New Roo 183 Owner

Colorado Jeeper · 05-14-2012, 10:30 PM

Bought my wife a 2013 Roo 183 for Mothers Day. Pretty impressed with the layout and the room it has for such small unit. We had a Keystone Outback previously, it was a great camper but the length made it difficult to take into the backcountry. Our local dealer was fantastic to deal with. The wife and kids (5) are super excited for the upcoming camping season. The forum was helpful in gaining knowledge to navigate the purchasing process. Thanks!

**Terier** · 05-14-2012, 10:35 PM

Hi Colorado Jeeper

to the FRF and congrats on your new Roo! Great idea for a Mother's Day gift.

Your family will have lots of good times camping in your new trailer.

Take care.

Triguy · 05-15-2012, 06:33 AM

Welcome Colorado. Those three bunks on the 183 should serve your family well. Congratulations on your new Roo.

melbornj · 05-15-2012, 09:18 AM

Congrats. We bought a 233S in early February and take delivery next week. It is very similar to your unit. Have fun.

Cowracer · 05-16-2012, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colorado Jeeper

Bought my wife a 2013 Roo 183 for Mothers Day. Pretty impressed with the layout and the room it has for such small unit. We had a Keystone Outback previously, it was a great camper but the length made it difficult to take into the backcountry. Our local dealer was fantastic to deal with. The wife and kids (5) are super excited for the upcoming camping season. The forum was helpful in gaining knowledge to navigate the purchasing process. Thanks!

Damn. All I got my wife was a Keurig coffee machine.

Congrats on: A) the new camper and B) winning the "See honey, I love you more than the other guys" contest.

Tim

Canuck_Doug · 05-16-2012, 06:09 PM

Hey Tim, congrats on the 183. I bought our 183 last summer and so far we love it!

jjleonard26 · 10-20-2012, 09:40 AM

Colorado Jeeper,

Congrats on your purchase. We are considering the same purchase in April. Did you order yours? How did it go this summer? We have three kids (8, 6 & 4) and I think the three bunks would be perfect. We have a Chevy Traverse with the towing package so the weight is just about right. This is our FIRST trailer. We are coming from tents!

hockeytownmom · 10-20-2012, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjleonard26

Colorado Jeeper,

Congrats on your purchase. We are considering the same purchase in April. Did you order yours? How did it go this summer? We have three kids (8, 6 & 4) and I think the three bunks would be perfect. We have a Chevy Traverse with the towing package so the weight is just about right. This is our FIRST trailer. We are coming from tents!

Before our 233s purchase we had a Honda Pilot and were considering the Traverse to pull a 183. But after doing the math, the GVWR and towing capacity was too close for comfort. Watch your GVWR on the trailer, not the "dry weight" and you should consider only using 80% of your towing capacity. We ended buying a Suburban and then bought the 233s instead. GL!

**bikendan** · 10-20-2012, 08:15 PM

Ditto about the weight.
the max a Traverse can tow is 5200lbs. that's with only a 150lb. driver in it, nothing else.
the GVWR of the 183 is 4774lbs. dry tongue weight is 374lbs.

your first issue will be its actual tongue weight, when loaded. it will easily be over 500lbs., which may be over the Traverse's max tongue weight.

second, say Mom weighs 150lbs.
now, say Dad weighs 200lbs. and the kids total 200lbs.
a WDH will weigh around 100lbs. and say you have 100lbs. of cargo in the car.
the Traverse's tow capacity has now been reduced to 4600lbs., below the trailer's GVWR. you would have to tow without any water and watch every pound of cargo in the trailer to be safe.

as was said, you'll be at or over the Traverse's capacity, when everything is loaded.

rockfordroo · 10-21-2012, 11:03 PM

My Roo 19's GVWR is 4770 lbs and we have a 2011 FWD Traverse. It's just my wife and me, so we don't have it loaded nearly that much, and it's just the two of us in the car. While the Traverse can pull the weight, the biggest issue seems to be the drag. Doing 60 mph, it runs in 4th gear at 3000 rpm on flat ground most of the time. I'm not too thrilled with that. Once in a while, it will shift up in 5th gear. Trying to force it to shift up in the "manual mode" doesn't work, either. We will probably purchase a new tow vehicle next year.

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