Comparing Two Travel Trailers

[Addy15]

Helping my sister choose a new travel trailer and we are considering two right now: A Coachmen Freedom Express 257BHS and a Grand Design Imagine 2400BH. This is the basic floor plan she is looking at right now because it meets the features she is looking for. You can assume we know what limitations we are working with in terms of towing/payload capacity and that these two trailers both meet those specifications, so we DO NOT need advice regarding that. Just looking for comments regarding anyone's experience with either of these two trailers. Thanks.

[Addy15]

Well, she ended up with neither the Coachmen nor the Grand Design. As often happens, the search for a new trailer took us on many side roads, and she has decided on a Rockwood Mini Lite 2509S.

Thanks for your input.

[shfd739]

rvshrinker wrote:
30 gal grey is not a serious camper in my opinion.

This x1000000..Knowing what we know now having only a 30gal gray tank we wont consider any floor plan with less than 60gal of gray capacity. That’s enough to get us thr a long weekend with no hookup.

[Bumpyroad]

does one of them have a rubber roof? if so, buy the other one.
bumpy

[Ralph_Cramden]

anw7405 wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:
Grand Designs proven communication and customer support more than offsets Coachmen and Forest River's mediocre hit and miss approach if warranty is your concern.

As far as Azdel its nothing more than Coachmen marketing. If they replaced every piece of wood with it that would be one thing, but simply using it for the outer layer of susbstrate in the sidewalls gains you very little if anything.

I would like to know how a small dent in a wall with Azdel substrate would be worse with a Luan substrate?

Wow. I'm not knocking grand design here I'm just saying my opinion which is what the OP wanted.

Azdel is much more than just marketing.
Its lighter
It will not mold or suck up water like wood
Its a better insulator

these are all good things I would think in any body's opinion. So the dent in my camper peeled back the aluminum strip where the wall and the back came together. It rained quite a bit here before I seen it and sealed it up. If this was wood I would be really worried about mold, swelling etc. I just sealed it up and I will get around to fixing it probably some time this winter. No worries. Be happy. Keep camping.....

Well I was not knocking anyone either. Its factual that Forest Rivers responses are varied regarding issues and Grand Designs are exceptional. That is from a Forest River owner (Rockwood). Although Rockwood has been stellar many of their other divisions are not.

Believe what you want about Azdel. Yes it wont rot, but it can still delaminate from the foam layer or the filon can from the Azdel. The weight savings can be measured in
tens of pounds because Coachmen only uses it for the outer layer behind the filon in the sidewalls. Not the inner layer, the front nor rear, nor the floor or roof. As far as better insulation value.....ok. How would that be measured with a 1/8" piece replacing a 1/8" piece of luan plywood?

Is it better than luan......yes. Enough to sway a purchase? Not IMO. Especially given Forest Rivers lackluster support in more than a few cases. It sure looks good on the website and Brochure. Now if they used Azdel for both layers in the sidewalls, laminated the ends using Azdel. Put in a 3/4" Azdel floor and used it for the roof sheathing and cieling....then they might have something to crow about. As it stands on a 30' coachmen they replaced a total of 7.5 sheets of luan on each side with Azdel, 15 total for a weight savings of about 80 lbs, maybe. An increased R value?......LOL.

I would not be led down the primrose path regarding the miracle of Azdel. Its far from a miracle.

[anw7405]

Ralph Cramden wrote:
Grand Designs proven communication and customer support more than offsets Coachmen and Forest River's mediocre hit and miss approach if warranty is your concern.

As far as Azdel its nothing more than Coachmen marketing. If they replaced every piece of wood with it that would be one thing, but simply using it for the outer layer of susbstrate in the sidewalls gains you very little if anything.

I would like to know how a small dent in a wall with Azdel substrate would be worse with a Luan substrate?

Wow. I'm not knocking grand design here I'm just saying my opinion which is what the OP wanted.

Azdel is much more than just marketing.
Its lighter
It will not mold or suck up water like wood
Its a better insulator

these are all good things I would think in any body's opinion. So the dent in my camper peeled back the aluminum strip where the wall and the back came together. It rained quite a bit here before I seen it and sealed it up. If this was wood I would be really worried about mold, swelling etc. I just sealed it up and I will get around to fixing it probably some time this winter. No worries. Be happy. Keep camping.....

[goducks10]

I'd get the one that has the least amount of MDF and OSB in it.

[Ralph_Cramden]

Grand Designs proven communication and customer support more than offsets Coachmen and Forest River's mediocre hit and miss approach if warranty is your concern.

As far as Azdel its nothing more than Coachmen marketing. If they replaced every piece of wood with it that would be one thing, but simply using it for the outer layer of susbstrate in the sidewalls gains you very little if anything.

I would like to know how a small dent in a wall with Azdel substrate would be worse with a Luan substrate?

[rvshrinker]

30 gal grey is not a serious camper in my opinion.

[2012Coleman]

shfd739 wrote:
The Imagine looks like a better floor plan. More counter space in the kitchen, shower pan instead of a tub and I prefer the head on TV viewing position instead of the angled one.

The Grand Design also has much bigger tanks. I’d love to have 76 gallons of grey water tank instead of my current 30.

The GD also has a bigger pantry, and as stated has a 30 X 36 shower - not to mention the pet dish which is a pretty cool feature. I'm a little biased - as our GD Reflection 303 RLS blew all others out of the water as to fit and finish and materials used - it doesn't look cheap.

[shfd739]

The Imagine looks like a better floor plan. More counter space in the kitchen, shower pan instead of a tub and I prefer the head on TV viewing position instead of the angled one.

The Grand Design also has much bigger tanks. I’d love to have 76 gallons of grey water tank instead of my current 30.

[Bumpyroad]

azdel would be the choice for me
bumpy

[TurnThePage]

One thing that I HATE about my current little trailer is that discarded shoes are always under foot. I love the shoe storage feature that's just inside the door in Imagine trailers. Though it could be there, I've not noticed it on others.

I'm a fan of frameless windows too. It looks like that's an option on the Freedom Express, but not the Imagine. The Azdel is nice, but not enough to sway me.

[rbpru]

Floor plan stays when all else is forgotten or accepted.

TTs are built to a price point. So more money often has better features.

There is also an amount of annual maintenance and repairs to be considered. Which would be easiest to service.

Good Luck

[anw7405]

I like the azdel walls in the coachmen. It's one of the things that swayed me to coachman. I let someone borrow my trailer and when I got it back it had a little dent in the strip that holds the back wall to the side. If it had wood walls this would be a much bigger problem for water damage.