Jayco 28BHBE

[ParrishCamper]

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long post...

My husband and I are looking into possibly upgrading from our 2014 Rockwood Roo 233S hybrid to 28BHBE.
We have looked at many dealerships at different floor plans and this one seems to really make sense for us.
I would love to hear from anyone who owns one. How long have you owned it. What issues have you had or are having. What do you regret? What do you love. How much room inside w/ the slide in (pictures would be awesome). Any advise. Options the are a must or a bust.

Is there anyway to find out how much weight different options add?
Fiberglass vs aluminum
Frame vs frameless windows
Slide topper
Thermal shield

Our current camper has a dry hitch weight of 623 compared to 660 of 28BHBE.
Current camper dry weight is 4333 w/ GVWR of 6,166. 28BHBE is 6540 w/ GVWR of 9250.
Our tow vehicle is 2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7L V8 w/ factory tow package. Payload capacity 1550 and tow is 10,100. I know this is close IF we packed to camper capacity. I don't see us packing more than our current camper.
We will never tow with fresh/grey/black tanks as we always camp w/ hookups. Only need 1 battery.
Driving will be in Central/South Florida on flat land. Tundra currently tows the Roo w/ no issues or strains. We do baby our truck (and camper) and never accelerate fast while towing and never tow over 60 mph. We are using Equalizer WDH 10k and Draw-tight Brake controller.

Do you think we would be fine towing this camper?

Of course the dealer thinks I'm crazy for not believing him that our truck will down this NO issues because we our well under 1000 lb tow capacity. He has NO clue and was trying to sell us a 9000 lb camper.

I know this is a Jayco forum but are Jayco ultra-lite built to last? I know no 1 brand is going to be free of issues. But I don't want to regret getting a camper when ours has been great after working out the new camper shake out.
We store our camper under a barn and covered. Do our maintenance.

Thank you for reading my long post!!!

[need-a-vacation]

Welcome and congrats on the possible upgrade!

As for the 28 BHBE and your Tundra, powerwise, you have plenty from what I have read about the truck. The possible issue comes down to the available payload, and possibly the wheelbase of your truck vs the length of the trailer.

As far as payload, you are ahead of the curve by posting you have 1550lbs. Is that per the yellow sticker in the drivers door jamb? With your current trailer, what do you carry in the bed on a trip: coolers, bikes, firewood, etc? How much is the total family weight that normally is in the truck on a trip? Have you added any accessories to the truck since it rolled off the factory assembly line: truck topper/fiberglass cap, tonneau cover, step bars, etc? All these items count toward your available payload, PLUS the wdh AND the tt tw (travel trailer tongue weight).

There are a few threads concerning the 28 BHBE, I will try to find them. One thread is with loaded trailer weights, and actual tongue weights. The weights do have a range based on how each owner loads, but the loaded tw can range up to 1100-1200lbs depending on what all is loaded in the pass through storage.

Check to see what your current wd bars are rated for. They will have a tw rating, possibly 1000lbs since you posted you have a 10k lb hitch. Your current hitch may end up being a little undersized due to the wd bars rating depending on what your loaded tw ends up being.

Concerning the options and weights, maybe try emailing Jayco? But with your current truck I would suggest trying to keep the trailer weight down if possible, maybe skip the fiberglass sides?? I know it adds to the total trailer weight, but maybe some who have this option and have weighed their trailer can post how it affect the tw vs an Al sided trailer.

The best thing to do if possible is to load up what you normally pack in the truck, and with all the family members and a full tank of gas weigh your truck. Throw the wdh in as well, bars in the bed. Subtract this amount form your gvwr of the truck, and what's left is the available payload for the tw. You will want to watch the rear axle rating as well.

Good luck!!!

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by ParrishCamper

snip..... Is there anyway to find out how much weight different options add?
Fiberglass vs aluminum
Frame vs frameless windows
Slide topper
Thermal shield
snip.......

Welcome to JOF

I'm sure some 28BHBE owners will chime in on your specific pro/con questions.

In respect to option weights, the following are "approximate" option weights from Jayco:

Fiberglass sidewalls with Frameless windows (model specific): Add 220lbs - 365lbs

Slide Topper: no weight provided.

Thermal Package: Add 65 lbs.

I'm sure if you contacted Jayco directly they may be able to provide specific option weights to the model in question.

Bob

[hboy]

Just sold our 28 BHBE. We liked it. After 2 seasons we wanted more room (family of 5).

Pros: big bunks and shower. All bunk house campers we looked at have more narrow bunks, and are not very long. The bunks in the 28 BHBE are huge. Wide and long. The shower beats the smaller tub that was standard at the time.

Cons: What ya see is what ya get. Quality wise it is standard to other floor plans. We had some warranty stuff. Couple things that didn't get fixed correctly the first time (bland tank leak; grey tank leak). Other stuff was cheap hardware falling off, or breaking. More dealership fault than 'cons' of the camper probably. The skylights are great, but sometimes too light for the late sleeper on the fold out sofa... We insulated the skylight and installed black max air vents to knock down some of the daylight.

Loaded tongue weight was 900-1100 pounds with full propane and gear.

I was overweight towing with a F150 w/ tow package. Over the RAWR; GVWR (family of 5).

With the slide in: there is room to walk thru the camper, but I would not let the kids in without the slide room extended.

Ours had the elite package. The porcelain toilet is a must have. We had the small a/c unit and that worked fine in the summer time. We did not have the heated/enclosed underbelly (which after the black tank leak I was grateful).

This camper is about 33' long. Due to the length and higher profile, I think towing will be significantly different than the Roo. I think your pick up is capable of towing this, but I'm certain you will notice more tail wagging the dog. Mostly at highway speeds when conditions are windy or passing semi's etc.

[Northern Jay]

As far as I can tell, our 28BHBE only weighs about 140lbs more than most aluminum sided unit. We have the Elite pkg, thermal pkg, heated enclosed underbelly, electric stabs, 1 a/c, fiberglass walls with frame less widows. Shipped weight is 7189lbs per yellow sticker with full propane. We have 2 12v batteries and always travel with full FWT (80 gal 649 lbs) Our TW averages approx 1200lbs. I am sure the Tundra will not have trouble towing this size of TT, but would suggest SuperSprings to take care of the rear suspension squat and a real good sway control. You will most likely be over your GVWR and RAWR. Keep your speed down to 60mph max and drive careful. You may fid it is too much TT for the Tundra tho. My brother tow a 26BHS with his Tundra and had to add SuperSprings to take care of squat (GVW 7750LBS).
Good luck with your decision. The 28BHBE is a great TT. We love ours. No serious issues with it in nearly 2 yrs. Some minor fit & finish this gs that dealer took care of quickly and efficiently. Tows extremely well with our Silverado 6.0 gasser. More power than needed even in the mountains of BC.
Happy Camping

[spoon059]

I was just in Bradenton camping for 8 days!

Your dealer should have access to a book that lists weights. We were able to figure out exactly how much our 29QBS options would weigh by looking at the book. I don't believe that Jayco offers slide toppers as an option, so you would be purchasing those aftermarket. The shipping weight of the topper should be pretty accurate.

I believe that the fiberglass sidewalls only include frameless windows, so that weight should be included in the fiberglass wall weight.

As long as you keep your weights in check, you should be fine with the Tundra. The 5.7 puts out crazy power and towed our 22 foot rv with no problems at all, including our yearly trip down to Anna Maria Island. Our 29QBS has a higher tongue weight and we carry more gear now with 2 kids, so we were over our Tundra specs and upgraded to a HD truck.

I would encourage you to load your truck (family, gear in the bed, full tank of gas) and weigh it. Your GVWR is 7200, so the difference between 7200 lbs and your actual loaded weight will tell you EXACTLY how much available payload you have.

Take your estimated LOADED trailer weight and multiple by about 14%, which is an ideal tongue weight. If your 14% tongue weight is near or under your available payload, you are good to go. If its over, you will likely be over your Tundra specs... but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't tow it. You would just need to decide if you are comfortable going over your GVWR.

We looked hard at the 28BHBE, but ended up with the 29QBS. One of the biggest reasons was the bunk area... The 28 isn't a separate area per se. We have 2 small kids and need sight and sound separation or else they won't go to sleep!

The other issue was AC and heat. The 29QBS has a separate room with the bunks. There is a dedicated AC and heat register in the room that controls the temps for all 3 bunks. The 28BHBE has a curtain that separated the bunks from the main room and no way to heat/cool the buns with the curtain closed. It may not seem like much... but those bunks can get HOT in the summer with the curtain closed. Not sure if that is relevant to you our not. Older kids, likely not an issue...

Ultra light campers are going to be more "flimsy" than a regular camper. The weight savings are due to less studs, less floor framing, lighter components, etc. If you don't NEED a lightweight due to towing restrictions, I would advise against one.

Interior storage will go a LONG way towards extending the life and quality of your trailer.

[ParrishCamper]

Thank you everyone who has responded!!! Keep it coming.

I have emailed Jayco to get weight on installed options. May be a couple of days before I hear back.
I figure w/ 4 passengers, 2 dogs, gas in truck, WDH, we are looking at 550 lbs. Which would leave us almost 1000 payload.
What we normally carry in the bed of the truck would go in the back storage of the camper under the bunk and a bike rack on the back of the camper using a hitch receiver. We don't carry cooler or firewood.

Hoping to hear from any who towed this camper w/ a Tundra 5.7L. It would help. My other thought is to rent a similar weight/lenght camper and see how she handles.

Dealership told us we should upgrade our rear springs/shocks. Currently the Roo w/ dry tongue weight of 630 lbs doesn't swat our truck. When we tow it to storage traveling back roads at 60 mph we don't use WDH and never feel swatted or any issues. I know the hwy w/ semi passing is different which is why we use it always on the hwy.

Has anyone had this unit built w/ out the second bath door? I understand the concept but doesn't appeal to us.

If we end up deciding to purchase we will order it to get certain options and color pattern. Last time we order thru RV Direct. Process was ok but not great.

Thanks again!!!

[ParrishCamper]

Originally Posted by spoon059

I was just in Bradenton camping for 8 days!

Where in Bradenton? We have camped at Manatee River SP. Not to many that I know of.

[MIFL19H]

There is a member here on the forum who ordered a 28BHBE without the Bathroom Door, I cannot recall the user name though.

We just ordered ours without the Kitchen Skylight and some other mods so Jayco will work with you on some things, you just have to ask.

One thing I asked for as far as the bunks was for an AC vent within the curtain on the Top Bunk and Jayco did it which is nice, as mentioned previously in this thread it can get stuffy in the bunks.

We moved up from a Hybrid as well, one thing to consider as far as the windows is the frameless do not open nearly as much as the sliders, we opted for aluminum sided with sliders so we could open up the trailer as much as possible as that is something we would miss from the Hybrid.

[Northern Jay]

Maybe ask if they could install a fantastic fan in the kitchen area vent. At 920 cu ft/m8n it will quickly change the air 8n side. That is one of my spring mods on my "to do" list.
Happy Camping

[Ottawasteve]

Welcome to JOF. We love the BHBE floorplan in the Eagle line because it is the lightest and smallest in the Eagle line. Other bunkhouses with an additional slide and outdoor kitchens were just too heavy. Our TT needs list was:
A)door that closes for Master bedroom so DW can go to bed early and sleep late,
B)single slide (without fridge and stove etc. on slide as IMHO the additional connections and wiring and weight increase risk of problems)
C)Curtain at least for rear bunks so that children can close curtain and go to sleep while clean up from late supper is done;
D) Under 7,000 lbs dry because that is 60% of my tow capacity
E) Wanted the front fiberglass wrap-around cap to reduce risk of leaks.

I have no experience towing with Toyota and can only provide my experience with a 2010 Supercrew F150 with max tow package. For actual towing experiences with similar trailer sizes, you might want to look at the Toyota forums instead of some of the posts in JOF about having towed with a half-ton once but it wasn't safe so now they are smarter and safer towing with a used Ram 2500.

You are correct in identifying payload as your most limiting factor. My max tow package give me 1830 lbs of payload so I have a little more to play with but that is wiped out by my tonneau and kayaks. My tongue weight has been right around 1,000 lbs everytime I have weighed my trailer. I do not tow with full fresh water tanks as I fill up when I get to the campground and I do not put anything heavy in the box of the truck. Even with a Propride WD hitch (I highly recommend it if you have to upgrade your hitch) the F150 did squat a bit so I added airbags and I changed to LT tires when I replaced my tires. My setup is very stable in winds and passing semis and I have never had a "white knuckle" incident in the last two years pulling this trailer with my F150. My 5.4 V-8 does have to work when climbing the mountains in VT, NY and Pa, but it maintains the speedlimit without any problems
Just before we pulled the trigger on our BHBE there was a guy on this forum that was posting about his experiences doing professional RV delivery from the factories to the dealerships and he had the opportunity to tow many Jayco and other brands back to back. His comments on the BHBE were that it was incredibly stable for its size and pulled much easier than many smaller trailers he had delivered.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Steve