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1513
Joined
8/20/2006
Location
Ventura/LA County, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
11/22/2017 12:55am
So the wife and I are looking at buying a travel trailer, first time owning one.
From those that have owned or currently own one, any good advice on things to look for? Looking in the 26-28' size range and needs to be 1/2 ton towable, will be using my 2015 Tundra to haul it.
So far the Keystone Cougar has caught my eye. As well as some of the Forest River brands.
Anything I should know before the big purchase?
From those that have owned or currently own one, any good advice on things to look for? Looking in the 26-28' size range and needs to be 1/2 ton towable, will be using my 2015 Tundra to haul it.
So far the Keystone Cougar has caught my eye. As well as some of the Forest River brands.
Anything I should know before the big purchase?
When I first started doing this, my dad said it's not what you can tow, it's what you can stop...
I added airbags to the back of the Tundra to stiffen it up.
Generator onboard? Or in the bed of the truck? You'll need power.
Trust me 26-28' is max size that i'm willing to go for. The wife wants all the room she can handle so that's the size we have compromised on. Most of our traveling will be fairly local weekend trips: desert, up to the sierras, beach camping, that sorta thing. I would like to do Utah/Colorado trips as well but those would be less frequent. If i was doing the cross country zig zagging like you I would definitely go for something like yours.
Regarding the tow ratings and stopping issue - trust me I know what you're getting at. There's a popular Tundra forum that has a "towing and hauling" sub-forum and the opinions and advice there are all over the map, and its quite humorous at times between the "tow capacity nazi" types and the more laid back "it tows and works fine for me" crowd is pretty entertaining. The model i'm looking at is 6700# dry and fully loaded around 8300#, with tongue weight of about 800#, both well under the capacities i'm rated for.
What brand of air bags do you have on there, any issues with them? Did it affect the ride of the truck when not towing?
For power, I can get a Honda generator at dealer cost so i will probably get either an EU3000 or maybe a pair of EU2000s to piggy back.
The Shop
Guy B livin the dream
I went from a 22' with soft pull outs, to a 27', to a 43' toy hauler, and now have a 30' bumper. The 30 footer is probably my favorite, do to it's big enough to have a bunk room in the back for the kids, and still pretty easy to drag around.
Slides are good. The bigger, the better. Our new one has a nice outside kitchen too. The extra fridge and sink are nice. It had a separate door to the bathroom from the outside too, which is super handy.
I had a bumper pull before and the weight distributing hitch is a life saver.
Weight distribution and anti-sway hitch are on the must-have list and I plan on negotiating one into the deal with the purchase of the rig. Air bags will be the next item to get after that. Truck is pre-wired for a trailer brake control and I found the one I plan on getting, the Tekonsha P3.
Most of our camping will be dry and the Keystone Cougar thats our front runner has 60 gallon fresh, 38 gallon waste, and 76 gallon gray tanks. Should be plenty for the weekend trips we'll mostly be doing. Also, kids are in the plan down the road so we plan on growing into whatever we buy.
Huck, I agree on the cordless drill idea for the levelers. Most of my buddy's do the same. I looked at one unit that had electric leveling jacks and all i saw in those was more weight and another expensive motorized item that could break down the road. Thanks for the insight on the outdoor kitchen, i've seen a few with those and was debating whether its something we would use. I guess you don't know until you try it, ha!
Pit Row
It's nice having hook-ups. When you're done camping, you're done. Dry camping means finding a place, stopping and paying and flushing the tanks. It's not that big of a hassle, but it must be done.
The other thing about dry camping - and this is obviously personal preference - but I like to shower as long as I want or need to. I like to use the sinks, the toilet, and whatever. When you're dry camping, you're just going to have to take my word for it, if you live like you live at your house, those tanks will fill up quick and your water will go fast. When I graduated from a tent to a camper, I was tired of being frugal and roughing it. I even took the dang restriction thingie they put in the shower and round filed it. So, I'll still dry camp, but for us more than one night is pushing it doing a dry camp. Be really frugal and maybe get three nights out of it if you barely use the toilet and shower. Drop your deuces out in the woods - that will save a lot of space in the black tank. Take short showers or just dump the gray tank when no one is looking. It's just shower water and sink water. Little soap, little tooth paste.
Again, that's all personal preference. To each his own. No matter what, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Also, I use a cordless impact to drive my corner levelers. I just keep a 3/4 socket in the camper and bring along the impact wrench with a full charge. Works great. Literally takes seconds to drive them down into position. I had those little level indicators you stick on the side and front of the camper, but didn't like them. I just keep an old 2 foot long level in the camper now.
One regret that we have is that our camper doesn't have pop outs, when we are both getting ready for work it makes things a little tight. We bought ours brand new. We have had a few leaks in the plumbing, but that has been our only issue. They were easy fixes. The craftsmanship on this trailer is pretty cheap, but most campers will be the same. It's not like they are building them to last long like a house.
Most trailers come with very cheap tires when you buy them. We had a blow out driving through Vegas when it was 110 degrees outside. If you have AAA they will come help you. We didn't have a jack strong enough to lift the trailer so we were stranded until they came.
Dude those tamales are legit! And I'm way the fuck in BFE, no Kings Rd RV camping for me.....yet. My names on the list.
Don't forget your "towing capacity" is only so good as your Gross Vehicle Combined Max weight. You can't run your full towing capacity if you are going to put your whole load over the limit by taking 4 passengers and 1,000 pounds of stuff in the Tundra as well. Study all that carefully and make sure you understand the differences.
Also, when you are done camping, dump your blackwater first, then dump the gray. The gray water will help rinse out some of the gross stuff.
I always used to refill my clean water storage right after camping so I had a full tank. It helps to drop a capful of bleach in it so you don't get any bacteria or mold.
Keep some rubber conditioner on the tires and try to shade them when the trailer is being stored. Those tires will rot long before they wear out unless you are towing a whole lot.
EDIT: I just missed your post about the new trailer. Congrats! Pay attention to the GVWR thing with a trailer that large.
I'd always fill mine up along the way, when I'd get close to my destination.
Falcon - lots of good info, thanks!
-Keeps the trailer from stinking like mildew
-You always have a fresh water supply of 60 gallons in case there's an earthquake
-One fewer task you have to perform when preparing to go on the trip
I can see why someone wouldn't want to do it my way though. If you leave it empty, drain it all the way and leave the fill cap open so it doesn't get condensation in the system.
Here's another tip:
Get the toilet chem stuff and dump it into your toilet after each trip (after you dump the blackwater.) Fluch the toilet for a minute or so, so that you have some water sloshing around in there too. This will ensure you get that new trailer smell when stepping inside, instead of that portable toilet smell.
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