Hey guys and gals,Been reading a ton on here the past few months, but haven't seen this specific question addressed yet.Real quick background on me: I race one (Sometimes bring two) sport bikes, and current set up is a 20' tandem axle trailer with a '04 Ram 2500 crew cab SRW towing it. Trailer loaded is about 6k, which is almost nothing for the truck. Tired of sleeping on air mattresses in the trailer over the weekend and being dependant upon facilities of the tracks. Morale of both the wife and I (And the pup) would drastically increase having a real bed, A/C, etc.What I'm looking for are the MUST-HAVE's for a toy hauler - What yours has that you wouldn't live without, or what your hauler doesn't have that would make your life easier. This, so far, is what I've read that people love:-Wall separating garage-Hauler big enough that you do not have to unload any gear to access living/sleeping quarters-Power awning-GeneratorWhat else is there? Towing handling and truck capabilities aside, is there much of a living difference between a TT and 5th wheel (space/room)? My max tow weight for my truck is just at 13k. Without going into a 40 page debate, I'd like to keep it under that just for liability reasons. So, from what I can tell, I'm going to be looking around a 30 footer (Give or take for different models and such)Budget is going to be limited to 20k and under and I plan on buying used, so please, you 40'+ toy hauler guys need not make me jealous of your setups!

I use my TH year round for work so I need a wall between the garage and living area. I don't want to heat up the whole thing in the middle of winter if I don't need to. I have a Gen and I need it to run a A/C and microwave as well as the 110 but I'd love to have solar panels and a good controller. It's painful to start a gen to charge the batteries. Talk about overkill and inefficient as well as noisy and my honda is pretty quiet for a gen. I am going to get a stovetop percolator coffee maker so I don't need to start the gen early in the morning to have coffee. I haven't found I really need an inverter. Yet. It seems like here in CO most people don't use their awnings for fear of wind. I rigged my ramp/ tailgate with straps so it is a level porch. My wife and I spend a lot of our down time sitting on this watching our kids. It's nice to be off the ground like a deck on a house.We bought a propane fire pit at costco and use it for almost all our cooking not to mention hanging out around seeing as how there is usually a fire ban here in CO. We can even use it on the ramp/porch.Pics are here. http://www.fixedsighttraining.com/Photo--Video-Gallery.html

Alot of THs have fuel stations which is nice for the generator & refueling the bikes.Depending on how many you take with you queen beds that lower in the garage are nice.Personally I would rather have a manual awning.

Our TH (see sig...) originally had 2 queen beds in a bunk-bed configuration.... removed the upper bed (several hundred pounds). If it's just you and the wife, you could do this.Generator is a must, either a portable, or installed, and it's gotta be big enough to run the A/C.On board fuel station is really nice. At the end of the weekend, if you've got fuel left over, pour it in the truck for the trip home.Cables to support the ramp as a deck is nice "round-to-it" project.Exterior 110v outlets are very handy. My trailer does not have ANY exterior outlets. Pain in the xxx. My next project is to correct this design flaw.Exterior flood lights (not just 1156 single bulbs) to work on the broke stuff at night.Rubber matting to replace the carpet, so the oil and gas don't mess up the original carpet. We got rubber diamond plate matting from Costco.The awning can go up or down in less than a minute, manually.

We were in a similar situation as yours. We race quads throughout NC and SC and sleeping in the enclosed trailer on the air mattress was getting old fast. One night a cold front came through and we thought we would literally freeze to death. Absolutely miserable.The hauler needs to have the ability to self sustain an entire weekend. 30+ gallons fuel is a must on hot weekends with two ACs running. We never use the pumping station because our quads use race gas. I'm not running the generator on race gas just for convenience of using the pumping station. Some Raptors have two separate fuel tanks. That would be nice.100 gallons of water is our minimum. That way, we don't have to limit showers. I wouldn't mind even more water like a Voltage holds.Separate garage is a must.Things we don't like:Like Oaklevel said, I'd just as well have a manual awning. You can adjust them. Plus if the toy hauler is leaning slightly to the left, the awning quite often will start to unravel but won't come out. Its just a mess.Our half bath in the garage is a waste of space. I wish it was a closet. Not sure why everyone touts the half bath and it seemed like a good idea when we bought the camper. But for us, its just another black tank that has to be cleaned out. We rarely ever use it. 12' garage is OK. 14' will be mandatory next time. But two bikes aren't as big as four quads.

We have a Dutchmen Rubicon 2900 tow behind TH. It works great for the two of us. With that said it does have:Dedicated vapor wall to separate the 10' garage from the living area (w/slide). Separate bedroom with queen island bed (I hate having to crawl over DH to get out of bed). All the usual heat/ac/8 cu ft. fridge (bigger than the normal 6 cu ft.); microwave/convection oven; full bathroom; on-board 4000 Onan (sp)generator.....We do have a power awning which I (DW) find very handy when DH is away playing, or when the wind pick up at night! We also have a fuel station, we haven't yet used, our toys are bikes & kayaks but this year we may bring the motorcycle!We do have a Happijac bed system in the garage area which could be used for guests if needed, but it stores up toward the ceiling so it is not in the way of the toys in the garage. Ours has a couch as a lower "bed" so it is great for sitting and entertaining. Leave the bed up and bring down the couch...nice little extra!We also have a large (I think it is 90+ gallon) fresh water tank and equally large (40+ gallon) grey and black tanks).What it is missing is an oven, which I (DW) didn't think too much of, but after using the TH for a year - I do miss the oven!DH did not want to give up the space in the bed of the truck, nor go for the expense of a 5'er hitch - so we decided on a tow behind!There are a lot of TH out there without the dedicated wall so keep looking to you find what you want/need.

Toy Hauler Must-haves | Good Sam Community

35 Replies

Poppy___Nana
Explorer
Jul 28, 2013
We have a Dutchmen Rubicon 2900 tow behind TH. It works great for the two of us. With that said it does have:

Dedicated vapor wall to separate the 10' garage from the living area (w/slide).

Separate bedroom with queen island bed (I hate having to crawl over DH to get out of bed).

All the usual heat/ac/8 cu ft. fridge (bigger than the normal 6 cu ft.); microwave/convection oven; full bathroom; on-board 4000 Onan (sp)generator.....

We do have a power awning which I (DW) find very handy when DH is away playing, or when the wind pick up at night!

We also have a fuel station, we haven't yet used, our toys are bikes & kayaks but this year we may bring the motorcycle!

We do have a Happijac bed system in the garage area which could be used for guests if needed, but it stores up toward the ceiling so it is not in the way of the toys in the garage. Ours has a couch as a lower "bed" so it is great for sitting and entertaining. Leave the bed up and bring down the couch...nice little extra!

We also have a large (I think it is 90+ gallon) fresh water tank and equally large (40+ gallon) grey and black tanks).

What it is missing is an oven, which I (DW) didn't think too much of, but after using the TH for a year - I do miss the oven!

DH did not want to give up the space in the bed of the truck, nor go for the expense of a 5'er hitch - so we decided on a tow behind!

There are a lot of TH out there without the dedicated wall so keep looking to you find what you want/need.
lawnspecialties
Explorer
Jul 28, 2013
We were in a similar situation as yours. We race quads throughout NC and SC and sleeping in the enclosed trailer on the air mattress was getting old fast. One night a cold front came through and we thought we would literally freeze to death. Absolutely miserable.

The hauler needs to have the ability to self sustain an entire weekend.
30+ gallons fuel is a must on hot weekends with two ACs running. We never use the pumping station because our quads use race gas. I'm not running the generator on race gas just for convenience of using the pumping station. Some Raptors have two separate fuel tanks. That would be nice.
100 gallons of water is our minimum. That way, we don't have to limit showers. I wouldn't mind even more water like a Voltage holds.
Separate garage is a must.

Things we don't like:
Like Oaklevel said, I'd just as well have a manual awning. You can adjust them. Plus if the toy hauler is leaning slightly to the left, the awning quite often will start to unravel but won't come out. Its just a mess.
Our half bath in the garage is a waste of space. I wish it was a closet. Not sure why everyone touts the half bath and it seemed like a good idea when we bought the camper. But for us, its just another black tank that has to be cleaned out. We rarely ever use it.
12' garage is OK. 14' will be mandatory next time. But two bikes aren't as big as four quads.
SAR_Tracker
Explorer
Jul 28, 2013
Our TH (see sig...) originally had 2 queen beds in a bunk-bed configuration.... removed the upper bed (several hundred pounds). If it's just you and the wife, you could do this.

Generator is a must, either a portable, or installed, and it's gotta be big enough to run the A/C.

On board fuel station is really nice. At the end of the weekend, if you've got fuel left over, pour it in the truck for the trip home.

Cables to support the ramp as a deck is nice "round-to-it" project.

Exterior 110v outlets are very handy. My trailer does not have ANY exterior outlets. Pain in the xxx. My next project is to correct this design flaw.

Exterior flood lights (not just 1156 single bulbs) to work on the broke stuff at night.

Rubber matting to replace the carpet, so the oil and gas don't mess up the original carpet. We got rubber diamond plate matting from Costco.

The awning can go up or down in less than a minute, manually.
Oaklevel
Explorer
Jul 28, 2013
Alot of THs have fuel stations which is nice for the generator & refueling the bikes.

Depending on how many you take with you queen beds that lower in the garage are nice.

Personally I would rather have a manual awning.
Fixed_Sight_Tra
Explorer
Jul 28, 2013
I use my TH year round for work so I need a wall between the garage and living area. I don't want to heat up the whole thing in the middle of winter if I don't need to.

I have a Gen and I need it to run a A/C and microwave as well as the 110 but I'd love to have solar panels and a good controller. It's painful to start a gen to charge the batteries. Talk about overkill and inefficient as well as noisy and my honda is pretty quiet for a gen. I am going to get a stovetop percolator coffee maker so I don't need to start the gen early in the morning to have coffee. I haven't found I really need an inverter. Yet.

It seems like here in CO most people don't use their awnings for fear of wind.

I rigged my ramp/ tailgate with straps so it is a level porch. My wife and I spend a lot of our down time sitting on this watching our kids. It's nice to be off the ground like a deck on a house.

We bought a propane fire pit at costco and use it for almost all our cooking not to mention hanging out around seeing as how there is usually a fire ban here in CO. We can even use it on the ramp/porch.

Pics are here. http://www.fixedsighttraining.com/Photo--Video-Gallery.html

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