Tips for travelling with trailer through the US.

[jason26]

We're planning a family trip in the very near future from Saskatoon to Legoland (Carlsbad, CA), via Grand Canyon and maybe Vegas. and I'm trying to cover all the need to know things about travelling with a trailer in the US (29 ft), right down to route advice?

This would be our first major trip with a trailer - we've pulled a 10' popup all over western Canada so do have a little experience, but there's a big difference from 10 to 29'.

Things that worry me:
- running into road restrictions on chosen routes. Are there helpers for planning the route?
- navigating the bigger cities with a trailer - coming back home we'd probably to Disney Land, and perhaps San Francisco.
- break downs, is there an association I can join, Good Sams?
- nearing the end of day and not having a place to park stay (though I hear some people just pull into a Walmart lot for the night).

And of course the stuff I just don't know about as this is quite different than parking the trailer at the lake for a week and heading home.

Thanks for any tips and advice.

[allen8106]

jason26 wrote:
We're planning a family trip in the very near future from Saskatoon to Legoland (Carlsbad, CA), via Grand Canyon and maybe Vegas. and I'm trying to cover all the need to know things about travelling with a trailer in the US (29 ft), right down to route advice?

This would be our first major trip with a trailer - we've pulled a 10' popup all over western Canada so do have a little experience, but there's a big difference from 10 to 29'.

Things that worry me:
- running into road restrictions on chosen routes. Are there helpers for planning the route? Just keep your eyes open signs will usually tell you. It does help to know the maximum height of your rig and tape it to your rear view mirror just in case you come upon a bridge that appears too low. You can quickly compare the bridge posted height to your post on the rear view mirror.
- navigating the bigger cities with a trailer - coming back home we'd probably to Disney Land, and perhaps San Francisco. Not a big deal, just make sure you pick a lane and stay in it unless you have to exit the hi-way. I have pulled through some big cities in rush hour traffic and always pick a lane and stay there as long as I can. Frequent lane changes can cause accidents.
- break downs, is there an association I can join, Good Sam's? There are dozens of road side service companies out there. Good Sam's, AAA and Coach-net a re a few of the popular ones with RVers.
- nearing the end of day and not having a place to park stay (though I hear some people just pull into a Walmart lot for the night). We haven't traveled a ton but we have put about 12,000 miles on in 5 years and I've never been anywhere where there wasn't some level of RV park available.

And of course the stuff I just don't know about as this is quite different than parking the trailer at the lake for a week and heading home.

Thanks for any tips and advice.

[myredracer]

jason26 wrote:

myredracer: Were you able to get the Verizon device before you were in a US?

No, you have to get it in the US somewhere as it doesn't work across the border. We bought the little mobile hotspot device at a Verizon store in a mall in Wa. but they have standalone stores all over the place too. We have their pay-as-you-go plan and buy another refill card when we start to run out. The cards are widely available in stores in the US. This plan is great for RV-ers if you don't need the service in the off-season.

We're pretty close to the border and camp a lot in the US. It is REALLY nice to have internet pretty much anywhere we go. Hasn't been very often so far that we couldn't get a signal. Verizon has the best coverage across the US if you compare theirs to other providers. One thing I would point out is that it's not a good idea to download videos or you'll be buying a refill card fairly soon. Once you are spoiled by the 4G network, you'll find that wifi in a CG is next to useless and you'll never want to use it again.

Oh right, as olygene mentioned, casinos can be a good place for an overnight layover (or a few days) and dining out at their buffets. We're staying at one in Canyonville in Or. this summer and I think another one somewhere along the trip. Stayed at one in Reno last year for 5 nights right next to the casino hotel. Happened to be the same time as the Burning Man thing - lots of strange looking people and RVs...

[Harvey51]

Wow, exciting trip! We are next door in Alberta, have done quite a bit of travelling in the NW of USA where we always had a good time. Friendly people. Our tent trailer was perfect for the climate. Except when venturing into hot country. At Yellowstone we poured pails of water over each other.

Our visit to Disneyland and Joshua Tree park was by airplane and rental car. Also very nice but I was shocked at the heat in the desert. We could only stand being away from air conditioning for half an hour at a time - in November. The coast was great - we even had the beach near Disneyland pretty well all to ourselves because it was too cold for the locals, just right for us.

Cell phone - call your Canadian provider and ask about a month of roving in the US. Usually very reasonable. Be aware of its data limits and keep an eye on your phone's usage. Or turn off the cellular data and just use wifi when available.

[jason26]

Thanks all.

Truck is a newer F-150 with tow package with some payload to spare after a hooking up a Jayco 26BH. We're light travellers, dragged our boys (8 and 10) around Europe for a month late last year with just backpacks for all of us. The plan is to keep the RV trimmed to the bare essentials but only time will tell.

Awesome tip about the passports. We're experienced international travellers, but that is a very easy item to forget when driving!!

myredracer: Were you able to get the Verizon device before you were in a US?

[olygene]

I haven't seen anyone mention staying at casino parking lots along the way. The vast majority of them welcome RVers and parking is free. Plus there is usually a cheap buffet when you get tired of eating RV cooked food. In CA, there seems to be a casino an hour along the major (and minor) highways. However, RV camping near the major cities (LA (Disneyland, U Studio), SFran and SD) can be difficult to find and expensive when you do find it.

[myredracer]

We tow a 29' travel trailer with a 3/4 ton truck. Went to Reno last year (from BC) and this summer are going farther down to Monterey and over to Vegas. There are many on the forum with waay more experience than us, but some things that come to mind below:

You haven't given details on the truck or trailer. If you have P rated tires on the truck, you want LT tires. You want a good brake controller like a Prodigy P3. Keep the trailer tires at the sidewall max rating (50 for LRC and 65 for LRD) and you want more pressure in the TV tires (we run 75 psi on front and 80 on rear, but everyone is somewhat different). You should have a good WDH with sway control. Add-on friction bars work, but there are better hitches with integral sway control like Equal-i-zer, Blue Ox and Reese dual cam. Make sure the WDH (weight distributing hitch) is properly adjusted so you don't have sway and/or handling problems (extremely important for both a long trip and someone new to towing). There is a great sticky in the towing section on setting up WDHs. I would suggest getting as much practice camping/towing as possible before doing the long trip. Is the trailer new or used? If used, some things may need attention. You will encounter lots of elevation change - make sure brakes on truck and trailer are working properly and serviced as needed and that the truck's cooling system and tranny can handle the added stress and heat. Taking a small 120 volt compressor with you would be a good idea and you should periodically check tire pressure and visually inspect the TT tires for anything unusual like abnormal wear, lumps, etc. (before each leg is best). An infrared gun would also be a good thing to have to periodically check bearing and brake temps.

It's a good idea to plan your route and campgrounds in complete detail before leaving. It's not really that hard to do. You especially should book CGs well in advance. You could just hook up and head off into the unknown but will likely at some point not find a CG and end up in a Walmart lot, rest stop or worse. Hours of travel per day depends a bit on age. I try to limit driving to 3-4 hours a day with only an occasional 7-8 hour drive. If you are not on a tight timeline to get back home, build in some time on each day's trip so you can make unplanned stops for interesting places you come across and for rest stops. If you have time, plan for a 2-3 night layover at some places like say Yellowstone Park for ex. The I-5 corridor is not good for finding CGs and as mentioned. There is a lovely KOA just north of San Fran. that allows for a day drive into town with the truck. (Expect to have trouble finding parking there with a truck though, lol.) If you can make to Vegas, you simply have to do it! It's such a ridiculously crazy place. There are CGs nearby. I know the Thousand Trails there has a shuttle bus to the Casinos as that's the CG we're staying at.

Last year was bad for forest fires and this year is looking like it could be as bad or even worse. Be prepared to have to uif needed . I would buy a membership in RPI, Coast to Coast, Thousand Trails or other one so you can find a new place to stay if needed while en route. Many membership CGs have overflow dry camping spots and won't turn you away. We have Thousand Trails and RPI, but there are no TT CGs in the central portion of the US. I highly recommend getting Verizon 4G mifi or alternate so you can get on the internet no matter where you are and having a laptop with you. This way you can get up to date traffic and road condition reports as well as forest fire reports.

Use the internet to completely plan the trip at home. There are websites that have video of sections of highways as well as descriptions (and also traffic reports). Google works for figuring out drive times of each leg of a drive. A GPS helps but don't expect it to be reliable 100% of the time. Myself, I like good ol' paper maps and I sketch the major freeways and highways to be on plus exits to change onto another section of fwy/hwy. Never take a secondary type road unless you have researched it first. It *might* look okay on a map but can be in rough shape with lots of slow/tight turns. I find GPS is better for when you are in a city or town. I still like to see it on a paper map too before heading off into an unknown city (and take the map with you). Do NOT take the trailer into major cities, esp. San Francisco.

Good Sam roadside assistance is good. We already have coverage from the credit card we have so don't have to pay more for using the TT.

Some places have a lot of exits and interchanges crammed into small geographical areas and you need to be really on top of signage, like around San Francisco and southward. Missing an exit can cost a lot of time, gas and aggravation.

California has agricultural inspection stations at various locations and some fruits, vegetables and firewood are banned. California is max. 55 mph if towing a trailer so factor that in when doing time calcs.

If you haven't traveled far afield yet, sooner or later you will come across low voltage at a CG. Get a voltmeter and check the voltage at a pedestal before plugging in. Normal is 120 volts, and the absolute lowest you should allow is 104 volts (some say 102). A plug-in voltmeter inside in a permanent location is a really good idea to monitor the voltage. Low voltage can damage AC units. An EMS unit like those from Progressive Industries are cheap insurance against the different power problems that can happen (open neutral, open ground, reversed polarity, high/low voltage, surges). If the voltage is too low in a CG, a Hughes autoformer can be used to boost the voltage and keep you running.

You're gonna have a fantastic trip! Don't forget to post a report when you get home. 😉

[NYCgrrl]

Take a close to home 2-3 night trip in your new unit before the long trip commences. It'll better inform you how comfortable you are in the space and what if anything you need to do to modify the interior.

No idea how large or the ages of your family is but now is a good time to start making ahead/prepping foodstuff from your regular roster. You'll have plenty of time on the trip to explore new foods during the weeks of the trip but I find a joy as the cook knowing the familiar is readily available whether we have a long day trip or I'm just feeling lazy.

Regard your toiletries with care. This is the time to look at multi-propose items. You'd be amazed at the amt of space toiletries can take up. For instance an all purpose bodywash/shampoo that ideally works for every family member; saves space and purchase time. I'm partial to the Bonner line since the price is right and it's readily available throughout N.A.. Also works well for different water temperatures.
Here's a link if you've an interest:

https://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/category/LIQUIDSOAP.html

All of us use witch hazel as an astringent, aftershave or poison ivy soother when camping. Also edit down to one kind of deodorant/antiperspirant for everyone. Modify this thought to whatever toiletries you all feel comfy using.

Color coordinate your wardrobe and remove all special cleaning instruction items that might cramp your style. Yanno like that red t-shirt that bleeds...
For a 2-3 week trip I ensure that all clothing can fix in 1 weekend bag per person. That's because we wash clothing once a week @ a laundromat. In essence we travel w/ 1 week's clothing per person. You might want to up the clothing allowance on your trip but well I wouldn't if younger members are involved; saves me on stress and staring in the tween/teen mirror moments.

[tomkaren13]

Definately get a Road Service plan. Good Sam or CoachNet seen to be the best for RVers.

[cruiserjs]

A lot of discussions here BUT do NOT leave home without proper documentation - i.e. passports!!

[Matt_Colie]

Jason,

There is a lot of advice here, but there are some serious things missing.
Get and learn to use:
An older Laptop (Win7 is good)
A small inverter to run it underway
An Alfa OWUS 036 high power WiFi if you do not plan to carry internet
Street Atlas w/GPS puck - 2015 to 2012 will work but the charts get old fast these days (does not require internet at all)
Copies of:
Mountain Directory West (at least)
Camping with the Corps or Engineers

Learn to use the above before departure.
SA can plan your entire excursion and tell you where to look for an over night stop (App is RVParky) and fuel (App is GasBuddy) GasBuddy works best if collect Zip (US postal code with SA and put them in the search. SA can also be an enroute GPS if you have room in the cab.

It is a fact that no matter how carefully you plan, that plan will be junk before the end of the third day. Roll with it. A good navigator can unload a lot of the stress on a driver.

If your tow vehicle cannot indicate MPH, get a cheap standalone GPS for the driver and set it for MPH. You can also load the days trip in it and make things even easier.

Relax and enjoy the excursion.

Matt

[2gypsies1]

jason26 wrote:

Things that worry me:
- running into road restrictions on chosen routes. Are there helpers for planning the route?

Purchase online from the publisher the 'Mountain Directory for Truckers and RVers'. The only restrictions you'll encounter are getting on a steep mountain highway not recommended for RVs. There are many mountain roads that won't give you a problem and by using them you'll see more of the beautiful country.

- navigating the bigger cities with a trailer - coming back home we'd probably to Disney Land, and perhaps San Francisco. Leave the trailer in a campground outside of those major cities and just drive your truck.


- break downs, is there an association I can join, Good Sams?

Good Sam is what folks seem to use here.


- nearing the end of day and not having a place to park stay (though I hear some people just pull into a Walmart lot for the night).

With a family and with the summer heat I don't think you'd be comfortable staying at WalMarts or similar. You could use one of many campground finders out there and some are for phones. Woodalls publishes a book of campgrounds for the U.S., Canada and Mexico. RVParksReview.com is another popular site. By early afternoon figure out how much longer you want to drive and look ahead for towns with campgrounds. Choose a few and call for a reservation. If you wait until 4pm or later folks start pulling in off the highway and your chances diminish at getting a site. Prepare in advance.

If Grand Canyon is on your bucket list, I would highly recommend it. You're not going to be able to see everything on this trip but I certainly wouldn't skip the Grand Canyon. If you can, try to make a reservation at Trailer Village in the park itself. It has full hookups. If you can do without hookups there are two other campgrounds in the park - Mather and Desert View. All three are very nice and they have shade.

Each national park has a wonderful web site which gives you campground information, things to do, road conditions, etc. Check them out. Here is Grand Canyons:

https://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

Have a great trip! We've had the opportunity to enjoy your country. I hope you'll enjoy ours.

Also, your 29' is a baby. 🙂 Wait until you see what's out there. I'm sure you won't have any problems. You'll be an old hand by the time the trip is over.

[Lynnmor]

The most likely mechanical issues, that would spoil your trip, is under that trailer. Sign up with Coach-Net for roadside service.

Now go over EVERYTHING under that trailer from the frame down. Know that the tires, brakes, bearings, springs, bolts and shackles are as good as you can make them. These items are marginal in materials and design so they are prone to failure.

Go to a local Walmart and spend a night to see if you might be comfortable with that type of traveling.

[ThomasFour]

GordonThree wrote:
My honest advice, skip the grand canyon. sure it's pretty, but it's a tourist magnet. there'll be millions of people there.

you'll be driving through Utah, which is where the GC starts. Between Arches, Canyon Lands, Bryce and Zion you'll see way more beauty than the GC, and a lot closer up. Sure there'll be crowds but not like there will be at the GC. After Zion it's a short drive to Vegas if you want that hustle-bustle.

As a resident of the Grand Canyon State with multiple visits to the canyon - I respectfully disagree. The GC is awe inspiring and cannot be compared to anything else. If you prefer to avoid crowds associated with camping in the park, staying in Williams AZ and taking the Grand Canyon railroad is an option. It is a fun experience in many ways and you can walk to the canyon edge from the train depot.

[MarkTwain]

HELLO