Potential New Travel Trailer Owner Question

[revbilly]

The wife and I have been looking and looking at RVs for awhile. We thought a motor home would be what we wanted but after renting and living in one for a week we’ve decided a travel trailer will fit us better. We’ve looked at hundreds of models and floor plans and have narrowed it down to 2 both are Forest River Wildwood X-Lite models 171RBXL and 241QBXL. We aren’t newbies to camping but we are to RVing. Does anyone have experience with the Wildwood models I listed? One of the things we are interested in knowing other people’s opinion is the ‘murphy bed/sofa. Observations, likes, dislikes etc.

[Mickeyfan0805]

Congrats! Get out and enjoy.

[hondapro]

Congrats. Now go and have a bunch of fun with it.

[revbilly]

Thanks for all the advice. It really was extremely helpful, especially about the murphy bed. Well, this last week we pulled the trigger and bought

2018 Ford F-150 4WD Lariat w/ 3.5L Ecoboost & 10 Spd Transmission
Truck has Back Up Assist and Max Towing pkg (13,200lbs according to Ford)
A Husky TS WDH
2018 Forest River Wildwood X-Lite 241QBXL

I guess that makes us official. We're not planning on full time but a week or two at a time at most.

Now we're just waiting to pick it up. And planning our 1st 3 trips.

Billy

[nosebreaker]

I will echo the others here about a murphy bed, or any of those "foldable mattresses" you see on slideouts. Having to remake the bed each time you move camp is a pain. I personally wouldn't want to do it often, but if you are planning to stay in one spot for extended periods of time it might not bother you.

My parents had an older one of those Wildwood campers, they had some repair issues with it I remember but overall it was fine. They used it for weekend camping trips and the longest trip they ever took was maybe 2-3 weeks. Not extended camping trips anywhere.

[goducks10]

An absolute must have is a walk around queen bed and bathroom big enough to dry off and get dressed in. The rest can be made to work. Most dinette booths in that price range are made with poor quality seating. It made be okay for 4-5 mins but not 30 mins plus. Decide what you like to do and where you want to camp. If you stay outside all the time then the seating isn't all that important. If you dry camp instead of doing full hookups then tank size is really important.
When we went from a tent to our 1st TT we thought it was a castle. (22' OAL) After one season and after finding out how much more fun it was to be out camping during any kind of weather we realized we wanted something with recliners or a sofa and dining. So we upgraded to a larger TT.

[John_Wayne]

After several I'd want a walk a round bed. So you don't have to climb over your partner to get up in the middle of the night, may sound like fun but not when the other one is sleeping.

[Mickeyfan0805]

I don't have any experience with the Wildwoods, so will leave that to others (the advice to check out the manufacturer forum is probably most beneficial).

I also don't have experience with the murphy bed, but I would echo the advice to be very considerate about the need to set up and break down every night. I've not seen it, so I don't know how easy it is. If it truly is as simple as 'pull it down and climb in,' that probably wouldn't bug me. If you have to move cushions, lower tables, shift things around, re-make beds, etc...however, that could get very tiresome very quickly. A requirement for us was that we needed enough static beds for everyone. It eats up trailer space, but makes it a much more pleasant experience in the evening.

All of this is balanced by your size and budget requirements too, but it is something to keep in mind!

[sgfrye]

DutchmenSport wrote:
After 1 pop-up and 3 different Travel Trailers, I'd never have a murphey bed. It has to be set up every night, put up every morning. Constantly moving things around to accommodate the space when the bed is lowered. After a while, I imagine the bed just stays in the down position because it becomes a pain up and down every day. Then the rest of the camper is cramped, and you'll be living on the bed all the time.

Our 2nd travel trailer had an uncomfortable living room area (low backed couch, tight dinette and benches, and television in the absolutely wrong place. It wasn't comfortable at all. We ended up using the camper less and less, and when we did, we were exclusively in the bedroom watching the television there in the evening or rainy days.

After a while, the interest in that camper became less and less. We realized we didn't like the arrangement and simply were not using it. It came to the point where we decided to either sell it completely and get out of the RV business or get a new one. We ended up getting a new one with a rear living room, put in our own couch and removed the free-standing kitchen table and chairs. We now "literally" live in the camper (at home, drive way camp) from April till December! Very seldom go in the house. We love it that much. Not to mention all the trips we take now.

If it were a Murphy bed arrangement, I think it would never get used. Actually, we'd simply just never have one. But not everyone is like us. For someone else, the space may work ok for them.

x2
be patient and try to find the best floor plan for you. we have a rear kitchen, no bunk 33ft wildwood. has a dinette (i took out dinette table and turned one bench seat against wall to make an L-shaped couch, we now eat off tv trays. we have a very uncomfortable j-knife sofa that will be replaced at some point. had 2 tiny recliners. i removed one close to outside door and put in a small shelf cubby hole style there to put shoes in, and use top for iphone ipad charging station.

we enjoy being outside of camper as much as possible however there will be alot of times when its raining. or cold, or extremely hot and its nice to have a comfortable living area to watch tv, or relax and read etc.

[DutchmenSport]

After 1 pop-up and 3 different Travel Trailers, I'd never have a murphey bed. It has to be set up every night, put up every morning. Constantly moving things around to accommodate the space when the bed is lowered. After a while, I imagine the bed just stays in the down position because it becomes a pain up and down every day. Then the rest of the camper is cramped, and you'll be living on the bed all the time.

Our 2nd travel trailer had an uncomfortable living room area (low backed couch, tight dinette and benches, and television in the absolutely wrong place. It wasn't comfortable at all. We ended up using the camper less and less, and when we did, we were exclusively in the bedroom watching the television there in the evening or rainy days.

After a while, the interest in that camper became less and less. We realized we didn't like the arrangement and simply were not using it. It came to the point where we decided to either sell it completely and get out of the RV business or get a new one. We ended up getting a new one with a rear living room, put in our own couch and removed the free-standing kitchen table and chairs. We now "literally" live in the camper (at home, drive way camp) from April till December! Very seldom go in the house. We love it that much. Not to mention all the trips we take now.

If it were a Murphy bed arrangement, I think it would never get used. Actually, we'd simply just never have one. But not everyone is like us. For someone else, the space may work ok for them.

[bikendan]

Suggest you go to Forest River Forums and post your questions in their Wildwood section, where there are lots of Wildwood owners.

You might want to describe how you want use it and what you'll be towing with.

Realize Wildwoods are an entry level trailer line and the X-lites aren't made for full time usage.