don't compromise now. Going with the smaller, lighter camper now to fit the truck that is on order could result in trading off the camper (at a loss) and upgrading the truck too (at a loss) when everyone loves RV'ing and mamma wants more room.

My belief is: if your budget is strapped and you are wanting to create family fun/memories without going into debt, start small and low on the investment. You probably won't get hurt (financially) this way.

If your budget affords convenience as the priority, don't settle on camper or pick up. If you do, it could cost you more in the long run (ask me how I know...).

The prices you are being quoted look reasonable.

If your budget allows, just shop the bigger truck. Maybe a waste of time, but if you think RV'ing could take off, a bigger truck will make traveling so much more relaxing. (I have lost sleep while camping worried about hauling the camper home because traveling on the highway was no fun with a 30' high profile camper on a half ton pick-up with 3 little one's in the back seat). The bigger truck may not cost you any more money than the F150 on order.

Hope it doesn't sound like I'm hounding you. I'm trying to come from a helpful place.

I'm kinda excited to see which way you go!

tdk2765 · 02-02-2016, 02:22 AM

Here is our take on this:

We have the 264BHW, we are a family of 4, our kids being 16 and 18, putting this as tactfully as I can, we are not big of stature people. We camp 18-24 nights per year. We don't go to spend our whole time sitting around in the camper--I do a good bit of the cooking outside, charcoal or Coleman, because it's one of my favorite things to do, and the four of us are only in the trailer all at the same time mainly when retiring for the night or watching movie together. The 264 works great for us, especially when we consider the difference between it and our tent.

We were somewhat budget conscious when getting ours (Feb 2015, a 2015 model), but mainly went with the trailer we liked best and still were able to tow. We were using our 2002 Olds Bravada with a straight 6 motor, and it worked fine as long as we didn't go to the mountains or worry about slowing way down for any steep incline. We now have a GMC half ton and it's a dream to tow with that. We also made sure we had the weight distributing hitch.

Finally, I didn't want the extra variables and maintenance that come with a slide out, frankly. And as for storage, we find there is enough for us when we pack and store selectively.

So the 264 is a great fit for us, and we have no intention of upgrading for years. That being said, if I had smaller, active children to try to manage, I could see the 264 being tight.

You'll have to consider your own family's activity level and expectations in order to get the right unit. We are minimalist in our thinking, always asking how little we can get and still meet our needs and wants.

That

mosquito · 02-02-2016, 06:31 AM

We own a 26 bh elite and i agree with everything that has been said . As a family of 4 it can be tight at times. Having said that we don't spent a lot of time in it , why would you unless its a rainy day . But those days happen. The only thing i would say is a lot of it depends on how far are you planning on traveling. Are you just going a half an hour down the road most of the time ? Or are you planning on going all over the country and back . If your staying close and your budget allows , get the slide. If your planning on taking longer trips from my experience is i wouldn't want to pull much more than 5000 dry with a half ton. Don't get me wrong it pulls great but its definitely there. I have an equilizer hitch. Just my opinion . Good luck

Chris P. · 02-02-2016, 09:48 AM

We just upgraded to the 264 and it works well for us. We are a family of 4 and like some have said, we don't spend much time inside. It does lack internal storage but you can add struts to the bed, seats, etc to make it more easily accessible. We don't tend to take a bunch if stuff with us while we camp, so storage is usually not a big deal for us.

I didn't want to deal with slides. I am all about being as minimal as possible with the bells and whistles as they are bound to break or need service, which equals more money.

We bought ours for $12,900, so sounds like the price you can get it for is a good one. I have a Tundra 4.6l Crew Max and it pulls it just fine. But I definitely feel it back there.

annie oakly · 02-02-2016, 11:00 AM

Think about how much time do you spend in the trailer during the day?
Even eating, I spend a lot of time outside of the trailer. during the day.
usually after 9.30pm I am in the trailer for the night.
Must have camp fire.

JayTripperS · 02-02-2016, 11:02 AM

267BHSW seems like the compromise. We love ours!!

Mystere · 02-02-2016, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by annie oakly

Think about how much time do you spend in the trailer during the day?
Even eating, I spend a lot of time outside of the trailer. during the day.
usually after 9.30pm I am in the trailer for the night.
Must have camp fire.

Yeah...we are coming from a pop up and are the same way...the only time we were in the trailer was cooking or sleeping. Anything we get will be way nicer than what we have now. The only reason I'm thinking about the bigger size is because I know how this goes...and after a couple years after the kids have sprouted up I'll be eyeing those fancy slide outs wondering why I went small.

I think we would be happy with the smaller size, and our dealer actually recommended we start smaller because this would be my first time pulling anything bigger than a pop up. But that 287 is so nice...

Mystere · 02-02-2016, 11:13 AM

My other issue is we were going to be getting the F150 and I think it will tow the 264 just fine but I have qualms about pulling the 287 with that. I've got another thread in the towing forum talking about that and I'm just as torn on that side as well.

**Crabman** · 02-02-2016, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystere

My other issue is we were going to be getting the F150 and I think it will tow the 264 just fine but I have qualms about pulling the 287 with that. I've got another thread in the towing forum talking about that and I'm just as torn on that side as well.

There are also some lighter weight options out there you may want to research as well. The Whitehawk, Jayfeather, and other manufacturer`s floorplans as well.

annie oakly · 02-02-2016, 11:30 AM

Don't get me wrong, We went from a back of the old truck, to the Terry 24 feet, then to the Comfart 19Ft them I put my foot down and held my breath, and said NEW Trailer
I love the trailer, Hey on a rainy day, blanket on the couch reading a book great.
But with your growing family do it once, and get what will work for you. even if you need to change the tow vehicle, It saves the head ache

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