New to Camping, Questions have I

[Acdii]

I am planning to take the family on a week long excursion to the Grand Canyon, and after looking at hotels, and such, the cost is extraordinary, add in gas, and meals, and its even more. So I started thinking about a TT Rental, guess what, cost is almost the same as hotels/motels, and that doesn't include the extra use in fuel or costs for camp sights. Plus .39 cents per mile after 100 free each day is the killer, rough estimate is $2600 just in miles.

So with that said, I started looking into used trailers and found what I believe would be the right model at a reasonable price, under $8K. Its a 2003 KZ 2405 slider. I will be pulling with a 2014 F150 Lariat EB. Plenty of truck to handle it considering its just a touch lighter than my 2000 Trail-Et New Yorker horse trailer, which is 3500# bone dry.

So for my questions, which I will probably have more as time goes on.

1. WDH.
I currently have a Husky with 1000# spring bars, but the tip ups are attached to the New Yorker, and not easy to remove. I don't know if I can get a second set of tip ups for it, unless they are pretty much universal, and it also does not have anti sway.

So do I get a second one with Sway control, and if so, cam or friction? I didn't need sway control for the horse trailer, it has such a low COG with the galvanized steel frame and heavy wood bed, with light aluminum body that it never swayed, but the TT are much higher off the ground, better to be safe than sorry, and I want to avoid the kind you have to disconnect in order to back up. Also are 1000# bars too much for that trailer, or just right? They are just a hair too much for the New Yorker when hooked to the F150, but worked perfectly when hooked to my original TV which was a 97 Explorer V8 AWD.

2. Power. I noticed these dont have generators. When I was a kid we had a Champion motor home, it had a generator, so you really could stop anywhere and have power. How is it done with the TT? Batteries, and how long do they last, what do they power?

3. Propane. I noticed they have small bottles, one has only 10 pounds of propane, the others 30 pounds. My gas grill has 20, so what does one of these use in the way of propane? Stove, refrigerator and furnace were all on the Champion, and it had a 40 or 50 gallon tank for propane.

4. Waste tanks. I noticed there are now 2 of them, grey and black. Assuming black is the pooper tank, and grey all else, when did they split them up? OH the memory of that fateful trip home when the waste tank was full and we couldn't find a dump station. We tried to hide it with pine air freshener. Now every time I smell pine air freshener it brings me back to that day.

Do both tanks drain out the same outlet, and where do you find dumping stations?

5. Camp Grounds. Not a clue! Never been to one, so no idea what is involved.

6. Waysides. When traveling and you stop for the night before reaching your destination, are there any places to avoid? We will be traveling the Interstates for the most part, so any layovers will be on the Interstate.

That's all I can think of at the moment, will probably have more as I get more into this.

For background, been a CDL carrier now since 1988 hauling flatbeds of lumber and steel, so these little trailers are nothing compared to 80K# behemoths I used to drive. The tractor I drove alone was longer than my old F350 Dually. Already speced out my hitch capability, with WD its 10,500# with a 1050# TW. Payload of the truck is 1470, which with just me and the topper leaves plenty of room for the TT, but with the wife and kids its at the limit, if not slightly over. I doubt this would be an issue, but wont know until I actually pull it, and will see if I need to add weight to the rear of the trailer to offset it a bit. The TT I am looking at when wet puts a lot of weight up front since the clean tank is in front of the axles. So do I run empty or partial will be the question. Will be travel with 2 kids and 2 more adults so there will be 5 of us, and the TT I am looking at is a bunk house style, which I feel will be perfect for us, small enough to not be a handful with the F150 yet large enough so we aren't at each others throats at the end of the trip.

[Acdii]

mbopp wrote:
A few more items to consider:
Does the F150 have a brake controller? And HD trailer package?
Is the 12V charge line hooked up? Ford used to give you a plastic bag with a relay, fuse, and instruction sheet.
If the new trailer needs a battery and if you're going with a single 12V one, consider a Group 29 or 31 over the standard Group 24 size.

Not sure on the trailer package being HD, its the standard equipped hitch, but it does have the integrated brake controller. Everything is ready to go on the truck, already towing a 7000# horse trailer with it. On the battery I am thinking AGM like Optima or similar. I used to have an F350 Diesel Dually and had a pair of them in the truck for 10 years. Thought I had killed them by leaving them connected and they got completely run down twice, and was able to fully recover them both times. I have a flooded deep cycle that is only a year old that got killed by the solar panel so going to switch that one out with AGM in my RC trailer. What I like about them is they are lighter with more duration.

I dont see an option for multi quote, so instead of double posting, in reply to the post above mine, Thanks, I will have her check it out. The one trailer I am considering includes a 3 year membership when you buy an RV from them.

[Dave5143]

Tell your wife to check out the Good Sam trip planner. It's a semi-competent planning tool that is loaded with information about RV parks along the way plus it will help compute the total mileage and the fuel cost. Best of all, it's free for GS members. (I am assuming you joined GS for the discounts available).

[mbopp]

A few more items to consider:
Does the F150 have a brake controller? And HD trailer package?
Is the 12V charge line hooked up? Ford used to give you a plastic bag with a relay, fuse, and instruction sheet.
If the new trailer needs a battery and if you're going with a single 12V one, consider a Group 29 or 31 over the standard Group 24 size.

[naturist]

Please tell me you are taking more than one week. This looks to me like a minimum three week trip. But as a three week trip, it'll be awesome.

[Acdii]

Thanks crowds, I am in IL, and the trip is planned to AR. Great advice there, especially about the layovers, so I will have the wife check out spots along the route at different timed intervals and start planning the trip(Provided I can get what I am looking at). I am considering getting a second WDH for this, one with the sway control built in, and not the friction type that has to be disconnected to back up.

As far as trailering, I have been doing horse hauling, and you are right, it is nothing like the big rig stuff, but the techniques to drive are very similar, so a lot of my over the road experience does come into play, which is helpful. I see too many people out there pulling more trailer then they should, driving much faster than they should and cringe every time I see it, knowing the consequences when something goes wrong. Not Pretty. The one thing I know for certain, the TT won't be nearly as stable as the horse trailer is due to it sitting with a higher center of gravity. This is why I am opting for sway control in the hitch, even though the truck has built in sway control, its reactive, not active.

[avoidcrowds]

Lots of questions for a single post. But,

1. WDH.
It's your $$$ and effort, so would you rather save $$$ and spend time transferring the WDH setup, or get a new/used WDH? Craigslist, or call your local RV shops for used. To me, if you can find the same model WDH, you get it, and it will have the arms and a-frame devices, so you can use the same WD drawbar.

But, if you need sway control (many folks prefer it with TT), just get a completely different unit. Again, sources for used units.

2. Power.
With a family, your first task is to train everyone to conserve energy. LED lights help tremendously. Just turn off what you are not using at any moment. Turn off water pump if no one is going to be using water in the next 15 minutes, as it may cycle periodically. Furnace will be your largest energy sponge. If you are warm enough without furnace, you should be good for at least 3 days on a single deep-cycle battery, and prudent use of electricity. Two batteries are better than one. Don't use an inverter, as they also use lots of juice. Don't watch videos, etc, unless you are going to be plugged-in. I suggest two 200w solar panels, which will do wonders for recharging your batteries. I have not used a genny, and we have camped up to 9 nights without being short on battery (200w solar, 2 12v deep-cycle batteries).

3. Propane.
We have not gone through 20# propane during any summer campout, even using the furnace. I cook on a 3-burner stove, propane water heater, and run fridge on propane. You should be fine for a week with 40# available. Longer, use the 10# 1st, then fill it while on the 30#. Or, use the 30# until empty, then run on 10# just long enough to get the 30# filled. Refill 10# after second use after emptying the 30#, if you use it for two or 3 days. Normally a minimum charge to fill a tank, so you don't want to only get 2# an pay full-boat.

4. Waste tanks.
Black is the pooper, gray is kitchen and shower. Don't let black get full, as you have already experienced the fallout. When emptying at a dump (there are smartphone apps for locating dump stations), empty black first, so your gray rinses the system when you empty it. Also, don't keep the black too empty, as you want lots of liquid to flush out the solids. Use a good tank chemical, though, and your solids should liquify on the way to a dump. Don't scrimp on the chemical.


5. Camp Grounds.
Depends on what you want, and how much you are willing to pay. National Forest campgrounds are generally about $20/night, State Parks (out west) are normally a little less, private and KOA campgrounds are $35 - $50/night, depending on many factors. Your signature doesn't say where you are (don't recognize the town), so can't say what your campground availability is. Recreation.gov is a listing of Federal and State campgrounds for reservations. They only list campgrounds with reservations available, so it is not complete. Also, if you use GoogleMaps, or GoogleEarth, and turn on Parks>National Forest campgrounds (forget the absolute path), it will show you where the National Forest campgrounds are. Turn on more options, and it will show you State Parks, etc. Again, not knowing where you are, maybe those aren't ideal for your area.

6. Waysides.
While many say they stay in parking lots, I would find a campground, as they are generally more secure. I hate spending money, but to me, $45 for a KOA or private campground is better than a parking lot. I plan my trips (live out west) to overnight at State Parks along the way, as there are enough along I-70 to get me a decent travel distance.

Lots more to learn. Forget your CDL experience, as a TT is different, along with different needs. Your CDL likely made you more aware of driving situations ahead, which is good. Also, more aware of street widths, which is also good. Other than that, can't say there is a great crossover in skills. Your big trailer and tractor drive differently than a pickup with a TT. Not saying which is "bad", as neither is. They are just different, and expecting a TT to behave like your big rig could be a bad idea.

Safe travels, and enjoy the experience!!!

[Acdii]

Thanks for the replies. That link was perfect. oh and :thumbs: is an emoticon of a smiley giving a thumbs up.

I have a 12x6 enclosed that I haul my RC planes with. I installed a power system using a 6W solar panel, deep cycle battery and an inverter. I found out the hard way NOT to use the solar panel by itself. It fried the battery. It then fried itself somehow as it wont put out more than 7 volts under a light(literally) load. I have LED lighting strips in the trailer, and last year when I first hooked it all up the panel would light everything, now only the red lights work. I replaced the panel with an 18W panel that also has a battery controller to prevent over and under charging, now just have to replace the battery, I tried to recover it, but its too far gone.

Any traveling tips? Going to run from Rockford IL to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and back. Going south first then across OK, TX etc. Any places along that path that are good layover points? The trailer I am looking at has a rear slideout for the queen bed, so it has to be extended in order to use it, don't know if that will be an issue.

Anyhow, the rest of the answers helped me relax a bit, thanks, appreciate it.

[nickthehunter]

1. The snap up brackets are pretty much universal. Try etrailer.com You can get a friction sway bar at the same place.
2. The battery will last 3 or 4 days as long as you don't run the furnace. With the furnace on you might get 1 day if your lucky.
3. Most TT's have 20 or 30 lbs tanks. One 20 lbs tank will last about of year of normal camping, again, minus furnace.
4. Never found a campground yet that didn't have a dump station, provided it's not rustic camping. If it has electric it'll probably have a dump station.
5. Find a campground with at least electric at the site and give it a whirl.
6. As long as you are not putting out the slides and the BBQ (basically just stopping to sleep) no one will probably bother you.

[RoyB]

A great place to start out is your back yard then move up to a local Camp ground... You more or less have to learn on your own what you need to do...

The camp grounds are all setup to handle all of your needs - most have a camp store...

I always noticed where the local WALMART and LOWES stores was went finding a camp ground...

Like driving your big truck - you will be an expert about 200 miles down the road... Some of us are RV CAMPERS and others are RV TRAVELERS and make the long haul trips.

Roy Ken

[2oldman]

I don't understand your reply.

[Acdii]

2oldman wrote:
2. ***Link Removed***

:B What? no :thumbs: EMO? LOL Thanks, it's basically what I built into my RC Plane trailer then. Only difference is I added an 18W solar panel to charge up the deep cycle battery. How many batteries do they typically have?

[2oldman]

2. 12v side of life.