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Post edited 10:58 pm – September 4, 2010 by Jeep 19BH Owner

Hi everyone!

Our family has been tent camping in Michigan for two years and finally decided to upgrade. We looked at all the other brands out there, there's the five of us and the 19BH fit us perfectly and it can be towed by our 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (3500 pound towing capacity). I've read the forum from top to bottom and was concerned about the issues noted by everyone.

When we went to see the 19BH at M & M Camping Center in Trenton Michigan we found out that KZ definitely listens to their customers, in the 2011 model KZ addressed each of the concerns we had discovered in the forums. The 19BH has the full package with all the options, we could not find one fault or issue. Justin the sales Consultantat at M&M was awesome, not high pressure and answered every one of our questions. When we picked up the TT, everyone at M & M were awesome, Gary the Parts Manager spent an hour with us going over the TT, we videotaped everything, this was useful when we got home and needed to unhitch the vehicles.

The Jeep is not the ideal towing vehicle so we opted for the Equal-I-Zer weight distribution hitch with sway control. We added a top of the line Prodigy brake controller and we added the fantastic fan in the main area. We also added a 2 inch receiver in the back for a bike rack or basket and upgraded to a larger deep cycle battery.

This is my first travel trailer and our home is 60 miles away from M & M and I was worried because we were having 40 MPH high winds gusts. The Jeep with the travel trailer and hitch rode better than the Jeep alone! We hit rush hour traffic through Detroit and not a problem with the semi's, brakes, sway or wind! It rode beautifully, the only way I knew the wind was so severe was by the trees swaying in the high winds.

The kid's are in the TT right now and getting ready to spend the night in it! Here's pics of the TT and Jeep. We're planning on a trip to visit family in Texas and a trip to Florida this year!

John,

The 2″ receiver is attached to the rear bumper of the trailer, the dealer reinforced the bumper to accommodate the receiver. The receiver can be installed above or below the bumper, I have it under the bumper. When we were tenting we couldn't take the bikes because I used a tow basket on the receiver on the Jeep for carrying the tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, stroller etc.

No roof mounted A/C, wasn't an orderable option. For 2011, KZ upgraded the A/C to a GE, it has a remotre contol and auto delay. All the A/C issues on the forums concerned us. When we went to see the trailer it was sitting, closed up, out in the sun all day in 90+ high humidity. The windows were upgraded for 2011, we opened up all the windows and roof vents and the trailer aired out quickly, a nice breeze was circulating through the trailer with everything open. We kicked on the air and it was definitely pumping out cold air. This is a much better upgrade from tenting.

John

Hi Al,

The hitch exceeded my expectations, especially with the 40mph gusts I encountered on my ride home. The Jeep Wrangler rode better with the trailer and hitch than by itself. The Equal-I-Zer was easy to hitch and unhitch, my 11 year old daughter likes to help me out so we did it together and in a matter of minutes. We videotaped the demo our dealer gave us on the hitch, when we got home we watched the sequence to unhitch the vehicles off of the camera and was done 1-2-3, we didn't even need the tool to remove the sway bars. One thing to note- the hitch/ball unit, when disconnected form the trailer, should be secured in the trailer or locked on the receiver because it costs hundreds of dollars to replace.

The bumper is designed to carry a load, that's where the spare is mounted, usually in the middle. Since we had the receiver installed in the middle, the spare was mounted off to the side. The bumper was reinforced, on both sides, where it meets the frame for extra strength.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

John