Geo Pro Camper Review – 6 Months After Owning E Pro 19fbs

A comprehensive Geo Pro Camper review about the 19fbs. After owning our E Pro 19fbs for over 6 months, we are going to tow it with a Jeep Wrangler full-time. This Geo Pro Camper Review will highlight the good, the bad and the reason for why we chose our Geo Pro. It took us over a year to finally figure out what type of trailer we wanted after purchasing a $650, 1977 class C motorhome. The trailer needed way to much work that we really didn’t want to do. Maddie and I are both outdoor and adventure enthusiasts, which played a huge role in deciding what type of RV or trailer we wanted. There were class C trailers, fifth wheels, and #VanLife in which we considered before finally settling on the Geo Pro 19fbs travel trailer.

This Geo Pro Camper review will showcase why we decided to go with this particular trailer and then highlight the good and areas for improvement.

Update – We recently purchased a Class A motorhome for full-time living!

Save 15% with my Lion Energy discount code – 7k at checkout 

Why did we chose the Geo Pro 19FBS over a large larger trailer or class C?

The most difficult decision in figuring out what type of trailer or RV we wanted, was to figure out how we wanted to live on the road. We kept debating between a Class C, travel trailer or even possibly a Class A motorhome. In 2018 we jumped on a 1977 Class C for $650 which was down the street from us. We were thinking we could restore it and use that, but we were wrong. I (James) loved the little camper we called “squirt” (the little turtle in Finding Nemo). It was sadly to unreliable, and I didn’t feel comfortable driving it down the road at 20 mph let alone cross country. After owning “squirt” for a couple of months we ended up selling it for $1650, which meant we each made around $600 after tax, tags and a few other things.

After realizing we needed something newer, our hearts were originally set on a Salem 27RE which was a massive 27 foot travel trailer. It had so much room for us, our dog and all of the camera and hiking gear. The 27RE was only a few thousand more dollars than our Geo Pro, but was over 31 feet long once the tongue was accounted for. The other thing that we didn’t want to do was buy a truck to pull the trailer, and then in total be over 50 feet in length.

This lead us to the Geo Pro 19fbs Camper!

 We spent a-lot of time thinking about how we wanted to travel, what we wanted to do and weighed the good and bad of each type. After months of figuring things out, we settled on wanting a Jeep Wrangler. We wanted to go on adventures with it and wanted the shortest possible trailer we would feel comfortable living out of full-time.

The Jeep Wrangler and Geo Pro 19fbs ended up being the best fit in our minds. It would allow us to only be around 35 feet in length and still be able to go on off-road adventures. We can go boon-docking with the trailer because of the factory solar setup, and then detach the Jeep and go exploring on off-road trails. The Geo Pro travel trailer gave us the best of both worlds and came in at a reasonable price near $20,000 out the door. The Geo Pro camper price can vary a-lot depending on what state you are located and what “extra” things you have included. We originally put down a deposit on a Geo Pro 19fd before realizing the slide out would provide so much extra space. We ended up switching to the 19fbs two days before we went to pick it up and couldn’t be happier with our Geo Pro camper.

Geo Pro 19fbs vs 19fd – Geo Pro Camper Review

When we first started to look at the Geo Pro trailers there wasn’t a lot of information on them because they were fairly new. The Geo Pro camper price is a lot more expensive than other trailers in the same size group. Other manufacturers offer a similar setup for around $14,000 while the 19fbs is around $20,000 (In Pennsylvania). The Geo Pro and E Pro lineup offer a-lot of different benefits and unique characteristics that Rockwood and Flagstaff offer, yet others don’t. The Geo Pro 19fd was our original choice because it had both a couch and a dinette which was a huge plus! The Dinette provides a great area to eat, work, and more space to put things. The biggest downfall on the 19fd was that it did not have a slide out which ended up being the main reason we went with the Geo Pro 19fbs.

The 19fbs didn’t have the dinette which we were really hoping for, but it offered so much more floor space to actually walk around instead of shuffling sideways. If we had gone with the 19fd, we realized we would have had no room to move around. We would be bumping into each other all the time. Check out our initial review on our Geo Pro 19fbs a few days after we bought it. We plan on doing another review once we head out for full-time living in our Geo Pro camper.

SO… why did we choose the 19FBS over the 19FD… Floorspace plain and simple. At the end of the day our camper is supposed to feel as much like a house as possible, which is why we chose floorspace over the dinette and couch. Check out our blog about living on the road with our pitbull!

Geo Pro Travel Trailer – The GOOD

The Geo Pro camper comes with a lot of great features from the factory. Some of them such as solar panels need to be upgraded, but most of the features are great and can be left alone!

• Pre-Wired Solar Panels – Check out our Video on the Solar Capabilites
• Torflex Axles – Great ride and easy to lift
• Full Aluminum Framing – The Cheaper trailers are wood framed
• 1 inch vacuum bonded and laminated insulation – Removes air and moisture from walls
• Fullsize Fridge – Most Small trailers have a tiny Fridge
• Electric tongue jack –
• Max Air Fan and Vent Cover – Can use when its raining outside
• Portable Grill / Table Setup – Comes with propane line
• Solid Steps – They touch the ground and won’t break under heavy weight

We want this Geo Pro camper review to be as transparent as possible which is why another section will highlight the needs of improvement. The main reason that people choose the Geo Pro over other competitors is because of the build quality and standard features that don’t need to be added. The trailer is already setup to go boondocking straight from the dealership, and has all the needed features to allow you to get there. The Geo Pro can be offered with a lift kit (cheaper to install yourself) and the Torflex axles make for a smooth ride.

The full-size fridge in the Geo Pro is another HUGE bonus, because other competitors fridge sizes are only about half the size. This means we are able to boondock longer and don’t have to go food shopping as often! Instead of carrying around a portable Coleman grill, the Geo Pro comes standard with a griddle that attaches to the outside of the trailer and has a propane extension line making it easy to hookup.

Best Camper for Boondocking from the factory?

There are not many Geo Pro camper reviews online which meant we had to do a lot of research comparing models. When it comes to boondocking with a travel trailer there are so many different options. There are small off-road trailers meant for extreme terrain, huge fifth wheels and than in the middle is the Geo Pro. The Geo Pro camper is the best boondocking setup from the factory for the price. The only real competitor of the E Pro is the NoBo or Rpod trailers which are usually more expensive and don’t offer the same nice interior as the Geo Pro’s. The NoBo’s are heavier and geared a little more towards off-road and weekend camping rather than full-time living. A Geo Pro vs Rpod comparison would clearly show that the Geo Pro offers much more amentinties and features.

The Geo Pro comes factory with a 100w solar panel, 1000w inverter, 30amp charge controller and two AGM batteries depending on the dealership. This makes the Geo Pro a great week long warrior for boondocking in sunny environments, but will need to be upgraded for cloudier and rainy days.

Geo Pro Trailer Upgrades – Improvements

This list of “improvements” can vary a lot depending on how you plan on using the Geo Pro travel trailer. Maddie and I are going to be boondocking as much as possible and trying to use our solar panels and batteries as our power source. We only want to go to a campground when we really want to, or if there are no free camping destinations near us.

Geo Pro Improvements – The Bad

• 100w Solar Panel – NOT enough for full-time living
• 160ah batteries – Poor batteries for full-time living
• Fridge cant run off batteries
• Not the comfiest couch (model depending)
• Ugly Factory Flooring
• Couch needs foot rest
• No Rear Bumper
• Cabinets don’t stay closed on the road
• Closet does not have shelves

The Geo Pro travel trailer comes with a lot of different options and amenities depending on what model you go with. Some campers come with ovens and reclining couches while others don’t. Our biggest issue was the fact that the camper only had 100w of solar and 160ah from the factory. The batteries the dealer gave us were absolute crap, so we needed to upgrade those as soon as possible. We ended up going with two Lion Energy UT1300 which proved to be an amazing upgrade, and can last us multiple days even if the sun doesn’t come out. We have a blog highlighting how we installed and re-routed our Lithium batteries inside of the camper. 

Solar Panels on Geo Pro Travel Trailer – Geo Pro Upgrades

This entire Geo Pro Camper review is based around our desire to go boondocking and be self-sustained. Upgrading the Geo Pro solar panels was the next big thing we had to fix before going full-time in our camper. The 100w panel would only bring in around 4.0 amps at most on a sunny day and 0.4 amps on a cloudy day which wasn’t going to be near enough to fill our new battery bank. We installed 4, 100w Renogy Solar Panels and removed the factory 100w panel. This gave us a total of 400w of solar and now bring in around 16 amps on a sunny day and 4 amps on a cloud day. We were

We boondocked in the Badlands of South Dakota without having to worry about running out of power. 

This solar setup now allows us to keep our batteries fully charged even on a cloudy day, and not have to worry about draining the batteries. We are able to charge laptops, cameras, drones, phones, use the TV, max air fan, and all the lights without worrying about depleting our batteries. If you have any plans of boondocking for more than a couple of days at a time I highly recommend going to 400w and upgrading to lithium batteries. We documented the installation of our solar panels here!

Save 15% with my Lion Energy discount code – 7k at checkout 

The 19fbs model sadly doesn’t come with the factory foot rest included in the 19fd, which also comes with a little table mount in the arm rest of the couch. Maddie and I both loved that about the 19fd, because we could have a little table to work on our laptops and put our feet up. In the 19fbs we ended up getting a foldable ottoman which is nice, but would much rather have the built in foot rest. Another huge downside we realized from the 19fbs to the 19fd is the fact that the couch was way way way more comfy in the 19fd. The cushions were comfier and the couch itself was deeper.

Depending on what model year Geo Pro or E Pro you purchase the flooring has changed over the years and for each model. Our 2020 E Pro 19fbs came with ugly white flooring that didn’t add any character to the camper. We decided to replace it with dark brown peel and stick vinyl flooring, which add so much character to the camper and now makes our white carpet really POP!

Jeep Wrangler with Travel Trailer – Why we chose a Jeep Wrangler

As we mentioned earlier in this Geo Pro 19fbs review article, we chose the camper based on the Jeep Wrangler. We wanted to smallest camper that we felt comfortable living in full time and that could be towed by the Jeep. Our entire purpose for choosing the Jeep is to be able to disconnect from our trailer, and then go off-road and exploring during the day.

We also wanted the ability to build the wrangler overtime, to take on longer excursions in the mountains that a normal camper would not be able to. Our ultimate goal with the Jeep is to eventually build it enough to drive the Pan-American trail to Argentina, and then take it over to Africa and Australia. I didn’t realize all of those names start with the letter A, but that is our reasoning for choosing the Jeep Wrangler.

We want to be able to go wherever we want with the Jeep and be able to live out if it for either a couple days or months. This gives us complete freedom to either live comfortably in the Geo Pro or go on crazy expeditions with a rooftop tent on the Jeep. Check out Maddie’s instagram to see the Jeep build come along!

What is the weight of a Geo Pro Camper? – Geo Pro 19fbs review

• GeoPro G12RK – 1252 lbs
• GeoPro G16BH – 2993 lbs
• Geo Pro G19FBS – 3075 lbs
• Geo Pro G19FD – 2829 lbs

Hopefully in another 6 months to a year we will be able to give an even better in depth review, with things that have broken, upgrades that weren’t needed or things we wish we did earlier! That is to both the Jeep and the Geo Pro 19 foot camper.

Pulling a Geo Pro travel trailer with a Jeep Wrangler

We needed to make a new upgrades to be able to pull the camper comfortably when we are climbing and descending hills. We knew that we were going to be lifting the Jeep and adding bigger tires before we even bought it. Maddie went with a 4 inch lift and 35 inch tires, which meant we needed to upgrade the gears. The stock 3.10 gear’s were great for gas mileage but horrible for towing up any sort of hill.

Upgrading to 4.56 gears made a huge difference for both towing and driving 65 on highways. Our gas mileage has dropped to around 17.5 compare to the 19.5 with the new gears and tires. Another important upgrade was a weight distribution hitch that would “help” the jeep with the weight. Jeep Wrangler’s are rated to tow 5,000 pounds in Europe and 3,500 in the United States. The weight distribution hitch takes weight off the rear axle and puts some back on the front, which allows for better breaking and steering.

 

Geo Pro 19fbs Camper Review – Jeep Wrangler

Over the next few years we will continually be showcasing our adventures, problems, upgrades and so much more on both our blog and YouTube channel!

As of August 2020 we purchased a 31 foot Class A Motorhome. We sold our Geo Pro because it was just to small for us full-time and the Jeep couldn’t handle the weight overtime.