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JustinG30's avatar
JustinG30
Explorer
Jul 05, 2016

Nervous First Time RV Buyer Looking For Tips & Advice

Hey everyone. Long story short my girlfriend and I are purchasing our first travel trailer this week. We are looking at 3. Ones 26 ft overall, another 27 and the last 28 (21, 23, 24 livable). I have a 2015 Ram Crew Cab with 3.6l v6 4x4 and says I can town 7,200. All three weigh under 5,000 dry.

My biggest concern is driving. Will I notice a difference between the 26 and 28 ft ? We are planning on taking it this weekend on an approx 1500 mile road trip from Michigan to Boston and back. I'm nervous about making right turns, getting stuck somewhere, etc. so any tips or tricks for a first time purchaser and driver would be recommend. Thank you.

(I've only towed an 8x5 trailer before)
  • NCWriter's avatar
    NCWriter
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2016
    It sounds like it's too late for tip #1 which is to make your first RV trip a short one in a campground near your home, and spend plenty of time practicing driving it.

    It takes actually using it before you'll know what to bring from home.

    #2 would be avoid driving into Boston. Hopefully you have a campground planned outside the city.

    #3 would be to allow more time than you think to go from point A to B in an RV. When you say "this weekend," do you mean the entire trip there and back takes place on a weekend? Not recommended.
  • midnightsadie's avatar
    midnightsadie
    Explorer II
    Jul 05, 2016
    don,t let a sales person talk you into a tt you can,t pull. couple ft makes a big difference. if used? do a lot of inspecting and if you see ANY WATER MARKS ???? run don,t walk. tires if older than 5yrs old they gotta go ,they rot no matter how good they look . RULE # 1 never beleave what a sales person says ,they lie to make a living they,ll say anything that will get you to sign.
  • fla-gypsy's avatar
    fla-gypsy
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2016
    Those will be quite a load for a 3.6L NA gas engine even with the 8 sp transmission
  • Hiking_Hunter's avatar
    Hiking_Hunter
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2016
    You won't notice any difference between a 26' and a 28 ' trailer in the turns. What you will notice though, is the load of any of those trailers on a hill. You're getting pretty close to maxing out that 3.6l engine. It should be OK on flat ground. Take it real easy on the hills.
  • JustinG30's avatar
    JustinG30
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2016
    Ya were near Detroit. I see your in Jackson. We will be spending sometime at Greenwood so I need to figure this out lol

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