Worst (& Best) Things About Switching to Travel Trailers

[TDI-Minnie]

Originally Posted by Bamaman

What's nice about a travel trailer is that they're not so hard to climb up into when you get older and less mobile. And you don't have 3 more steps to climb into the bedroom of a fifth wheel.

That's a great point. Mine is low, with only 2 steps. The dogs can hop in with no problem.

[cherv]

we also have a 2013 gmc sierra 1500 and tow a 2013 forest river microlite model 21fbrs..great 21ft. tt has queen walk around bed which was a big plus for us...the gmc tows it like a dream.....love it . our prior rig was a 32' 5th wheel.good luck....

[NRR]

Had a 22’ TT, 36’ class A and now a 28’ class C.

The TT was great but, for old me, lots of work setting up and hooking up to TV. Also it is not always sunny out when you do these things.

The class A was nice but five steep steps and one exit door got to me.

The class C has two internal normal steps and is just right for me. All the junk from the A is in the C with room to spare.

[dane714]

For me the best advantage of a TT is being able to unhitch at your destination, freeing up your vehicle. In a Class C, you have to stow everything whenever you move the rig, which is a royal pain if you just want to run into town for firewood or the like.

Additionally, you get more living space for your dollar in a TT. Those two pros outweigh a lot of cons for me.

[2000 Damon]

One other aspect of the TT is load and balance. It is very important to have the correct tongue weight. Should the TT be too light on the tongue the trailer could easily sway back and fourth until it jack knives and causes a serious accident. Too much weight on the tongue could exceed max allowable tow vehicle axel/tire/bumper weight. Especially with a Quarter ton truck.

[TandCplusRV]

Thanks to all for the insight (and keep it coming if you haven't weighed in yet). Lots of stuff I'd considered and lots I hadn't. And some things I thought might be a big deal that you've eased my mind on a bit.

[TandCplusRV]

Originally Posted by 2000 Damon

One other aspect of the TT is load and balance. It is very important to have the correct tongue weight. Should the TT be too light on the tongue the trailer could easily sway back and fourth until it jack knives and causes a serious accident. Too much weight on the tongue could exceed max allowable tow vehicle axel/tire/bumper weight. Especially with a Quarter ton truck.

Does a weight distributing hitch solve this issue or is there additional magic involved? Just common sense? Making sure if the tanks are full in the back something heavy is in the front pass through storage? That kind of thing?

[JayGee]

My 2 cents... Get a good hitch system with weight distribution and sway control integrated into the hookup. Most of the balance thing can be controlled by how you load a trailer. Centrally located tanks are helpful with that, but you will not pull with tanks full very often I would guess.

Hensley, Propride, are the top of line, expensive, but a good market for used ones if you buy new and then decide to sell. Reese dual cam and Equalizer are also very good. May be others but I would stay away from the friction bar, my personal opinion.

Always spend a few bucks and get a power tongue jack. You will never regret it.

[schrederman]

My first TT was small... and the F-150 pulled it fine. It was too small for anything longer than overnight. We now have one that's 29' and I'm heading out soon on a 2K mile trip and I'll be gone for 12 days. The F-150 pulled it OK, but I was afraid it was being too hard on it. I'll be upgrading to a larger unit, soon, so I bought enough truck to handle what I want. I need my bed covered so a 5er was out of the question. I needed the bigger truck for other stuff, too. A TT still makes the most sense for us... so another TT it will be. Mine's been pretty solid so far... and it's maiden voyage was 8 weeks of me living in it while our house sold.

[Nighthawk 96]

I view a class A or C as another vehicle with the maintainence of a motorized vehicle, much higher insurance costs and probably high personal property taxes, depending on where you live.


I would think a 24 to 28' trailer should be fine for two people. A little more setup but a whole lot less expensive.

[gpscotty]

Have recently changed from a Class A to TT. Will miss that under the worst conditions to set up with tv & a toddy and never had to go outside. We went to a Vintage TT and are quite happy. Much less upkeep & maintenance cost. Can pull with are F-150 eco-boost, only one engine to maintain, not 3 ie (motorhome,toad,gen). Insurance is less. Do look at how to figure out what you can tow & hitch weight, Very need to know stuff. Good Luck & Enjoy gps

[easdsa]

Wonderful topic, since we're talking about switching from our 40' DP to a TT. Here's the story.

Some of you with long memories will remember that I was very active here a couple of years ago when we were researching a full-time coach. Long story short, a DP seemed to be the best match for us. We've been living in our Foretravel for a year now, and have considered ourselves full-timers since October. Our place is under contract, with closing scheduled for later this month.

At the time we bought our Foretravel we thought we'd do some campground hosting, some other volunteer work, and spending the rest of the time doing what we want. In October, though, we joined with a group from our church, Laborers For Christ. Laborers are retired guys (and a few gals) who help congregations with their building projects. We provide our own tools and live (usually) on-site for anywhere from six weeks to six months.

Because we will be staying in one place for longer periods of time, we're thinking that a towable would be a better choice for us. The issue, of course, is where to put the tools. The MH has a nice basement, so I don't have to have everything with us when we go to Wal-Mart. That usually isn't an option with travel trailers, but is sometimes a possibility with 5'ers.

We put 5'ers at the bottom of our list because of the many steps. Both of us really like Airstreams, but we're wondering whether they really are the best choice. We like the high quality of our Foretravel and would like something similar. What should we look at? I've already been pointed at Arctic Fox and Open Range Journeyer coaches.

[Highway 4x4]

OutdoorsRV. Look at the Blackstones and work your way down till you find it.

[Superslif]

The Winnebago Minnie's are nice, little pricey. The 3 shorter Winnebago Minnie's are only 7.5' wide. The longer 25'+ floorplans are the full 8' wide. Big difference, couple that up with a unit with a slide and you will see a big difference between a slide-less 7.5' floorplan and 8' with a slide. Now the new Micro Minnie's are only 7' wide.

Does a weight distributing hitch solve this issue or is there additional magic involved? Just common sense? Making sure if the tanks are full in the back something heavy is in the front pass through storage? That kind of thing?

To some point. That would come into play a lot more if you didn't have a DW hitch. The WD, set up properly will off-set any weight imbalance.

Towing a 20' or a 25' is really the same. Having good tow mirrors is a big help. On my 26' hybrid tt, my old tow vehicle was a Toyota 4Runner. No one made tow mirrors for that SUV. I had to use some clamp on ones, that were OK. The 4runner is a mid size SUV but not super wide, so the mirrors didn't quite let me see down the side of the tt. My new Tundra, I ordered it with the factory tow mirrors. Sweet.... was only a $40 option. Much wider view.