Any Surveyor 247BHDS owners

[SSminnow]

I am upgrading from a Coachman Clipper 17 bh and am wanting the Surveyor 247bhds. I will be towing with a Ford f150 ecoboost with the 3.31 rear end.

Any 247 owners that can give some insight of likes/dislikes and how she is towing?

Thanks

[Scottyb1707]

We just got our 2017 247BHDS this summer and have had it out a few times. Longest haul was ~240 miles to SD. We are pulling with a 2011 Ford Expedition that has the 3.31 rear end and air ride suspension. Also have the 12k Equalizer Hitch (we would have been OK with the 10k hitch, but decided to go oversize). It pulls pretty good, seems to have enough power to get going (struggles a little up the steep hills). It was pretty windy out the days we pulled in SD and the trailer didn't buck too bad. The guy in front of me had his ~34 ft trailer all over the road. All in all we are very happy with this trailer, works great for our family of 4 plus guests. I think many other camper had trailer envy after we rolled up

[SSminnow]

That's awesome. Can you tell me what you like or don't like about the trailer? Is it functional at all with the slides in? I'm thinking of quick overnight parking lot stays or stops for lunch. We would be on the road for weeks at a time.

[Scottyb1707]

With the slides in, all beds are accessible; however, you cannot pass through from the front to rear of the trailer. Because there is a back door, you can have access to the bunks and bathroom. The kitchen is not accessible, though there is the outdoor kitchen.

What we love about this trailer is:
Outdoor Kitchen
Amount to storage (big pantry, cubby holes by queen beds and under bunks, large drawers in dinette)
Layout (second slide is a game changer in terms of roominess)
Rear door into bathroom
Quality of construction seems better than some we looked at (not perfect though)
Large awning runs entire length of trailer
Friction hinges on entry doors (we have small boys and it has saved their fingers more than once already, though they have a tough time opening the doors)
Magnetic latches on pass-throughs and outdoor kitchen (makes them idiot proof)
Pocket doors separating the bedroom from the rest of the trailer
A lot of this is not unique to this trailer, but to have all of these in one unit at this length was harder to find. It seems like they thought of a lot of the little things and convenience items included them standard. There were actually not many "options" you could add.

Things we don't love:
There is honestly not much that we have found and don't like, very minor things
Outdoor kitchen is smaller than some, but still very functional
The, i'll call them reading lights for a lack of better term, are too bright above the queen. I'll have to find a way to dim them down
After a few uses we have seen some wear and tear. All on trim/cosmetic features and granted we have had 2 small boys + their cousins "playing" in there
I will be upgrading the TV mount with a swivel type for better view-ability
It would be nice if the top bunk had a higher weight allowance. It is 200 lbs and works for kids but is iffy for most adults.
I am struggling to come up with things that don't seem too nit-picky

All in all we absolutely love this trailer. It works great for our family of 4 with 2 young boys. There is plenty of room to even have a guest couple. The length and weight make it easy to pull and park.

Obviously everyone has different things that they consider must haves or deal breakers. This one had the most must haves for us and I feel like the only thing we compromised on was the size of the outdoor kitchen (there are some that have an undercounter size fridge and larger opening out there, but not many in the size trailer we were looking for). If you have any other specific questions, I can try to answer; however, we have found that just because you see something on one trailer, doesn't mean it will be the same on yours.

Hope this helped and good luck.

[jsmith032]

Mind sharing what you paid? I'm seconds away from pulling the trigger on the 247bhds and want to know if I'm getting a deal.

[SSminnow]

Thanks such for the info. This model does seem to have lots of the "must haves" for us too. And the length and weight is perfrct. The only thing I worry about is that I have 3 kids and 13,11, and 8 and wonder if it will have enough room in the long run. Do you miss not having a sofa or does the u- shape dinette sufice?

[Scottyb1707]

We haven't missed the sofa, the u dinette has worked. Ours has the free standing table so we can pull that out when we want to use it as a seating area. There have been a few times that the sofa would have been nice, but not enough to justify the extra length of the trailer. We are "roughing it" after all 😊
Our boys are a little younger (3 and 5) so we should have some time before they out grow the space. Although i have slept in the bottom bunk and fit pretty well. Definitely not as roomy as the queen or dinette, but it worked.

[Scottyb1707]

I had to make the first mod to my 247BHDS this week. We love that it had the large pantry, but the base is not very strong. We found that the items we placed on the base caused it to cave in during towing. I pulled it apart and found that the base was constructed of a 1/8" plywood and a few 1/2 x 1/2 frame members. Also the blower for the furnace is under there. I replaced the 1/2" frame with 2x2 and added a few more cross beams before replacing the plywood and trim. Seems much more secure.

[247BHDS from NH]

I have noticed the same issue with ours. Might have to take a closer look once the weather changes.

Has anyone thought about removing one of the drawers, lower the closet floor and replacing the door with one that is taller in the master bedroom?

I noticed that the cloths I hung last summer would lay on the bottom. Doesn't look like it would be too difficult except matching the finish.

[Scottyb1707]

Just pulled ours out of storage last week and got it de-winterized, pretty straightforward. As for enlarging the closet areas in the bedroom, we have not been bothered by that, so far. We tend to fold rather than hang most of our clothes. Also, tend to take shorter 2-3 night stays, maybe it would be harder with longer stays. Ready to take it out this weekend!

[Scottyb1707]

Mod number 2. Replaced the plastic adjustable pantry brackets with metal ones. Very easy, can be done with just a drill with square bit. We used some similar to these:

KV Shelf Standard (Pilasters)

I don't remember where we got them from, but they were brown instead of metallic. No real reason other than they might blend in better. I don't notice them, so either it works or I wouldn't have noticed them anyways.

They seem much sturdier than the plastic ones, as we had a few of those clips break overtime. The only downside is that there is one shelf position where the shelf interferes with the door knob. This is not the bracket's fault, it's just a combination of the shelf depth and the doorknob protrusion. There is plenty of shelf height adjustability to get around this though.

Great, easy, inexpensive improvement.

Cheers

[clarkbre]

We've owned ours 1 year today and have spent 31 nights in it so far.

It's been a great trailer and has only had minor issues.

Mods:
- Tv mounted in front bedroom
- Blu ray/DVD/ smart wired to both tvs
- Reinforced the lift strut mounting points for the bed
- Replaced mattress in front bedroom