fpmtngal

When I was a kid I thought that would be a great way of going camping, but I would have wanted a 4 legged TV.

My small 21’ trailer has a 9K Coleman and this is the first time I’ve felt it couldn’t keep up. I’ve only camped one other time in over 100F weather, and that was just an overnight stop in Mesquite, on my way to the Utah and Wyoming mountains. Yuma in the winter is nice. Yuma in the summer? Not so much. I don’t have a slide awning, I’m now wondering if one would help with this extreme heat. I’ve been thinking about talking to Shade Pros this January in Quartzsite about replacing my awning with Sunbrella material anyway, maybe add a slide awning, too?

Very cool story! Congrats on getting it all together. I just dropped the price on my house again and it’s been shown twice. I have my fingers crossed, hoping for an offer in the next couple of weeks, so I can officially join the class of 2019. At least the septic system is finished, so I am now free to travel. I spent last week going through my trailer stuff, as I had realized that my trailer was overweight. It looks like I might start off with some of my extra RV stuff in the storage unit, something I hadn’t planned on. At the moment I’m testing my smaller AC against temps around 105-8F, something I’ve never done before. It’s an interesting experiment, not something I would want to do on a regular basis though.

Have you noticed that the answer “it depends” comes up so often in RVing? And with “it depends” also comes “what compromise do you have to make?” This is definitely one of those times. Don’t buy a generator right away if you don’t plan on dry camping much. I got along quite nicely without either a generator or solar (my big regret was not getting factory solar) and a single Group 27 battery for two years by staying in campgrounds with at least power. I now dry camp a lot and have a Honda 2200 generator, both a portable and roof mounted solar panels along with two Group 31 batteries. But I didn’t add all of that at once, I got things as I found I really needed them. I started with adding a portable solar panel and tried dry camping for more than a day or two. Loved it, did more of it and discovered where my limitations were. When some friends proposed a trip to Alaska that was almost all dry camping, I knew I needed additional Ah and a generator as I couldn’t count on the portable panel as my only power source. The compromise? Adding the second battery put me over my original tow vehicle’s tongue rating. I refuse to carry a genny in an occupied space (I think it is unsafe), so I had no place to carry it - my original TV was an SUV. I might have considered carrying a genny in the trailer’s front pass through because it isn’t connected to the inside of the trailer, but it won’t fit. The reasoning behind that is that various other RVs have generators in compartments, like truck campers and various motor homes. But they are not occupied spaces or somehow open to occupied spaces. My genny lives in the bed of the F150 I bought last year. I have a roll-up tonneau cover because I couldn’t maneuver a 50 lb object around the bed all hunched over like I would be if I had a shell (pre-RV pickups in the past had shells). What are you towing with? What are the various weight ratings? Will adding a generator add too much weight? Lots of questions come up when it comes to generators. P.S. The genny doesn’t get used all that much, at least since last summer’s trip to Alaska. I’m not going to sell it, but much prefer solar and can live comfortably with 12 volt system and a small inverter. I don’t have a residential fridge or other large 120v appliances.

Don't get too many tools right off, start with the basics indicated above. You can always add tools later, as you find you need them. Some of your kit might be specific to your type of RV - for instance, I have a travel trailer so I have a torque wrench to check the torque on the wheels periodically. Also, my manufacturer uses the square head screws (there's a name for them but I don't know what it is) in a lot of places - I made sure when I bought my ratcheting screw driver that it included tips to fit them. I have manual stabilizers so I also carry a battery powered driver - a battery powered drill or driver might be nice in any RV but rarely use mine for much more than the stabilizers. I bought channel lock pliers the first time I couldn't get a campground's sewer cap off. I've used it for other things, it's quite handy now that I already own one. Tools tend to be heavy, and my rig is maxed out at the moment. So be careful with what you get and how much weight it adds - too many tools may require you to leave something at home that you'd need more.

My travel trailer came with TowMax tires - I heard not long after I got it that TowMax (Load D) were a slight step up from the Marathons but not much (both had poor reputations). People I know who own similar trailers usually replaced their tires when they were 3 years old (date of manufacture), regardless of tread depth, often switching to Carlyle load E tires. When Goodyear came out with the Endurance, many (including me) changed to them. The manufacturer now uses Endurance tires as OEM and I don't hear much about early blow-outs any more, unless there was unusual wear patterns from alignment issues. My Endurance tires are now 2 years old and have around 20,000 miles on them. I've been lazy about replacing my torn tire cover, so they haven't been covered while I've been home this summer, so I'm starting to think about replacing them next year sometime. The tread is still good and there's no unusual wear pattern indicating alignment or inflation issues. But I'd far rather spend the money and change them out early than to have a blow-out and the damage that can happen - it could be cheaper. I also use a TPMS - it's good insurance and I do monitor the temp as well as the pressure.

Oooh, I do love the mountain graphics on your TC! I know, lots of people don’t, but I do! I’ll be interested to hear how you make out full-timing in the 1172, you probably have almost as much living space as I do in my little trailer, though I probably have more storage space. I know that how much space one feels comfortable in is an individual thing, but I sometimes wonder if I’ll want a bigger trailer (and truck) after a while.

Way to go! Two great success stories! Love it!!!

Oooh, very cool! Great looking rig and congrats on the sale of your house. So how is life going in the RV?

The couple I filled up at last year accepted Visa. Don’t know about all of them, only the ones I stopped at.

This thread, which has gotten a little off-topic, has touched on a couple of issues and hit some nerves. One issue brought up is the fact some campground owners/managers don’t maintain their properties well. But that happens with apartment buildings, too. 30 years ago my BIL had a nice two story apartment. It was new, well maintained and the complex a nice community. He lived there for 10 years, until whoever owned it stopped fixing things and the better tenants started moving out. I drove past it last summer and couldn’t believe how awful it looked, a complete slum. Another issue, and I think the original point, is that there does seem to be a growing movement to choose full-time living in an RV set up permanently in a park as an alternative to living in a manufactured home, getting an apartment or buying a house, especially in large urban areas or where housing is limited and expensive. A used 10 year old 5er is cheaper to buy than most manufactured homes. The people who are part of this group aren’t necessarily interested in RVing as a mobile lifestyle, only as a way they can afford to have a roof over their heads. They may or may not realize how much maintenance an RV requires, many do what they can afford to do, while others might not care. Just like renters and homeowners in that same urban area. Recently I spent a couple of nights at the campground where I had lived the last 4 months I worked, when my trailer was brand new. 3 years ago I paid $925 a month site fee (winter rates, higher in the summer, electricity included), and that was about half the cost of a small 1 bedroom apartment near where I worked. Now they charge $1100 a month, winter rate (don’t know if that’s year-round or not). This is an older campground near Magic Mountain and a relatively convenient commute to the San Fernando Valley and West LA so we are talking very major, expensive urban area. When I wandered around, there were no open sites in the month-to-month section and many of the same rigs were there. Since there were no open sites, even at $1100 per month and not the cheapest park in the area, people thought it still a reasonable way to live, with all the rigs well maintained and no tarps in sight. Most of the time I lived there, it appeared I had no way to move my trailer as my TV was at the house 40 miles away. I was commuting in a Prius, usually backed in because it was easier to pull straight out at 5am, but also it was my little private joke. I actually had someone ask me if it pulled my trailer all right (my trailer is small but not THAT small!). That gave me a good chuckle. The people living there all had their own stories, one couple sold their house and were living in their 5er while their son was in college. Some were part of the full-time RV community who remain mobile (either following work or following the seasons). Some were looking for a more affordable permanent living situation and saw an RV as a cheaper alternative and better than living with parents or other family. Like others, I have seen other campgrounds with poorly maintained RVs in them. Those people all have their stories too. Some may not care, some may be doing the best they can and would make considerate neighbors. At least for now, RV ownership as an alternative permanent living condition seems to be here to stay, especially around urban areas such as the greater LA area.

Sounds like an excellent plan - taking some time off here and there. Finding balance. I'm in the opposite end of things - the house is done, just needs normal housekeeping to keep it in model home/show condition. The trailer is mostly organized, certainly enough for a camping trip. I've been sitting around doing very little recently, just waiting for the contractor to do something about the septic system. As soon as that's done, I'm going to go camping somewhere for a while. No idea where, but somewhere that's not too crowded and not too hot. I envy you your Wyoming location. I've never been in Casper but I've traveled around other places in your state and love what I've seen. Construction? I looked back at some of my previous posts and noticed that I said the septic contractor was talking about the first week in July. He's now saying the end of next week (last week in July), maybe it'll be done the first week of August? Yes, it always seems like construction projects take longer than you expect them to. There's always some part or tool you discover you don't have but need before you can go further. Or you order something and UPS loses it between their local office and your house. Or... Hope your wife is correct and you are on the road in September, looking for warmer places than Wyoming in the winter.

How are others doing for this year's class? Any new stories, people ready to put their houses on the market or recent sells? My septic system issue still hasn't been solved, though the paperwork has been written up and will be submitted to the county tomorrow, I think, new estimated date for construction end of next week. And no one is looking at the house, so I'm now discouraged. I've re-listed the house as a 2 bedroom plus bonus room which reflects how it's legally configured and because the only practical way to solve the septic system issues is to size it for a 2 bedroom. But that also means that even fewer people will bother to look at it. So I'm discouraged, wondering how to get anyone to actually look at it (it shows well once people walk in the door). Open houses aren't working now, no one showed up at the last one. So how are others doing? Improvements made? RVs purchased? Lessons learned, positive experiences? Plans working out?

I think Kirk's comments are right on. I'm not necessarily the best person to answer since my house hasn't sold yet so I'm not a full-timer. I'm also solo, something that's not uncommon but isn't the norm. On the other hand, I have spent a lot of time in my RV, both living in it at one spot (4 months), as well as taking multi-month trips, some covering a lot of miles and others being more of a wandering, where will I go tomorrow or gee, this is a great place, think I'll stay here for a while type of trip. I've stayed at a number of different types of camping situations from lovely, destination type campgrounds to open camping somewhere. It's all about attitude. My experience is that I take my health and fitness attitudes with me. I can be as active or a sedentary as I want. If I'm feel lazy, I don't get any exercise. If I'm staying somewhere that doesn't promote walking, I'll stay inside on the computer or watch movies up to a point, I get bored with such things easily. If I'm camped near a national park or somewhere with fascinating places to go hiking, I'll be at the trailhead with my camera(s) early because that's what I enjoy. As far as food goes, if I've driven a lot of miles (350 is a lot for me) and had to break camp in the morning and set up later on, I can almost guarantee I'll pull something out of the freezer for dinner, the last thing I want to do is go somewhere to find something to eat. Doesn't matter if it's a market or a restaurant - I'm tired and just want to sit. I figured that out very quickly, my original intention had been to carry less food and buy locally but quickly discovered that wasn't practical for me as a solo RVer. Now I carry more food and make sure I build in "down days" whenever I'm traveling. That way I'm more likely to eat properly and not depend on Stouffer's. Local farmer's markets? Too often I'm camping where such things don't happen. In fact, most of the time I'm camping where there's only limited local markets and their choice of produce and products could be very limited. That's my own personal choice for camping. My personal experience is that traveling RVers have to have a certain amount of agility and ability to do things because that's the nature of it. Current rigs don't necessarily take a lot of strength but you still have to bend over or squat down for hookups, moving stuff around if you set up chairs or a grill on your front patio, etc. I have to have the ability to climb a ladder to clean off my roof-mounted solar panels, do roof maintenance and clean the slide roof since I don't have a slide awning. That's the nature of my rig. Would I lose those agility things sooner if I didn't have an RV? Perhaps, but perhaps not (houses take more effort and energy for housework and basic upkeep, too). I had a reasonable amount of fitness when I bought my RV, about 4 months before I retired. My fitness level does seem to go up when I'm living in the RV - I have a small trailer and it's harder to be lazy in it. Plus as a part-timer, I've been camping somewhere I want to visit, whether it be for a couple of days, a week or whatever. That in itself means I'm active. Will that continue once the house sells? Probably, because it drives me nuts to be stuck at the house for more than a month or so.

Lots of good points in the article. I have a certain amount of expectations about what full-time life in my RV will be like, they are still just expectations. They are just guesses and as her article brings out, guesses and plans are all subject to change as life goes on. Thanks for posting the link.

I agree with you about condos and apartments, I never do well living in them. I get claustrophobic when I’m surrounded by concrete, not when I’m in my little trailer parked somewhere out of the big city. But that’s me, others might feel differently. I think if I were to buy a big RV and just put it permanently on a site in a campground, I might begin to feel the same way. The reason I hope to go full-time soon is so I can travel yet have as much time as I want to explore one area. RV life isn’t for everyone. As was already suggested, rent one first before buying, a good idea that I didn’t do. No regrets and I love my travel trailer that I’ve used extensively for 3+ years. If my house ever sells, I’ll go full-time in it. Noise is relative - I’ve camped with someone who complained that he couldn’t sleep with the traffic noise from I-10 which I didn’t notice. His TC has the same insulation my TT. When it comes to food prep, make sure you choose a floor plan that allows you to do as much or as little as you want. I’m not much of a cook, so I don’t need as much as some people would want. I do think about security when I camp, since I’m solo and not very big. If I don’t like the looks of the campground, I’ll move on. I check online reviews of wherever I’ve stayed, choosing ones that have better ratings. I like variety, so one day I might be at a more expensive, lots of amenities type of campground and then a couple of days later I might be boondocking on BLM land somewhere with few people around. I’ve only once camped where someone had too much to drink, and he happened to be a friend and was part of a group I was with. Others in the group took care of him and got him to bed. I won’t say it doesn’t happen, but I’ve never been in the situation where strangers got loud and obnoxious. I’ve run into noisy kids far more often. Use common sense when choosing campgrounds. If you don’t want to hear kids playing, don’t go to a campground that has all sorts of family activities, try an over 55 park. And yes, I’ve stayed at my fair share of campgrounds that have interstates on one boundary and train tracks on another, with an unrated road crossing on a third side (the train has to blow his horn like 3 times or something).

The idea of getting dressed and walking anywhere if nature calls in the middle of the night would not be something I would want to do. And what about washing dishes and pots and pans? You could do it with jugs of water and a bucket, then you would have to lug the bucket over to the bathroom to dump. Again not something I’d want to do. A space heater isn’t a bad idea with a couple of provisos, I use one when the temps are above freezing. When they dip below I run the furnace to keep warm air going down to the heated holding tanks. If you are going to use one for most of your heating, you would have to winterize your plumbing system and not use it at all. I would rather run the main furnace, use the fresh water tank as much as possible, filling it with a heated water hose on warmer days, use my grey and black tanks sparingly and dump them when it’s warmer I guess. Maybe come up with a wind break, extra insulation or something along walls that have plumbing. The other thing you will have to deal with in a small trailer is condensation (walls and windows, perhaps under the bed). I would guess you would need a combination of ventilation and a dehumidifier. You could still have an issue with mold under the mattress if you have underbed storage exposed to an un-heated area.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was only one criteria for safe towing, and all vehicles of a particular model had the same capability? But it doesn’t work that way. Length matters. Frontal area matters. Weight matters. Tongue weight matters. My first 2 years of towing my travel trailer was spent with a TV that was under all of the weight ratings, GCWR, payload capacity, tongue weight, frontal area, axle ratings. Trailer had a tongue weight of 12-13%, so it was loaded properly. But I didn’t know about that trailer length chart. According to that chart it was at the max for length for the TV. I didn’t have a problem with power, but I sure felt like I was getting blown around when driving in strong cross-winds. Last year I upgraded to a new 2018 F150, 4x4, FX4, Lariat, super crew with 145 wheel base, 3.5 eco boost engine, max tow package with power towing mirrors but without sunroof or power extending running boards. The sticker on the door says that the payload is 1528 lbs (up from my former TV which was rated at 1050 lbs), plenty for me and my rig, even though I was adding equipment and weight I hadn’t carried before. If I were to have bought the same truck with a sunroof or a higher trim level, the payload would have been less, and if I had bought an XLT 2WD without the FX4 package, it would be higher. My trailer, at 5500 GVWR, is well under the truck’s tow weight rating, no matter how you compute it. While I’ve only been towing with it for 1 year and the truck has less than 20,000 miles on it, 17,000 of them have been towing that same trailer with the same WDH. It’s well under the length chart for the 145 wheelbase and the difference towing in the wind is huge. The mpg is mildly better than the previous TV (regular V6) which surprised me, I assumed I would get less with the heavier truck and twin turbos. It also has quite a bit more power - I innocently (not knowing anything about the road) chose to go to Death Valley on my first ever RV trip, driving Towne Pass with its long 7-10% grades. That scared me so much I wouldn’t go home the same way, choosing to go a long way around to avoid that pass. I returned in December driving the F150, towing the same trailer, and had no particular issue either direction. So my particular F150 is an excellent TV for my particular small trailer. I could probably tow a slightly bigger trailer without an issue. Would it make an adequate TV for a trailer 5 or 6 feet longer and 10,000 lbs? I don’t think so, and after towing with my first TV, which turned out to be more marginal than the numbers indicated, I sure wouldn’t do it.

I got the same email, would really like to try that sometime! Maybe just a marketing gimmick but maybe they will expand it to the point they would deliver to my truck when I’m camped somewhere on BLM land 30 miles from some little town. Or not. I can dream, can’t I? A friend of mine who was boondocking near Mesquite this winter had at least one package delivered to the UPS Store there. So that might be another option.

Collier is a possible alternative and they do take reservations. You might want to check their website for availability. They do allow walk-ups if they aren’t full, but will only let you stay one night unless you go online and book extra nights. Or at least that was their policy this past September when I stayed there. Apparently their website allows one to book a site up to midnight the night before, so they can’t say the site would be available for additional nights.

When I was looking for a small trailer 4 years ago, I was surprised at how few higher quality, smaller trailers there are. The ones that were being made were a lot more expensive than the majority of the ones I saw. I ended up ordering one of the more expensive brands and have been very happy with it. I’m planning on starting full-timer life in that same trailer when the house sells. If I decide it’s too small for full-timing later on, I would look at trailers from the same manufacturer first. So my thought would be to not buy cheap if buying new. If your budget is more limited, I would look at the same trailers used. It depends on what you are looking for. I would not rule out some of the independent or smaller manufacturers. Some of that may depend on your location, when it came down to my final 2 choices, one (Lance) was manufactured not far away and I could buy from a dealer who did not charge delivery charges. There are some manufacturers who seem to put out higher quality units than others, but even they can miss something in production. The big thing is to either buy from a dealer with a good service department and/or a manufacturer that has good customer service. Good luck with your search.

Pepper spray could be an issue - I've been asked about it before. I carry bear spray which is legal. But there's size requirements, I got the impression that small containers that are more like pepper spray containers might be an issue. Mine was originally purchased in Banff so mine meets their standards (and I have been questioned fairly closely about it once). Leftovers might be an issue. There's rules that I don't remember all of about meat like sausage that's not in commercial containers so I've usually just tossed something like that before crossing. I've never been chosen for a secondary inspection when I've gone into Canada so don't know what it's like.

Mine got left in Seward AK last summer. Glad to know I’m not the only one who does that!

And then there are folks who buy a timeshare resale for 1/4 or less of the developer price, figuring out which type of system will suit their travel needs the best and then use it for years. Yes, they are pre-paying their vacations, but if done right and used constantly, it can be cost effective over time. Could I have spent less money on those same vacations by staying in cheap motels and eating at McDonalds? Probably, but I was done staying at fleabag motels and eating junk food. Which is why I’m following this thread with great interest. I was that happy timeshare owner for 20 years, selling it only after I had used my RV for 2 years and decided I liked it better than the timeshare. 3 years ago I looked at membership campgrounds but came to the conclusion after a year that they didn’t suit my particular part-time travel style. Now that I’m going to be a full-timer once the house sells, I’m wondering if I would use one enough to make it cost-effective while also fitting into my particular life style. I haven’t reached a conclusion yet, and probably won’t for at least a few months and most likely not before spring as I have other plans for the winter. It’s great to discuss the pros and cons of membership campgrounds, various membership clubs like Passport America and KOA or not using anything. One will be the right answer for one person but the wrong answer for another. Thats why the various systems survive, they meet the needs of some people.

I have a checklist for everything. One for what to bring, one for setting up camp, one for breaking camp, one for shopping before a trip. The what to bring is the one I use most, I try to go through it every time I go somewhere. One of my problems is that my trailer is set up with all its own stuff like dishes, towels, sheets etc. That means that most things are already stored away and all I have to do is pack clothes and food and go. Or at least that’s the way it can work, most of the time. But then I’ll run out of batteries in the house and use the stash in the trailer, without putting them back. Mine is a compilation of several lists I’ve found on the Internet then adapted to my particular rig. It’s now marked up as I’ve added and deleted things. The set-up and break camp lists are shorter. They are in order of events. Those are specific to each type of rig. Won’t most rental companies have them? It can be as simple as: 1. level, 2. chock wheels, 3. unhitch trailer (maybe), 4. put down stabilizers, 5. run out slide. Now there’s sub tasks under some of those tasks, and I would probably hook up utilities (if any) before running the slide out, but it doesn’t matter with my trailer where in the order they are done. The one thing I always do after I’m ready to go is to walk around my rig and site and physically touch such things as the electrical box (someone got a nice EMS I left once), water faucet (did my pressure reducer get put away as well as the right angle coupler on the trailer), windows, and so on. At the same time I’ll check the lights on the trailer.