Wheelchairs and Toy Haulers

Cool video. We looked into accessible travel trailers a while back for the MIL. Dune Sport in Mesa looked great, but MIL never pulled trigger to know actual price and availability. I found the link again by googling ADA Toy Hauler.

https://dunesport.com/toyhauler_handicap_accessible.php

Are you planning on purchasing a toy hauler with a chair lift?

Hi Webb Dawg,

Welcome to the forum.

That's going to be a tricky order, but not impossible.

I assume you would need a bumper pull instead of a fifth wheel, because the fifth wheels all have an upstairs and a downstairs.

Do you travel alone or with a companion? The ramps are all very heavy and the leverage to lift them is high off the ground (over my head standing up). Would you plan to use the ramp for your chair? If so, you'd definitely need to customize it somehow to get over the lip off from the ground to the ramp and then to get across the gap between the top edge of the ramp and the garage.

That video is pretty badass. Where was that?

I don't have any wisdom for you other than my 16 years of toy hauler ownership as an able bodied guy (unless clumsy is a disability). We have another forum here that have some good info. It's kind of a slow forum without tons of posts, but there might be something helpful there or at least people would be good about responding to any questions:

RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues

I'd love to hear more about your boat-cart thing (land yacht?). How long have you been doing that?

I hope you find some help here. You're asking the right questions.

We saw an RV that had been retrofitted to have an electric chair lift on the outside of it while camping earlier this year, it was placed where the door normally would be. The lift folded up so it wouldn't be sticking out too much while on the road. Perhaps something like that, with a bumper pull toyhauler would work nicely? One that does not have a separate garage area (since those usually have a threshold that you'd have to navigate over) Many toyhaulers of that variety have open wall space available to cut in.

ndrorder wrote:
Cool video. We looked into accessible travel trailers a while back for the MIL. Dune Sport in Mesa looked great, but MIL never pulled trigger to know actual price and availability. I found the link again by googling ADA Toy Hauler.

https://dunesport.com/toyhauler_handicap_accessible.php

Thanks, I looked at the site and I like the room. Don't care about the beds in the back as I will need a small work bench and room for my Blokarts.
I was just out there visiting my son in Coolidge/Casa Grande. Now I have another reason to visit.

smarty wrote:
Are you planning on purchasing a toy hauler with a chair lift?

No, I would use the back ramp or look to a tommy lift type. I have thought about a small single track ramp that could fold up on the side to the 30" door. similar to many ramps in public. Very doable.

dedmiston wrote:
Hi Webb Dawg,

Welcome to the forum.

That's going to be a tricky order, but not impossible.

I assume you would need a bumper pull instead of a fifth wheel, because the fifth wheels all have an upstairs and a downstairs.

Do you travel alone or with a companion? The ramps are all very heavy and the leverage to lift them is high off the ground (over my head standing up). Would you plan to use the ramp for your chair? If so, you'd definitely need to customize it somehow to get over the lip off from the ground to the ramp and then to get across the gap between the top edge of the ramp and the garage.

That video is pretty badass. Where was that?

I don't have any wisdom for you other than my 16 years of toy hauler ownership as an able bodied guy (unless clumsy is a disability). We have another forum here that have some good info. It's kind of a slow forum without tons of posts, but there might be something helpful there or at least people would be good about responding to any questions:

***Link Removed***

I'd love to hear more about your boat-cart thing (land yacht?). How long have you been doing that?

I hope you find some help here. You're asking the right questions.

Thanks all for the responses. I checked out the disabled forum first but found nothing really. Most people with placards today are just aging and can get around just fine. I hate seeing these snobirds with the big dualllies parked in handicap spots taking up the lift/ramp access.

Anyway, I've been a paraplegic for 22 years and am now 62. I've been sailing and racing sailboats all my life. After my injury I heard about the blokart, which uses a hand steering yoke where as most land sailers have foot steering. I was hooked. Going 50 knts is way more fun than 5 knots. Here is the factory website.
https://blokart.com/
My video is at Ivanpah near the Primm resorts. But here are more and some of me on my boat. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCujoGJLdmZodqf67iL36TIA/videos

I travel alone lots but a trailer is a different animal. So yea I probably would have someone with me but maybe not for short trips to El Mirage or Ivanpah. I live in the Oxnard/Ventura area. If you guys know any dealers that might have stuff to look at in the LA area, let me know.

Thaks

I'm not too far away from you.

Do you guys ever go out to Cuddeback to sail? It's about eight miles off 395, so a little bit of a drive from the highway, but it's a great spot.

As far as good places to shop in So Cal, that's a tough one. We really had a hard time finding what we wanted here. We bought both of our toy haulers from Giant RV and we absolutely can't stand them.

You're going to need to do something custom for yours, so you'll really need to find a dealer to partner with you. I wonder if your best bet might be to shop through The Complete List of Toy Haulers and find a floor plan you like, and then reach out to the factory and see if they can work with you.

I think there are more dealers in the central valley. I always see them when we drive up the 99. Maybe you can take a trip up the valley to shop.

dedmiston wrote:
I'm not too far away from you.

Do you guys ever go out to Cuddeback to sail? It's about eight miles off 395, so a little bit of a drive from the highway, but it's a great spot.

As far as good places to shop in So Cal, that's a tough one. We really had a hard time finding what we wanted here. We bought both of our toy haulers from Giant RV and we absolutely can't stand them.

You're going to need to do something custom for yours, so you'll really need to find a dealer to partner with you. I wonder if your best bet might be to shop through ***Link Removed*** and find a floor plan you like, and then reach out to the factory and see if they can work with you.

I think there are more dealers in the central valley. I always see them when we drive up the 99. Maybe you can take a trip up the valley to shop.

I saw that list and need to go through it. Never heard of Cuddleback. On Facebook there is a landsailing group called Landsailing, imagine that. Every year a bunch lay out a route and dates and do a loop of spots around the western part of the US stopping, camping and sailing then moving on. Sounds fun but I do not want to do it unprepared. Almost everyone has a trailer or RV.

People really love Ivanpah because it is pretty much free and the hotels and stores are n ear by if needed. The World Landsaililng SPeed Record of 126.4 MPH was set there back in 2009. Look up the Green Bird Project on Google.

A close friend is also a Paraplegic, they looked for a few years but ended up getting a custom Class A. Today it think both Newmar and Winnebago build their RV mobility lines. His wife had to do the setup, but most everything was push button and he could do a fair amount. Because he required a nurse 24/7 after a couple years they hung up the camping hat. We really miss going out with them but became to challenging sadly.

Do check the used market, it's a niche market so those that have accessible RVs have a harder time selling. If you work with a vehicle customer check with them about to see if they know others that might have what you need.