Need the Good and Bad on Upgrading to a New T@b 400 from a 320.

K_C_915

I am getting much closer to trading in my 320S BD for a 400 BD.
Many of you have done this. 

Other than getting new awnings, what other things should I consider buying?

Any systemic 400 issues on 2024 and 2025 models I should be aware of?

I would like to know the good and bad on moving from a 320 to a 400.

Thanks for your help.  This forum is one of the reasons for me to stay with NuCamp.

RayJim

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself not to sell my 320. I thought I needed the extra room the 400 provides, but I really didn't. The 400 is a lot more trailer to worry about, maintenance, parking it, towing it etc. I had 3 water leaks, 4 window hinge failures (replaced 4 windows), bathroom fan stopped working, kitchen sink faucet started leaking had to be replaced, plastic handle covers for outside handles fell off, door window shade partially came detached from door, and some of the bolts snapped off one of the stabilizers. The only problems with 320 is the plastic sink developed a crack and had to replace it.

K_C_915

Wow, that's a lot to go through.
Thanks for you honest response. This is the information I am looking for.

Horigan

We've had the opposite experience, though with going to a 2019 400.  It's been very reliable and it's been nice having separate bed and dining areas.  I will say that the seating in the dining area is more comfortable/flexible on the 320 than the 400.  We've made do with more pillows on the benches.

Sharon_is_SAM

You may want to consider a 360.

Jake_Elwood_and_us

We bought the 400 as our first NuCamp and we love it. We decided against the 320 because I get up early and my wife sleeps in. It was absolutely required for us to have that option. The minor things that happen like water leaks are part of dialing in a new unit. The only drawback for us is the tight bed area with the sloping roof line. A bit of a trade off to keep the trailer under 20 feet and to choose a quality camper.

elbolillo

We couldn’t be happier having gone from a ‘21 Tab 320 to our ‘23 Tab 400. The pluses for us far outweigh any minuses.

We like not having to make up the bed every evening and the bed on the 400, while narrower, is longer and I no longer have to sleep on an angle. I can stand up comfortably in the shower. More storage means carrying less stuff in the tow vehicle. I can comfortably stand up in the kitchen area and do meal prep.

i have done a number of modifications to provide a bit more storage inside and upgraded the batteries to 400ah of LiFePo4 along with a 3000w inverter. No longer lug a generator and gas can along. Solar keeps us going strong.

marchule

Love the extra storage space.  The 400 is cozy and inviting.  The bathroom space is awesome.  We've had ZERO quality issues.  The only issue is I can't move a 400 by hand - it's just too heavy (or I'm too weak).

K_C_915

Thanks everyone for the comments.  They are very helpful.  We looked at one today here in Tucson.  Huge compared to the 320.  We are reevaluating the things important to us in trailers.  The seating flexibility in the 320 keeps coming up as important to us.  We have on a few occasions "semi-comfortably" had four people inside the 320 for dinner during bad weather. 
Not sure what our next move is.  Staying with the 320 is certainly not a bad option.  But I am getting weary of the lack of headroom and changing the bed over each morning.  But moving up to a 400 would make things more comfortable.

If only the 360 had a usable kitchen and counter like the 320.

Kirk

Binghi

Make sure your tow vehicle can pull the 400. It’s a lot taller than the 320; catches a lot more air. Also weighs more. We towed ours for years with a Volkswagen Touareg, but moved to a half-ton pick-up because of the uphill crawls.

Sharon_is_SAM

Buy a tent for the 320.  Use the tent for sitting and keep the bed made up.  This works well during mild weather.

K_C_915

@Sharon_is_SAM,  that is what my wife says.  Wise advice.  We do have the large awning and we stay outside when weather permits.

Anyway for now, we are staying with the 320.  Everyone's input did help.
Thanks

AnOldUR

Sharon_is_SAM said:

Buy a tent for the 320 ... and keep the bed made up ...

... or use a pop-up canopy. We'll setup our E-Z UP (with optional side walls) for extra space when needed.

My opinion is that the only reasons to buy a teardrop trailer is for its size, easy towing and ability to squeeze into tight places that the bigger rigs can't. There is a large portion of the teardrop community that believe that anything bigger than the T@G is not a true teardrop. I like to think that our 320 is still a teardrop because it passes the "can you stand up straight" test, but would not try to argue that with the hardcore group. Even thought I believe that the teardrop description is about shape, not size, the 400 (and 360) have clearly jumped the shark.

edit to add that we have no plans to move away from our 2020 320S.

andytabrv

I second AnOldUR's comment.  From personal experience changing from a big Forest River No Boundaries 19.8 to a 2024 T@b 400, I have not seen as big of a towing efficiency gain as I thought I would.  While at low speed the drop of 1000 lbs is very much felt and it's a lot easier on hills.  But, once you hit 65 on the highway it's mainly wind resistance.  I'm seeing about the same 12mpg as I got with the NOBO big square box at highway speed.  Given the other post that the guy with the Ford Lightening has made about trying to lower his T@b, I suspect the T@b isn't all that aerodynamic because of it's height.  Maybe if towed behind a taller truck with a bed topper it would make a difference.  I tow with a 2022 Nissan Pathfinder and it tows quite comfortably (if you don't mind the gas mileage).

Don't get me wrong.  I loooooove my T@b 400 and think it's an incredible camper.  I love having the dinette AND the bed.  I love being able to stand up in the shower.  I love the huge cooking space.  But, I suspect the height difference will result in very different towing experience for you unless you have a truck or good SUV.  I imagine the 320 tows even better since it's much shorter.  My only true complaint is life is so busy that I can't take it out camping as much as I'd like. 

I've had a few issues with my T@b.  The first is I'm debugging an issue that my solar is working irratically.  Many 2024 T@bs were shipped with wrong settings for the Lithium batteries.  While I've corrected those, and it was working fine, in the last month it has started being inconsistent.  I also just had the battery switch recall done because I have the Lithium package and I wonder if something was loosened.  I haven't had the time to really dive into it yet and the weather has finally cooled down enough in the southern US that I don't mind hanging out in there without air conditioning as I sort through the issue.  I did run into the issue of my front window leaking on me in a torrential rainstorm when it was propped open, but I see that's a common issue with that big front window and there are some things I can do to address it.  The other windows work great.  I'm really happy with the trailer and would buy it all over again.  The quality difference between Forest River and nuCamp is night and day.

I like the bigger awning or tent idea if you like your 320.  And if you're really adventurous, I've been impressed with the folks who winter camp with those little portable wood stoves.

K_C_915

@andytabrv, @AnOldUR.  Thanks for your advice.  We will starting our winter desert camping soon, so I will be looking at more ways to better use the space we have and maybe not remake the beds unless we need to dine inside.  It all depends on the weather, mainly wind this time of year in the Southwest is the only problem.

I pull the 320 with a F150 twin turbo 2.7l V6.  Plenty of power accelerating and going up hills.  The only bummer is the gas milage really drops once you go above 60 MPH due to the wind resistance as you pointed out. On the interstate, I get between 13 and 14 MPG. I am sure that the 400 would drop that some more due to the increased area more then just the weight increase.

Love this forum. It really helps.

AnOldUR

K_C_915 said
:.. so I will be looking at more ways to better use the space we have and maybe not remake the beds unless we need to dine inside ...

If you're willing to do some modification, you can have inside dining and a permanent bed setup. The downside is sleeping in the shorter 71" side to side configuration and the inside dining is only for two. Our bed is 54" wide giving my six foot height the ability sleep at a slight angle if I want to stretch out, but I usually sleep on my side, so no problem.

K_C_915

@AnOldUR, very clever use of the space. It won't work for us, but I sure like the idea. I like how you mounted the table.
We are at the age where climbing over someone at night does not work.
But your modification would really be great for solo campers.

AnOldUR

Yes @K_C_915, the climb over thing is the drawback to my setup and the 400's sleeping arrangement. For us (we're both in our 70's) it's not a problem since my wife sleeps like a log through the night. Along with nighttime bathroom needs, I get up first and put coffee on, so there's rarely any climbing over.

Our 320 has been a great experience for us. We've put on many more miles than most nuCamp owners and still have no desire to switch to a 400.

RTWCTS

We made the change to the 400 from a 320. The best way I can describe it is, we went from GO-GO in the 320 to Slow-Go in the 400. The 320 was great for road tripping. We slept in 45 states with it, seeing most of the country. The 400 is more comfortable for us to stay longer in locations as we are revisiting places. Bigger tanks and battery capacity means we get a few more days dry camping per stop. Not saying you can't do the same in a 320, just what is working for us.
We still use the same TV, a V6 Colorado. Being a wider trailer, we can still see with the stock side view mirrors. Nothing wrong with adding towing mirrors though.
*We added an Andersen WDH because there was a significant tongue weight increase. The Chevy towing manual recommended this upgrade based on the specs.
*We also bought the side mount tubs. If the new models have that huge tub that I saw on a 360, I'd be jealous.
*Another (small) upgrade that has been awesome is a cutoff switch on the shower head. It is well documented on the forum that you WILL bump the shower control maneuvering in the bathroom and turn it on.
*We added an XPED Mega Mat sleep pad as a topper to the bed and bought full XL size fitted sheets for the bed.
There always more that I could list...

andytabrv

@K_C_915 if part your consideration is the TV then with your F150 you won't have any issue towing the 360 or 400 (other than a slight drop in gas mileage on the highway).  That F150 will tow a good bit more than my Pathfinder.  I think the bottom-end tow capacity for a F150 is a bit over 7000 lbs (and yours is likely more) and my Pathfinder is just 6000 lbs.  I find it amusing that in general, gas mileage is generally miserable with ANY trailer that isn't a short pop-up or tiny TAG-like variety (because of the height).  Reading the mileage people get with T@b's and big-ol square boxes (like Forest Rivers) there isn't a huge variance.  It's usually between 9-14 mpg.  After a lot of research I went with a Pathfinder over a truck because (1) I need to drive my kids and their friends around and a truck isn't nearly as comfortable for that and (2) 95% of the time I'm not towing the trailer and need better gas mileage than a truck.  To be honest, though, I really would have preferred a truck and when the kids go off to college I'll probably invest in a truck.  Don't any of my thoughts here as a knock on your reasoning or the 320 or your tow vehicle. I think the 320 is a fabulous trailer, and I like your reasonings.

@RTWCTS I'm looking into the side mount tubs, too, as more storage is always nicer.  I, too, lust that bigger tub on the new nuCamps.  I use an Andersen WDH and love it.  I had a massive Husky WDH on my old Forest River trailer and hated, hated, hated messing with that thing.  The Andersen hitch is so easy to connect and disconnect.  I like how it cuts down on the hitch play and the T@b tows so nice and steady with it.