First travel trailer
Hi all! Just joined up and I already have a question. Now that my wife and I are retired, we would like to do some travelling. Unfortunately, as with so many others these days, finances will be a bit ...
Forum Discussion
This whole shopping process gets weird.
When I retired from an assignment in China, I came back to the U.S. and bought a medium size SUV with a 5000 pound nominal towing capacity and an idea of RVing with a modest travel trailer. We went two years visiting dealers and going to RV shows, looking at conventional 18-22 foot travel trailers in that weight range, longer lightweights (in 2003 they were just coming onto the market), HiLos and TrailManors, as well as a range of motorhome offerings for 18-foot type B's up to 34-foot A gassers.
Then I learned that my 6000 pound towing capacity was reduced by what I carried in my SUV, so for trips with my daughter, her husband and children, I might be looking at a 4000-4500 pound trailer. This got into the "not big enough for all of us" vs "too heavy to tow" battle, thus looking at either self contained motorhomes that fit my wife's size needs, or the combination of a travel trailer big enough (23-28 feet) and a larger vehicle to tow it.
Our alternatives came down to either buying a 28-foot TT and a truck big enough to tow it (I had found a 3/4 ton F-250 for under $5000) or a motorhome that had equivalent space. In the end, shopping the used market, a 30-foot class C motorhome won out (we traded the SUV for an Accord my wife was comfortable driving). The class C worked well for the remaining seven years of my wife's life.
You need to work out just what it is you really want to do. If it is just the two of you, you have many options. A camper van conversion, ranging from Westfalia camper to fully equipped B motorhome, could work. A travel trailer pulled by a car, truck, van or SUV could work. You need (your wife needs) to figure out how much living space is needed, that leads to what is necessary to haul it.
You must start out with solutions to the "how will it be used" and "how much space is needed" problems. Only then can you start on "what kind of motorized vehicle" or "what do I need as a tow vehicle" problems.
Starting out with "do I buy XXX as a tow vehicle" to tow something "I don't know what it is going to be" is the wrong way to approach the problem, from my experience. The more limited your budget, the less freedom you have to make big mistakes. Starting with "this is the tow vehicle I want to buy" is the biggest mistake, in my experience. But I may have just done it again, buying a 12 passenger van with 6000 pounds tow capacity and 3000 pounds payload, not knowing what it is I want to tow, if anything. But at least I have some large margins for error.
When I retired from an assignment in China, I came back to the U.S. and bought a medium size SUV with a 5000 pound nominal towing capacity and an idea of RVing with a modest travel trailer. We went two years visiting dealers and going to RV shows, looking at conventional 18-22 foot travel trailers in that weight range, longer lightweights (in 2003 they were just coming onto the market), HiLos and TrailManors, as well as a range of motorhome offerings for 18-foot type B's up to 34-foot A gassers.
Then I learned that my 6000 pound towing capacity was reduced by what I carried in my SUV, so for trips with my daughter, her husband and children, I might be looking at a 4000-4500 pound trailer. This got into the "not big enough for all of us" vs "too heavy to tow" battle, thus looking at either self contained motorhomes that fit my wife's size needs, or the combination of a travel trailer big enough (23-28 feet) and a larger vehicle to tow it.
Our alternatives came down to either buying a 28-foot TT and a truck big enough to tow it (I had found a 3/4 ton F-250 for under $5000) or a motorhome that had equivalent space. In the end, shopping the used market, a 30-foot class C motorhome won out (we traded the SUV for an Accord my wife was comfortable driving). The class C worked well for the remaining seven years of my wife's life.
You need to work out just what it is you really want to do. If it is just the two of you, you have many options. A camper van conversion, ranging from Westfalia camper to fully equipped B motorhome, could work. A travel trailer pulled by a car, truck, van or SUV could work. You need (your wife needs) to figure out how much living space is needed, that leads to what is necessary to haul it.
You must start out with solutions to the "how will it be used" and "how much space is needed" problems. Only then can you start on "what kind of motorized vehicle" or "what do I need as a tow vehicle" problems.
Starting out with "do I buy XXX as a tow vehicle" to tow something "I don't know what it is going to be" is the wrong way to approach the problem, from my experience. The more limited your budget, the less freedom you have to make big mistakes. Starting with "this is the tow vehicle I want to buy" is the biggest mistake, in my experience. But I may have just done it again, buying a 12 passenger van with 6000 pounds tow capacity and 3000 pounds payload, not knowing what it is I want to tow, if anything. But at least I have some large margins for error.
