Community Forums

ken18 · 04-19-2015, 03:51 PM

My wife and I went on the road, started with 24 ft class c then purchased a 3/4 ton used chev. and 32 ft 5th wheel.worked fairly good. finally ended up with a 1984 6.9 turbo diesel which I installed turbo myself and 28 ft t/t, in ten years put 150.000miles with no major problems.

Gordon Dewald · 04-19-2015, 10:00 PM

If you change to a TT and truck from a ClA you will have to stop to take care of the kids when they are fretting. If your wife gets motion sickness in the MH she will likely get it in the truck. Would be expensive to find out.

If you buy a truck and trailer and have to stop might as well stop with the MH and you have the washroom, food, drinks and entertainment right at hand.

4 years from now the kids will be up getting their own snacks.

compute42 · 04-20-2015, 02:07 PM

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm gonna try the CHeap Handling fix, a rear track bar and some KONI's first, see how the wife feels about that… Hopefully just enough to keep her ok. The sidewind gusts scares the bejebus out of her.

compute42 · 04-20-2015, 03:39 PM

Ok… Can anyone suggest a shop in the northern Los angeles area to do the work? Original dealer In Van Nuys doesn't know about CHF or want to change sway bars at all. Flatly said he wouldn't change the sway bar points. 2nd shop I called up in Acton CA, "will do sway bars, but doesn't really do chassis work".

I don't mind taking it to Simi Valley or Palmdale CA to get a shop that knows what they are doing.

DebbieMH · 04-20-2015, 05:37 PM

You can always have your wife and baby follow you in the jeep. She won't get car sick because she is driving! Cheapest fix IMHO.

Old Dude 66 · 04-20-2015, 07:01 PM

I installed a front Blue Ox Trucenter; a rear Tracbar, and Sumo springs. Our F53 drives and rides great!!

Davdeb1 · 04-20-2015, 07:16 PM

I wouldn't do anything but cut back on RV travel for the next 3-4 years. Just take short trips until they can handle it. You are looking at a scary proposition on the road with what you are planning.
Long trips with toddlers will be very difficult no matter what you do. So keep what you have, and take shorter trips.

Sthwindrider · 04-20-2015, 07:41 PM

the chf is easy to do once you have the parts, someone on the CHF thread even cross referenced some end links from a 4 wheel drive? so you dont have to lengthen the links yourself.

and like Old dude 66 mentioned sumo springs or air ride bags might be a big help in smoothing out your ride.

koda59 · 04-20-2015, 08:51 PM

For the cheap handling fix I used the old rods. Just had to push up on the sway bar to install the last one. I put firestone air bags on the front and back and it helped a lot. I also put a rear trac bar on.

RBabb · 04-21-2015, 12:08 PM

I did similar. Went from 5th wheel to a class A with a 1.5yr old and another on the way. It was wife's preference to care for them. I'd trade to any RV without hesitation to best fit my family needs. It's a vehicle to make traveling fun and conveni

mikeh2obury · 04-22-2015, 08:38 PM

7K towing capacity will limit you to a very small TT. If you need space, you will want a bigger TT and will require a substantial Diesel Truck with tow gear. Truck will run you equivalent of the trailer in price.

blousteau · 04-23-2015, 05:47 PM

I wouldn't tow anything that big with anything other than a 3/4 ton diesel. Any sidewinds would push that Jeep all over the place. As stated before pulling a long trailer with a short wb vehicle is not a fun experience.

1999 Holiday Rambler Vacationer
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

blousteau · 04-23-2015, 05:50 PM

Forgot to mention, for the price of the truck and the TT you could get a very nice DP. The truck alone is going to run between 30,000 an 50,000 depending on how used it is.

1999 Holiday Rambler Vacationer
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

AKITCHELL · 06-29-2015, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compute42

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm gonna try the CHeap Handling fix, a rear track bar and some KONI's first, see how the wife feels about that… Hopefully just enough to keep her ok. The sidewind gusts scares the bejebus out of her.

im a little late to this party, but i feel for you . i am in the same boat. just a little ahead of you .

i too have a high maintanance , errrr....... very nice wifey. she also drives a gl550 mercedes for a daily driver. we used to tow our 24 foot cruiser around. with a tahoe, and it was no joke. if your wife is afraid of crosswinds, then she will absolutely lose it when that trailer gets squirrly. and so will you .
i used to transport cars for a living , and that tahoe - even heavier than a jeep was not good. i had to switch to an excursion to keep my white knuckles , normal colored.

i also have two young kids, 2 and 7. we also have a class a , that my wife hates when we hit bumps and it sounds like an old school bus. ours also gets taken by wind gusts and she gets car sick too.

our 2 yo cannot be in his car seat for more than 30 mins without going nuts, so the class a works better than her driving seperately, or riding with me in our truck and towing a trailer. when it windy or a semi passes and whips us around, i grip the wheel with the strength of thor , smile at her and don't complain. i really want to make this work. so i have to trick her a bit. it actually helps me get used to it as well. if its really windy, we just park it , pop in a movie and i relax until the weathers better. i try to go in the slow lane , and dont make alot of lane changes. set the cruise and try to drive as smoothly as possible . if i see a banged up lane , i try to switch to a less bumpy lane to cut down on the school bus noise. in the movie "rv" its funny, bc the whole family wore headphones! now i see why.

i feel your pain. i refuse to spend 100k on a dp. just to have my lovely wife find something wrong with it. haha , im jk. despite how it sounds, i love her dearly.