Now viewing a Jayco X23B.....

[Ashco4]

Hello again. Well, we went to the Hartford CT RV show and saw just how small a 19 foot expandable is so now we have chosen a future larger tow vehicle, a Pathfinder, and are now looking at the Jayco feather X23B. For those who have one, how do you manage in the rain with the tent ends? Are they waterproof and easy to wipe down and put away? I love the storage and kitchen area! My husband is still a little unsure of the tent ends because we had a Starcraft expandable years ago which you had to tie down the ends. Any comments? Thanks.

[Irks73]

We have a 2016 19h and haven't had any problems with the tent ends, now they come attached to the fold down ends.

[roving legrands]

We have a 23b and have nothing negative to say about it. No problems with rain coming in on the tent ends, we have closed it up a Little damp, just make sure as soon a you get home to open it back up and air it out for a few days and your fine.

[Tunce the traveler]

I have a hybrid also( 6 years old now) and no problems at all with the tent ends. The X23b is an excellent choice fo many reasons and one of them is its length. Not that small and not overly too long. Very comfortable unit to live in for extended periods of time. Has a great useable kitchen that puts many to shame and all that full useable storage space for everything you need. Two people can work in the kitchen and not be in each other's way. When your running for several days with 1 night stops there's no need to put the ends out because you can still sleep 4 and no one is on the floor.
Now go have fun and discover the country.
"Tunce"

[Ashco4]

Thank you all for the great advice! I can't wait to explore America in something that gives me more foot space than a small rectangle in which to move! Don't get me wrong, I love our r-pod ("the hobbit house") and we've visited the New England states, Mackinaw City, MI, Minneapolis, MN, Disney World (several times) and in between. Just need a bit more space so the kids and extended family can drive, fly, or train in to join us on the road and all of us be comfortable. Have awhile before we buy our "Miss Patricia" but hopefully, that time will go fast!

[Ed Brodt]

We have a 2014 X23B. Been out several times on extended trips of 2-3 months. Never had a water problem with tent ends. Have broken camp a few times in the rain. No problems if opened up again in next day or so. Pretty much found that inside shower is almost useless for us. If boon-docking the outside shower is very nice. When we bought it, it came with a grill that attaches on the side of the camper with quick connect propane hoses. I didn't think we would ever us it. Found out we use it on a regular basis. The furnace and the AC do their jobs extremely well. The shower is our only complaint.

[Ashco4]

Thanks for your comments on the bunk ends. I did notice that the shower is a bit small and looks like it could easily flood over if you were not careful. My husband and I talked about maybe attaching height to the shower base with a modification of some sort. Anyway, thanks again.

[Jagiven]

We have lots of miles on our 2012 X23B. You do not mention how big your family is, but one of the reasons we picked our X23B, was the amount of interior space. The sofa is a bit small to sleep on, but we have “Turtled” a few times, which is sleeping inside without opening the bunks. It is great for a quick stop, staying overnight in a Walmart parking lot, pulling in during a heavy rain storm, even staying deep in bear country, etc.

The bunk ends are vinyl coating coated and do not leak, even if you are right up touching them. They are securely fastened to the bunk doors. Easy setup, easy teardown! Early on a couple times we have accidently closed the bunk ends with a piece of the skirting caught in the seal, and we had water enter the bunk ends. Opened up the bunk end, and we had a ¼+ gallon of water on the bunk fabric and not a drop inside. So I would say they are water proof. We have since figured out how to close the bunk ends to ensure we do not have any fabric caught in the seals.
One thing we do to make, making up the beds easier, I open the Emergency exit windows on the bunk ends from the outside, and help make the beds from the outside, the DW does the same from the inside. This makes very quick and easy work of making the beds.

If I recall correctly the 2012 model year was the last year for the higher shower tub walls. I like that they are higher. But we have never taken a shower in ours. I am 6’1” and could not image how I would wash my feet, as the space is small. We have no issues using the CG bathroom house. Our shower is the home of our dirty laundry basket.

[dave89]

We have a 2013 X23b and really like the versatility of it. It's just my wife and I and we can set it up in many ways depending on the situation. We haven't had any problems at all. The tent ends being attached to the bed frame are great. No rain water in the cabin. We've camped in some down pours in the last couple of years and nothing. Some thing we did run into at first was condensation in the rear bunk. Even with a flap or two open, I noticed some wetness in the top of the canvas. Took care if it by adding a small fan to keep the air moving in the camper. One of the things I don't like about the newer Jayco hybrids is the latches for the bunks. I understand the reasoning for them but they are plastic. I'm not sure how they'll hold up over time. I have heavy metal cargo latches on mine. They are set high on the bunk ends and a bit hard for some to reach. Myself, being 6 foot tall, I even have to use a step to reach them. The shower is useless. We use it to put our clothes hamper in there. Most camp grounds we use have nice facilities for showers. But everything else is mainly the same. Good luck with your unit and have fun camping in it.

[RedHorse1]

I echo everyone's love for the X23B. It's an excellent HTT.
Make sure your planned TV will be capable of handling the weight. Our 23B scaled at 4420# GVW with 600# of that on the tongue (loaded). We pulled with a Ford Expedition and it was adequate, not any overkill.

[DocBrown]

Our X20E is the baby brother of the X23B. They no longer offer the X20E.

That said ours is our 2nd Jayco hybrid. Our first was an '03 Kiwi 17a that we owned for 10 years and replaced with the X20E. Not once have we ever between the 2 hybrids had leaky bunk ends. They are not like canvas tenting or older pop-up campers with straight up canvas. The tenting on modern hybrids are vinyl covered. Water does not/cannot soak in. It's rare that we have to pack up in pouring rain. If anything it's after a night of rain, I just use an old bath towel to get the majority of the water off. In the few rare times I've had to pack wet I just open them when we get home, towel them off and they air dry in an hour or so.

One thing I will say about a hybrid that you may not have considered is noise. You can pretty much hear everything outside, and people outside may be able to hear you. Folks who are not used to tents or pop-up campers don't usually like this aspect of hybrids. Personally we love them, or we wouldn't have been camping in them the past 13 years.

[Ashco4]

Thanks for all your helpful comments!

[Baja]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

I echo everyone's love for the X23B. It's an excellent HTT.
Make sure your planned TV will be capable of handling the weight. Our 23B scaled at 4420# GVW with 600# of that on the tongue (loaded). We pulled with a Ford Expedition and it was adequate, not any overkill.

What's your PAYLOAD Sticker say on the Expedition?

[bankr63]

For packing wet, I keep a few of the "Super Shammy" towels in the HTT. They absorb so much more and so much better than a bath towel. I use another one to absorb any condensation/melt water after turning the fridge off. I'll still open up for about 12 hours of dry weather when I get home to ensure the tenting is really dry - I drop the bunks when I leave for work, and close up when I get home. That's enough to get them dried out.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by Baja

What's your PAYLOAD Sticker say on the Expedition?

The Expe is now gone but:

From the sticker
TV
GVWR. 7100
F GAWR 3150
R GAWR 4128
GCWR 14500
Max Trailer Wt 8950

From CAT Scale
TV only
Steer 2860
Drive 3100

TV & TT (w spring bars)
Steer 2700
Drive 3800
TT 3880


The CAT Scale is your friend.

[Tonyzsi]

I'm assuming you have a 2008-2012 Pathfinder with a 6-7K tow rating. The 2013 and newer models only have a 5,000 lb rating and would not safely tow an x23b with cargo and people.
Those X23b campers do look nice. I just purchased a much smaller cousin the X18D due to my limited tow capacity.

[Ashco4]

Thanks for the message. The new 2017 Pathfinders tow 6000 lbs according to the Nissan website so I think we'll be ok with that model. We looked at the 19XUD. I liked it and it is still on our list but my husband wanted a little more room. We'll see. Thanks, again.

[GRUU]

We bought from Harbor freight an electric leaf blower for $29.00 on sale. If tent ends are damp or wet, we blow them off with the leaf blower before folding the end down. It works very well and I don't have wet towels to contend with. Still open them up when we get home.

[SteveMM]

Originally Posted by Ashco4

Thanks for the message. The new 2017 Pathfinders tow 6000 lbs according to the Nissan website so I think we'll be ok with that model. We looked at the 19XUD. I liked it and it is still on our list but my husband wanted a little more room. We'll see. Thanks, again.

You are correct, but ... again ... check the payload capacity of the Pathfinder. I have a 2015. I only tow an X17Z (good bit smaller) Jayco but after tongue weight and passengers (one big adult, one small adult and two smallish teens) I only have a couple of hundred pounds left over for cargo. We make it work. I don't know about the payload capacity of the 2017 Pathfinders. It may be higher, since the tow capacity is higher.

[frauo]

We loved our 17 foot 2011 Jayco hybrid. Zero problems in 6 years of frequent camping. Zero. So we upgraded to the X23B last month. 2 unhappy results so far. One is that the cute brush at the bottom of the screen door is not long enough to seal the screen, leaving it open for critters. Our dealer was not helpful. He must think that being able to see outside the screen door is normal. The second surprise was when we had a bike hitch added, no one told us that we now had to carry our spare tire inside our car. Surprise!