When I first saw the Kodiak Cub 175BH by Dutchmen RV a few months ago, I immediately started making comparisons to my Shasta Oasis 18BH since it is essentially the same floor plan. What I found is that I wouldn’t mind a bit swapping out my Shasta for it.
![IMG_8420[1]](https://i1.wp.com/smalltrailerenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IMG_84201.png)
Kodiak has done a lot right with this. One, they left in the 3 cubic foot fridge below the counter instead of raiding the pantry space by putting in a 6 cubic foot fridge in an 18′ trailer. Storage is more important when you’re dealing with this size of a trailer. Next thing they did is that they didn’t go crazy with a double basin sink like some do, leaving you with no counter space. The single sink with flush mounted stove gives you a ton of prep space that frankly I believe to be the best of this floor plan.
![IMG_8422[1]](https://i2.wp.com/smalltrailerenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IMG_84221.png)
By the queen bed, they’ve given you a wardrobe AND storage over the bed. Typically manufacturers with this floor plan give you one or the other, but not both. The interior is really clean with glass fronts on the overhead cabinets. There’s also a handy exterior door outside the bottom bunk which also serves as a “garage” when the bunk is flipped up for storing some larger items while in transit.
![IMG_8421[1]](https://i2.wp.com/smalltrailerenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IMG_84211.png)
Construction appears to be really well done here as well with a six sided aluminum cage with heated and enclosed underbelly with an optional off road package giving you some axle lift. For what it’s worth to some, Dutchmen doesn’t actually build these units. They’re put together by Keystone RV as the manufacturer and badged as Kodiaks, which are all part of the Thor Industries conglomerate. 
Some quick specs, the 175BH Cub weighs right at 3400 lbs, 21’5″ in length, and has some impressive tank capacities for a trailer of this size: 52 gallon fresh, 28 gallon black, and 39 gallon gray, with a black tank flush. Cargo capacity is right at 1200 lbs and hitch weight is 400 lbs. Depending on where you live, prices are in the mid-upper teens.
If I were looking at this floor plan today, I’d really have this one high on my list. My 2 year old grandson, however, didn’t seem too impressed. He just had that “Here we go, another trailer” expression on his face, which, coincidentally is the same expression I usually get from my wife when I find a trailer I get a crush on. 🙂
To learn more about the Kodiak Cub and its two sibling models, the 175RD and the 185MB couples trailers, visit their website at Kodiak Cub floor plans.
Sharp looking little trailer for young families or grandparents camping with the grandkids. Nice review.
Thx,
Dean
Great review! Nice looking trailer and good price point! I love the glass front cabinets. I would be tempted, except my husband and I live in our little 18′ trailer for 3 + months at a time. Getting ready to go full time actually. We couldn’t live without a full-size queen, we’re both tall, and a large refrigerator (we like to cook). I like a two bowl sink, but since I just added a REAL dishwasher, I could go down to one bowl. I have a pull out counter, and a rolling trolley, which add to the counterspace. I’ve totally redone my little trailer, if you’d like to see full tutorials for my mods, please drop by! http://www.WackyPup.com
I am really concerned about the use of glass in RV trailers. The bumping and jiggling and flexing is rough, and glass cupboard doors and onstoves seems really risky and vulnerable to breakage. I won’t buy glass filled trailers. Save weight in some other manner.
While the trailer is a great design we were having problems with ours within 1 trip. The cabinetry is poorly made. The winterization of this model is poor. Do not take it in under 32 it will freeze the pipes. Even with insulated non-exposed bottom. I would not recommend buying this trailer.
Thank you for your review. We were looking at purchasing this trailer but cannot find one good review on it outside of the way it looks. I am sad to not be able to purchase a trailer that looks this nice, but I’d rather have one that functions than one that is pretty. I wish there were more reviews on functionality and less about how it looks – I can obviously decide how much I like the features by a few pictures on my own.
Jenni – Since the Cub just came out in 2017, how it’s going to hold up over the long haul will be determined by those owners in the years to come. As for functionality, that is something that varies from one person to another. It depends on what your needs are and then determining if it will fit those needs. My best advice is to find a dealer that has one and spend some time inside it (without a salesman) and just pay close attention to its layout and features and envision whether those will be good enough for you to meet your camping needs.
Hi Lindsay, i wonder if you’ve had any more experience with it now and if you can speak to the towability?? what do you use for a hitch? being 8’ does it drag in the wind behind your tow vehicle? and have you got young children would you be concerned about durability over time with two young kids? thank you!!
Hi Lindsay, thank you for sharing your experiences so far with this trailer. I, like Jenni, wish there were more feedback from owners. I did see another forum thread somewhere discussing the same concerns with the “4 season” capabilities. My family recently purchased a Kodiak Cub 175BH also and will be picking it up in the next month. Do you have any more trouble spots that have have come up that we should look out for? Thanks!
hi i wonder if you can comment on the towing for a half ton truck? we are looking at buying this trailer but being 8’ wise is the only thing holding us back? will it drag behind the truck? we’re pulling a 7’ wise trailer with a Nissan a titan and the concern is that our fuel economy will plummet.. any insight is welcome!!
Chelsea – I have a Shasta that’s esentially the same size and weight as the Kodiak. I tow it with a 2005 Yukon SUV that will usually get around 18mpg on the highway without towing. If we’re hauling it on fairly level roads at about 60mph, I’ll average around 11mpg.
I can answer any questions you have on the Kodiak cub. It’s built well and we just recently added a 3 year structural warranty. Our units are put together by humans and not robots. Errors can happen but we stand behind our products and make it right if we made a mistake. Lindsay and Jenni let me know how we can help you. We have thousands of happy customers with our Kodiak product. Thanks!
What is the axle weight rating on this unit? I’ve discovered that often the axle rating is considerably less than the GVWR. On most other manufacturer’s units the axle rating is not posted on a placard near the other weight/tire weight limitations.
We looked at these a while back. Pretty nice but some things we found odd:
1. The kitchen/galley window didn’t open and the dining table window only slid open at the bottom. No cross breeze. And since there is a wardrobe on the bed you don’t have a window next to the door either = no cross breeze. Some we looked at such as the Apex Nano 185BH had a galley window that opened and another window at the foot of the bed.
2. The tires sizes were kinda weird. Yeah, they’re cheap Westlakes. All RV companies use those, but the size is ST235/75R15. Can’t find such a thing elsewhere. Yes, you can find P235/75R15 but not ST. The style of these (looking at a picture I took of the tire itself) is Westlak CR857+.
3. Off road capability… meh. I’ve had campers. They are built as piecework out in Goshen and quality on all camper companies is only so so. Seriously, no matter how much you spend they will still use staples where they should use nails and self tapping screws where they can. Fit and finish is just not something to expect from a new camper. Raising it up an inch or two just give a false sense of “toughness”. Yeah, it’ll go over bumps but you’ll be putting the interior back together if you aren’t careful.
The Kodiak did have a strong roof – give the ceiling a bang. The kitchen setup is nice and the big back door is pretty handy. We liked those features.
I agree with your review totally, but they went aND put in the big fridge eating up the cabinet space AND the big sink leaving no counter space on late 2018’s. And I assume into the future. But if you can find one of these for 15k, jump on it.
Oh, they do make this in a Coleman and an Aspen Trail 174BH version without many of the nice features of this unit and steel outside. But they have taken the wall out in the 2019’s over the second bunk and it has a smaller set of tanks no black thank flush etc. They do not have the torsion bar suspension and so you lose capacity but you can find them as low as 12K. They are extremely low to the ground so I flipped the axle and bought a two step entry stairs piece for about 90 bucks. Am getting front stabilizers to add for about 50 bucks. If you can find an early 18 version of this Kodiak, it comes close to perfection for our family of two adults and two big dogs. The only improvement I could see might be a slide out dinette but then you add weight. I’ve seen the Kodiaks as low as 15K in Georgia. They run 19K plus up here in the NW.
We have a 2019 Kodiak Cub 175 BH and have been quite impressed with it’s quality so far! We have exposed it to nighttime outdoor temps of 22 degrees with the furnace set low and the temps inside stayed no lower than 50 degrees without much effort (the heater did not come on all that frequently) and no water lines froze! Although I should note that the winds outside were calm.
We live in Colorado and our 2012 6 cylinder 4Runner has been capable of pulling it over 11,000 foot mountain passes without excessive effort. It doesn’t roar over those peaks but the engine gives the impression it is confident it will make it. But I have noticed that loading the 4Runner and camper close to the 4Runner’s limit of 5K lbs definitely reduces its performance!
We have faced a consistent 75 mph head winds going south on I-25 with our 4 Runner and camper and only got 8 mpg and the 4Runner did not want to go out of 3rd to 4th gear. But a consistent wind of 75 mph is extreme even for Colorado!
So I have been quite happy with my 4Runner pulling our Kodiak Cub so far!