Today’s RV review is of the Jayco White Hawk 27RK travel trailer. So many of you take time out of your day to leave thoughtful comments on these articles. I want you to know that I really appreciate them. One of the things that’s often written is that people either love or dislike rear kitchens.
Funny thing I’ve noticed is that people’s experience with rear kitchen RVs varies a lot based on the type of RV and the type of suspension that RV has. For example, it seems that a lot of medium-sized travel trailers with simple leaf spring suspensions leave people with carbonated beverages in their RV fridges that have that special squirt in the face surprise.
But we’ve also heard from campers who have the fridge all the way at the back of their trailers where they don’t have this same experience. For example, a few people who have trailers with torsion axles don’t report having the same shaking in the back.
Now you see why I like those torsion axles.
Page Contents
The White Hawk 27RK trailer’s spread axle design tows well
In this case there’s a traditional leaf spring suspension but the axles are spread further apart. I haven’t towed a trailer like this yet, but the way RV dealers get most RVs of any sort is that they are driven or towed from wherever the factory is to the dealership. In the case of a travel trailer, it may have a couple of thousand miles on it before you haul it off the dealer’s lot just from going from the factory to the dealership.
My point with this is that these transport drivers have told me that the spread axle design, as is present on this trailer, does really tow well. The transport drivers don’t generally have any form of weight distribution nor do they have sway control hitches. Also, as was the case at the dealership I worked at in Northern California, they were hauling across windy plains states. So their word meant a lot to me.
Highlights of the Jayco White Hawk 27RK
There are a few things that really caught my attention with this trailer, including the way the dinette was arranged. There’s a choice of either a traditional booth dinette or a table and chairs. If you get the table and chairs, one option is an ottoman that forms the seating on one side of the dinette.
This is a bit of storage that can be moved around, which is neat. But it also makes a decent seat for the dinette.
Whoever is sitting on the ottoman will be facing people sitting in proper dining chairs. This makes the whole seating and space arrangement rather flexible and, of course, you can use the ottoman as a foot rest.
That circumstance would make particular sense if you chose the couch instead of the optional theater seats, either of which faces the TV.
The theater seats come with a nifty table
If the theater seats are how you roll, know that these come with a nifty table that is held in place in the cup holders. These are really well thought through. By using the cup holders to hold the table for each occupant of the theater seat, it’s a very stable arrangement. Oh, don’t worry, you don’t lose the cup holder as they’re not elevated into the table design.
No matter what choice of seating you pick here, there’s a TV across from you. What? You didn’t see it?
Where’s the TV?
It’s really well-nestled into the counter which is flush with the rest of the kitchen counter. When you don’t want the TV, it’s actually there under the counter.
When it is time to watch TV, there’s a simple latch and the TV slowly moves up into watching position. It covers the nice, large window that’s there. I like that this mechanism is not electric, but rather purely mechanical. The fewer demands I have of power in a travel trailer, the happier a camper I am.
The bathroom is well-designed with nothing objectionable. Ther’s good space around the toilet.
In the bedroom you have a choice of a queen- or king-sized mattress. The queen is a proper 60” x 80” model, if that’s the direction you go.
The bedroom in the White Hawk 27RK
I like this better only in that the closets on either side of the queen bed are larger. Behind those closets is a little cubby space with both 120-volt and 12-volt outlets and a blue light. That blue light might be all you need, should one of you have to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night. It’s well thought through.
Speaking of closets, there’s one on the end of the bedroom that faces the back of the trailer. It has hanging storage along with five drawers beneath it. Interestingly, the Jayco Eagle travel trailer we looked at recently has a similar closet arrangement. However, in that one the closet can be accessed from either the bathroom or the bedroom. I like that better.
Outside matters
Typically, outdoor kitchens are just outdoor kitchens. But I really like this one for several reasons.
The first of those reasons is something called the JayPort. (Jayco puts “Jay” in front of all sorts of things.) This looks for all the world like a receiver hitch in the side of the trailer. But Jayco includes an arm that slots into here that holds up a griddle that comes with the trailer. But you could put all sorts of things on this receiver if you choose, or just use the griddle.
Boondocking and travel access
I didn’t get to see it with the slide room in, but it’s pretty safe to assume that you’re not getting into the fridge with it in. Oh, well.
There are two doors into the trailer: one in the bedroom and the other in the main living space. I like that there are also two kinds of steps. That means if the trailer’s in storage, for example, you can still get into it. The amount of space the solid steps take to accommodate their swing is one of the issues people have with them.
In summary
This seems like a great party trailer to me. There’s lots of space for people to sit inside, a relatively decent kitchen, huge bathroom, outside kitchen with griddle and a big awning. I can see this being the headquarters for group camping fun, which is something I do quite a bit.
Some interesting advantages in Jayco trailers
I also feel that Jayco has some interesting advantages including the Goodyear tires, their roof structure, the insulation of this trailer and, most of all, their JaySMART™ lighting system. There’s also good insulation.
One thing. There’s no photos of this model on the company’s own website, so I stole a bunch by screen capturing from a video. But, again, just go to the end of the assembly line with an iPhone and take some pictures, even if they’re not Ansel Adams quality work.
Overall, a nice design that could actually be a good alternative to a lot of fifth wheels, depending on your own travel style.
I would love to read your comments and suggestions over on our new forums, where you can weigh in and start or join a discussion about all things RV. Here’s a link to my RV Reviews Forum.
Tony comes to RVtravel.com having worked at an RV dealership and been a lifelong RV enthusiast. He also has written the syndicated Curbside column about cars. You can find his writing here and at StressLessCamping where he also has a podcast about the RV life with his wife.
These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. We receive no money or other financial benefits from these reviews. They are intended only as a brief overview of the vehicle, not a comprehensive critique, which would require a thorough inspection and/or test drive.
Got an RV we need to look at? Contact us today and let us know in the form below – thank you!
##RVDT1849
Why do you show only trailer ?
Another trailer with a window above the bed! RV company execs and interior designers should be required to spend at least one Indiana January night sleeping in every model of their trailers. Then maybe, just maybe, they would understand why many of us really dislike the cold draft coming off the glass or Lexan right onto our heads when we are trying to sleep. Especially those of us who are follicle-challenged.
Didn’t any of them learn in high school science class that warm air rises and heavier, cold air sinks. You would think they knew that because they all put AC vents in the ceiling and heat vents near or in the floor. Do they think that the same physics doesn’t apply to windows in their poorly insulated RVs (compared to even the oldest sticks-and-bricks house)? Or maybe they really don’t know any physics, so like everything else in an RV, they just copycat the AC and heat duct locations because that’s the way everyone else has been doing it for 80 years!
In the pictures it appears that the dinette has a bench seat on one side but chairs on the other. The layout does not show this. 🤷🏼
That’s the ottoman that Tony described in detail.
Hi, Brenda. If you click on the link in the article that goes to the website, on the floor plan there’s a list on the left side where it says: “See Floorplan with an Option Added.” You can hover your cursor over or tap on a choice of four items in the list and it immediately changes the floor plan to show that option. Pretty cool. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
On the layout picture it only shows one entrance. 🤔
You’re right – I didn’t catch that. I wonder if it was a production change that Jayco didn’t catch up on on their layout illustrations or ???
I’m so amazed at how behind so much of the RV industry is on the Internet. Like it was just invented.
Good catch!
More space between the axles seems like a good idea. When I have asked salespeople about wheel travel when hitting bumps, their eyes go blank and they talk about special financing or curtain fabric. An 80″ long mattress, nice !
Like most travel trailers, this unit has very little storage, maybe enough for a weekend (but not substitute for a 5th wheel as the writer suggests). I guess the outdoor kitchen is ok for a party but I really don’t see many used. I never touched mine in 4 years.
I had a TT with spread axles and can’t say I noticed any improvement. Moving up to an F-250 from an F-150 REALLY improved towing.
The blue lights bother me. I never turn them on. The price seems to have went up substantially on this model. Plus the White Hawk travel trailers don’t seem to have room for a garbage can under the sink.
This is a update model, the previous model was 2020 Jayco – White Hawk 26RK. It had one entry door. The main entry door was moved.
You might point out that those transport drivers are using BIG trucks, not towing 9000 lbs with a half-ton because the dealer assured them it would work just fine.
VERY good point indeed. In fact most of the transport drivers were pulling with one ton diesels because they never knew what they’d be hauling and wanted to be prepared.
I even saw people pulling with medium-duty trucks (Freightliners, Internationals, etc.) but the majority were one ton diesels. I will say what I saw was about 85% Ram and the rest Ford with the rare Chevy but that could just be the ones that came to the dealership.
#1 question… Is there a well placed skylight in the shower? At 6’1″ I need the headroom
Yes there is!