Trailer length and towing

Ours is 36'6" bumper to tongue. Smaller streets in town can be a hassle, though I have yet to get stuck. Low bridges and tunnels are much more of a concern. Some national parks we can't go to, but it's not at all common. The most restrictive is in the northeast because so many of them are older parks when 20' was considered large. A few out west are like that but they don't seem as numerous. We have always been able to find newer state or national parks or commercial parks that are nice substitutes. Overall, not a problem. You just have to be able to adjust. Go with the flow babe.

We've had a 34' for 8 years, our first trailer. Been out west and back and lots of parks around PA. I haven't ever had a situation where I wanted a site in a park and couldn't find one to fit. Keep in mind, we book ahead specifically because I don't like the surprise. I like to know I have a site when I pull in most of the time. I have had my trailer in several 25-30 sites, and while it may have been tight at times, the point is it fit. You don't think you can do it, until you do it. Then it becomes a non-issue. Go slow, swing wide, look ahead, cut it hard, not that big a deal in the end. I've only ever had to back out of one gas station in 8 years. I just haven't found it to be an issue at all. I wouldn't go smaller personally. Opinions vary.

The big difference is how much you drag the rear end getting thru the dips.

When you refer to travel trailer, are you talking about a bumper pull or a 5th wheel. It means a lot in how they handle.

I am going to assume you mean bumper pull ?

The folks above keep mentioning tow vehicle length. With a bumper pull travel trailer, you can get into the tail wagging the dog if the wheel base on the tow vehicle is not long enough in relationship to the travel trailer.

Also with a longer travel trailer, some fuel stops (depending on your tow vehicles fuel) will be harder to get into. I just did a trip to Nebraska from Ohio and back and there were some stations that the diesel pumps were not the best placed to accommodate a crew cab pickup and a 30 ft bumper pull. I had to plan my arcs of travel carefully so as to not damage the trailer or other vehicles.

Also with a longer trailer, you need to look at the distance behind the trailer wheels to the bumper and the height of such. With a trailer that has a slide over the axles, the trailer sits higher.

Our old 2005 Forest River Salem would sometimes drag on the bump stops that had been welded on to keep the back end from dragging. The pivot point was such that if the angle of inclination of the (insert parking lot, fuel station entry, whatever) was a little too steep, then the back end would drag. I had thought about having solid steel casters welded on instead of just the flat stock that had been bent into a "V".

You also have to watch right hand turns and make sure you have enough room for the rear wheels to clear. When turning onto our street, I have to be over in the other lane and still swing into the other other lane when turning. We have ditches close to the road and the pavement isn't real wide, so I have to wait until there are no cars in order to use both lanes.

The wheels of the trailer do not follow the same arc as the wheels of the tow vehicle.

Is it all manageable, of course, you just have to be cognizant of it and learn to deal with it.

I have a 34' Avion that tows like a dream. It is just too long to get back in places I want to go, off road. I take my 19.5' trailer instead.

We have a 25 ft. Dutchmen, It was three advantages.
• Campgrounds often ask the TT length, we have never had a problem with 25 ft. or less.
• I maneuver it through the city streets with no problems and it will usually squeeze into two continuous parking spaces.
• I can pull it with a half-ton.

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is if you want a large bath you often lose the bunk beds.

Over 20 ft the difficulty factor rises exponentially.If you are new to the game start small and gain the experiance.with that size you will need a 3/4 ton because loaded you will be 10k.One of my rigs is 30 ft and on the Freeways its great, get in town and every 10 miles seems like 100.

I have a 30-foot TT, several times I have had a lot of difficulty getting into sites. But it all depends on the site, where the trees on the site are, how much maneuvering room you have, when it rained last and how soft the ground is, etc. There is no pat answer. People camped next to you or across from you can have bearing on how much maneuvering room you have. One day you may get in fine, the next day someone that parked his trailer across from you may be occupying the path you need to take. Every foot you have can make a difference. Will it on any particular day? No one knows. I don't worry about it, if I can't get in the assigned site (which has never occurred to me put has to friends) I will simply ask for another site. If I have to, I guess I would move on down the road. I generally specify a 35-foot trailer so I can get my 30-foot in easier.

We had a 26' and now have a 29'. Where we camp, I would not want anything bigger as we barely fit in sites as it is. If I were to get a longer trailer, I'd also want a longer tow vehicle to help with stability. That only makes fitting in sites that much more difficult. If you always camp at private campgrounds with pull thru sites or large back in sites, no big deal if it is longer. I don't think an extra 5 feet would bother me on the road or in gas stations, etc.

Consider where you will be camping. Commercial parks won't be an issue. National Parks will have limited spaces for longer trailers. National Forests will pretty much be out of the question. Most of these have sites designed many years ago when trailers were smaller. They cannot accommodate the larger RVs of today.

Other parks will be a mixed bag. The California state parks in our San Diego,mountains have very few spaces that can handle long trailers. The state parks at the beaches are fine though.

With a long trailer a longer tow vehicle will make towing easier so consider the bed length when looking at a truck.