RV hunting

RoadLife wrote:

Snowman9000 wrote:
If you are going to be driving much as a FT, scratch the TT off your list and move on to the fivers. OTOH if you are only going to break camp a few times a year, you can ignore my advice. It still applies, but won't come into play as often.

The reason I say the above is that a TT with the size and amenities you want is going to be much more work and "adventure" to tow with than a similar fiver. In my experience.

I agree. Fivers are much easier to tow and much less likely to jackknife. Their layouts are much nicer too.

Well now that depends... If you purchase a zero sway hitch like a Hensley Arrow or Pro-Pride then you get the same stability of a 5er with a TT. There are other advantages of a TT, like a single level floorplan. My DW has a bad knee, making stairs doable, but challenging - the fewer the better. The height of 5ers may also be a problem in the east, excluding some roads with low bridges and low hanging trees from consideration. If you like to boondock in remote locations, down fire roads in heavy woods this additional height may be an issue, as well as hitting the front of the 5er on the bed climbing out of steep gullies. Of course most people with 5ers don't travel this way - just too big and heavy for poor road conditions/off road camping. The biggest drawback of a 5er (other than weight) in my book is the loss of your truck bed to haul fun stuff, like motorcycles, ATVs, etc. We plan on taking 2 small motorcycles with us when we full-time for saving gas on short local errands, sightseeing, recreation, etc. vs firing up the expensive to operate diesel for most short trips - sort of like class-A/C folks use a toad.

One of the drawbacks of most TTs (and many 5ers too) is carrying capacity. Most full-timing couples say they need at least 3,000 lbs of CCC. This disqualifies many fine TTs like the Jayco line, as none have sufficient CCC for all your worldly possessions.

I have just purchased a 2008 Ford F-250 Diesel for pulling a full-time travel trailer. If you are looking at a fiver, you'll need a 1-ton TV as just the pin weight will max out the capacity of a 3/4 ton.

Some of the TTs I'm looking at for FT snowbirding (I hate the cold) are: the Dutchman Denali 287re, the Puma Palomino 31-FKBS, the Forest River Salem/Wildwood 30-FKBS,the Coachman Freedom Express 305-RKDS, and the Palomino Thoroughbred 829RK. I am shopping for late model used which of course vary in price quite a bit based upon overall quality features, age and condition. None of the TTs I listed are suitable for 4 season use. If this is your plan then there's a much shorter list of heavy, expensive TTs to choose from.

Good Luck in your search!

Chip