I'm new to this and looking for help

[AZK9Lover]

I'm selling my house and plan to live in a toy hauler for the rest of my life. I'm choosing the toy hauler because it seems to be self-contained. Are there things I need to be aware of? I'm thinking of investing about $50k out the door. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Any advice on the pickup I will need? So far I've been advised to get a diesel. Thank you in advance.

[dedmiston]

If your plan is to travel and to get off the grid, then Toy Haulers in general are more self contained, because they typically come with an onboard generator and larger tank capacities.

If you're planning to park someplace with hookups for longer periods of time, then the generator and tank capacities aren't as important.

As far as the ramp being poorly insulated, I disagree. The ramp is the thickest wall in the trailer. In cold weather, your windows and walls might be cold to the touch, but the ramp never is. The only time it's a concern is if there are any gaps around the edges, but that can be solved.

[Lwiddis]

"and will lie to you at the drop of a hat if it will get them a bigger sale"

Yes, some do, naturist, but my experience is many don't know anything about what they are selling...or towing in general.

[naturist]

I’ll agree with the others: 1) pretty much all RVs are self contained, not just toy haulers. If you don’t have toys to haul, a toy hauler is not your best bet for several reasons. (2) since you have neither the RV nor the truck to tow it, buy the RV first so you know what you need in a truck. Salesmen are always happy to sell you bigger things, and will lie to you at the drop of a hat if it will get them a bigger sale. If you buy the truck first, you are at high risk of getting a trailer you can’t safely tow, a big headache as well as a money loser. If you buy the trailer first and wind up with more truck than you need, you’ll actually be better off, as the worst will be it tows like it isn’t even there, which is a great problem to have.

I also agree you have a lot to learn here, go slow, don’t allow yourself to be stampeded into any hasty decisions. There are pluses and minuses to every rig, and deciding among them calls for a lot of knowledge about them all.

[2112]

Do you plan on traveling with it or park it in one location and stay there? If the latter, you may not need a truck.

[arhayes]

We've been FTing in our 2015 42.5' Momentum for over 4 years and would not change as we still want to ride our Goldwing. Of course this is well over your $50k target new and probably used as well.

I'd echo whats already been said, and emphasize looking at floor plans. If it's going to be your home, you sure don't want to buy it, then a year later want something else. I'd also second the tow vehicle advice. Seen too many that buy the truck first, then realize it won't tow the rig they've fallen in love with.

There's lots to choose from out there. Get going and Good Luck!

[donn0128]

Almost ALL RVs are self contained. Loast I looked Toy haulers have to major draw backs. That hugh back door is a giant hole you will loose heat and cool. And toy haulers tend to be more utilitarian. Now, of you have some toys you plan to take with you, then thats a major reason to get one.
Truck? That depends on what trailer you wind up with. Go pick your trailer then using the trailers GVWR match a truck to it.
Based on your 50K budget I assume your looking at used or smaller trailers. So start looking.

[JAC1982]

The type of truck you get will depend on the trailer you get. For 50k, unless you're buying used, won't get you a big monster triple axle or anything like that. I'm going to guess, just based on price range, that you'll be fine with a 1 ton SRW diesel.

The next suggestion I'll make is to just look through plans online, at RV shows, etc., to decide what kind of floor plan you like. Think about whether it will fit your needs for full time living, have the right storage, and the right features for the kind of traveling you'll be doing, for example, if you're going to move around a lot, you'll probably want auto-leveling. But if you plan on staying for longer periods of time at each spot, auto-leveling is probably not that big of a deal. Also determine what size garage you need. I know for us, we wanted to be under 40', double axle, with at least a 12'6" fully enclosed garage. So our choices were very limited, and it ended up coming down to just choosing which manufacturer. Every trailer with our requirements had the same basic floor plan.