Kodiak Cub Owners?

[rob foley]

i bought a 40 watt solar panel, comes with everything you need at canadian tire, 40 watts is a bit small but im hoping it will prevent a discharge of my battery during the day

[rob foley]

Originally Posted by JWP127

No one?????

hi, i havent done yet but a full tank is over 400 lbs, i dont think it hurts to travel with at least a partial tank

[rob foley]

hi,, i found mine on the drivers side pass through storage compartment. one screw holding the box covering the heater, took me a bit to find it.

[rob foley]

thats a great idea,, im going to do the same, its amazing how they make things so hard to get at..

[rob foley]

Originally Posted by persistent

I have the same model and year. Mine is accessed through the driver side pass through. Two panels are screwed together and to the floor just to the rear of the access door. It is on the back side of the water heater.

hi thanks just found it where you said it would be,, the other valve i was looking at was the one by the water pump

[rob foley]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Welcome to the forums!

Take the mattress off the bed and remove the screws holding the plywood down? They don't always make it easy to find. BTW the screws will be a square drive Robertson screws bit #2 if memory serves me.

Aaron

hi,, do you know if the hot water tank is supposed to have only one valve.. mine does, other ones i have seen have 3 valves

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by rob foley

hi,, do you know if the hot water tank is supposed to have only one valve.. mine does, other ones i have seen have 3 valves

A lot of the newer systems seem to only have one valve. Got a picture of yours?

Aaron

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

A lot of the newer systems seem to only have one valve. Got a picture of yours?

Aaron

Do the new systems not have bypass for winterizing???

[persistent]

Originally Posted by rob foley

hi thanks just found it where you said it would be,, the other valve i was looking at was the one by the water pump

The valve by the water pump is to suck in anti-freeze. Set the bypass valve in the pass through to bypass the water heater, then use the one by the pump to suck anti-freeze for all the pipes and valves in the plumbing system.
Flush in reverse order. Set the valve near the pump to draw from tank. Flush all lines. Then set pass through valve to fill hot water heater.
There are check valves in the Cub that take the place of the third valve that some units have.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by franktafl

Do the new systems not have bypass for winterizing???

They only use a single valve and then apparently have one-way check valves somewhere else. I am sure it is a cost-cutting measure.

Aaron

[rob foley]

hi thanks, i got it figured out, one valve only,,

[rob foley]

i did that,, it makes it much easier

[CharlieDian]

Greetings fellow Cub owners! We are on our first shakedown cruise with our 2020 Kodiak Cub 185mb. We’re liking it so far, just need time to figure out where to store what, etc. we live in the Savannah, GA area. We have questions on various systems and would love to hear of others’ experiences with their Cubs. Cheers all!
CharlieDian

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by CharlieDian

Greetings fellow Cub owners! We are on our first shakedown cruise with our 2020 Kodiak Cub 185mb. We’re liking it so far, just need time to figure out where to store what, etc. we live in the Savannah, GA area. We have questions on various systems and would love to hear of others’ experiences with their Cubs. Cheers all!
CharlieDian

Hello Charlie. Welcome and happy camping! Where are you shaking down at?

[TK on the road]

Hey cubbies - i just installed a bumper hitch mount to use with my bike rack - has anyone done this? Moved the spare over a bit so the bikes don’t hang past the side of the trailer.

[coastal_canuck]

Hello everyone! My wife and I are pondering a trade in of our little Prolite Profil (Canadaian made brand) for a 2020 Kodiak Cub 175BH. 2 kids make camp life in the Profil quite difficult. Glad I found this forum as you guys have gone through the trailer quite well here. Some questions to guide us on our pruchase journey:
- For those camping with kids, does the 175BH fit what you were looking for when you bought in terms of space and storage space?
- Any significant build or warranty problems anyone has noted?
- How is towing an 8' wide? We have a 2017 Toyota Highlander, 5,000lb tow limit. When towing the Profil, I sometimes forget its there as its so light (1700lbs) and only 6.5 feet wide, its barely noticable at times.
- How does the "heated enclosed underbelly" they advertise work? Would love to extend our camping season from spring break until late-October if the risk for freezing is decreased with it.
- Undoubtedly they will offer it, did anyone purchase the extended warranty? We have it on our current unit for peace of mind, but haven't had any issues with it (thankfully) yet.

Our current players at the moment are: Cub 175BH, Apex Nano 185BH, Catalina Summit 172BHS (dealer is 4hrs away though). Anyone have thoughts on these units or has owned one? Thanks!

[barrieb24]

I’ve had the 2019 175bh for about 9 months and really like it. No major issues so far, but I bought it knowing I’ll need to do some maintenance...I like the clearance it gets and the ungraded tires do well “off-road”. We Boondock quite a bit and it holds its own...though I’ve not gone down any crazy roads.

We have one kiddo and bought it with the idea of having another. It seems to do well...no slide out, so it’s pretty cramped with multiple people but we were in a pop up before so this is Luxury! I really like the storage for gear and such...the pass through is huge at the front and the garage door at the bunks is awesome. There’s not a lot of space for extra storage but Kodiak did a nice job of utilizing space wherever it can for storage.

I also have a highlander but I do not pull with it...I have a f150 for that. I’d be very concerned with pulling something over 4000lbs with the highlander. I know the max is 5000 but that would be hard on your transmission, especially going uphill. There are some calculations for estimating weight and max row, etc. I’d really look into that before buying. As far as towing for me...it’s been easy, light and not too much sway.

Good luck!

[coastal_canuck]

Originally Posted by barrieb24

I’ve had the 2019 175bh for about 9 months and really like it. No major issues so far, but I bought it knowing I’ll need to do some maintenance...I like the clearance it gets and the ungraded tires do well “off-road”. We Boondock quite a bit and it holds its own...though I’ve not gone down any crazy roads.

I also have a highlander but I do not pull with it...I have a f150 for that. I’d be very concerned with pulling something over 4000lbs with the highlander. I know the max is 5000 but that would be hard on your transmission, especially going uphill. There are some calculations for estimating weight and max row, etc. I’d really look into that before buying. As far as towing for me...it’s been easy, light and not too much sway.

Good luck!

Thanks for the detailed answer! I'm not overly worried about the Highlander, we have the XLE with tow package that has the heavy-duty radiator and supplemental transmission cooler. I've been following a YouTuber who has been towing a Jayco 175RD with his 2017 Highlander all across the country, full-time. It is lighter by about 500lbs but he's at it non-stop, and going through much hotter terrain then we would (like over the Sierras). We do have some pretty steep mountain terrain here that we will have to pass over, but will definitely take it easy, we often drive the Coquihalla highway (aka the highway through hell), but love stopping at the summit to let the kids run around a bit as they usually get squirmy at that point.

We had a detailed look inside the Cub yesterday and quite liked what we saw. My wife pretty much fell in love with it. Love the thought that went into designing this trailer, and as you mentioned, TONNES of storage options, and the pack-and-play door is fantastic. Our prolite just can't match up to this trailer, but I also know we were asking more of our prolite then it was really designed for (weekend outings with family). Now to check out the Apex Nano. Anyone have a look at that or have opinions on it?

Thanks again!

[persistent]

Hello everyone! My wife and I are pondering a trade in of our little Prolite Profil (Canadaian made brand) for a 2020 Kodiak Cub 175BH. 2 kids make camp life in the Profil quite difficult. Glad I found this forum as you guys have gone through the trailer quite well here. Some questions to guide us on our pruchase journey:
-...
- Any significant build or warranty problems anyone has noted?

I have a 2018 Kodiak Cub. It has not been a good experience. The list of issues is too long to cover. Old posts detail the issues and fixes. Others have had good experiences.

My latest issue is the spare tire almost fell off.

There is a small flat bracket used to adapt the tire bolt pattern to the weldment that bolts to the bumper. Obviously the weldment was designed for a smaller wheel. It broke through the bolt hole leaving one bolt to hold the whole wheel and tire.

The bracket is not strong enough to hold the tire given road vibrations. I made my own, increasing the width and thickness 50%. Just re-mounted the tire a couple of days a go.

Something falls off or breaks inside or out on every long trip.

- How is towing an 8' wide? We have a 2017 Toyota Highlander, 5,000lb tow limit. When towing the Profil, I sometimes forget its there as its so light (1700lbs) and only 6.5 feet wide, its barely noticable at times.

Towing 8' wide is a major change from our previous folding camper. It is like towing a large parachute. I towed our Alpine Chalet all over the US and Canada using a Toyota Solara. Gas mileage was a terrible 22 MPG (33 without the tow).

I get 8 to 12 with the Cub depending on which way the wind is blowing. Highway speeds above 65 MPH drop it even lower. I am using a Nissan Pathfinder to tow.

- How does the "heated enclosed underbelly" they advertise work? Would love to extend our camping season from spring break until late-October if the risk for freezing is decreased with it.

There is no truth in advertising when it comes to travel trailers. The "heated enclosed under belly" may or may not be true. My Cub looked like it was heated, but the hole through the floor for the heat was not drilled through. The "All Season" is definitely false.

Any piping including fresh supply and waste will freeze in a 2 or three hours. A full fresh water tank may last a couple of days at a 3 or 4 degrees below 32 degrees F even if the furnace is running.

About $3000 was spent by me and my dealer to seal, insulate, and heat the underbelly. The three dump valves are still exposed and freeze over night in 25 degree weather.

- Undoubtedly they will offer it, did anyone purchase the extended warranty? We have it on our current unit for peace of mind, but haven't had any issues with it (thankfully) yet.

Dutchmen Keystone answers the phone for warranty service. They have been excellent at finding reasons the warranty does not apply to my problems. Consumer Reports says extended warranties are worse.

Our current players at the moment are: Cub 175BH, Apex Nano 185BH, Catalina Summit 172BHS (dealer is 4hrs away though). Anyone have thoughts on these units or has owned one? Thanks!

For low priced TT's I recommend you look for 1 to 3 year old models and carefully inspect before buying. The previous owner will likely have corrected all the initial build issues.

Escape and Oliver are good brands. They are expensive, but are winter ready, well built, and easier to tow. Casita is also easier to tow and cheaper, but is not as well built and not good in freezing weather.

Quality Travel Trailer Brands
Winter of 2018 I joined the Dutchmen Owners forum and expressed my disappointment with my new Dutchmen Kodiak Cub. My opinion of Dutchmen travel trailers has not improved since then. Total cost of ownership has not been lower than much higher priced trailers.
Last year I found a thread on iRV2.com started by a new member who wanted advice on what to buy for his first travel trailer. What followed was a compilation of 1000’s of camper hours of experience and a list of brands from owners with firsthand experience. Needless to say Dutchmen and many other Thor companies were specifically not recommended. Their only advantage is low purchase price. Jayco is now a Thor company and the last 3? model years are also specifically not recommended. A short list of recommended brands and brief comments follow. I wish I had this information before buying.
Artic Fox
Difficult to find east of the Mississippi
$25k to $50k thermal pane windows
Hamersville Ohio (Cincinnati)
Outdoor RV
Difficult to find east of the Mississippi , $25k to $50k
Thermal pane windows, dealer in Denver.
Cooler in sun, Excellent support
Lance are $10-$25k more than the same length ORV Creekside or Timber Ridge.
2018 28'8" Timber Ridge was $34,700
Air Stream
Recent corrosion problem
Grand Design
Insulated well
Winnebago
Was Sunnybrook
Grand Design
One bad review
Elite Suites
Lance
Newell
TIFFIN
Excellent service
Nash
Oliver Travel Trailers
A company with a different business model.
New TT's are only available from the factory, no dealers. They have none in stock. They are only available by ordering. There are very few floor plans and sizes. Only the best components are used.
Easier to tow:
Air Stream, Oliver, and Escape are streamlined shaped trailers of high quality that are true cold and hot weather campers. They are easier to tow. They are heavier than many light weight and cost a lot. However, you get a lot more.
There are others that have curved leading and trailing roof edges. These also tow a little easier (see Forest River Rpod as an example). I have no first hand reviews of most other trailers.

[BlueByte]

We are currently out on our first outing as a family with our 175BH. There are 2 adults and 2 children 9 and 7. So far everything seems to be working well. We are coming from backcountry tent camping so this is all very new to us. We can escape the black flies in Ontario!

Couple of questions that people may have addressed themselves.

1) This thing has a Winegard connect 2.0 prewired. I see all the hardware and the panel inside. where do you get modules/parts to make this thing functional? I work IT and my wife has her own business, this thing would be helpful if I already have half the parts.

2) We FIlled our tanks + a few other freshwater jugs(+44L). This turned out to be more than enough water. Our grey water tanks might need some help. One of us had a very short shower, plus food prep and dishes. It is reading full by our second night. Tomorrow morning is going to be tight before we break camp. Is there enough room in the belly of this thing to have a second grey tank?

3) We want to put a curtain along with the bunks so when the kids go to bed we can leave some lights on. If we use short screws will we hit anything critical in the ceiling?

4) Has anyone done anything to the water pump and the 12-volt converter fan to make them less noisy? The fan I can probably get a nice computer fan that runs silently. Was thinking of a rubber mat for the pump with maybe some insulation to deaden the sound.

Thanks in advance, and so far we are happy with the trailer. We have only done a 2 night trip into Algonquin.