jaydub74 wrote:
Thanks guys.
We might be in a unique situation when it comes to inside space. We're planning on spending six months on the road this winter (from Oct - March) so inside space is maybe more important than the average 1 to 2 week holiday in the summer. We'll be spending most our our time in Southern California and Arizona so daytime temperatures should be ok, but night time and poor weather days may require staying indoors. When that happens its nice to have some comfortable indoor space to kick back in.
This may require making some hard decisions on our part. Do we go smaller on the trailer so we can purchase a vehicle we might use after returning home, or purchase a larger truck and sell it and the trailer when we get home. Either way we'll be selling the trailer, this is a one time trip. We don't usually camp in the summer, its just a method for us to escape Canadian winter for a year.
I really wanted to avoid going to a 3/4 ton truck but even using a Tundra (one of the few full size trucks I'd consider keeping) won't safely tow a 27 to 28 ft. (the box) / 31 to 32 ft. (with hitch) trailer.
You don't "NEED" 30+ ft "space" to "kick back" with on bad weather days. The statement I bolded is nothing more than an attempt to justify the longer length.
When I was a kid, my Dad took our entire family on three week "vacations" in the summer. SIX of us kids and my two parents for a grand total of EIGHT of us.
We did this using a SLIDE IN cabover camper.
It didn't kill anyone, granted it was tight but we all managed to survive three weeks at a time..
When it was sunshiny we were outside, bad weather well that was a good excuse to go sightseeing! Often would take day trips to explore places we were never at before..
Most likely you will be buying something with a slide?
You can get a bit shorter trailer with one or two slides and get more "space" to work with..
Example a 8ft x 30ft trailer is 240 square ft of floor space.
8ft x 26ft trailer is 208 square ft.
Add one 2Ft deep by 8ft long slide you add 16 more square ft so a 26ft long trailer with one slide would give you 224 square ft..
Two 2ft x 6ft slides would be 24 sq ft so a 26ft trailer with two 6ft slides would be 248 sq ft..
Sometimes it is hard to "compromise" but if that IS the vehicle you have your heart set on to use then it would be better to go shorter than 30ft and keep the weight in check.
I tow a 26ft TT with a F250 and the truck just takes command of the trailer.
I towed a 20ft TT with a light duty 97 F250 (this was a F250 based on the F150 frame and springs) and that truck just barely was able to handle that trailer.
I like the feel of the heavier truck with a stouter suspension, I would not consider going back to a lighter tow vehicle.
Something else to consider since you mentioned that this IS a "one time" event perhaps you should simply RENT a RV. Yes it will cost you more than trailer payments but you would not have the problem and loss of equity of selling off a trailer when you are done with it..
You ARE going to take a huge loss if you buy a new trailer then use it for one camping season then attempt to sell it off.
We are talking THOUSANDS of $$ loss..
RVs depreciate and the first several years are the worst. A $20K trailer new you would be hard pressed to sell it one year later and get say $16K. If you took out a loan you would have interest plus any taxes you paid on the purchase..