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.

[danimal53]

Wanderlost wrote:


Above all else, maintain your sense of humor. It will sustain you when something doesn't go quite right.

X2, absolutely. Be flexible.

[Acdii]

Thanks. I have a head bang pillow for those moments. Works wonders and you dont get a headache in the process.

[Wanderlost]

Be sure your generator is a quiet one; some RV parks and state/national parks get very upset if you have a loud generator.

Don't try to drive from early morning until after dark; you'll have trouble finding an RV park. Try your best to get into the RV park before dark, so you can hook up, etc. in the light. You'll also have time for a decent meal and some relaxation before bedtime.

Develop a thorough checklist for prepping to leave, arrival setup, etc. and use it. Even then, you'll forget something: we all have, leading to funny stories and occasionally expensive lessons learned.

If your shower doesn't have one, install a cutoff valve. Teach the family how to do "navy" showers; wet down, turn off water, soap up, rinse, get out. If one absolutely has to have a long, long shower, use the campground showers. Your gray tank will thank you...

Above all else, maintain your sense of humor. It will sustain you when something doesn't go quite right.

Enjoy your new TT and the trips you're going to make with it.

[rbpru]

If you want to camp at the State Parks it certainly is best to have reservations. AZ campground are popular most of the year. Out west, water and shade are at a premium during the tourist season.

Almost all reservations are done on line.

[SprinklerMan]

Dont think you can just pull into a campground and they will have a spot . Make reservations before hand .

[rbpru]

In the for what it is worth category, we just returned from 58 days in AZ and its neighbors. Our cost was just under $90.00 a day total. That is gas, camping, food, everything. We traveled a total of 8500 miles of which 5500 was towing.

We stayed in State Parks and private campgrounds. While we did not visit the Grand Canyon we did see Zion and Bryce on the way home.

[Acdii]

Well took our first steps to becoming campers. Put a deposit down on a 2003 KZ 2405. Its in decent shape given its age, not a lot of UV damage that I have seen on the ones I looked at yesterday. Would have completed the deal had it not had a prior contract pending, but they are having difficulty getting financed, so when their deal falls through, then it will be ours.

I was looking at a Wildwood as well, it is a much lighter trailer, lighter than my HT by 1000#, however, no storage whatsoever. Doesn't even have a pipe for the sewage hose. It has the same sleeping arrangement, 2 bunks, dinette and sofa bed with queen up front, bath in back, but its fixed configuration, no slide outs. The KZ is quite a bit heavier, but still within the safe zone of the truck with room. I don't plan to carry a lot, mainly clothes and food, can goods and bottled water will make up the bulk of the weight, and can be stored in the rear to take off some TW. The fresh tank is also in the rear, the waste tanks in front, so that also takes TW off by running with those empty. It has fron pass through storage, but there is where packing has to be done carefully as it will affect TW. I plan to get a small generator too. I picked up this hitch frame that attaches to the bottom of a truck box, and since the trailer has a 2" receiver in the rear, I can put that back there, load the generator and fuel into it, and further offset TW. The Generator that I am looking at is under 100#, so that and 5 gallons of fuel should be fine back there. Since the trailer has an awning, wont need my canopy, that can stay in my RC trailer, but I will be bringing my 5 folding chairs, and since they are light, they can go up front. Only thing left to consider for weight are clothes.

So with that said, another question, What am I missing? I don't know if it has a power cord, one has a cord, the other a socket.

What I like most about the KZ is the battery and LP tanks are hidden behind an aerodynamic dam. The previous owner built a shield under them to protect them from road slop, but the OSB they used is falling apart. I will most likely go ahead and replace it since it is a good idea, the inside of that area is still pristine. Have a sheet laying around taking up space anyway.

List of things I can think of right now.

Sewage hose
Fresh water hose
Power cord
Trailer-Aid (already have one for the HT)
Wheel chocks (any preference?)
Stability pads ( plywood squares come to mind, use one for my RC trailer when I am at the field to keep it level)

Pretty sure they are going to show me how to level the trailer correctly, they are going to go over everything in the trailer with me to make sure it all works. Getting it from Camping World.

Anything else?

[tdiller]

The gooseneck horse trailer was when we had a horse drawn carriage business. The carriage would break down and get placed in the front half and then the door between them closed and the horse followed behind. But back when my wife and daughter were showing horses the bumper pull horse trailer some weekends did serve as the camper. Unless I dragged the popup to wherever the horse show was.

Acdii wrote:
My inlaws, best friend live in Marengo, and my wife works in Marengo.

OOOH Why not just add bunk beds to the HT and be done with it! LOL The only thing would be, where to put the crapper. 🙂

Oh man too early in the morning, not enough coffee, day off of work, 4 day weekend. Yeah, mind is racing on what to do and where to go. I have been getting some really good advice and so glad I found this forum before I jump in with both feet and get myself and the family in a jam we can't get out of.

I think the biggest issue I have is I don't want another large monthly payment, so looking at the lowest priced used that will fit us all, and frankly, that is what concerns me the most, when you buy used, you never know what you get because you don't know its history. I just can't see paying $20K+ for a box on wheels to sit behind the house 320 or more days a year. I found quite a few that are just right for my truck and our needs, but are in the teens, closer to 20, more than I am comfortable with.

But you know that saying, you get what you pay for, right? 🙂

[Acdii]

My inlaws, best friend live in Marengo, and my wife works in Marengo.

OOOH Why not just add bunk beds to the HT and be done with it! LOL The only thing would be, where to put the crapper. 🙂

Oh man too early in the morning, not enough coffee, day off of work, 4 day weekend. Yeah, mind is racing on what to do and where to go. I have been getting some really good advice and so glad I found this forum before I jump in with both feet and get myself and the family in a jam we can't get out of.

I think the biggest issue I have is I don't want another large monthly payment, so looking at the lowest priced used that will fit us all, and frankly, that is what concerns me the most, when you buy used, you never know what you get because you don't know its history. I just can't see paying $20K+ for a box on wheels to sit behind the house 320 or more days a year. I found quite a few that are just right for my truck and our needs, but are in the teens, closer to 20, more than I am comfortable with.

But you know that saying, you get what you pay for, right? 🙂

[tdiller]

Hey Neighbor,

I'm in Marengo. We too have hauled horses to all kinds of shows. We used a goose neck trailer and there is a difference between pulling that and a bumper pull as well. The goose neck was much easier to backup that the travel trailer. You get lots of good information form folks here. We are in the process of moving up to a travel trailer from a popup.

Acdii wrote:
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.

[Tachdriver]

I have an older generation of what you have with the Max Tow Package. I have the integrated brake controller.

I posted my answer on another one of your posts. My average daily throughput is 50MPH when you take into account fuel stops and going only 65MPH. My max mileage was under 600 as I am solo, almost 12 hours. I am not sure what you are capable of doing but if you and your other driver is not fatigued then go for it.

I have the Husky with my rig below but with the 1200 bars. I have two friction sway bars and only trucks passing cause me some moving around.

If you don't mind the on-the-go every day then go for it. For me this trip would be a three week minimum. Your trip sounds like fun, I will some day do the GC and BC NP.

[Acdii]

Thanks, depending on if and when I get it, I might do something over the 4th since I have a 4 day weekend then as well. I would do my Iowa trip to SIG, but already have a room booked for 2 nights non refundable.

Some great information here, I really appreciate it. I am tossing around the idea of maybe just finding a motor home if I can afford it instead. I doubt it could get much worse gas mileage. 🙂 I did find one that would work well for us, but I don't know if I really want to go that route, much more maintenance involved, and I really don't need another vehicle on my insurance, the TT is only another $98 for 6 months on my insurance. I am pretty confident my truck will not have any problems towing, but my wife doesn't do towing, however she could drive a MH.

Its the 3500 mile RT that really holds me back on the MH, a trailer is much easier to prep, make sure the tires are good and sound, the brakes have enough meat and are adjusted correctly and the bearings well lubed, and you are good to go. The MH, you have the engine, which after so many years you wonder how well it was kept, how long will it last, same with the trans, steering and brakes. Lots to think about, but so far I have a lot covered now. Thanks again to all who answered.

[danimal53]

Also, you'll be surprised how long that propane will last you. Especially in the summer, when you won't need the furnace. We're still on the same tank from last year, after roughly 30 days on the same tank (including 3-4 nights using the furnace just a few weeks ago).

[danimal53]

You're in Rockford, IL? My suggestion, when you do get the camper, do a weekend trip somewhere close (Rock Cut State Park is right there for you). This will give you an idea of things you may need for the longer trip, also will help familiarize you with the TT, dump station process, etc. We did something similar when we first got our TT, went to Starved Rock for a weekend. Sort of a trial run, close to home, so anything you forget is not a big deal. Have a notepad handy, get an idea of what things you need. Planning a trip from Chicago to Yellowstone this year, but we've got a year of experience under our belts now, its amazing how much and how quickly you'll learn the ropes.

We did 2 trips to the east coast last year, and stayed at campgrounds along the way, also a couple times stayed at Camping World parking lots. They're a step up from Walmart, because they have a dump station and sometimes power hook up as well.

Plan your route, figure your driving times and where you want to be when, and just google "campground near XXXXX zip code" tons of results. There are also apps for dump stations and places where you're allowed to overnight (such as walmart, Camping World, Cracker Barrel, etc) and campgrounds.