daughter wants to get 224bh

[kwalsh]

so my daughter and her boyfriend are looking into a 224bh and i am wondering if anybody has had any problems or what they think about towing it with 1/2 ton. it says it gvwr is 5500#

[DocBrown]

Good that you are looking at the GVWR. Any modern half ton won't have any issues with that trailer. Just watch the payload (sticker in the driver door jamb) and make sure there is enough for the loaded tongue weight (possibly 750#), WDH (75-100#), passengers, and any gear loaded in the bed or back seat.

[gatorblue92]

I rented one of those last summer before buying my 264BH and while it was nice I found the outside kitchen to be pretty useless. With 2 kids and a dog we opted for the extra couch inside over the outside kitchen. My F150 was able to tow the 224 BH without much fuss but it had the 5.0 and I’ve since upgraded to a 3.5 Ecoboost F150 which is far superior for towing.

[jaycojay]

Hey ...... my brother has one for sale! He put his money down on a new Ford Bronco 2 dr, so pulling the trailer with this new awesome vehicle is not in the cards. So, your daughter sees kids in her future, because this is a good young couple with a couple of kids floorplan. If it's going to be just the two of them, not that good, although, if they are like my brother, the bunks get used for storage. If a big bathroom is a priority, this baby has you covered ..... huge bath with a huge walk in shower. As for towing, i have towed it with my 1/2 ton. You need to keep reminding yourself its back there .... a dream to tow!

[kwalsh]

my daughter used the term " to grow into" so maybe someday kids but probably just friends and family for now and yes big bathroom is needed as her boyfriend is 6'3" and 275#, I do like that it is double axle also to help smooth out the ride

[itsaJayco]

We have a 2018 224BH and tow with 2019 F150 3.5 ecoboost with max tow package. We use a weight distribution kit too. No issues towing, barely feel it, easy to forget its there. We are a family of 5 and there is plenty of space. Kids will often have friends come for a visit, 2 kids per bunk plus one on the table. We love the trailer, having no slide outs saves lots of weight, there is a TON of storage space, and the floor is big enough to easily store two 10ft kayaks during transit. The bottom bunk holds the three kids yellow kayaks. Happy to answer any specific questions

[viennafire21]

I have the same camper, 224bh. How hard is it to get your kayak in?

[viennafire21]

Originally Posted by itsaJayco

We have a 2018 224BH and tow with 2019 F150 3.5 ecoboost with max tow package. We use a weight distribution kit too. No issues towing, barely feel it, easy to forget its there. We are a family of 5 and there is plenty of space. Kids will often have friends come for a visit, 2 kids per bunk plus one on the table. We love the trailer, having no slide outs saves lots of weight, there is a TON of storage space, and the floor is big enough to easily store two 10ft kayaks during transit. The bottom bunk holds the three kids yellow kayaks. Happy to answer any specific questions

How hard to get the kayaks in the camper?

[ggilbert]

We have a 2018 bunk house. Toes it with a ram 1500 no trouble towed it from Kentucky to Wyoming. Kentucky to niagara Falls. Get between 20 and 13 mpg towing.

Get a google weight distribution hitch like the equalizer. https://www.equalizerhitch.com/

Started out with a husky round bar hitch with chains. Dreaded towing the camper anywhere. Lots of trailer sway.

Switch to a https://www.equalizerhitch.com/. And you don’t even know it’s behind you. And a million times easier to hitch up.

[itsaJayco]

Originally Posted by viennafire21

I have the same camper, 224bh. How hard is it to get your kayak in?

Not hard, as there is only one door that the door it goes in through

Kayaks, once dry and clean go in last when we pack to head out. One person inside, one outside. In the door, turn left and go over dinette (we travel with it down - best place for zero-g like chairs, folding tables, etc.). Don't tilt too high to hit the upper cabinets. Once both are in the trailer we temporarily leave them on the dinnette. Makes it easier to flush black/grey tanks when leaving the campground. Once that's done they go on the floor for the long travel.

We have two 10 ft kayak, one flat (it goes on bottom) so it goes in second, one rounder (it goes in first). I should have taken a photo yesterday when I went to shovel the snow off the roof. Sorry about that.

I can solo them in when wife is busy with kids or doing other closing activities.

NOW - lesson learned - Make sure to put something in front of the bottom bunk (a pillow works) and in front of the base of the queen bed (guess which dummy put a hole in the queen bed base ). We actually use our webber bbq in front of the two kayaks now so they don't touch the queen bed base.

We have been considering getting roof racks for the truck be we are worried about the weight in the truck (even with max tow and max payload packages).

If you have any other questions please ask - always happy to help. We love this trailer

[ggilbert]

a lot of ppl with Kayaks around here get a ladder rack and install on their truck. Easier than fighting them into the camper.

[itsaJayco]

Originally Posted by viennafire21

I have the same camper, 224bh. How hard is it to get your kayak in?

Originally Posted by ggilbert

a lot of ppl with Kayaks around here get a ladder rack and install on their truck. Easier than fighting them into the camper.

Lol, if we had to fight to get it in we would do the ladder rack too. I doubt any kayak longer than 10 ft would fit in this specific trailer (224bh). Again, our concern is the weight in the truck. We have a short box that has 5 bikes, mini-chest freezer, 32 gallon pooptote and fill spaces with firewood. Add three kids in back seat, plus wife and I, plus weight distribution hitch, and the tongue weight...adding a heavy ladder rack and 2-4 kayaks might be pushing our overall numbers

[ggilbert]

Originally Posted by itsaJayco

Lol, if we had to fight to get it in we would do the ladder rack too. I doubt any kayak longer than 10 ft would fit in this specific trailer (224bh). Again, our concern is the weight in the truck. We have a short box that has 5 bikes, mini-chest freezer, 32 gallon pooptote and fill spaces with firewood. Add three kids in back seat, plus wife and I, plus weight distribution hitch, and the tongue weight...adding a heavy ladder rack and 2-4 kayaks might be pushing our overall numbers

It’s better to have the weight in the truck or near the hitch in my opinion. Too much weight on the back of the trailer makes it pull bad and have trailer sway. More tong weight is more forgiving in my opinion.

We have a hitch welded on the back of the camper to the frame. And I have an aluminum harbor freight basket that goes in the hitch and we put our blue boy in it when we take it. We also have a bike rack we can put on that same hitch if needed.

[jejgt]

Nice little unit, HUGE bathroom as been talked about. Love the real sink outside, super handy I think! Better if they put a Blackstone instead of the stove tops back there and the refrige is great outside. Big deal for us. Towing with a older low mileage 2006 F-150 Supercrew. No issues or problems towing up some decent Kentucky grades, but u know anything over about 3,000lbs you gonna feel it. Its a nice small solid, useful long weekend camper with decent storage and the bunk beds are great, oversized relatively comfortable and even nice for storage. Do I wish I had a slide out, well yeah but I have no regrets. Love the length too.

[wags]

I tow a 23BHS with a half ton...no issues. Mine weighs just under 6k lbs loaded.

[CBR_Guy]

I tow a 24RL (GVWR 6500lb, it usually weighs in at 6320 w/full tank and stuff for a week off-grid) with a 2019 Tundra double cab with the TRD and towing packages. It’s rated for towing 9,700 lbs. I use a Blue Ox hitch and installed Firestone air bags on the truck; these made a lot of difference in towing stability. I do recommend weighing regularly and I bought a tongue scale to help keep the load distributed during a trip. At least for me, small changes in the weight distribution in the trailer make a lot of difference in stability. For what it’s worth...

[Khudson54]

We have a 32bhs 2019 we purchased it in June 2019 over the past 1 year and 7 months it has been in the shop
For warranty repairs off and on for 13 months and needs to
Go back again
I would not purchase a Jayco product
We have a 2015 Chev Silverado 1500

[spark of insanity]

I have one similar to it under another name. Wish I had seen this one before buying the one I have now. But the one I have now is perfect because there is only one of me. I am going solo in a few years. Otherwise Jaycos are a nice brand. And this looks like a nice camper. Do not get the warranty. I didn't and nothing wrong so far.

[Ricardo]

I'm still thinking about purchasing a Jayco 224, most people seem Ok with them here, small things can go wrong, nothing is perfect after all. But you know, don't get the Friday built ones, I wonder how the pandemic is affecting build quality, masks are distracting..