which TC is best for me?
I'm looking for a good size TC that will: - work with a full ton truck that is not a dually; - host 2 people for up to a week in good weather, 4 people for a 3 day weekend in winter conditions. We...
Forum Discussion
Only you will make a decision on which TC is best. I don't know what your pain threshold is. Do you have an claustrophobic tendencies? Are you able to easily go up and down the snowy steps and climb the big steps to the sleeping area? These are real questions that could be answered easily by knowing your age.
My first thought was to just go with Poole's answer and get a DRW 5500 and a big 'ol TC. The problem is it would be a big package to haul around for the other 98% of the time when you don't need it. Having tried to sleep 4 children and 3 adults in my tiny Lance 165-s just for one night, was a nightmare. There was no floorspace left. You simply could not move. The kids thought it was an indoor jungle jim. You couldn't even open the bathroom door, which any male over 65 knows is VERY important. Here:
Even with 3 slides, the floorspace doesn't seem to expand, only the eating, sitting and sleeping space. Entertaining 4 adults in any white box could be fun for about 2 hours, enough to have a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter's night, remove your ski boots, and tell a few lies. Then, where do those skis, jackets and ski paraphasia go when you are not using them and it's 18 deg. F out in a light snow?
Then the outside of the box started to appear. I'm in the use only what you need with some overage school. Each outing has a different set of requirements for efficient success, and you don't want to be hauling everything around all the time. This leads me to a shamelessly biased 3-part solution.
1. a short bed SRW quad cab, crewcab or DoKa: (something with a comfy seating capacity for 4 adults) 250 or 2500 4WD diesel pickup; the highest payload version with further upgrade all weather tires and suspension.
2. a Lance 650 TC made for a short bed.*
3. a short, compact, wide track, weather proof aluminum enclosed trailer long enough for ski racks and storage inside.
*Why the Lance? Relatively light weight. Works on a short bed. Narrow. 4 season. Aluminum frame. Euro style 2x pane windows. block foam insulation. Larger tanks than short bed TC's had before. lots of headroom. Large dinette for eating converting to a sleeping area for 2 very narrow consenting adults. And my conclusion: built for the short haul. A weekender. I hope not a weak ender. Sounds like a ski vacation for a working stiff to me.
With this set up you will enjoy the mpg and tight turning radius of a short bed SRW pickup, especially when unloaded. Yes, that TC will only be on there a small percentage of the time. You will only be pushing the limits of payload maybe 3% of the time.
Maybe not a TC.
If this does not do it for you, a distant second would be to buy a used, well insulated, 22-24 foot class C MoHo and buy a set of tire chains that will get you to and from the slopes. I see ski bunnies in this version a lot. Then again, what are you going to do with it the other 97% of the time you're not using it?
MB now has a version of their Sprinter with 4WD. They come in a lot of configs. Several aftermarket RV up-fitters have taken the base to new heights with very livable MoHoes. Now we're talking bucks. These are the new rage with moneyed skiers.
It's your call.
jefe
My first thought was to just go with Poole's answer and get a DRW 5500 and a big 'ol TC. The problem is it would be a big package to haul around for the other 98% of the time when you don't need it. Having tried to sleep 4 children and 3 adults in my tiny Lance 165-s just for one night, was a nightmare. There was no floorspace left. You simply could not move. The kids thought it was an indoor jungle jim. You couldn't even open the bathroom door, which any male over 65 knows is VERY important. Here:
Even with 3 slides, the floorspace doesn't seem to expand, only the eating, sitting and sleeping space. Entertaining 4 adults in any white box could be fun for about 2 hours, enough to have a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter's night, remove your ski boots, and tell a few lies. Then, where do those skis, jackets and ski paraphasia go when you are not using them and it's 18 deg. F out in a light snow?
Then the outside of the box started to appear. I'm in the use only what you need with some overage school. Each outing has a different set of requirements for efficient success, and you don't want to be hauling everything around all the time. This leads me to a shamelessly biased 3-part solution.
1. a short bed SRW quad cab, crewcab or DoKa: (something with a comfy seating capacity for 4 adults) 250 or 2500 4WD diesel pickup; the highest payload version with further upgrade all weather tires and suspension.
2. a Lance 650 TC made for a short bed.*
3. a short, compact, wide track, weather proof aluminum enclosed trailer long enough for ski racks and storage inside.
*Why the Lance? Relatively light weight. Works on a short bed. Narrow. 4 season. Aluminum frame. Euro style 2x pane windows. block foam insulation. Larger tanks than short bed TC's had before. lots of headroom. Large dinette for eating converting to a sleeping area for 2 very narrow consenting adults. And my conclusion: built for the short haul. A weekender. I hope not a weak ender. Sounds like a ski vacation for a working stiff to me.
With this set up you will enjoy the mpg and tight turning radius of a short bed SRW pickup, especially when unloaded. Yes, that TC will only be on there a small percentage of the time. You will only be pushing the limits of payload maybe 3% of the time.
Maybe not a TC.
If this does not do it for you, a distant second would be to buy a used, well insulated, 22-24 foot class C MoHo and buy a set of tire chains that will get you to and from the slopes. I see ski bunnies in this version a lot. Then again, what are you going to do with it the other 97% of the time you're not using it?
MB now has a version of their Sprinter with 4WD. They come in a lot of configs. Several aftermarket RV up-fitters have taken the base to new heights with very livable MoHoes. Now we're talking bucks. These are the new rage with moneyed skiers.
It's your call.
jefe