Retiring - Buying an RV

[Dubious Don #56333]

Well pards, six working days left! The best part is Winter Range starts the week after I pull the pin YEEEEHAAAA!!!

 

So, in addition to letting them PAY me to stay home, one of the things Cimarron Larna and I are going to do is buy an RV and do some traveling, probably coinciding with cowboy matches.....imagine that!

 

A class A is out of my price range. I've seen some Class C's I liked, one was an International frame, mercedes diesel. I liked the floor plan a lot but it was just a little cramped and didn't have room for the wife's scooter.

 

I think I'd rather have a trailer (no fifth wheels) in a size my F-150 will pull for right now. The biggest reason for this is the wife's scooter goes in the truck which has a lift gate specifically for that.

 

Looking for something in the 26-28 range, dry weight around 3500-4000. I plan to upgrade the suspension on my truck and add trailer brakes or am I thinking old school? (been a while since I messed with this stuff)

 

I have seen some with solar options and in any case, this is something, along with a generator I can add myself if need be. Would be interested if any of you use a solar system/inverter and what type of wireless/TV setup you use.

 

I would prefer a slide out and something that has some outside storage.

 

Looking for specific brands, what's good and not. Any particulars to stay away from?

[The Shoer 27979]

FYI from somebody who has been pulling trailers on and off for 40 years both personal and professionally, you really do not want to pull a trailer that size with your half ton truck because your truck will not stop that trailer in a panic stop

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

Seems like the try before you buy advice we give new shooters could apply here.

Any chance you could rent one or various setups and see which works best for you?

My Dad got a lot of use out of a large pop up camper which neatly held a small fishing boat

on top. He pulled it with an Impala and could put it on a site, and be fishing darn quick.

Not for everyone but it worked for him.

Best

CR

ps: Please forgive my manners-Congrats on your retirement.

Since you weren't retired yet I just tried to help with your question.

Believe me that retiring is IS an accomplishment.

Since a good pard and SASS member died on the job just weeks short of

retirement, I have a different view on it.

Congrats again, pard.

Maybe see you down the trail.....

[Bama Red]

I pulled a Jayco Feather Lite 21' trailer with my F-150 and went thru several sets of pads/rotors because they were not up to the task, even with an electronic brake controller for the trailer brakes. For most of us, setting a truck up for towing is NOT a DIY project. Go see your vehicle dealer or trailer dealer. You.may also need a transmission cooler as well. Good Luck - wish I still had mine.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Congratulations on the retirement. I recently retired myself and purchased a camper. There's a whole science concerning what you can safely pull with what truck. The F-150 is a very capable truck but you won't be able to safely pull the larger, heavier trailers due to the suspension and axle ratings. There should be a weight rating sticker on your driver's door post. When deciding on a trailer, use the trailers GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). You don't go camping with an empty camper and you'd be surprised how much stuff you'll put in there.

 

A good weight distribution hitch is a good idea. ($500-$600) Equal-i-zer, Blue Ox and Anderson hitch are some of the better ones. Don't go cheap on the hitch. You'll be sorry. Trailer brakes are required by law on something that big. There are several after market trailer brakes that are pretty easy to install. You'll also need the 7 pin wiring hookup on your truck if you don't already have one.

 

I tow a 27' Winnebago trailer with a GVWR of 7,000 lbs. Dry weight 5,200 lbs. The tongue weight loaded is 720 lbs. and I used the Equal-i-zer hitch. My F-150 came with the trailer towing package and trailer brakes. Good luck in your search.

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

I love our Winnegago Minnie, it 22' long 24' with the hitch, and at 3700lbs it's no problem to pull with the Silverado 1500

[Happy Jack, SASS #20451]

If you can afford one an Airstream is SO easy to pull. They are by far the nicest bumper pull trailers around. You can often find a lightly used one for a reasonable price. Copper Queen and I have a 28ft. and I sometimes forget it is even back there. I used to pull it with my ford Explorer, but it was a bit too much for that vehicle. I now use my F250.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I feel you are pretty limited in what you pull (rv trailerwise) with a 1/2 ton. I just bought a 2013 used F350 Ford, 4x4, crew cab, short bed, d 6.7 diesel with only 35,000 miles on for half what a new one costs. I had a 1999 F350, 4x4, xtra cab, diesel that I put 300,000 miles on and didn't spend anything on it for repairs, just maintenance stuff. I pull a 28' Denali travel trailer and it will go anywhere with great mileage & reliability.

 

You need a truck that is big enough to do the job. Just sayin...........................

[Warden Callaway]

I think about a trailer or motor camper but I think of all the added expenses associated and I droop the idea.

 

I did tell Mary we should sale out, buy a Corvette, pack some clean underwear and hit the road. She rejected that idea right off. She couldn't take her "stuff".

 

I sware, some of the first driving vacations we took out west we hauled more crap than the pioneers crosing the plains in covered wagons. We brought 90% of it home with us. The can soda had the paint worn off from rolling around in a 40 gallon ice chest. She couldn't believe they would actually have soda where we were going.

[Noz]

With that truck you are looking at a 20' max.

I pull a 28 foot with a Ford F250 V-10. Yeah it's too much truck but it's kinda like guns, you can't have too much.

[Kid Rich]

Check your owners manual and go with about 2/3rds of what the max rating is for tongue weight and total weight. I pull a 25' Fun finder with one slide with a Tundra that has the small V8. Could use the bigger V8 in steep hills or mountains but it stops fine. kR

[Long Branch Louie]

Dan, FWIW I would stay away from Forest River products. We bought a 2014 and in the 6 months we owned it, we had it for 22 days. worst of all, forest River would not work with us on anything, nor would they extend the warranty. I'm talking serious issues like slide rollers incorrectly installed and a massive window leak. Never had such a horrible experience dealing with a company.

That said, Jayco gives a two year warranty and has a good reputation and so does Keystone, although they only offer one year warranty. I'm sure there are folks that have had bad experiences with these brands, too, but this is just my experience. Look at gently used, they all drop like a rock in value after the initial purchase...

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Some of your higher end smaller travel trailers are Nash, Lance and Arctic Fox. I have a Winnebago Minnie and I like it a lot and have had no problems with it. Open Range make some nice trailers but I think they are too heavy for your truck. Air Stream is at the top of the quality pile but they are pretty expensive. Jayco, Forest River and Keystone are mass produced and quality can be hit or miss. Jayco has a 2 year warranty and Forest River will extend your one year warranty for an additional year for $100.

 

If you decide to buy used, watch for delamenation of the exterior siding and/or water damage. Every thing else can be easily fixed.

[Calamity Kris]

With that truck you are looking at a 20' max.

I pull a 28 foot with a Ford F250 V-10. Yeah it's too much truck but it's kinda like guns, you can't have too much.

 

Noz, you hit the nail on the head. We owned a trailer for many years. You can never buy too much truck for your trailer. With a half ton truck, it's really easy to buy too much trailer for your truck. I would seriously consider upgrading your truck to a 3/4 ton super duty at a minimum before looking at trailers. You will have a much better and safer towing experience.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

You can stay in hotel rooms for a lifetime for less than the price of some of them RVs......

 

And you don't think you have to use them because you paid already!

[Seldom Seen #16162]

First word of warning is DON'T BELEIVE ANYTHING THE RV SALESMAN TELLS YOU.

 

I have a Ford Ranger with 3.0 liter six cylinder. We looked at pop-up trailers and got to talking to the salesman about liteweight camper as pop-ups can be a pain to set-up and down. The salesman get me a real sales pitch for a liteweight trailer and kept assuring me on easily my Ranger P.U. would pull it. Having read the specs on my truck I knew what Ford recommended. I asked the salesman what he got his information and his reply was if there was a trailer hitch made for my truck that will fit the trailer then it will pull the trailer!

 

Second is listen to the advice being given here from NOZ and Calamity Kris.

 

A 1/2 ton truck is not enough truck.

 

1/2 trucks are set up for city driving which means soft shocks and suspensions for a comfortable drive (especially for the ladies) and lower ground clearance so it is easier for the ladies to get in and out without getting their clothes dirty.

 

Serious trailer pulling means heavy duty cooling system, transmission cooler, stiffer suspension and stocks, brakes and trailer hitch. You will probably want larger LT tires (10 ply) and rims. All of this is doable but a lot more expensive than buying a truck already factory equipped.

 

We use to pull a horse trailer a lot. Our first P.U. was a Ford diesel. After learning the hard way that the 6.0 liter diesel engine is a piece of crap we got a Chevy 2500HD with 6.0 liter gas engine. There is nothing light duty on it including a heavy steel front bumper made of oil well drilling pipe. I should be able to hit a deer at 60 mph or face down a angry bull with no serious damage to the truck. We got rid of most of our horses but it gets regular work-out as a farm truck hauling heavy loads in the bed.

 

When we got our first 3/4 ton p.u. my wife complained about the cost saying what we do with it. I told her about everything we want. It is her daily driver and she loves it especially in heavy traffic. That big truck with a big bad front bumper just seems to convince cars to move aside!

 

This past summer we took a 3,000 mile round trip to Maryland. Most of the time we drove 80 mph. Our truck just gobbled up the miles without even a hiccup. The engine temperature and oil pressure gauges never moved.

 

I spent 30 years trying to convince my father-in-law why he needed a 3/4 ton with the biggest engine he could find for pulling his campers and later cattle trailers. He never listened. it wasn't until we got our 3/4 ton p.u. and were doing all sorts of farm work that he could not do with his 1/2 ton did he finally realized what he had been missing all of those years.

 

p.s. being broke down on a long lonely piece of highway on Sunday afternoon and the air temperature is 104 degrees is a bad thing.

[rusty barrels]

Hi DD, too get a good idea of how much you can tow, I would look at your spec. sticker usually on the drivers door to see if you have a combined gross vehicle weight ( CGVW ). that will tell you a lot. They are on most newer trucks, and that means the maximum tow weight both starting and stopping. Since you do not want a 5th wheel, you also want your hitch to have sway control too. And DON'T listen to trailer salesmen they will sell you anything, I've seen that. GVW tells you what you can put in the bed but CGVW tells you what you can safely tow. I have friends who have gone over what is recommended but they are paying a lot in repair bills for burned out transmissions,engines or brakes, not to mention breakdowns at the worse possible time. Also keep in mind that a 4 wheel drive capacity is usually rated 600lbs less than a 2 wheel drive. I have a Nash 21r5 5th wheel and a 97 chev 2500 and that is about all I want to tow. Hope this helps. Rusty

[Kulshan 20262]

To do it up right, go to a 3/4 ton and fifth wheel trailer, then put the scooter on the back of the trailer or on the front of the pickup.

 

5th wheels tow so much better, no tail wagging the dog.

 

It depends on how much traveling you are going to be doing to try to see what you can justify.

 

I can understand that you want to keep the F150, but we are all telling you that is your bottleneck, or the weak link in the chain.

 

I am one who transports RV trailers as a part time job, I use a 3/4 ton 4x4 long bed Duramax powered pickup. A 1 ton would be better for me but I already had the 3/4 ton.

[Calamity Kris]

To do it up right, go to a 3/4 ton and fifth wheel trailer, then put the scooter on the back of the trailer or on the front of the pickup.

 

5th wheels tow so much better, no tail wagging the dog.

 

Our 3/4 ton super duty pulled our 28ft 5th wheel like it wasn't even there. Lordie I miss that trailer.

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

On the comment about getting a vet and staying in hotels......

A vet is terribly short on space.

I had a VW Scirocco that could pack an amazing bunch of great camp gear.

The back seats folded and carefully selected gear went right in.

My girl at the time was happy enuf.

She got a just slightly bigger Accura sports car that we drove to PikesPeak

for that awesome hillclimb. We camped overnight on top too.

Plan on restock as you travel, you don't have to buy everything from home.

And foam coolers can be bought used and left behind too.

Just leave a note like: We don't need this cooler and you are welcome to it.

So folks know its not forgotten.

We gave food away on Pikes Peak---no McDonalds up there.

Some race fans from Germany expected McDs were literally everywhere.

Best

CR

[Long Branch Louie]

If you are on a budget, there are a lot of travel trailers out there that an F-150 will tow. The industry has changed a lot, making "super light" campers because many people don't want a bigger truck. I know there are some on here that will disagree. But while we are on the subject, many folks with 250's or 2500's are kidding themselves, they are actually overweight. For example, if you look at the door sticker on a 2500 series truck (diesel), it will tell you the most the truck can weigh is 9900lbs. Most 250 or 2500 trucks are 7500+lbs. by themselves. Add fuel and a couple of passengers and you are up to 8500 lbs. pretty quick. What you have left is roughly 1500 lbs., hence the moniker 3/4 ton. Many, many 5th wheel campers have a dry pin weight of over 2000lbs. I have a 14000lb. 5th wheel and pull it with a dually GMC. That is why I bought a dually, the 2500's will tow fine, but they are overweight by the numbers....

[Calamity Kris]

This magazine is specifically for people who tow trailers. Their towing guide is considered an industry standard. This article should help answer a lot of your questions on what you can tow etc. Trailer Life towing guide.

[Dubious Don #56333]

Excellent information my friends! Trailer Life was already on order, LOL. Not about to let some sales guy talk me into too much trailer. Kind of hard when the numbers are right there and I like to have plenty of margin. Not out of the question I'll end up with a Super Duty or something...hard to resist.

[Blastmaster]

I am not a trailer guy, but I believe a lot of people way under estimate the weight of all the 'stuff' they will be putting into the truck and or trailer that will derate the towing/hauling/braking capacity of the unit.. Fresh/gray water, guns, cloths, ammo, bullets you buy on the trip, food, dog, extra person(s) tools, books, gun carts, generators, gas can, PV panels ,, ya know, STUFF. It adds up and can easily push you over the rated capacity of your tow vehicle and perhaps put you into the 1ton truck class.

 

Just another thought

[Seldom Seen #16162]

Also keep in mind that a 4 wheel drive capacity is usually rated 600lbs less than a 2 wheel drive.

 

 

Maybe but 4 wheel drive makes the difference when you are trying to leave your camp site pulling out your camper on slick wet grass and mud after it rains overnight.

[Seldom Seen #16162]

Also keep in mind that a 4 wheel drive capacity is usually rated 600lbs less than a 2 wheel drive.

 

 

Maybe but 4 wheel drive makes the difference when you are trying to leave your camp site pulling out your camper on slick wet grass and mud after it rains overnight.

[Long Branch Louie]

 

 

Maybe but 4 wheel drive makes the difference when you are trying to leave your camp site pulling out your camper on slick wet grass and mud after it rains overnight.

I agree 100%. 4WD comes in very handy also when you get one of those sights that is rough coming in or leaving. nobody likes to get a running start with all the $$$ they got behind their truck....

[Free Bird 61147]

You can stay in hotel rooms for a lifetime for less than the price of some of them RVs......

 

And you don't think you have to use them because you paid already!

++++. And u don't have to stay in a cramped noisy campground. Listening to drunks telling war stories, generators running all night, loud music etc. etc.

[Long Branch Louie]

++++. And u don't have to stay in a cramped noisy campground. Listening to drunks telling war stories, generators running all night, loud music etc. etc.

How many hotels have you stayed in??????

[Yul Lose]

Camping out on the range with your pards beats staying in a motel hands down, IMHO. Sitting around the campfire every evening with a beverage or four with some of my best friends is the best part of going to a big match.

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

This website is the SASSWire of Rv'ing.

 

www.irv2.com

 

Wyatt

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Camping out on the range with your pards beats staying in a motel hands down, IMHO. Sitting around the campfire every evening with a beverage or four with some of my best friends is the best part of going to a big match.

+1

[Grizzly Dave]

Congrats Don!

[Charlie Whiskers]

I started out years ago with a "tent trailer"...aka...pop up. Pulled it with just about anything that would move. Then I bought a pickup and a camper. When I moved back to Montana I bought my 72 F100 4x4 with a 390 and a pickup camper for that, the kind that also pops up. It was nice in that it had very little wind resistance when on the road. I hauled that with my old 72 F100. Finally got tired of no inside the camper storage to speak of and bought an 18ft pull trailer that weighed 3100 pounds dry and about 4200 loaded. The old Ford handled that fine as long as there wasn't a typhoon of a head wind , then you could watch the gas gauge drop. Finally bought a 95 Dodge 3/4 ton 2 wheel drive with a Cummin's and a 5 speed manual. That worked so well I traded the 18 footer in on a 23 ft trailer. This one's a Nash 4 season trailer with quite a bit of interior and exterior storage. Plus it has a shower in it you can actually drop the soap in and not have your bunn's hanging out of the shower curtain trying to pick the soap up. Down side is it's 4300 dry and about 6400 loaded. The pickup handles it fine and with that diesel it gets from 13.6-15.7 mpg.

[rusty barrels]

Hi again DAN, I also wanted to congratulate you on your retirement. If you decide on one particular model trailer and you want to add a bumper rack for the scooter make sure it can stand the load, most are only designed for hose storage and not for bolt on heavy loads, you would want to add a hitch welded to or bolted to the frame. I only mention maybe a two wheel drive with a traction lock diff. for more power and gas savings and if there is someone with a mobility problem, didn't mean to get in a pissing match with anybody. You didn't say if it was for mainline traveling and or for hunting where you will be traveling in the back country or high in the mountains. which a 4 wheel drive would make sense ( though I've done that too ). Incidentally I have never been stuck in those scenarios mention earlier. Also good axle ratio of 3.73 is good compromise between power and fuel mileage cause after all gas is not going to stay around 2 bucks forever. Hope this also helps in the many decisions you'll be making.