Camping Help

[02Oilburner]

I see and hear alot about you guys camping. I love camping also but have always used tents. I am very interested in what you guys think about campers. (brands, quality, features, ones to stay away from ect.) I have 02 with gauges, intake, exhaust, dp tuner (80hp tow). I dont want the fifth wheel set up if I can avoid it. Any and all suggestions I appreciate!

 

[danegreen]

check out RV.Net : RV.Net - The Leading RV Community, Club, RV Travel and Information Source for Recreational Vehicle Camping or RV Forum - Home

There is a lot of good information there on camping, RV's, and tow vehicles.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

I see and hear alot about you guys camping. I love camping also but have always used tents. I am very interested in what you guys think about campers. (brands, quality, features, ones to stay away from ect.) I have 02 with gauges, intake, exhaust, dp tuner (80hp tow). I dont want the fifth wheel set up if I can avoid it. Any and all suggestions I appreciate!

I guess this one's right up my alley.

Fifth wheel units generally are larger than travel trailers, and have advantages & disadvantages compared to travel trailers. One big advantage "5'ers" have, is that in most states you can tow a second trailer, like a boat, behind the fifth wheel. A disadvantage with fifth wheels is that most loose headroom in the bedroom which is above the hitch area. Travel trailers maintain a high roofline that'll keep the ceiling height high all the way to the front of the unit.

Aside from "5'ers", generally your tow behind options are pop-up "tent" campers, travel trailers and "hybrids".

Tent campers are a very common "first step" for those who are moving up from tents. Tent campers go from small basic units to rather "ritzy" with showers, slide-out dinettes, toilets, refrigerators, furnaces and even air conditioners. By the time you compare costs of the high end tent campers, you're probably better off just getting a travel trailer. A maker of very nice, quality tent campers is FLEETWOOD FOLDING CAMPERS.

Travel trailers also go from small/ basic units to big & lavish. Generally there are two construction methods used. One being the long time "stick & tin" method, the other being an aluminum framed, foam core wall construction.
The lower cost stick & tin method uses a wood framed stud wall much like a house and is covered on the outside with corrugated painted metal. The advantage here is lower cost. The disadvantage is susceptibility to damgage like from hail stones. One good hailstorm can cost thousands in dented sheetmetal. The foam core wall uses a welded tubular aluminum frame with injected foam insulation. The exterior surface is usually a fiberglass gel-coat type surface that resists dent damage very well. The main advantages of this type of construction again are resistance to typical minor damage (which helps to maintain the value of the camper) and the lighter towing weight of the unit. The main disadvantage is slightly higher costs. There are many makers of decent travel trailers: Keystone, Fleetwood, Dutchman, Starcraft, Jayco and many others.
There is only one maker of travel trailers that I'd have to say stay away from, that being Cross-roads. A certain RV dealer I am very familiar with quit selling RVs from Crossroads because of all the quality & wormanship problems said dealer was finding with them and having to fix before they could even be sold.

Hybrids are sort of a cross breed between a tent trailer and a travel trailer. The main section of the trailer will have the dinette, kitchen & bathroom areas. The beds foldout or extend from the front and rear of the trailer. This allows yet an even smaller & lighter trailer that still has all the living amenities for less than a travel trailer. Smaller & lighter is a very popular trend inlight of the desire for better towing mpg. Most of the previously mentioned makers also make hybid style units. One that has really caught my eye is the Kodiak from Dutchman. The bunk canvas is some of the most durable looking material I have ever seen on a hybid/pop-up camper and is well worth checking out.

 

[powerboatr]

i will piggy back tail gunner a bit
if you want to stay in a towable ( non fiver)
they go up to 40 feet. yep

$$$ is you only limiting factor.
i would say go see as many brands and styles as possible,
and get a feeel for what suits your family or camping intentions, (r v parks, primitive, desert, etc) then decide how many folks need to be comfortable inside and sleeping, plus plan on a real bad day of weather and think "cabin fever" then if its bog enough or comfortable , you have found your floorplan.
then go compare floorplans of many brands and pick em aprt for quality and fit and finish, etc
if it has slides, ask yourself if its important to be able to get to the toilet without opening a slide, many new ones now for some reason close off everything but the kitchen sink when all closed up. when we are on the road, i prefer to use MY potty vice the rest area or stre, etc. so haviing access is a priority.
shoot some even block off the fridge which kills a quick snack.

and last but not least
cargo carrying capactity
many seem to feel they can give you only a few hundred real world pounds of cargo once you add full water and prpane.
if your only going to do short runs then 1k lbs capactiy might get you by ok.
it really does add up, overloading a rv axle is serious business, they just dont handle much over the rating before tires and shackles give way, and usually at highway speeds
we added over 3k lbs before one drop of water was loaded on.
look real close at axle load ratings and gross vehicle weights for the trailer.
you will be surprised.
good luck on your quest
rving is a great way to get back some family time

 

[EmptyDub]

Another important factor to consider is how many people will be traveling with you? If it's just you and your spouse, you'll have many more models & options to choose from. If you'll be carrying 5 kids and 3 dogs, you'll be a little more limited to some of the bigger (i.e. more costly) models.

My wife and I (just us- no kids ...so far) started out in an old 1971 Serro Scotty 13'. It looked like the little round silver camper that used to bounce behind Mickey Mouse's car. It was actually pretty nice - small, light weight, easy to set up, etc., but we were afraid to take it on long trips out of state because of its age. We eventually decided to upgrade and got a 21' Star Stream bumper-pull from Starcraft. It's got the aluminum/foam construction, and is supposed to be the only camper with no seams down the side. It's light weight, aerodynamic, no slide-outs (I figured less stuff to break although they do offer models w/ slideouts), and most important to us- it wasn't the usual vanilla white box on wheels! It was a little more expensive than other similar models/floorplans, but the uniqueness and quality really sold us on it (ours ended up costing about $20K after taxes/financing, etc). We really LOVE ours, and get comments on it wherever we go. I've got an '08 F250 and can't even feel it's behind me. Here's the website if you just wanna look at some different models - Star Stream 2008 Folding Campers, Expandables and Travel Trailers

Whatever you buy, I know you'll have fun and meet some really wonderful and helpful people along the way - I know we have!

 

[King Ranch]

I dont want the fifth wheel set up if I can avoid it. Any and all suggestions I appreciate!

I pulled a 5th wheel for over 12 years with a 91 460 gas. I switched to travel trailers 4 yrs ago. We use our TT a lot and the space in the unused bed is a huge benefit. No 5th wheel to work around. My 2006 Powerstroke handles the 10,600lbs fine. We are taking it to Alaska via British Columbia in May for a 3 month cruise. If you have a good quality hitch (I use an Equal-i-zer) it will pull just fine. Way more advantages than disavantages towing a travel trailer.
Especially backing.

 

[keanoknick]

Way more advantages than disavantages towing a travel trailer.
Especially backing.

WOW!! That is the first time I have ever heard that.

I'd rather back a Fifth wheel any day and under any circumstances than a bumper pull trailer, maybe it's because I'm used to backing up semis from when I used to drive OTR, but I have always found fifth wheels easier to back.

 

[King Ranch]

I find backing a travel trailer is more intuitive for me. I backed boats into water on boat ramps many times. I mastered backing a fifth wheel, but it is the opposite of travel/boat trailer backing. 48' or 52' cargo trailers are easier than a shorter 5th wheel RV for me.
Every individual is different.

 

[Fire1]

We love our Jayco 31 BDS. We have had it just over one year and have had no real issues yet. We got a bumper pull to keep the bed of the truck open for all the extra essentials to go out and "rough it".

 

[02SilverStroke]

We started with a Starcraft popup in 1994 when the kids were 17 and 14. We had done some tent camping before that. We pulled the popup to Southfork Colorado in 1996 and right after that went to a fifth wheel. We were going to buy a travel trailer, but the dealer suggested a fifth wheel. I had a 93 F150 with 300 cid 6 cyl with automatic trans, and I questioned the ability to pull one. The salesman said it would work, and it did (barely). It weighed 6000 pounds, and that was just under the towing capacity of the F150. We bought a 26 ft. Dutchmen bunkhouse model, no slideout. It did okay for weekend trips, but when we sold our house in 1999 and lived in it for awhile, it quickly became too small, so we traded it for the 99 Dutchmen 27 ft that we now have. Also, you want to stay way from the "low profile" models like our 96 Dutchmen. It was okay because it didn't have the high roof (which it makes towing easier), but when you're sitting on the bed, your head is touching the ceiling. My PSD pulls the 27 ft Dutchmen without any problems since it's "only" 7000 pounds. I need to do some serious cleaning on it so that hopefully we can take a few weekend trips this summer. We've been so busy lately that it's been sitting in the driveway for a couple of years being used for storage. A guy at my office has a 40 ft. travel trailer, and takes his wife and 4 kids camping every weekend to local parks.