16FB or 17FQ

[ladypmd03]

We bought the wolf pup 16bhs
Love the extra storage. But miss having a vanity in BR. Makes brushing teeth etc interesting.And def a true pain crawling over each other the way the bed is.We needed the extra storage with the BH as we travel with our bicycles and extras bike accessories.

[KDHfan]

Have you looked into any of the Rockwood Mini Lites that come with a Murphy bed? We had one for 2 seasons and loved it. You get your sofa and dinette by day... And within 30-seconds, you have your queen bed for sleeping. Our family of 4 + rover, outgrew it faster than expected or we'd still have it. The MiniLite1905 might work for you. Packs a lot into a little camper.
We also had an Rpod for 1 season. We just couldn't adjust to the wetbath. It was sooo tiny. We tried it a few times, but mostly ended up using the campground facilities.

[Squatty]

We chose the Coachmen 16FB , first thing we did was to removed all the loud vinyl graphics and replaced the 13" tires/wheels with 15"

Its just the two of us so it fits our needs just fine . When we first got married we had a 1985 VW Westfalia camper so this 16FB is huge compared to that ! Our F250 tows it beautifully .

[gwolfe]

Squatty, was there anything special you had to do to get the 15" wheels/tires to fit? I have been wanting to do this upgrade to my 16B.

[Squatty]

NO-didn't do anything more then bolt them on , really . There is 5" of clearance from the top of the 15" tires to the wheel well and 2- 1/2 " side clearance .
The tires are Carlisle ST 205/75/15R
got the wheels from Vintage Trailer Supply ( 15 " x 6" 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern )
I've never liked aluminum wheels and those 13" wheels/tires made the trailer look like a fat man on ice skates .



This is a picture from underneath - Looking up at the inner wheel well side clearance .

I put a long piece of Duck Tape on the inside of each wheel well to see if there was any rubbing and after 800 plus miles so far the tape is still intact .
Be careful and take a lot of measurements , It worked for me ......

[gwolfe]

Awesome, thanks for the reply. I like those wheels!

[EvnEm]

Just curious if you guys who are upgrading to 15" tires are also changing the spare or not?

[Squatty]

I did ,
used the same wheel and tire set up as the ones on the trailer but didn't mount it on the carrier on the rear bumper , I am going to turn that into a bicycle rack instead , I throw the spare for the trailer in the back of the pick up along with the big floor jack and a 4 way lug wrench -it (the floor jack)would come in handy in case of a flat on the truck too .
Thank goodness I have not needed it yet , but I'd rather carry all that equipment and not need it instead of need it and not have it . Same goes for a well stocked tool box-just in case .
Now, as my wife and I get older we have AAA road service and have added RV road service to our plan as well . I don't take chances like I did when I was younger ....

[Squatty]

Just for sake of conversation , this is a picture of our previous trailer taken in the summer of 2014 . Sold it in 2015 . It was way to much trailer for two people and way to much trailer for my truck .
After that we decided IF we were going to continue camping it would be in a much smaller set up .







For us smaller is better .

[BobandArlene]

Originally Posted by bigjoey38

Anyone know when you trade in your TT do they check everything?

I am trying to work on a deal for a 17FQ, while getting my camper ready for possible trade in I notice the toilet is not working. frustrated.

I've never seen a dealer inspect function of everything as a condition of trade in, same with cars/trucks.

It's a trade-in, in as-is condition, and when the dealer preps it for sale, they fix what needs fixing.

[Bizelisa]

Originally Posted by Ky-N

Sounds interesting, can you post a pic of it?

This is how we made our dinette smaller in the Clipper 17FQ

[Bizelisa]

we made our dinette smaller in our Clipper 17FQ use the bigger one outside.

[Ky-N]

Originally Posted by Bizelisa

This is how we made our dinette smaller in the Clipper 17FQ

Sorry I don't see anything.

[bigjoey38]

In regards to the 17 FQ has anyone done a mod to make the dinette sleeping area bigge? longer?

[Bizelisa]

Originally Posted by Austintatious

We really do enjoy ours as well, have camped several weekends now and have a few week-long excursions planned over the near future.

Yellow sticker indicates dry weight at 2850 and I always tow with empty tanks.

My JKU is a 2015 with tow package and 3.73 gearing rated for 3500lbs.

I did install a brake controller (P3) and it works very well. The Jeep itself pulls fine around town, but when I get onto the highway and try to maintain 60-65 is when the problem starts. With the slightest grade or headwind it's wanting to downshift to 3rd and scream along at 3500rpm. With a really stiff headwind (15-20mph) and any sort of grade it's wanting to go even lower to 2nd gear and 4500rpm.



That can't be good for extended periods of time. So I bought a 2016 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel and now it's like it's not even back there and I'm getting 18-19mpg while towing, 26-28 while not.

Still have the Jeep though

we pull our clipper 17FQ with our 2008 Jeep JKU, We have a 4 inch lift, 513 gears, run 35 tires, have the front dana 30 and axle is trussed and gusseted and sleeved. When climbing hills the OD needs to be turned off. We turned the axel on our trailer over and run 15 inch tires and wheels on it. We put a transmission cooler and fan to help push air thru the jeep. We have climbed steep grades our Rpm is 3000, highway 60mph and rpm is about 2800. We live i Washington State and have gone on many passes around Mt. Rainier with no issues. We average about 12 miles per gallon when towing.

[Austintatious]

Originally Posted by Bizelisa

we pull our clipper 17FQ with our 2008 Jeep JKU, We have a 4 inch lift, 513 gears, run 35 tires, have the front dana 30 and axle is trussed and gusseted and sleeved. When climbing hills the OD needs to be turned off. We turned the axel on our trailer over and run 15 inch tires and wheels on it. We put a transmission cooler and fan to help push air thru the jeep. We have climbed steep grades our Rpm is 3000, highway 60mph and rpm is about 2800. We live i Washington State and have gone on many passes around Mt. Rainier with no issues. We average about 12 miles per gallon when towing.

Yeah, I think the 3.73 gears are the problem on mine. I'm actually down at the coast right now, pulled my 17FQ down here with the Jeep using the back roads. A couple hundred miles and a fiv hour trip. It did okay, around 11mpg with 33's at 55mph. As long as there was no headwind I could stay in 4th at 2300 rpm but the slightest grade or headwind had me in 3rd at around 3400rpm.

I've got almost 30 nights now in this 17FQ, really enjoy it. Have done a lot of different mods so far and keep finding ways to make it more useful. Even changed out the wheels and tires with 15" versions with a higher weight capacity and didn't have to flip the axle. Probably the best mod so far was an 8" Cool Gel memory foam mattress. Very comfortable.

[dstacy969]

Originally Posted by bigjoey38

Anyone know when you trade in your TT do they check everything?



I am trying to work on a deal for a 17FQ, while getting my camper ready for possible trade in I notice the toilet is not working. frustrated.

In January we traded in our 12 year old pop-up on a new travel trailer. They didn't even pop the trade-in up before the deal was made.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ky-N]

When we traded for our 17FQ they sold our R-Pod trade-in to another couple while it was still hooked up to our truck. Sure felt sorry for them with all the issues it had.

[bigjoey38]

Originally Posted by Ky-N

When we traded for our 17FQ they sold our R-Pod trade-in to another couple while it was still hooked up to our truck. Sure felt sorry for them with all the issues it had.

Did they give you a good trade in amount for your R pod?

[Ky-N]

We got 2k less than we paid for it and considering all the issues it had, good riddance.