Exploring BigFoot 25' trailer

[Maggie Harris]

Lol. Yeah, it looked impossible to us too. We had a kitchen remodeling company do the remodel. To our surprise they just tore out the queen frame and storage compartment along with all the oak cabinets leaving the entire room empty but one small box next to the bathroom wall. (Houses heater ductwork to bathroom) We put two twin bed frames in there and we didn’t even have to screw them down. The storage is under right side and can be accessed from the outside hatch. We didn’t close storage area in although easily done if you want. Twins blew the room open with the center isle.

[Rzrbrn]

Thanks Maggie. Would it not have been cheaper just to sell it and buy a new Big Foot with twin beds?

We really should have ordered a twin bed model but I did not want to wait for it to be built. I wonder if the rear window in the twin is in the same place or is it centered?

[Maggie Harris]

It wouldn’t be cheaper to buy a new one and I wasn’t a big fan of the interiors at the time. We changed out the oak cabinet doors to the style they use now and I changed the seating to an “L” configuration instead of a dinette. Not liking the window treatments either. We put in a round sink and corian tops. I also can’t stand the new nose cone. I’ve tried to post new photos of it now and I can’t get the window to stay open on the site. So long answer, it would have cost more to make it how I wanted if we bought a new one. We’ve resealed the windows, new tires, suspension, shackles, etc. etc. ....etc. It has the all weather package with duel pane windows as well. It’s ready to roll.

[Rzrbrn]

Sounds great Maggie. Please don't give up on many photos, I for one would really like to see what you have done. Everything you mentioned is very applealing. My wife and I do not have the capacity to design or decorate, so it would be very interesting to see what you have described.

My brand spanking new BOIC number is 1298. If you ever see us please flag us down, and if you would be so gracious, please let us see what you have done in person.

[Maggie Harris]

I’ll go to my desktop and see if it will let me post photos. (Using my iPad). I posted some a while back but have since changed the bedding because we put new 35” wide beds in there and the covers didn’t fit. We are so torn because we fell in love with the new Airstream fiberglass NEST and bought one. We don’t want to keep both and we turned 70 this year and while the nest has the queen bed the whole trailer is more suited to how we travel. Weekend trips and we don’t need the bigger trailer for that. (Our First RV was a Class B PleasureWay) Because it’s so small I can stand up and hold on to the cubbies above and get out of bed without disturbing John. Surprised me. We are not Airstream aluminum fans but the fiberglass nest won us over. We thought the Big Foot would be our last trailer. It’s really cool. Best trailer out there over all. If our PleasureWay Class B and Big Foot had a baby it would be an Airstream Nest. Lol Safe travels, Maggie

[Rzrbrn]

Thanks Maggie. We are older also. Our only other RV has been the 2013 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe. Wife really likes it and we still have it. It is a bit too cramped for me, but very maneuverable. Hopefully I did not make a wrong purchase with the BF, we shall see this camping season.

[trainman]

Originally Posted by MK Evenson

Thanks for all the insightful comments. I am now not so sure I want the costs of making a switch to the 25' BF. The 10mpg towing bothers me. I know camping in a trailer ain't never without expense, BUT I get 14.5 mpg pulling the 17' Casita. I may just have to explore again the 21' Escape. I prob
ably could tow with my 2018 V6 Highlander Awd, at least for a while. I believe several Escape owners do just that.
Anyway, thanks to all for your input.

Mark

When you go bigger it's always at an expense, trailers cost more, tow vehicle cost more, and you are going to use more fuel for sure and what price will it be on down the road. You with your current setup are probably at the lowest cost to you without going to a tent. We pulled our Casita with a Honda Ridgeline and got 17-18 MPG, which I though was great, now with a new Ram 1500 and a new Oliver we are at 12-13 MPG, plus a big out of pocket expense. We just stay longer at campsites and don't travel as much, this gives us the feeling we are saving on fuel cost, even if it did cost us $60,000 to upgrade the tow vehicle and trailer.

trainman

[MK Evenson]

Originally Posted by trainman

When you go bigger it's always at an expense, trailers cost more, tow vehicle cost more, and you are going to use more fuel for sure and what price will it be on down the road. You with your current setup are probably at the lowest cost to you without going to a tent. We pulled our Casita with a Honda Ridgeline and got 17-18 MPG, which I though was great, now with a new Ram 1500 and a new Oliver we are at 12-13 MPG, plus a big out of pocket expense. We just stay longer at campsites and don't travel as much, this gives us the feeling we are saving on fuel cost, even if it did cost us $60,000 to upgrade the tow vehicle and trailer.

trainman

Trainman, you are quite right, " go bigger- cost more".
I have been discussing this planned change with my wife. She has agreed that our fixed income from retirement funds will need to be reallocated. Fewer international travels and longer camping trips. When we decided to purchase the Casita, Cheryl says to me, " as long as it doesn't mean I can't travel to Europe". Well, I am done with Europe and she has agreed to limit her trips so we can afford a larger trailer. We look at a 21' Escape today, but I think it will come up lacking in space ( bathroom), and walk around bed, only BF 25'. Have never looked at Oliver, The ones I have seen, looked "sterile" inside.

Mark

[trainman]

Originally Posted by MK Evenson

Trainman, you are quite right, " go bigger- cost more".
I have been discussing this planned change with my wife. She has agreed that our fixed income from retirement funds will need to be reallocated. Fewer international travels and longer camping trips. When we decided to purchase the Casita, Cheryl says to me, " as long as it doesn't mean I can't travel to Europe". Well, I am done with Europe and she has agreed to limit her trips so we can afford a larger trailer. We look at a 21' Escape today, but I think it will come up lacking in space ( bathroom), and walk around bed, only BF 25'. Have never looked at Oliver, The ones I have seen, looked "sterile" inside.

Mark

The 25 Bigfoot will be much bigger then the 23 Oliver forsure, it's all about what works for you. Remember the Bigfoot is somewhere around 2300 lbs. more to tow then the Oliver, plus much more tongue weight, so now you are into a 3/4 ton pickup to pull it. The 21 Escape and the 1/2 ton pickup will work out just fine. Visit a fiberglass trailer rally, you will find most models there and owners should show you there trailer if you ask them to.

trainman

[Rzrbrn]

MK Evensen, we will be pulling with a 2011 Tundra 4x4, 5.7L engine and tow package. While it towed well from Atlanta, GA to Nashville, TN going up a 6% grade I can only hope it will do as well in the Rockies. We have not left yet on our maiden voyage and may not get to start until about mid July. If you are still in the market at that time I will try and post a comment on how well the Tundra pulls the 25RQ.

[trainman]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

MK Evensen, we will be pulling with a 2011 Tundra 4x4, 5.7L engine and tow package. While it towed well from Atlanta, GA to Nashville, TN going up a 6% grade I can only hope it will do as well in the Rockies. We have not left yet on our maiden voyage and may not get to start until about mid July. If you are still in the market at that time I will try and post a comment on how well the Tundra pulls the 25RQ.

Your Tundra should do ok in those 6% grades, just remember you don't do this everyday and if you did more truck would probably be more to your liking. It could be a $40,000 upgrade just to pull a grade like this every once in a wile, so really how much inconvenience can it really be.

trainman

[Josh and Sonya W]

Originally Posted by trainman

Your Tundra should do ok in those 6% grades, just remember you don't do this everyday and if you did more truck would probably be more to your liking. It could be a $40,000 upgrade just to pull a grade like this every once in a wile, so really how much inconvenience can it really be.

trainman

I also pull a 25RQ with a Tundra (2015 crewmax 4X4). First time I took it into serious mountains I was very concerned (going up through Teaton Pass in Wyoming). At times I found I was in 2nd gear trying to keep up 25-30mph at 3000rpm.

When I wrote about it in fgrv, one person suggested that there is nothing wrong with occasionally running at 4000rpm, these engines are built for it. I love the Tundra (and Toyota in general), which is why I decided on this truck just before picking up our trailer in Idaho (used 2003). I've been more liberal about pushing the truck on occasion, and it seems to do well.

But mileage in general is pretty bad. Going from AZ to east coast and up and down east coast, we averaged about 10.3mpg. Heading west, it was more like 8mpg.

If I were to do it again, I might go for a 3/4 ton truck. However, as Trainman said, we don't run into those very steep, very long grades very often, and when we do, we just go a little slower. Bigger problem is how to keep my better half from overloading the whole rig, so we end up with a little too much weight on the rear axle of the truck.

I know I can count on the durability of Toyota, and I tend to keep Toyota's forever, so I don't plan on making any changes soon. I finally had to give up my 98 Land Cruiser at 347k miles because there was no way it could pull the 25RQ. We still have my wife's 94 Corolla which only has 96k miles on it and runs great (though we are considering selling it; just don't need two cars and a truck).

My two Cents...

[Rzrbrn]

Thanks Josh.

[Josh and Sonya W]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

Thanks Josh.

Anytime

[Tony O]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

MK Evensen, we will be pulling with a 2011 Tundra 4x4, 5.7L engine and tow package. While it towed well from Atlanta, GA to Nashville, TN going up a 6% grade I can only hope it will do as well in the Rockies. We have not left yet on our maiden voyage and may not get to start until about mid July. If you are still in the market at that time I will try and post a comment on how well the Tundra pulls the 25RQ.

We just got back from hauling our BF 21 over Wolf Creek Pass on highway 160 in southern Colorado. It is considered one of the most dangerous passes in the USA. If you don't already know it, a country music song have been written about it. (CW McCall) Our Toyota Tundra 5.7L PU yanked it up the pass and back just fine running eastward on the pass primarily in 3rd gear and occasionally in 4th on the "flatter" sections generally keeping it at 3500 rpm. On the way down the other side (flip-flop going west) was a mirror of my up-to-now description.

Our propane tanks were full and we were only carried a minimum of water for a three day trip, filling the FW tank to the yellow indicator. Tires were inflated to 60lb.

Having towed in the Colorado mountains for more than 40 years I think you may be fretting a bit to much. Your truck is more than capable of handling paved mountain passes - just keep in mind that ticking off the guy in the new BMW who is always in a hurry, well, that is HIS problem. We all share the road.
Just be safe, use your lower gears to prevent overheating your brakes, stay under the speed limit and use your brakes on the downhill sides of the passes only to maintain a speed that you feel comfortable with.

Now, what you really ought to stress about is trying to haul your trailer up and down Colorado's dirt national forest service roads. If there is a significant rain storm in the forecast or actively underway when you decide to camp DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT driving such a road unless you know exactly what the road conditions actually are. You can easily find yourself sliding sideways both on the uphill and downhill sides of a rain-soaked forest service road. You do not want to test your driving skills out on such roads. It could spell disaster without warning!

Rain and mancos shale impregnated back road road surfaces - DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

[trainman]

One of the biggest reasons for me not purchasing a new Tundra (which I really like) was the poor fuel mileage and the old style design of the trucks electronics and towing capabilities. Ram, Ford, and GM models are far superior in there new truck design and performance, why Toyota is lagging here is beyond me, but I guess someday they will have a redesign and catch up with the times.

trainman

[Maggie Harris]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

Thanks Maggie. We are older also. Our only other RV has been the 2013 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe. Wife really likes it and we still have it. It is a bit too cramped for me, but very maneuverable. Hopefully I did not make a wrong purchase with the BF, we shall see this camping season.

Well, we spent last weekend photographing and writing a sales pitch to post on RV Trader and here. John took our son’s dog Howie out for his routine walk on Sunday and when he returned he said “ I don’t want to sell the Big Foot”...yet. The exact thing I was going to say to him. This 25 foot Big Foot is so nice. We have the NEST but we will keep our Mr. Foot for now as well. Just wanted you to know that I don’t think you made a wrong purchase. Have fun finding out for yourself and thanks for the friendly conversation about “RVing” in fiberglass
Maggie

[Bob in Maine]

We considered many trailers before purchasing the Bigfoot. We needed something not for just weekend trips and vacations, but for extended trips of two or three months or more and we wanted the best quality we could afford. It came down to a choice between Oliver and Bigfoot. Here were the deciding factors: Larger tanks on Bigfoot. Bigfoot is wider and longer. Bigfoot has full size dinette which accommodates four. Apples to apples, our Bigfoot was $10K less than Oliver. We purchased ours from Trailer World in Denver and were very pleased with the transaction and after purchase support. One last editorial comment: Gasoline is relatively inexpensive in the U.S. and looks to continue to be. In my opinion gas mileage should not be a deciding factor in a purchase of this magnitude, including tow vehicle, trailer and other traveling expenses.