Anyone go from a Motorhome back to a TT?

I read a lot of posts that point out that all they have to do is turn the key on their MH and their gone. What they didn't say is that they have to unhook utilities just like everyone else, get their toad hooked up, etc. And, unless they have a car dolly, they must unhook the toad before they are able to back up less they demolish the toad hitch.

We had a MH and it is not as simple as 1,2,3.

While the TT people are busy leveling their camper and letting down their stabalizers, if the MH people are not in a pull through site, they are in the street unhooking and moving their toad and then getting the MH in place. Not that much difference.

jerem0621 wrote:


Thank you, our style is much more move around than stay at one place for prolonged periods of time. We may camp at three or more campgrounds while traveling for a week.

Thanks for your insight!

Jeremiah

For that type of camping, almost touring, a is MH better than a fiver, which is better than a TT. IMO of course.

The nice Class A motorhomes that I like are built out of semi truck chassis so that everything in the cab is standardized and everything above the frame, behind the cab, is custom. They seem much better built than those chassis that were built with custom cabs.

We've had them all, everything from tent-trailer to 33' Class A. We're glad to be back to a travel trailer.

Like has been said before, it's just a matter of personal style. However we did find that motorhomes tend to be badly maintained (especially brakes!) and when you have a problem with it, there are no books you can just pull to check the troubleshooting tree like you have with a tow vehicle.

Case in point:
We were nearly stranded in our MH, middle of the night, stopped for gas, switched off. Finish up, restart. Pull on the headlights and the engine quits, just like you'd turned the key off. No-start, no crank, no NOTHING, for about ten minutes. Then restart, pull on the headlights, and the engine quit again. Three go-rounds of this, I finally figured out that if I could get away with having just the parking lights on, I could move it to somewhere safer to fix it. If it'd been a pickup truck and trailer, I could have had a wiring diagram to trace. Turned out to be a thermal circuit breaker mounted on the plywood "firewall" which was in the main positive cable. Replaced it with a fusible link (like what SHOULD have been there) and all was OK again.

The above was the final straw. Previous trips with it, I'd discovered that because there were no fender liners, any time there was fairly deep water, the wheels splashed it up on the engine. The water would go around the spark plugs, flash to steam, and blow the wire clean off the spark plug.

The problem with motorhomes is that they are not built to any kind of standard; they're just a rolling chassis with whatever kind of coach frame that the manufacturer chooses to use. The quality is totally in the hands of the manufacturer, and there are no safety ratings at all. These kind of things would never have been tolerated on a production tow vehicle.

If I was going to ever own another motorhome, I'd start with a bus chassis; at least I'd know that the chassis and body were regulated and rated to be together.

We had a hybrid .Sold it for a 1989 allegro. Really had fun with both. Traded the allegro in on a 2003 fleet wood discovery 38d. I really loved the 38d. It was great but when we got to the campsite we were stuck.No toad. It was such a investment . Listed it on crags list just for kicks and someone bought it. Now we have a forest river 220 surveyor. It has a slide and is perfect for two. The only thing is you have to have the slide out to use the bathroom. If I ever retire I will get another DP.
The DP got 10 mpg, I get 9 mpg pulling the surveyor with a 2500 hd 6.0. They both have there advantages.
Jim
Had to edit to say the surveyor does not have carpet and I love that you just sweep it out.

I went from a 30ft class A to a 17ft TT.I did it for several reasons.I like the TT better because it affords me better access to campsites.About 99% of my camping in the last 9 yrs is very rustic "boondocking".The rig I have now gets me into these areas comfortably.

We did. Still miss our mini MH, but love the extra bunks in the TT.

mlts22 wrote:
If I was sticking in one place for a period of time and had space, a TT is economical in that situation. However, if I travel around, a MH just has a lot more nice features, from being able to pull over and eat/use the bathroom/sleep. Of course, the downside is that with a larger MH, there is a need for a toad.

Then there is the time spent hitching/unhitching and driving to/from storage. With a MH, you just hop in and drive. In the summer, unhitching, getting stuff plugged in, running in the TT briefly to fire up the A/C, then go to a restaurant to eat and cool off (while the TT gets from 130 degrees to something bearable) isn't fun compared to just pulling into camp and being ready to roll.

However, if at one place for a few days, TTs become far more economical, because compared to a MH, it is one less engine and drivetrain to have to keep maintained, registered, inspected, and running.

Thank you, our style is much more move around than stay at one place for prolonged periods of time. We may camp at three or more campgrounds while traveling for a week.

Thanks for your insight!

Jeremiah

If I was sticking in one place for a period of time and had space, a TT is economical in that situation. However, if I travel around, a MH just has a lot more nice features, from being able to pull over and eat/use the bathroom/sleep. Of course, the downside is that with a larger MH, there is a need for a toad.

Then there is the time spent hitching/unhitching and driving to/from storage. With a MH, you just hop in and drive. In the summer, unhitching, getting stuff plugged in, running in the TT briefly to fire up the A/C, then go to a restaurant to eat and cool off (while the TT gets from 130 degrees to something bearable) isn't fun compared to just pulling into camp and being ready to roll.

However, if at one place for a few days, TTs become far more economical, because compared to a MH, it is one less engine and drivetrain to have to keep maintained, registered, inspected, and running.

We went from a tent to a small (18') MH to a PUP, which after many years we upgraded to a HTT and finally a TT. In general, we like having a trailer better than a MH, mostly to have camp set up and a vehicle free to sightsee, grocery shop, etc. - but w/o the absolute need for a pull-thru site that a MH+toad would require.