LadyBetamax wrote:
It needs to be safe. It needs to take miles. It has to handle both extremely hot and extremely wet weather. It absolutely can't spend six months of the first year in the shop...Please, I don't want to have to build this thing myself.
The job: Lots of towing back and forth across south and midwest during the spring/summer; around the Pacific Northwest, the West, and the Southwest during the fall/winter. Lots of blue line highways, older RV parks, lots of rest stops. Pitted asphalt. Crumbling roads. Washouts.
For that you need a TT that is durable and that starts with the frame. The vast majority of TTs have a frame made by Lippert. Lance and Jayco use a BAL frame. These don't have any welds to fail and use huck bolts instead. Any of the Northwood's brands, Artic Fox, Nash & Outdoors RV have an in-house built frame that is off-road certified. Lance and Northwood would be ahead of Jayco. Some Lippert frames flex a lot leading to various problems, axles can be under-sized and at risk of getting bent, plastic bushings, shackles.
I could go on for pages, but a few things to look for or upgrade to that come to mind:
Shock absorbers, upraded insulation package, quality ST tires (and with plenty of reserve load capacity) or upgrade to LT tires, large pass-through storage door, double pane (aka thermal pane) windows, arched ceiling, Mor/Ryde or Dexter equalizers and wet bolts, larger AC unit if available (15K vs 13.5K), avoid a 50 amp service, at least 1 Maxxis (or equiv.) power vent with remote & 2 is better.
Add an EMS unit (Progressive Industries and nothing else), get a good WDH with integral sway control, get a TPMS and if the truck doesn't have it, get a good brake controller. Get a 2nd 30 amp shore power cord & generator adapter - pedestals can sometimes be more than 25' away. For winter use, get an electric dehumidifier (moisture can destroy an RV). Low voltage is a common problem - get a permanent voltmeter and highly recommended is a Hughes autoformer. Get a good pressure regulator like Watts 263A. Water filtration would be a good idea but too much detail needed for here.
Make sure your TT can get warranty service work no matter where you are. Sometimes you have to go back to your original dealer. Check into the dealer and factory customer service. Some have terrible reputations and turn your TT into a nightmare. For all the hills and twisty roads you'll be on, I'd suggest HD shocks in the truck as well as getting or adding them to the trailer.
A mobile hotspot like the Verizon 4G mifi is very useful so you can get onto the internet just about anywhere and is great for route planning, checking road conditions, booking a CG and much more... Now that we have added, I'd suggest satellite TV. OTA reception can be spotty or non-existent and CG cable can be awful. A large screen RV GPS is helpful.
