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How long did it take you to decide on a TT

rbpru
Explorer II
Explorer II
Just Blatant curiosity!! Did you ponder or take the plunge?

We looked and studied for a couple of years before we finally bought our RV.

We spent a lot of time looking at the advantages and disadvantages of pop-ups, Aliners and TTs. We even rented a TT.

Finally we opted for convenience, mostly because we settled on how we wanted to travel.

The only advantage to looking so long was, we were really familiar with the new and used market prices and we had saved up some money.
Twenty six foot 2010 Dutchmen Lite pulled with a 2011 EcoBoost F-150 4x4.

Just right for Grandpa, Grandma and the dog.
53 REPLIES 53

AlbertaNewbie
Explorer
Explorer
2 years, first year trying to convince the wife that camping was better than hotelling. 2nd year looking at floorplans and waiting until we had the cash. decided on floor plan, went to dealer and changed our minds, bought 2 weeks later.
2014 Dutchmen 261bhs - 7200#'s loaded
2012 Ram 1500 SXT Crew Cab w/5.7L HEMI, 4x4 3.55 Gears
250w Conergy 250P 24v solar with tristar 45amp mppt charge controller

JiminDenver
Explorer II
Explorer II
Our answer is two fold. We spent a month going to dealerships, shows and looking at used. Decided on one unit and researched it for two weeks. Decided on a trailer and a dealer but thought it was best to sleep on it. When we went back it had been sold and we headed home, stopping for lunch on the way. While at lunch decided to take the next size up and went back.

So we spent a month looking but it only took 30 minutes in the end and the larger TT fits us so much better.
2011 GulfStream Amerilite 25BH
2003 Ford Expedition with 435w tilting portable/ TS-MPPT-45
750w solar , TS-MPPT-60 on the trailer
675 Ah bank, Trip-lite 1250fc inverter
Sportsman 2200w inverter generator

GeoBoy
Explorer
Explorer
I researched for about a year, mostly on RV.net, looked at 5th wheels, class A, C & B's and then decided on a truck camper. My reasoning was that if we didn't like RVing then we would have a better chance of selling the truck and TC separately. We now have a TT because of our canoes and the space that the TT gives us.
Good luck.

Husky511
Explorer
Explorer
We area just taking the plunge. Spent a day thinking about it and searching the internet. Went and looked at some trailers at a local dealer and decided to buy. We found a good deal on a 2008 keystone. Should pick it up next week.

EcoBullet
Explorer
Explorer
We started looking as soon as we got back from renting a Class C in Alaska in 1995. We didn't think we would use it enough to justify it while working full-time, but figured it would be good to practice a year or two prior to retirement. I thought I would retire in 2010, so we bought one we thought met our needs in 2008. In 2009, 3 grandkids moved in. We needed a bunkhouse. We bought the one in signature in 2011 after looking several months. Since the grandkids went back to Mom in 2013 and I retired at the end of the year, I've been looking online for something shorter. Dragging quad bunks we didn't use to Florida and back through a bunch of nasty crosswind convinced me to shop seriously. We started looking on the way home and have nailed down and made a deal on the "perfect" camper for us in about a week. I am going to pick up a new Premier 22RB this Friday.
Me 1954, Nana 1954, Grandson 2003, Granddaughters 2005 & 2008
2014 Keystone Bullet Premier 22RBPR
2013 F-150 XLT Supercrew 4X4 Ecoboost Max Tow

pasusan
Explorer
Explorer
How long did it take you to decide on a TT
Can't remember - that was back in '77 when we got married. We wanted to travel for our honeymoon and as I was brought up with traveling by camper, it was the logical choice. I think we picked the first one that had a reasonable price... A '67 Shasta with wings to fly. 🙂

Susan & Ben [2004 Roadtrek 170]
href="https://sites.google.com/view/pasusan-trips/home" target="_blank">Trip Pics

Heavy_Metal_Doc
Explorer
Explorer
We may have not taken the best approach: We tent camped and used pop-ups all through the kid raising years. We had been kicking around the idea of a TT off and on for the last year or so, but never looked at anything more than web sites. Never visited any dealers. This past fall we did a 4 day trip with our now adult kids with their SO's - 6 adults.....in a pop-up....we knew it would be a tight squeeze and that got us talking more seriously about a TT and how much nicer / more convenient that would be. We visited the nearest dealer the day before we left and found one we really liked in no time. I spent the camping trip down time researching the exact model we had picked out and deciding on a "deal" I was happy with. Upon returning home, as soon I unhooked the pop-up we drove over to the dealer, hammered out the details and signed the paperwork....So yeah, in a nutshell, I thought it over for 4 or 5 days, but we knew we wanted right away,and we don't window shop well - if the financials are worked out, we buy now.

Tennessee_Nomad
Explorer
Explorer
We looked for about a year. Many different dealerships, small and large. We looked at new and used models. Ultimately bought new, from a dealership in Marion, NC. We visited them 3 times, I think, and our saleslady always had time for us and was very patient with no "high pressure sales" tactics.
2010 Keystone Montana 3455SA Quad Slide
4 Goodyear G614's
2017 RAM 3500 DRW 4x4 Crew Cab
6.7L Cummins® Turbo Diesel
B & W Companion Hitch
All Made In USA

*I chose the road less traveled... Now I don't know where the hell I am*

doxiluvr
Explorer II
Explorer II
It took us about an hour or so. We had bought a used travel trailer from our son (no slides) to see if I would even like the "camping life" for the first summer. The next summer we decided what we could afford; we wanted 2 slides (one in bedroom and one in the living area), wanted something with more counter space; wanted to buy locally; and found our 34' foot, front kitchen, living/dining slide, bedroom slide. We worked out a fair trade-in and price on the new trailer and took possession 3 days later and they towed it to our site at the time and picked up our trade-in. Still feel we got a fair deal, trailer has had no problems, and looks brand new after almost 8 years. Make a list of must-haves and how you plan to use the RV and then what length and weight you can tow, and go with it. I couldn't imagine looking for a car or an RV for a year or more. What a waste of time that would be.
2006 Keystone Sprinter 300fkms
2007 Silverado 2500 Duramax Diesel 6.6 - Allison 1000 6 spd. auto. tran.
1 high school sweetheart hubby - 1 ChiWeenie - Abby
4 grown kids, 6 grandkids, 2 great-grandchildren
1 2007 Yamaha v-Star 1300

Goodpete
Explorer
Explorer
We got the bug and bought a Class C within a couple of monts. This was two years ago, then after a year we traded it for a fiver. And bought a truck.

Tom_Diane
Explorer
Explorer
robsouth wrote:
Me? No time at all cause DW said "I want that one." I said "Okay". Done deal.
Us also. We talked about getting back into camping after a hiatus after my injury. We were killing a Saturday afternoon and we were near the dealership and she says lets go look!
We signed papers and picked it up 3 days later! It was a used TT. The following year, I bought a new truck. She suggested we need a 5er now so we went look! We found it we found a brand new one that day and picked it up a few days later and she was happy. Four years later and she scopes the floor plans on line and that's I all I let her do when she wants to "Just look"!

WoodGlue
Explorer
Explorer
It took me 2 years of pretty meticulous research on trailer construction before I decided.

For me the construction was paramount and then came things like a floorplan. I visited RV shows and wrote to manufacturers and watched YouTube videos of models that I wasn't able to see in person.

I figured that if I was going to be buying a TT, that I was going to keep it forever. That's why construction and materials and techniques matter so much to me. Luckily for me, I found the ideal trailer. Built like a brick house, and a great layout for my needs!

WoodGlue
2002 Land Rover Discovery II
2014 Lance 1685 - Loaded - 4 Seasons - Solar - 2 AGM's
When Hell Freezes Over - I'll Camp There Too!
Lance Travel Trailer Info - Lance 1685 Travel Trailer - Lance 1575 Trailer

Captain_Obvious
Explorer
Explorer
First camp out with the wife in a tent - she froze.
Rented a tent trailer - not too bad, though putting it away in the rain wasn't fun. Never did get the all the mud out of the van though.
So we bought a tent trailer. Didn't much care for it - she still froze.
So we sold it, and bought a older travel trailer that needed way too much work.
Liked it, but the repairs just were too much.

We looked at trailers for several weeks. We finally found the floorplan we liked, and after looking at a few more trailers, we found the trailer for us. That was almost 2 years ago and no plans to change.

The takeaway? Don't buy the first one you see. Make a list of 'must haves' and stick to it. Don't be afraid to cross trailers off your list for the smallest reason. We passed over several very nice looking (and less expensive) trailers because they didn't have a storage cabinet here and there, or it was missing a bunk here, etc.

tkoden
Explorer
Explorer
I researched every trailer I could find and it came down to one or two models. The deciding factor was which one I was most comfortable in since I am 6'7" tall. We ended up going with one that had a slide in the bedroom so I had enough legroom to sleep comfortably at night and hard walls so my wife had privacy from our foster boys.

All together it took about 2 months to find layouts we liked and about 4 hrs worth of looking to actually decide.