My first post. We recently purchased our 2005 Fleetwood Pioneer 18T6 from the original owner. We have been lurking in the used trailer market since last fall, and finally have jumped in.We wanted our girls (5 and 7) to have the experience of camping - without the wet tents and wood smoke smelling sleeping bags - moreover the skills learned in the moment (making friends, dealing with adversity, technical work-arounds etc.). Yes, I know - that is a Jeep Liberty towing a 3800 Lb trailer. This picture is at the halfway mark of a 650 Km (400 Mile) trip. We plan to upgrade our tow rig to a Laredo or Commander soon, but for now our Daily driver is doing an admiral job. The proportional brake controller, weight distrubition hitch and sway control help keep it on the straight and narrow.

Good for you! Have a great time and make some great memories with your family!

It looks like you have it setup pretty well, but the unloaded weight of the Pioneer is 3800 pounds. With your gear, water, waste, and LP gas it could be much heavier. The Liberty is good up to 5000 pounds, but the Pioneer could go as high as 5900 Pounds. Good luck, and be careful out there living that dream...

Thank you! We're starting out at KOA's till we get our feet wet, we have an escorted boon docking excursion planned for Labour Day.We budget our weight very closely - we're well aware of the Jeep's limitations and take our responsibility to others on the road seriously. The propane seems to last forever, though one tank is nearly empty. We never travel with the trailer 'wet', our trips are maxed at 3 days worth of clothes and food is bought locally after arrival. We nearly bought a shiny new Ultra lite weight single axle 20 footerbut we'd be into it for $20k plus, where as this way we've spent a much more reasonable amount and will put the remainder toward a rig with V8 power and a bit more wheel base - undoubtedly a Jeep (my girls wouldn't be seen in anything else).

FWIW the front and rear fender height is dead smack on stock ride height - though I'm not really pleased with the amount of 'spring' in the hitch as the setup rode in this picture, I've already tried removing a link from the tensioned side - found it too taught - bar angles aren't ideal either as described (too tight to frame). I've got a good amount of adjustment left at the ball - I'll kick the ball back a notch and retry with the original link count (6 or 7 on the tensioned side I believe, 1 link floating regardless).

Good looking rig. It's nice to read a post like this, reminding me of the excitement of getting our TT. It also looks like you did some homework on setting things up.

Living the Dream | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

Cloughfam
Explorer
Jun 19, 2013
Congratz on the TT and enjoy every minute!
certified106
Explorer
Jun 19, 2013
Awesome! So glad to hear you are enjoying yourselves! Making memories is what it is all about!
bradnailer
Explorer
Jun 19, 2013
Our three daughters grew up camping and insisted that our grandkids do the same. Camping together, especially dry camping, in my opinion instills a closeness within a family that lasts forever. Our girls still say some of their best memories growing up were while camping.
S_more_campers
Explorer
Jun 18, 2013
Thanks for all the kind words. It's good to be a part of the RV community - even the first night towing it home a fellow rv'er stopped to shoot the breezed and was good enough to go over some things in a Subway parking lot - helped me to pinpoint some issues before they became problems (his gear was much nicer than mine btw - brand new Chevy 3/4 ton extended cab 4x4 and a colour matched goose neck TT in tow).

Just good things happening so far and hoping for more.

Here's our setup again, this time we're camping at Brighton, ON KOA.

And a little of that Canadian ingenuity you've heard about.
Doug33
Explorer
Jun 18, 2013
There are so few people I know out there that are living the dream. They have all moved on to their time shares, cruises or fancy hotels for vacations. My two daughters have so many fond memories of our camping trips, first in popups, then a small TT, and now we're moving on to a large TT. They love it so much they still want to come with us even though they are now adults!

So you keep on living the dream - and your kids will learn from these experiences and will appreciate and talk about your trips for their whole lives.
modern_family
Explorer
Jun 18, 2013
Congrats and enjoy. I loved my Liberty, had a 2002, 4x4 for about 6 years. She did me good, I towed our 18' hybrid for a few months until upgrading. The biggest down fall to the jeeps is the wheelbase, be vary careful with the "tail wagging the dog" especially in high winds.

Have a great time!
NanciL
Explorer II
Jun 18, 2013
We loved our Pioneer 18, and now have a Pioneer 25 footer which has a couch between the dinette and the bedroom.
Get a V-8 as quick as you can, so you can get over some hills, and also you will never even know you have a trailer behind you.

Jack L
brirene
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
Congratulations, and welcome to the forum! You will have experiences that the girls will never forget; nor will you! Enjoy, and best of luck!
classicdude
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
Good looking rig. It's nice to read a post like this, reminding me of the excitement of getting our TT. It also looks like you did some homework on setting things up.
S_more_campers
Explorer
Jun 17, 2013
FWIW the front and rear fender height is dead smack on stock ride height - though I'm not really pleased with the amount of 'spring' in the hitch as the setup rode in this picture, I've already tried removing a link from the tensioned side - found it too taught - bar angles aren't ideal either as described (too tight to frame). I've got a good amount of adjustment left at the ball - I'll kick the ball back a notch and retry with the original link count (6 or 7 on the tensioned side I believe, 1 link floating regardless).