Will I regret a black exterior?

[bradmtb]

I'm finally getting close to buying a 7x16 CT from trailershowroom.com, to convert to toy hauler and camper. It's down to pewter or black exterior. I'll be pulling it with a black 2008 Toyota Tundra Crewmax Limited, and it sure would be nice to have the trailer match the truck. My conversion will include a queen murphy bed for me and my wife (the kids will sleep in a tent, or possibly on the ramp under a makeshift tent. I'll have storage for 4 dirt bikes and mountain bikes, including a closet, shelving, and cabinets. We camp in fair weather throughout California and the western states in spring, summer, and fall. We sit outside, cook outside, and plan to only be "in" the trailer to sleep, load, and unload. Temps range between the 50's to 90's...will the black trailer get too hot? If I have the option, should I leave the top of the trailer aluminum/pewter?
Thanks for any advice.

[madjack]

...so how do like your black truck...that should answer your question...if you have shade at most of your campsites, it shouldn't make much diff what color it is...I have a dark colored tear and don't have a problem worthy of note..........
madjack

[bradmtb]

With 3 kids and doing alot of camping and road trips it works well. The black exterior isn't too bad because the A/C cools it quickly on hot days. I'm not planning on putting A/C in the CT, so that's my concern.

[bdosborn]

You will regret getting a black trailer IMHO. It will be very HOT during the day. There's a good reason why you never see black campers...

Bruce

[Pyrofish]

Work on my CT conversion has crawled to a halt since my last trip in November, but I found out something very interesting about color on the exterior. There were big logos on mine when I bought it, so I had some decal removal to do, and had to prime each side with metal primer. One side ended up white, and the other ended up gray primer. Because my insulation isn't up inside yet, I could see the sides popping the morning when the sun was coming up. The side with the gray was expanding enough to make it sound like someone was banging on the exterior. The white side, nothing.

Interesting and unintended experiment

I'm painting the monster white as soon as I get rid of this square to-it...

[pappaw]

I am a retired Deputy Sheriff. My department has black cruisers. Our state police have white cruisers. One sunny summer day we were working a detail together and had my car parked next to a state troopers car. We were working on and leaning against his white car. Then a few minutes later we moved and leaned against my car. His car was cool, mine you could not touch because the sun had warmed the black so much.

That said, I have a dark blue Honda Element that will be my TTT tow, and I plan on painting or ordering my trailer or cargo trailer to match my dark blue tow, basicically the same as black, but I plan a light roof of silver or white.

I do see a lot of new RV's in dark colors like brown now days.

Just my 2 cents.

[Shadow Catcher]

It is easy to add heat it is a great deal more difficult to pump it out. Go for white or silver.

[vreihen]

If you take a look at the pictures of black trailers, they always seem to have wrinkled skin in the sun.

I used to only buy black cars, and can tell you they were a constant chore to keep clean and waxed. I haven't owned a black car in over 10 years now, and I don't miss the color one bit. Unfortunately, my race car hauler came in black, and even the low sun angles of December in NY can make the side too hot to touch and "pop" sheet metal on a clear day. Great for solar heat in the winter, though.....

[BC_Explorer]

In August when I was researching and looking at trailers, I noticed a significant inside heat difference on the black and darker blue trailers as compared to the white and other lighter color trailers. I would think that some of this heat difference would be negated by insulation to some effect, how much though is the question.

I opted for a champagne color for my trailer and the color is light enough to be a good compromise between white and darker colors.

[roadinspector]

Over a year ago I checked the external SIDE skin temperature with an infrared temperature gun on a sunny day around noon. Both were side by side in direct sun light. Atmospheric temp was 65. White temp was 88 and the black was 118. The difference will increase as the atmospheric temp rises. 30 degrees difference is enough to convince me.

Its nice to color coordinate your wardrobe, but when it comes to comfort in a trailer its not worth it for me. I can already hear the wife fussing about how hot it is inside the trailer when we get back to camp seeking shelter.

[jwhite]

I almost made the mistake of choosing black and I sure am glad I didn't I went with grey instead and it's just right.
I live in south GA and travel also in north FL and it's like a oven in there in the summer,I had a portable AC = don't buy one))))) and it would be up to 85 degrees inside by noon and you had to be right in front of the AC to feel any cool air.
As soon as I would stand up you could feel the heat through the roof.
I guess it depends on what part of the country you live in and what time of year you use it and how much AC you want to use,I know for me I must have AC heating is not a problem.

[8ball_99]

Probably no reason for me to add to the pile, but hey why not.. I would not get a black trailer with a roof ac.. There is no way in hell I would get a black trailer with no ac. The inside of the trailer will be much hotter on a sunny day period.. I'm not sure grey or silver is much better either.. I've read its about the same. Also when I painted my silver roof white the surface temp dropped 40 degrees.

Not all RVs are white. I would same most of them are though. If you notice the black and brown ones tend to have Two large roof ACs on them. Pretty much just like the OP said his black truck isn't to bad cause the AC cools it of pretty quick.. With out a large AC it would suck...

[Gary and Cheri]

Back in the early 1960s the Mini Cooper race team went to the Rally of the Acropolis in Greece. They took their cars in the factory race colors, Tartan Red with a Black roof. Race cars do not have air conditioning and the drivers were having difficulty dealing with the heat. In the middle of the event the team repainted the roofs white and dropped interior temperatures by 20 degrees. The new factory colors became and are still today Tartan Red with an English White roof.

That said, I am rarely in my tear except at night or when it is raining. If you are a nap taker then all Black could be a problem. I personally think the best solution might be black sides with a white roof.

Gary

[Wolfscout]

I purchased mine used. with Shingle painted top and log painted sides. A week at the beach proved to me it's too hot.
I have already laid down several coats of Henry white roofing. and I plan to blast and repaint the sides white sometime next spring.
I don't usually stay in the camper much but it's nice to know I won't be too hot in bad weather in summer or when my disabled old butt needs to crawl in for a nap.

[8ball_99]

Another small thing to consider.. One of the other main reasons I went with white vs some other color any RV door, hatch, plug, ect ect you add to the trailer is going to be white. So if your trailer isn't white you will have to paint anything you add to the trailers exterior if you want it to look right. I my self have a hot water heater, water hook up, electrical hatch and a outdoor shower. Probably wouldn't have been a huge deal to paint all that stuff to match, but it is something to consider..