Our Excellent Camping Adventures

Main Page      '02 Coleman Sun Valley: How We Chose It

Decisions, decisions...

During our shopping experience we initially considered Coleman, Starcraft, Bonair, Rockwood, and Jayco.  We looked at hybrids too but found them to be a bit much for our vehicle at the time to be able to handle.  We also found that for our purposes at the time, the tent trailers were more airy & spacious feeling, with better sleeping arrangements. 

How did we decide on the Sun Valley?  After narrowing it down to maybe 15 trailers that might fit the bill, we came up with a short-list of eight trailers that seemed pretty close to what we wanted and that we could tow.  Then we developed a point rating spreadsheet and the Sun Valley came out on top.  Admittedly it became somewhat subjective as the features of the Coleman became apparent.  I've included the spreadsheet, if you care to have a look.  We spent the winter identifying "must haves", as well as weights, capacities, features and so on.  Then we went to the 2002 Ottawa Spring RV Show and looked at all the trailers once again, up close.

The spreadsheet shows "must haves" in bold.  Colour coding is green=best; blue=2nd; yellow=getting worried; red=uh-oh.  I started colour coding to get a sense of the overall ratings of the trailers, but never really finished that because it didn't give the complete picture.  That's when I inserted a column after each trailer and ranked each element, giving it a point from 8 down to 1.  The spreadsheet really never got completely finished because the Coleman really started to appeal to us, but just going through this exercise taught us that.

The things we really liked about the Sun Valley:  that big stepper door, access to the fridge with the roof down, one-piece door is a snap to set up, back-saver bunk system (no storing support poles), no climbing over dinette to get into the beds, main floor area when loaded is in front of the axle so the tongue doesn't get lighter as its loaded, electric brakes on the trailer, the swing level galley that doesn't dump upside down, we don't need to turn the dinette into a bed to get extra sleeping.  It's the biggest Coleman with a 12' box and without a front storage trunk so the length still allows us to store it in our garage.

Lesson learned: do your homework but don't over analyze; you have to get into these trailers and see how they feel to you!

 

(bold = must have)

Starcraft

      

Coleman

  

Jayco

      

Rockwood

        

Model

2407

2408

Sun Valley

Eagle 12UDST

Eagle 12SD

Premier 2302

Premier 2307

Freedom 2280

point rating

174

194

198

176

165

179

186

168

queen size beds (or larger)

y (1q 1k)

7

y (1q 1k)

7

y (2 k)

8

y (1q 1k)

7

y (1q 1k)

7

y (1q 1k)

7

y (1q 1k)

7

y (1q 1k)

7

box size

12

8

12

8

12

8

12

8

12

8

12

8

12

8

12

8

unloaded hitch weight

184

6

178

7

160

8

260

1

225

3

217

5

259

2

223

4

dry weight

2105

1

1777

7

2055

3

1930

5

2035

4

2062

2

1910

6

1656

8

proportion of 75% rule

106%

3

93%

7

104%

4

99%

6

103%

5

104%

4

98%

6

89%

8

proportion of 100%

79%

3

70%

7

78%

4

74%

6

77%

5

78%

4

74%

6

66%

8

gross vehicle weight rating

2820

5

2820

5

3070

8

2800

4

2800

4

2937

6

2979

7

2323

3

net carrying capacity

715

2

1043

7

1015

6

870

4

765

3

875

5

1069

8

667

1

leave table up (alt. sleeping area)

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

in-out stove

y

7

y

7

y (2 stoves)

8

y

7

y

7

y

7

y

7

y

7

porta-potti storage

?

?

y

y

y

y

n

opt.

h/w pkg tank/faucet/12V pump

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

outside shower

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

n

5

easy bunk access parent end/kids end

n (couch), y

5

y, u-dinette#2

6

y, couch

7

u-dinette #2, y

5

y, optional

7

y,y

8

u-dinette #2, y

5

y,y

8

storage trunk

n

7

n

7

n

7

y

8

n

7

n

7

n

7

n

7

storage capacity

?

?

38

?

?

?

?

?

door opens when roof down

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

y

8

access fridge with top down

n

5

y

8

y

8

y

8

n

5

n

5

m

6

m

6

tire size

13

8

13

8

13

8

13

8

13

8

13

8

13

8

12

7

water capacity in gallons

18, under floor

7

10

3

20, under floor

8

17, under floor

6

17, under floor

6

16

4

16

4

16, under floor

5

water heater capacity in gallons

6

6

6




6

6

6

swing level galley

y

8

y

8

y

8

n

1

n

1

y

8

y

8

n

1

roof const. (1 piece, 2 piece)

1

8

1

8

1

8

2

7

1

8

1

8

?

floor construction (1 piece?)

y

y

y

?

?

y

y

y

cabinet const. (particle/solid)

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

electric brakes

opt.

7

opt.

7

included

8

included

8

included

8

included

8

included

8

included

8

spare tire

included

included

included

y

y

included

included

included

spare tire cover

included

included

included




included

included

included

propane tank

included

included

included




included

included

included

propane tank cover

included

included

included

y

y

included

included

included

end-bunk privacy curtains

included

included

included

y

y

y

y

y

door pieces

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

step

included

7

included

7

y- large

8

included

7

included

7

opt.

7

opt.

7

opt.

7

accept sway bars and/or WD hitch?

both

both

?

?

?

?

?

?

other 2

awning

awning

awning




exterior table

exterior table

exterior table

trailer price

$12,800.00

$10,627.00

$13,600.00

$11,725.00


?

?

?

electric brakes

$302.00

$302.00

included










h/w pkg (tank, faucet, 12V pump)

$771.00

$771.00

$600.00










furnace

$603.00

$603.00

y

n

y

opt.

opt.

opt.

3-way fridge

$688.00

$688.00

y

y

y

opt.

opt.

opt.

add-a-room

$343.00

$343.00

$250.00

$690.00


opt.

opt.

opt.

total

$15,507.00

$13,334.00

$14,450.00

$11,725.00








roof

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

5 years

7

5 years

7

5 years

7

floor

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

25 years

7

25 years

7

25 years

7

tenting

7 years

8

7 years

8

5 years

7

3 years

6

3 years

6

5 years

7

5 years

7

5 years

7

lifter

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

frame

3 years

6

3 years

6

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

lifetime

8

5 years

7

5 years

7

5 years

7

other

2 yr appliances; 2 yr bumper-to-bumper

lifetime on bunk ends

2 yr all, 3 yr structural, transferable within 2 yrs @ $100



beds - 48=double, 60=queen, 66+=king

75% rule - 3500/350 capacity for van means max 2625/262.5