Dutchmen Kodiak Ultra Lite reviews

Hello. The review above had us worried about the unit. I wrote down the reported complaints item by item and looked for them in the 2020 unit we found at Camping World. This unit showed none of the reported problems - drawers at the door were properly mounted and worked smoothly, holes in baffles under sink were cleanly cut, cables were cleanly bundled, all the brake cables were attached and working, and so on. My conclusions are these (1) there are QC problems at the Dutchman factory (2) The worst of the problems occurred during the Covid year (2020-2021), and (3) there is nothing there that a careful inspection wouldn't reveal. We found a few minor issues (peeling wallpaper, break in exterior trim) and the dealer fixed them all before we picked up the unit. I agree that this travel trailer, and all the others we have looked at that are in our price range are deliberately built a bit flimsy to keep weight and price down. That being said, if you go into the deal with your eyes open and are willing to keep track of potential problems (furniture separating from wall, doors binding, weather-stripping comming loose) you can have a most rewarding experience. If you need a better build unit, or are not at least a bit handy, be prepared to pay twice as much. There is nothing wrong with the design of this unit - just be careful to do your own QC and keep track of problems before they creep up on you. (oh yes - the reviewer complained about inconsistencies in the specifications - it appears that the spec sheet he was looking at was prepared by an RV web site, not issued by the manufacturer, and was indeed inconsistent. Don't trust anything that doesn't come directly from the manufacturer. They are quite happy to answer questions) Show less

Tent camping the easy way with all the amenities. No more struggling to assemble the tent then hope it doesn't rain ensuring you wake up in wet sleeping bags. Our family enjoyed rough camping for a while...But these hybrid tent end campers are just the best of both worlds. No regrets for buying a hybrid, roomy, light weight towing, easy on my truck and wallet when it comes to gas prices. Show less

At first I was sold on the trailer. It seemed nice, cleanly designed, and nicely appointed. Unfortunately I was sold on the swing away fireplace and flat-screen television console and didn't even put any thought into what anyone would really need. Like storage. None of the storage offered holds anything that you need to enjoy the great outdoors. There are two outside compartments, one is filled with a useless mini fridge and the other is just big enough to hold the necessities needed to actually use the camper. And maybe an extension chord or two. The closets front and back hold enough clothing essentials for a 3 or 4 day trip. The craftsmanship absolutely makes this trailer a rip-off. 0ver 50k and my 65lb year old niece broke the lower back bunk bed, the table is bowed and thin and itlowered into the banquette supposedly is supposed to double as a bed comfortable for two adults. I wouldn't put a 40lb child on it... the table would break. The master is supposed to have a queen bed, but it really has a thin pad and a sharp edged piece of chip board that you have to squeeze around to get into. The walk through bath is dark and useless. The toilet is right inside, practically blocking the way to the master.. and the glass shower door, even when it's locked open for travel will slam shut and shatter..which one panel of mine did. And lastly the kitchen. It's probably the most disappointing part of the trailer... there just isn't one. There is 4.5 total square feet of usable counter and its the orner where it's totally useless. Molding has popped off the corners in the master, the bath, the living room and both sides of the slider the molding is popping off. One more thing.. the "satelite" that is supposed to give you free basic/local channels gives you absolutely nothing. The TV doesn't even recognize it. Unless you buy a subscription... it does nothing. And the magnificent secret pantry... cheap shelves bow downward, the front trim has broken off one shelf and the fireplace... all it does is blow the breaker. This brand is a disappointment Show less

These Hybrid Travel Trailers are so light weight and easy to tow. We towed a Kodiak model 214 with our jeep. Considering its just 24ft we couldn't believe how much room we had and with the slide out and 2 queen size tent ends it's got the room to spare. If your on the fence about these types of campers, get one you won't regret it. Show less

This has been such an amazing trailer! The amount of storage is crazy! Also, it has so much room with the huge slide out. Having 2 large grey tanks and 1 black was so nice as I didn't have to hook up very often. We love this trailer and highly suggest it! Show less

Overall best experience I have ever had in a camper. So many memories shared with my wife and 4 yr old son living full time no complaints whatsoever. My 4 yr old definitely put the camper to the test like a toddlers do and it is built tough. I absolutely love the hidden pantry out of sight behind the fireplace for 2 reasons the magnet is very strong to keep the little one from being able to get inside and secondly it’s an awesome talking piece when family and friends are over and see a door open they didn’t know existed. The bunk beds have more than enough space for a teenager to sleep on and the master bedroom is a perfect size. I’ve been full time living in this camper almost a year without a single appliance or material inside or outside the camper showing any sign of concern. If you’re looking for a camper that won’t break the budget that is built to last I would definitely consider the KODIAK ULTRA LITE 296BHSL. Show less

Very poor craftsmanship several things have had to be reinforced by the dealer one of the sliding doors had to be replaced had two holes drilled wrong spot tried to cover up with putty and paint one year into ownership was going to wash roof and found several wrinkles in the roofing and the manufacturer says that's normal we all know that it's not fighting to have replacement but they say they won't replace it only one year old none of my campers have ever had wrinkles Show less

Bought a new trsiler in June 2022. Haven't been able to get a working refrigerator. Third try. First camping trip good was a real disappointment. Had to give up three other (snowbird) trips this (2023) winter. So we feel like we're paying for a lame horse, but nobody cares. Show less

When my Dutchmen Kodiak 248BHSL trailer was manufactured the person installing the spare tire to the bumper over tightened it which slightly crushed the bumper. Enough that I can't use the bumper to store my sewer hose. I went back and forth with Keystone to have it covered under warranty. Their response was "it's built as designed". These trailers are cheaply made and I fixed several things myseft instead of dealing with warranty. I would recommend avoiding any Keystone products. Show less

We bought this new in June of 2021 so it only has about 5 camping trips worth of use and about 2500 miles total. The 27SBH is very light for its size - weighing in about 5400# unloaded with a 580# tongue weight. It tows very easily with a half-ton truck; we use an F150 PowerBoost with a Curt TruTrack hitch and between the truck's anti-sway and the hitch's built-in anti-sway it's pretty drama free. The layout is good for a small family with the bunkhouse in the rear and the bedroom up front. With the slide open, it has a nice open feel to it and the pantry/entertainment center is in a good spot. Some thoughts on the various systems: 1. The air conditioning is adequate via the ducted vents, but you will absolutely want to install a soft starter to avoid tripping circuit breakers. 2. The bathroom is pretty standard but the tub pan feels like it is missing some supports and I suspect it will eventually crack. The toilet works fine but feels pretty flimsy - when you flush the pedal the entire toilet flexes a bit. There really should be a medicine cabinet not just a mirror. This trailer is light on storage compartments, presumably to cut down on weight. But it could really use one. The AC and heat registers in the bathroom itself are great - it keeps the bathroom very comfortable. Finally, I'm not sure if this is by design or just poor workmanship but the shower hot and cold valves don't turn the same way - one turns clockwise to turn on and the other turns counterclockwise. Go figure... 3. The pantry/entertainment center is pretty nice and a good space-saving design. But, it's heavy - especially if you mount, say, a 50" HDTV over the mantle like we did. The door has a pretty big single hinge but I wonder how it will hold up over time due to the weight of the door and road shocks. Also, the shelves in the pantry really should have been fasted tp the walls. They just float and shift when the trailer is being towed. 4. The electric fireplace is pretty to look at but it is the lowest-price piece of crap and ours has never worked right from day one. The problem we have is that once the fireplace reaches the setpoint temperature and shuts off, it will never come back on again no matter how cold it gets. You have to turn the thermostat up a few degrees from the previous setpoint to get it started again, and once it reaches that setpoint it stops and again, no matter how cold it gets it won't restart. Tried to get that fixed at Camping World and provided detailed instructions to replicate it, but apparently they can't read and interpreted the problem as "won't heat up" and said they couldn't replicate it (but Camping World's service is another issue...). There's another problem with this fireplace that seems to affect owners of other trailers like Grand Design, in that when the A/C stops running the fireplace makes a loud beep and a light flashes. This is because of the device that automatically cuts power to the fireplace when the A/C is running, and the fireplace is designed to beep and flash whenever it's plugged in. As you can imagine, that's not a nice "feature" to deal with at night. 5. If you buy one of these, take a close look at the placement of the thermal fuse for the Dometic water heater. The combo electric-gas heater actually works very well, but if the wire with the thermal fuse is hanging too close to the burner it'll melt. Just order a few of them on Amazon and replace as needed... 6. The LED lighting throughout is nice and bright - I really like it. But the design for the covers is just, well, stupid. They twist on with a compression fit between the light frame and the ceiling, so as you travel they end up working themselves loose and falling off. It's just really cheap. 7. The big slide is cable operated and has been (knock on wood) bulletproof so far. 8. Overall fit and finish is really subpar. There doesn't seem to be any pride in workmanship by the employees at the Indiana factory that puts/slaps these together. One side of our dinette booth was coming apart because nobody bothered to attach a key piece of it. This past trip I discovered water leaking underneath the kitchen sink, and when I pulled the panel inside the storage cabinet adjacent to the sink I was happy to see the pex-to-faucet connections in easy reach but unhappy to see the hot water line was not even hand tight. Really, couldn't there have been an inspection that checked the plumbing connections? And while the decor looks nice the material is flimsy. Really cheap. Under the jackknife sofa it's just a lauan pane with no framing around it, And it's not sanded on the edges so you will get a splinter if you're not careful. Show less