New to travel trailers. Seeking guidance
Hi everyone. While I am not new to camping I am new to the whole RV style of camping. My name is Jason. My wife and I are in the market looking to purchase a new (not used) tow behind travel trailer...
Forum Discussion
Very good advice above. Like you, we went straight from tent camping to purchasing a brand new TT (see signature). To reiterate:
1. On towing capacity, disregard the 10K number for your truck and focus on payload capacity, which is on the sticker inside the driver door jamb. The tongue weight of your trailer plus the weight of stuff you put in your truck (passengers + cargo) should not exceed the payload capacity. To figure out tongue weight a good rule of thumb is 15% of the trailer FULLY LOADED weight. So if the trailer will weigh 10K pounds fully loaded, figure the tongue weight at 1,500 pounds.
2. Length. The difference between 28'-32' isn't that big of a deal, other than the fact that the longer trailer will weight more. If a TT fits within your truck's capacity, I wouldn't pass on it just because you think it's a little too long. My TT is 34' long, and I also tow a 29' long enclosed car trailer. I don't notice much difference between towing these except that I have to make slightly wider turns with my TT.
3. Insurance. I pay around $40-$50 per month. I can't remember the exact number.
4. Price for a new one. 30% off MSRP is a good rule of thumb, and most people do better than that. I got 35% off our TT, which we bought new.
5. Warranty. Rather than buy an extended warranty, consider buying a TT that has a 2 year factory warranty. That's what we did by buying an Open Range. Jayco also has a 2 year warranty.
6. Used vs new. If you like new and can afford it, go for it. We bought new and paid cash and couldn't be happier. Just keep in mind that an RV depreciates like a car, and is harder to sell. We did look for a used unit for a while, but we couldn't find any that we liked except for some that were 1-2 years old. The problem with those was that the price was almost what a new one cost, so we bought new.
1. On towing capacity, disregard the 10K number for your truck and focus on payload capacity, which is on the sticker inside the driver door jamb. The tongue weight of your trailer plus the weight of stuff you put in your truck (passengers + cargo) should not exceed the payload capacity. To figure out tongue weight a good rule of thumb is 15% of the trailer FULLY LOADED weight. So if the trailer will weigh 10K pounds fully loaded, figure the tongue weight at 1,500 pounds.
2. Length. The difference between 28'-32' isn't that big of a deal, other than the fact that the longer trailer will weight more. If a TT fits within your truck's capacity, I wouldn't pass on it just because you think it's a little too long. My TT is 34' long, and I also tow a 29' long enclosed car trailer. I don't notice much difference between towing these except that I have to make slightly wider turns with my TT.
3. Insurance. I pay around $40-$50 per month. I can't remember the exact number.
4. Price for a new one. 30% off MSRP is a good rule of thumb, and most people do better than that. I got 35% off our TT, which we bought new.
5. Warranty. Rather than buy an extended warranty, consider buying a TT that has a 2 year factory warranty. That's what we did by buying an Open Range. Jayco also has a 2 year warranty.
6. Used vs new. If you like new and can afford it, go for it. We bought new and paid cash and couldn't be happier. Just keep in mind that an RV depreciates like a car, and is harder to sell. We did look for a used unit for a while, but we couldn't find any that we liked except for some that were 1-2 years old. The problem with those was that the price was almost what a new one cost, so we bought new.
