First time camper purchase - Thoughts on Brinkley?

[gmbpilot757]

How does a water heater waste water? I'm looking to go tankless for the very reason you dont have to wait for hot water nor do you have to store said hot water. I'll already have a water storage tank onboard.

We have tankless. While it does take a second or two to warm up, the waste is negligible. Sure beats using your entire 6 gal of hot water and having to wait for more.

 

[soulezoo]

How does a water heater waste water? I'm looking to go tankless for the very reason you dont have to wait for hot water nor do you have to store said hot water. I'll already have a water storage tank onboard.

Hatbox answered the question. He is correct. And the further from the tap the tankless heater is, the more water you have to move before you start to get the hot water. Just like at home. The difference being, you shut off the water and the heater goes off, you start the process over again. Now some units have incorporated a return valve that allows you to return water to the tank until the hot water starts. This is only on the showers however.

 

[Phillbo]

View attachment 268352
Sticker payload of my Tremor. Think this will be plenty for a tongue weight of 850lbs with the I 290.

Advertised weights are a lie but you should have plenty of room to carry the lies...

 

[Phillbo]

I like my tankless WH. Just turn it on and dont fuck around while you shower.

Have a buddy that always bitched about waste. I told him to put a bucket in his shower and run it into the bucket until it got hot... use the small amount of water in the bucket to flush the morning duce.... he does.

My WH is mounted just below my shower /kitchen sink so the pipe run is minimal.

Brinkley has a nice product and uses better materials than most but build quality does not always match the sales price.

Im not a fan of the squared off scheme.. Just my opinion though.

Enjoy what you buy!!!!

 

[RS90]

Hey Gang, was lucky enough to finally join the group with my 2026 F250 Tremor purchase last week. My wife, two young kids, and two pups are looking to get a camper in the next few months. Seems like Brinkleys are highly thought of and we are looking at purchasing their new 2027 I 290 Model from Bish. Brinkley I 290 MSRP is $95k but Bish price is considerably less. We really have to have a King bed and bunkhouse for the kids and my wife and I. Other than that we’ve been pretty open to layouts.

Does anyone have a Brinkley or similar cost camper that could provide a perspective on what they’ve enjoyed or what they wish they did differently?

The MSRP pricing on RVs is a game manufacturers and dealers play to bump up the total value for banks/insurance. Nobody has ever bought a mass production RV for MSRP. They make the MSRP artificially high then mark in huge discounts. When people with no down payment want to buy the bank will still finance it because it looks like you are only trying to finance 80% of the value because every dealer lists every trailer at 20% off MSRP.

Just price compared to what other dealers are offering and what other similar floor plan trailers are priced at.

 

[71stang99]

How do you like the slide toppers? We don't have it on ours. I right now just climb on the roof and hit it with the leaf blower, but would like to look at a better option (especially in the rain). Is it noisy in the wind?

I Have ad trailers/5th wheels with and without toppers. I definately like having a topper and as far as the wind its not been an issue for us. The installation was fairly easy with the Brinkley so long as you have an extra pair of hands and/or ladders. Some people on the Brinkley site like the other type of slide topper, it acts like a wiper blade when the slide comes in and is a lot more involved to get jnstalled. Here is my write up from last fall on the Brinkley site.

I-265 Slide Topper Install

Just installed my slide topper for the 265. It took three orders two of which were from Amazon before it finally showed up. Packaging was good but could have been better insofar as the topper itself was just packaged in a plastic bag within a large tube without padding on the topper end pieces...

brinkleyowners.com

 

[71stang99]

As far as the tankless system before we hop into the shower we just set the thermostat to 106 or whatever temp you want and only turn on the hot water. This way it never fluctuates once its at temp. I also changed out the Brinkley rain head and the wand ead to 1.5 gpm aerated sprayers which work great.

 

[71stang99]

View attachment 268352
Sticker payload of my Tremor. Think this will be plenty for a tongue weight of 850lbs with the I 290.

FYI my tongue weights for our 265 based on Cat scale.

I-265 weights from Cat scale

Truck 2024 Lariat Ultimate 6.7, full tank, with wife, cat, dog, diamond back HD tonneau 3932 lb load capacity Trailer, 2/3rd fresh, 1/3 black, gray x2 empty. Vatrer 460ah battery + storage box, basement has MORryde slide out drawer, BBQ, hoses, tool tote, leveling blocks, case of water, full...

brinkleyowners.com