What Are The Best Travel Trailers Under 5000 lbs?

There are a lot of travel trailers available out there nowadays. And with that exceptionally wide range, it is pretty difficult to make a decision.

So why not use a shortcut and see what other people like, right?

We know the struggle of looking through hundreds of models, which is why we’ve got things sorted. This is what allows us to present to you a list of our favorite travel trailers under 5000 lbs. We’ve picked 5 travel trailer series for today’s material.

If you aren’t looking for anything right now and just want to geek out over some spectacular travel trailers, then maybe you’ll find something interesting. And believe us, there are a couple of remarkable things in the trailers we picked for our list.

If you are about to buy a travel trailer, our little top may come in handy for you as well.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at what those compact travel trailers have to offer!

5 Outstanding Travel Trailers Under 5000 lbs

1. Jayco 2020 Hummingbird

Jayco 2020 Hummingbird is among the smallest below-5000lb travel trailers out there. In terms of comfort, it definitely isn’t the best model line on our list. Still, we included it in our top due to the variety that it provides.

First of all, there are 7 floorplans available for the Hummingbird travel trailer series UVW (Dry Weight) ranging from 2,000 lbs all the way up to 3,950 lbs.

Floorplan	10RK	16MRB	17RK	17FD	17RB	17BH	17MBS
UVW, lbs	1545	2780	2980	2845	2890	3015	2990
GVWR, lbs	2000	3550	3950	3750	3750	3950	3950
L x W	13’ x 80”	19’10” x 97”	19’10” x 97”	19’10” x 97”	19’10” x 97”	19’ x 97”	19’10” x 97”
Bed size	54 x 74	60 x 75	60 x 74	60 x 74	60 x 74	37 x 74	60 x 75
Bathroom	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dinette	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Height (interior)	53”	78”	78”	78”	78”	78″	78”

They all have quite different layouts, starting from the very simple and basic layout of the 10RK and ending with the pretty roomy layouts of the 17HB and 17MBS travel trailers.

And while the 1545lb 10RK can’t boast that much comfort in comparison to its bigger brothers, it could be a good option for those who don’t have a powerful towing vehicle. It is a very, very compact travel trailer.

And overall, to be fair, Jayco 2020 Hummingbird travel trailers can’t boast the biggest room on our list. But these trailers can compensate for this with other things.

In particular, the base package of the Hummingbird series is also a thing that we love about it. Even the most basic package includes plenty of items in it. The most notable among those are:

• 13,500 BTU AC unit.
• Folding 2’ x 4’ picnic table.
• 2-burner recessed cooktop.
• 1A USB port.
• 110V/USB tower.
• Solar charger prep.

These are among the basic features of the Hummingbird. There are also plenty of other things, but these were the ones that we think are the most notable.

Interestingly, Hummingbird also comes with the mandatory Jayco customer value package, which includes several other goodies. Among things like stabilizer jacks, electric brakes, Goodyear tires, and aluminum rims, the customer value package includes the following items:

• Outside shower.
• 6-gallon gas/electric DSI water heater.
• 18,000 BTU furnace.
• 3 cu. ft. 2-way refrigerator.
• Convection microwave.

So yeah, you see why we like Jayco Hummingbird travel trailer series, right? They come so equipped right out of the dealership in spite of their size! And you could get them even more equipped by getting the extras offered by Jayco.

There is also another package available for Hummingbird travel trailers, which among other things includes a 24” LED TV and 15” off-road mud tires.

Another thing that we like in 2020 Hummingbird travel trailers is their design. While you can’t expect to get something spectacular at this price point, we do have to admit that these trailers look rather sleek. This isn’t at all necessary in RVs, but that’s just another thing that we like about this series.

The manufacturer of this series itself should be also noted. Jayco has been on the market for years, and they certainly know what they are doing with trailers. Their RVs may be a bit overpriced compared to the models of the lesser-known players on the market, but that’s the price of consistent quality.

2. Winnebago Micro Minnie

Winnebago Micro Minnie travel trailer series is more oriented towards heavier models. The trailers in this series don’t go as light as in Jayco Hummingbird series. They are noticeably bigger and roomier.

There are 7-floor plans to choose from with a UVW (Dry Weight) weight ranging from 3,010 lbs up to 4,260 lbs.

There are 10 floorplan variations in Winnebago Micro Minnie series, but they are all very similar to each other. The main difference between them is their size. However, as you’d expect from this material, all of these trailers have dry weight less than 5,000 pounds.

What we like in the Micro Minnie series more than in the Jayco Hummingbird series is upgradeability. Except for 1700BH, all the models have 7,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight capacity (GVWR). This means that there is plenty of extra capacity in these trailers. In the future, this would allow the owners to add plenty of extra gear to it.

In addition, a Hummingbird travel trailer would be good if you plan to slightly upgrade your towing vehicle. Otherwise, if your vehicle isn’t going to support over 5,000 pounds, getting an RV from this line doesn’t make sense.

In terms of equipment, the Micro Minnie travel trailers are pretty remarkable as well. Among the key items they come with are:

• Carbon monoxide detector.
• LP gas detector.
• Smoke alarm.
• LED TV.
• Single door gas/electric refrigerator.
• 3-burner range with oven (not available on 1700BH, it has a drop-in 2-burner cooktop instead).
• Stainless steel sink.
• Spare tire.
• Outside shower.
• 18,000 BTU furnace.
• Solar charger prep.
• 6-gallon DSI/gas/electric water heater.

So completely stock, Winnebago Micro Minnie travel trailers come very equipped. This is another thing that we like about this series: it comes with pretty much everything one may need.

In terms of design, the Micro Minnie series may look less sleek than Jayco Hummingbird, which may matter for some people. But Winnebago is a no less trustworthy manufacturer than Jayco because they have been on the market for a pretty long time as well.

3. Starcraft Satellite

Starcraft Satellite travel trailer series is pretty similar to Winnebago Micro Minnie series. This is one of the reasons why we included this series in the list of our favorite travel trailers under 5000 lbs.

But before proceeding any further, let’s have a look at the specs of Satellite trailers’ floorplans.  The UVW (Dry Weight) ranges from 3,081 lbs up to 3,515 lbs.

Certainly, this series can’t boast as much versatility and width of choice as Jayco Hummingbird and Winnebago Micro Minnie. For some people, the narrower choice may be a downside.

But when you look at it from a certain perspective, fewer options can be much better sometimes. Namely, Satellite won’t require you to dive too deep into the specs. Everything is pretty evident at a glance, and there are people who will like this approach much more.

You could have also noticed that Satellite series travel trailers have a lower GVWR of between 3790-3950 pounds. This is nowhere near the 7000 pounds that the majority of the Micro Minnie trailers had.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Some people don’t plan to change their vehicle, and if you are such, then the GVWR of these travel trailers should be well enough for you.

While the floorplan variety of Starcraft Satellite series trailers isn’t that big, their option & feature list is very comparable to those of the previous two travel trailer series. That is, Starcraft includes all the basic things that one would need to get started, including:

• 13,500 BTU AC unit.
• Convection microwave.
• Electric tongue jack.
• DSI/gas/electric water heater.
• Radial & nitrogen-filled tires.
• 2-burner range.
• Solar prep.

Some of these items come with the mandatory Premium and Customer Convenience packages. There also is the extreme package with its off-road mud tires, extra ground clearance, and insulated underbelly. And you could also order Starcraft to set up this thing in accordance with Canadian standards.

In the end, the thing we like the most in the Satellite series is that they don’t put the buyers before a difficult choice. With just a couple of options, they deliver the bare minimum. And besides, we feel that this travel trailer would be good for people who don’t look to upgrade their vehicles.

4. Coachmen Apex Nano Series

In the comfort category, the Coachmen Apex Nano series is a clear winner in our book. In spite of their lightness and compactness, these travel trailers are the most comfortable on our list.

The 9-floor plans range from a UVW (Dry Weight) of 2,850 lbs up to 3,928 lbs.

For some reason, Coachmen doesn’t provide the bed sizes for all the models in this series. However, they are all sized about the same. And if you look closely at the bed sizes, then you’ll notice that they are bigger than in the other trailer series on our list.

The larger options with 213RDS at the top are especially comfortable. Not only they have all the basic appliances one would need, but they are also quite roomy. And this is pretty mind-boggling given the lightweight of this series’ models.

The capacity headroom is also pretty good with these travel trailers. You get from 1000 to over 2000 pounds of cargo carrying capacity, which is plenty.

The features & options package included with this travel trailer series is also pretty abundant:

• DSI water heater.
• Stainless steel microwave.
• 2-burner cooktop.
• Solar prep.
• Outside shower.
• Fire extinguisher.
• Smoke alarm.
• Carbon monoxide detector.

While the base package is pretty rich in the Coachmen Apex Nano travel trailers, there are certain items that aren’t included with them.

For example, a 13,500 BTU AC and a 20,000 BTU furnace are just options for this travel trailer series. With most of the other trailer series on the list, these were included in the base package.

This was probably done to keep the price of the Apex Nano travel trailers down. As-is, they are already more expensive than all the other series on the list. That’s just the price for the level of comfort this series delivers. So yeah, we can’t say that Apex Nano trailers are exactly budget-oriented.

But in the end, it could be worth it for people who value comfort above everything else.

5. Forest River SALEM FSX NORTHWEST

And to close the list of our favorite travel trailers under 5000 lbs., we’ve chosen Forest River Salem FSX Northwest trailer series. The reason why we like this trailer series is their budget orientation. In spite of this, this series still has some good comfort to boast.

The 4-floor plans range from UVW (Dry Weight) of 3,235 lbs up to 3,574 lbs.

The two main things that catch the eye in this chart is the length of these trailers, as well as the headroom they have in terms of cargo carrying capacity. There is over 1000 pounds of additional capacity with each model, more or less depending on which one you choose.

And because this travel trailer series has pretty long floorplans, they can all boast plenty of interior room. While Salem FSX travel trailers most likely won’t compare with Coachmen Apex Nano trailers, there still is some remarkable levels of comfort to be seen.

So for the price, you get a lot of headroom for upgradability with this travel trailer series.

On the other hand, one would have to give up something to get so much comfort for the cheap price, right? And that’s indeed the case.

When it comes to packaging, Forest River Salem FSX travel trailers aren’t the most equipped on our list. This is probably where Forest River made some sacrifices to make this model cheaper.

Sure, you get plenty of useful features like a two-burner cooktop, microwave, and a water heater, but nothing like AC or furnaces are included with this series. You could get some optional features like 26” LED TV or a double-step main entry, but the choice is a bit more limited.

You may also like lightweight travel trailers under 3000lbs.

All this data comes from Forest River’s website though, so keep in mind that the actual package may vary from dealer to dealer. In addition, maybe Forest River didn’t bother to put the full list of features included with their trailers.

Nonetheless, we still like this travel trailer series very much. We wouldn’t include it in our list otherwise, right? And as we see it, it is designed for people who need a cheaper travel trailer with not so many features.

And in the future, the buyers of a Forest River Salem FSX trailer would be able to equip it with better things. After all, as we mentioned, this series offers plenty of interior room!

If you liked this article, you might also like to check out our other travel trailer recommendations here or learn more about RVs here.

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