TT for full time living or negatives of trailer brands

[nwoodco1]

Hello all! This is my first post, so I appreciate all of the help and input. I am getting married soon and my fiances education is going to require us to move around often, so we are looking at living in a trailer full time. What brands do you have experience with and what brands should be avoided? (personal experiences preferable). Any tips or input appreciated, thank you.
Edit:
Hello everyone, sorry for being absent. I actually got engaged so I was busy with all of that. First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds. We will either be in north texas or florida, so winter weather won't be harsh. I am not thinking I will save much money, but we will be moving around every 8 weeks for a while, so we need the flexibility.

[Lwiddis]

PS..in the “Long, Long Trailer,” Nicky married Tacy. They bought a trailer and...oh boy!

[Lwiddis]

Finding a longterm campground will be challenging in some areas.
Do you have a tow vehicle? If yes, your tow vehicle will determine how large you can go. If no, quality tow vehicles are expensive.

[Gdetrailer]

Congratulations!

However, I would highly suggest that you rethink the plan of full time living in a RV for now.

Marriage is a huge step in life, adding in challenges of RV limitations might not be ideal way to start things out.

I personally would never ever have considered living full time in a RV when I was just newly wedd..

First of all, you are not going to "save" money, get that idea out of your head (which is what most newbee RVs think will happen).

Depending on where you and future DW lands for school, living in a RV in the winter may not be fun at all, in fact can be a chore to down right miserable in freezing and sub zero weather.

Even when not in freezing weather, you will need to be the electric, water and sewer "authority" of your mobile domicile.. With managing the sewer authority hat being a thankless task which will need repeating weekly or so basis.

You will have very limited length showers, no more 25 minute scalding hot showers which pin you to the far back wall of the tub, you and your newly minted bride will be settling for 10 minute showers with not a high volume of water if you conserve.

Second of all, living in a extremely small footprint of a RV you might find to not be very good for a brand newly minted marriage especially if BOTH of you have never spent any time in the size constraints of a RV.

IF there is ANYTHING wrong with your RV, YOU will need to figure out how to fix it, otherwise you will end up losing your RV to a dealer to fix it and it may take them weeks to months to fix.. You WILL have to come up with an alternate plan to live in this case..

If one or both of you are planning to go for further education, you simply are not going to want to deal with fixing or maintaining a RV when something breaks..

Rent an apartment or even a mobilehome in a park already setup, this way you have more space and do not have to deal with the things that can go wrong with a RV while living in it.

For a couple of good laughs, I would suggest looking up the movie called The long, Long trailer.. A classic movie. It is comedy/ adventures of a newly wed couple who buy a trailer to live in.. By the end of it you will get the meaning of "Trailer brakes first" line..



IF you feel you must go down this rabbit hole, I would also echo the idea of buying a used RV, much less money lost if you find that living in a RV is not working out so well.

[wanderingbob]

Buy a used one , it may have all the problems worked out plus it will be a lot cheaper . Warranty work on a new trailer will not work for fulltimers as most dealers will take weeks if not months to fix problems .

[DutchmenSport]

When you come across travel trailers that advertise "Polar Package", that really does not mean a whole lot. The manufacturer has just run water lines a bit closer to the heat ducts under the floor. If the furnace is not running, those water lines and drain lines will freeze.

Those units that advertise Four Season, usually have a little bit better insulation on the bottom of the underbelly. But there again, if the furnace is not running, things still freeze under there.

We currently have a fifth wheel that advertised "full time living". Little did we realize what that REALLY meant. "Full time living" means the unit never moves. "Full time traveling" was quite another matter.

We've had this camper for a year now, and it's just been the last 5 weeks or so, the repairs have stopped. It does take a year at a minimum to flush out all the repairs, manufacturer faulty workmanship, bad construction, and cheap materials. And for what it's worth the list price on my 5er was $77,000! I've literally rebuilt this thing from top to bottom. It is a good camper NOW! and it's withstanding all the bumps and hard jolts on the road ... now! But not before.

So, if you purchase, take at least a year before you head out permanently to flush out flaws, to learn how things work, to settle into a pattern, and to adjust to living in a small space, dealing with campgrounds, roads, making plans and reservations. It's much more complicated and much more challenging than just hitching up and heading out. Those days are long gone. Sometimes reservations at select campgrounds need to be made in advance, 2 years out. (I said "choice" campgrounds). State Parks, CoE, National Forests are much easier to make reservation.

Meanwhile, visit RV dealerships and do lots of searching on the internet looking a floor plans. Then go visit dealerships that have those models and those floor plans. I think you'll be shocked that the reality of the unit is far different than the preceived concept of the unit via floor plans and simulated 360 degree reproductions or photos.

[campigloo]

If you’ve never done this before rent some kind of camper for at least a couple of weeks and see if you even like it. There are many challenges living in a space so small, many you’d never even dream of without some experience. Make sure you’re ready to do much of your own maintenance. It can save you a small fortune.

[wanderingaimles]

For "full timing" you need to give some more information.
Budget, size, number of occupants, would all help.
For some generalities, most manufacturers of Travel Trailers do not warranty new units for "full time" living, so your first couple of months you will likely void the warranty unless you specifically select a model that allows for it.
Appliances, frames, axles, are basically similar across all the manufacturers, again with some limited exceptions. So no matter if you are looking at entry level or some mid to high end units, the warranties and quality of those components will likely be similar.
Walls, cabinetry, roof, and furnishings do vary by model, and vary between lines. And basically you can see the changes in price, tin vs Filon, particle board vs wood etc. Most manufacturers build similar model across more than one price point.
Go visit a few dealerships, look at construction materials in some entry level units as well as some higher end models, look at furnishings, built in is usually cheaper than a stand alone unit in things like sofas etc.

Also consider what you feel comfortable in trying to repair and maintain yourself.
Your in the first stage of a longer road.