Opinions on towing a travel trailer with a truck? Thanks.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by Mike

It is a true folding trailer, as you said. They didn't make the short list, along with the other ones mentioned above, before we shelved the project. Too lazy to set something like it up, particularly in bad weather, too many moving parts, and if the torsion lift assists ever failed or broke, you're sleeping in a tent, or your tow vehicle. They're expensive, too. New, $30K plus I believe I saw online.

i personally want a b. my wife however thinks to small-and although if i insisted she would get it-she would make me miserable.


oh well.

[Mike]

We've resurrected the "we need more space for going away on longer trips" project.
Looking at trailer solutions, or possibly a small class C. Drawbacks of both are fairly obvious compared to a class B, however, they provide the additional living space we'd require to stay away from home for months at a time, at a significantly lower up front cost than either a Roadtrek E-Trek or an Advanced-RV Ocean van. And, we could drag the pets along with us, which would enable the "no more deadlines" mantra. I would also hope the fuel economy gap has narrowed with newer engine tecnology going into the chassis of newer small class C motorhomes. My concern about trailers is having all the "off the grid" amenities, to allow greater flexibility and mobility. We would always prefer a vehicle that doesn't need shore connections for systems functionality, as we've also determined that we're still into touring.

My lady would go along with pretty much anything, if the price were right. She's the family bean counter.

[markopolo]

Would a wide-body Class B Van be too small still: http://www.canadream.com/GSSI/RV_Details.aspx?RVID=1171

Or something like this 2012 - Lexington - 265CDDS for $46,900.00 http://www.canadream.com/GSSI/RV_Details.aspx?RVID=1206

Both are ex-rentals and I didn't see a generator listed so you'd have to check that. The prices look good and you can always add inverters and solar etc. and a gen if needed.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by Mike

We've resurrected the "we need more space for going away on longer trips" project.
Looking at trailer solutions, or possibly a small class C. Drawbacks of both are fairly obvious compared to a class B, however, they provide the additional livingg space we'd require to stay away from home for months at a time, at a significantly lower up fron cost than either a Roadtrek E-Trek or an Advanced-RV Ocean van. And, we could drag the pets along with us, which would enable the "no more deadlines" mantra. I would also hope the fuel economy gap has narrowed with newer engine tecnology going into the chassis of newer small class C motorhomes. My concern about trailers is having all the "off the grid" amenities, to allow greater flexibility and mobility. We would always prefer a vehicle that doesn't need shore connections for systems functionality, as we've also determined that we're still into touring.

My lady would go along with pretty much anything, if the price were right. She's the family bean counter.

forest river sunseeker 2300 . best deal from rv direct. get levelers. 25 feet long get chevy 4500 chassis

[Mike]

If they had a full(er) bath/shower area, and the generator, and are around 24' the Lexington would work fine. The bigger the better, without being a lumbering underpowered elephant. Would love to keep the price under C$40K, considering the 13% HST which will be added (illegally I think, because it's a used vehicle). The Toronto one is right near Sherway Gardens Mall. A days drive there and back now.
I'll have to run it by the boss.
Thanks.

btw, I've never been to a Parks Canada location, except Bruce Peninsula and Cape Breton, both of which I have only driven through. The current fee structure is confusing and it looks like each park has it's own schedule of fees, for that park only, which is really dumb IMO. Why don't they nationalize and simplify the entrance fees, to get people "through the gates", then figure out reasonable user fees for amenities. As far as increases go, they can do what they want under their current system, becasue it won't affect me as I won't go to them. They should create a "Canada the Beautiful" annual pass for park entrance to any Parks Canada administered location, for a one time price (under $100?), like the NPS equivalent. After that, if they priced the amenities up here, like they do in the USA as a per use charge, they'd get me to visit them once in a while. I think Parks Canada prices are just too disorganized to garner any interest from the general public, but they will continue to appeal to that segment which loves the outdoors and camping. Too bad, as they have a huge untapped revenue source if they'd just think about it a bit, and have a look at the NPS set up in the USA. Their national park service administration is simple and efficient, compared to ours.

UPDATE: I rewrote this post and sent it to the email address. Got an (expected) automated reply, the usual, thanks, don't expect a reply, etc., etc........

[Mike]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

forest river sunseeker 2300 . best deal from rv direct. get levelers. 25 feet long get chevy 4500 chassis

Had a look. Interesting - about the right size, and equipment sounds about right, too.
I'm probably going to look closer to home in Michigan, Indiana, or Ohio. They seem to have decent prices, from what I've seen online. And I need tires to kick, touchy feely before parting with any $$$ is my preference.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by Mike

UPDATE: I rewrote this post and sent it to the email address. Got an (expected) automated reply, the usual, thanks, don't expect a reply, etc., etc........

Re: Parks Canada input request: http://www.classbforum.com/phpBB2/vi...php?f=9&t=2468 Thanks for doing that Mike.

Re: trailer - you'd have lots of like minded people. I looked at last years wholesale delivery stats from RVIA: 121 Towables were shipped for every 1 Class B shipped.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by Mike

Had a look. Interesting - about the right size, and equipment sounds about right, too.
I'm probably going to look closer to home in Michigan, Indiana, or Ohio. They seem to have decent prices, from what I've seen online. And I need tires to kick, touchy feely before parting with any $$$ is my preference.

since i have 2 cats also and the one who needs insulin if i pull the trigger this will be it

[Mike]

There are several General RV locations within a few hundred miles of us, and we could easily make a day trip or an overnighter to visit them and have a look see. I would think you couldn't go too far wrong with that model. Cats are a pita, but what can you do, they're family right?
Good luck with your decisions.... we know it isn't easy.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by Mike

There are several General RV locations within a few hundred miles of us, and we could easily make a day trip or an overnighter to visit them and have a look see. I would think you couldn't go too far wrong with that model. Cats are a pita, but what can you do, they're family right?
Good luck with your decisions.... we know it isn't easy.

if it came down to a choice-me or the cats-my wife would dump me and keep the cats

[Mike]

same here, for sure.

[Mike]

It's a done deal. I'm now an RV hoarder (soon), and now officially "trailer trash".
We bought a small travel trailer that we think will fill in some of the functional gaps that our class B Roadtrek presented, which were mostly related to usable interior volume (space).
The new unit is only slightly longer and a bit wider, but in real terms, we've gained some living space. There's no loss of functional interior volume taken up by the cab/cockpit area which is added into the official length of a class B van, but is largely unused space, when not driving it. At least for us.

It will be different, and we'll see how it goes. I'll try to keep some sort of blog style record of the differences we notice between vanning and trailering, and will continue to post here. We'll be keeping the Roadtrek for a while, for shorter trips nearby. Unless someone makes us "an offer we can't refuse" for it. It's service history is well documented on this forum. Search my postings for details of it's medical records. It's been well and gently used, and well cared for, for over 5 years now.

[arrveedogz]

now officially "trailer trash"

Ha! In the US (at least the south), try to avoid having the phrase 'SPAM-suckin'' stuck in front of those two words.

My wife and I go through the 'trailers are bigger but more of a pain to use' process on a regular basis. What did you get and what are you using to pull it? Oh, the really important question: How many slides?

Dan

[Mike]

I actually used to like spam once in a while. Sliced thin, fried, with eggs, and toast, on a weekend morning.

We wanted something brand new, and with more usable interior space and amenities, but didn't want to pull half a regular house along with us, like some of those massive trailers and fivers. So, we tried to match our choice with the tow vehicle capacity, and something light enough to still allow some regular mobility.
We bought a 2014 Keystone Bullet 204RBS, still somewhere in Indiana on the factory floor. Lightweight, well equipped inside, full bath, fully equipped galley, thermal package for cooler/warmer weather camping. Good furnace and A/C. Lots more storage than the B, but hopefully we won't need all of it.
Sorry, no slides. Park, and sleep, if we're so inclined. Or, it's campground friendly, stop, drop, and go shop. Or dry camping capable with the addition of 2 small generators and a parallel kit now, and maybe some solar in the future. I also plan to add a mid-sized inverter for quiet coffee making before and after generator "allowed" times.
The tow vehicle is a 2009 F-150 SuperCrew long bed. It's got the smaller V8, but has more than twice the capacity spec-wise for the trailer, so I'm hoping that will work out OK. Several people who know towing have said it's a good match.
Yes to there's more to trailer towing than keys in the ignition and a tank of gas, but we're going to give it a try, and see how it goes.
I have to adjust physically and mentally to the idea of, instead of taking everything we've brought along with us everywhere we want to go, we can hopefully shed the trailer at an appropriate location for a while longer, and do the touring part nearby using just the tow vehicle, until we get tired of a location, and then hook up, and move on. Just a different way of traveling. Kind of "hybrid" touring and destination camping, is what we hope to achieve.
I forgot to add, we can also bring the rest of the family with us (pets), and can stay away as long as we choose. With the B, we were space, and time away constrained, and couldn't see any workable way to bring them along. Now we have a larger living space, and high speed tour traveling can now be blended with some destination camping. We don't have any more "pet sitter" deadlines.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by arrveedogz

.........My wife and I go through the 'trailers are bigger but more of a pain to use' process on a regular basis........

We go one step further..."Wouldn't that be nice for an extended trip, and it only costs $......" I'd have one but for the fact that I don't think I'd use it around here in the Spring or Summer. I'd love to have one for an extended winter get-away of 2 or 3 months. I keep watching the prices of used units online in my area so if we ever buy I'll know what a good deal is.

I'd tow it with my campervan.

[arrveedogz]

Originally Posted by markopolo

... for an extended winter get-away of 2 or 3 months. ...

Yep, that's the dilemma. The B is great for a short duration trip or even a long distance trip with stops along the way. I plan shorter travel days for laundry and grocery re-stocking.

But if you're set up in one spot for a while, not having a detachable vehicle becomes a problem. On one trip, my wife thought she cracked a rib at a campground and needed to go to nearby a Doc-in-a-Box for an xray. Luckily, a camp host was willing to take her, wait, and bring her back.

[Mike]

Exactly what we're hoping will be the case for us. We've been "touring" for a while now, and pretty much know the places we prefer, and when to visit them.
What we want to do now is (mostly) leave the snow and deadlines behind, and stay longer at our favorites, and not have to break camp every time we need to do a simple errand, or hear about some nearby attraction that we want to explore. The tow vehicle will become the short hop tour answer.

I'd love to see another California Condor or have a herd of elk walk across the trail in front of us again, at GCNP. Last time we were there, we only stayed 2 nights, because we had planned to visit some State Capitols and had a cat sitter waiting at home. Just couldn't spend the time there to do what we wanted.

The faves list is a lot longer, and even at a week or more each, we'll still only be able to visit a small subset of the places we really like every year.
But, that's the plan.

[Mike]

By the way, it's all done, and imported, took about a week, with a lot of running back and forth to Staples for printing and scanning some documents. I must invest in an all in one copier/scanner/printer next time. It would have saved time, gas, and frustration.
The $$$ savings were worth the hassle, though.
Now we just have to get it loaded up and get rolling.
We'll see how it goes after we get our first trip under our belt.
These things do require a little more hands on for set up, and tear down, than a class B van, depending on what you use them for.
They also need more added equipment for comfort and convenience, mostly for leveling and immobilizing them before use. Luckily, most of it is available on the road, at a variety of RV and high volume discount retailers, and we can get it as we find a need.
Some pics of it. Taken on a rare nice weather day (we haven't had many this winter).

[markopolo]

Looks great Mike! You have lots of parking - I see the corner of your Roadtrek too.

I can't help but notice how green your grass is already.

The Keystone Bullet seems to offer really good value for your money. You mentioned the enclosed and heated underbelly and I see cover for the propane tanks in the photo. Pass through storage up front The shape is aerodynamic which will help fuel economy.

I'm really happy for you the two of you - get out there and enjoy it

[Mike]

The parking looks big but I think I still have to shuffle things to make things work a bit better. Not sure yet what will work.
Yes, that's the Roadtrek. It is an antique but has been gently used, and will remain a backup travel system for now. Short trips, 48 hours or less.
There are 2 X 20lb. tanks with a gauge and a simple directional tank selection switch. I added a 2nd GR24 wet cell to bring the total amp hours up. The converter/charger is a 55 amp WFCO with 3 stage smart charging, which seems to be pretty standard on the newer trailers. (available at Best Converter, if I ever need parts or a replacement).
Tomorrow is supposed to be a better weather day, and we'll start triaging and inventorying the Roadtrek, to see what can be used in the new abode. The systems are similar and I have a lot of stuff in the Roadtrek that will work in the Bullet. I'm looking forward to setting the new generators up and setting up the parallel kit to test run some loads and to see how I can place them in the truck/trailer combo.
There is much to do before we try it all out. I'll add any changes in status or "startling revelations" to this thread as they occur.
Thanks for the encouragement. It's all good.