The Ozark 1900THK travel trailer/toy hauler – a good fit for families

Today’s RV review is another of the new Ozark campers from Forest River—in this case, the Ozark 1900THK. Ozark is a new offshoot of the Salem-Wildwood brand, and I’m actually starting to see them in campgrounds. 

For the most part, these trailers are wood-framed, aluminum-skinned trailers. However, like many other companies, a fiberglass exterior skin is available. That doesn’t make this a laminated trailer, but does give it a fiberglass exterior. Why you’d want to pay extra for this is beyond me—but it’s available. 

As I write this on Memorial Day weekend, we somehow got a reservation at an RV park in Missouri that has a giant natural water slide. This is a hot spot for all the kids, naturally, although I’m pretty sure I’m going to give it a try myself. Why wouldn’t I? 

Our campsite is right by said water slide so the parade of the littles is endless, but I’ve also been observing how many things kids bring with them. Bikes, miniature cars, golf carts and so much more. That’s why I thought we might look at this specific trailer. It’s small, it’s affordable, and it can hold all those various toys. 

What is the Ozark 1900THK 

What you have here is basically a small toy hauler. To start with, there is a bedroom up front with an east-west pocket queen—so I may lose some of you already. But if you’re a younger couple, you likely don’t have to get up multiple times at night to visit the restroom.  

The cargo/bunk space in this camper is where it shines. On the camp-side wall are two bunks that can flip up against the wall. You can also just flip the lower bunk down and now it’s a couch. Or flip it up, too, and the platform that forms the legs of the bunk are now a bar-height table. 

This also comes with a free-floating table—but it’s the typical cheap one that you get in RVs. Don’t worry, you’ll be upgrading to a lifetime plastic table soon enough and you can get one that raises up to counter height. 

I like these bunks because, well, they’re bunks. But they also flip up out of the way so you can get cargo back here. There are tie-downs for said cargo, so this would be a great rig to have if you have kids with all the various conveyances I spotted with them this weekend. 

Further, if you have little littles, the ramp door for loading your various cargo into the trailer is also a patio deck. I like that this includes an enclosure so that you have a “fence” around the deck. 

Honestly, this makes so much sense for little ones or dogs so they can be outside without having free reign of the campground, but they have a full observation deck of what’s going on out there. 

Ozark 1900THK - 2024

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There’s also a magnetic screen you can put up, so you could leave the patio deck deployed and still keep the bugs out. 

Interestingly, this follows in what I’ve been seeing more and more in terms of food prep. You have a three-burner propane cooktop and a convection microwave below it. Given the choice of the tiny 17” oven or a convection microwave, I’d go convection every time. We did a survey on a Facebook Group I run and the vast majority of RVers that responded said they just don’t use their 17” ovens whatsoever. No surprise—they’re terrible. 

What you do get is a nice, long countertop that spans the length of the camp side of this trailer—so you have a lot of prep space. Nice. 

Another thing that’s inherent in a toy hauler is the higher ceiling, at 84”. That means the trailer feels more spacious, but also there’s more height in the shower. 

A pound of performance

One of the things that impressed me about this little trailer is just how much cargo carrying capacity it has. While many trailers are limited to about half a ton or so, this has more than two tons of cargo carrying capacity! 

That means that if little Johnny wants to bring that rolling whatever that he thinks is so important, you likely can do it without worrying about overloading the trailer. However, it also means that when you’re shopping for your tow vehicle to haul this around, you have the tongue weight of an almost 10,000-pound trailer. Toy haulers tend to be tongue-heavy. 

As I’ve written before, it’s usually not the pulling capacity of most vehicles where they fall short in towing, it’s the cargo carrying capacity. Your tow vehicle carries about 15% of the weight of the trailer, plus all the rest of what you put in your tow vehicle. So a lot of people are well outside of the capability of their tow vehicle without knowing it. 

Please. Get your truck and trailer weighed. It truly is a safety issue. 

Plastic fantastic—My sad story of fiberglass trailers

This Ozark model is available with a fiberglass or aluminum skin. The fiberglass skin adds almost 300 pounds to the weight of the trailer. I just don’t see the reason to opt for this, quite honestly—but you do you. 

But I thought I’d share something that happened a few days ago. The campground we were staying at decided that cutting a dead limb almost directly over our camper was a good idea. I bet you know where this is going. 

They couldn’t reach it with their pole-mounted chain saw, so they got a ladder. What could go wrong? The sawing commenced and, having seen a lot of tree-related issues, I came outside to supervise this foolish operation. As I was coming around the back of our RV, I heard the limb break and then a loud bang. 

So the limb swung down (that’s what they do when you don’t saw them properly) and acted like a big pendulum. It knocked the ladder into the side of our trailer and punched a hole in the sidewall. 

The good thing about fiberglass-laminated trailers is that they’re strong and light. The bad thing is that, if there’s ever a breach in the sidewall, your best course of action is to replace the entire side wall. So that’s what’s happening in a few weeks. We’re taking it back to Rockwood and they’re going to remove and replace the entire sidewall. 

With a wood-framed, aluminum-skinned trailer, you just remove the offending pieces of aluminum skin and replace them. Easy. So, you see, each type of build has its advantages and disadvantages. 

Conclusions

The flexible cargo carrying of this trailer plus the ability to carry said cargo are winners in my book in this floor plan. However, off-brand tires and simple leaf spring suspensions are downsides, for sure. 

I do like that they’re using the Lippert Quick Drop stabilizers. They seem to be a big upgrade over the traditional stabilizers in trailers which really don’t offer a lot of stabilization. I’ve been told these are much better. 

I think something like this makes much more sense than a bunkhouse trailer. The flexible space plus the large cargo deck mean you can adapt as your needs change. This also has really good window coverage on the camp side. 

While I think a lot of shoppers avoid toy haulers, I’ve written before that this could be a mistake. The adaptability of these floor plans is a plus. Also, this is small enough that you can get into a lot of places where larger rigs would be challenged. 

What’s your take on this smaller hauler? 

More about these RV reviews

These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. They are based on information from a single unit and may not reflect your actual experience. Shop your RV and dealership carefully before making a buying decision. 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.

Tony comes to RVtravel.com having worked at an RV dealership and been a life long RV enthusiast. He also has written the syndicated Curbside column about cars. He also works closely with a number of RV manufacturers to get an inside look at how things are done and is a brand ambassador for Rockwood Mini Lite with his wife, Peggy.

You can also check out his RV podcast with his wife, Peggy. 

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