I recently was taken aside by a DOT inspector who was also my best man 20+ years ago. He heard of my late life (post 2nd stroke) purchures and travel plans and shared with me several words of DOT's wisdom. There are 100 things that need to be right but just one not in sync can ruin your day or worse. The info on the door panel is only for that vehicle stock, if your or dealer has altered anything you can get that info certified. For instance I knew that the area a will be drive to get in and out of my new home required adding 8" of lift to truck and trail, the road is a mixture between deep loose gravel and sharp shell rocks. Add to that it is one lane with two way travel, blind hair pin turn, with few pull off areas to allow passing and final strength have 300 foot drop offs and no lights I forget watermelon size rocks like land mines. The road is only 8 miles long but is only 3 miles by the crowfly, there is an elevation change of 2300 feet in the valley to just under 9000 feet when you enter the town, one mile climb in eight miles. On good day the trip can do in 45 minutes, if you don't overheat the typical temperature is 110f at the bottom and drops to 60-70 closer to town. I carry 2 full spare for both the F250 SD CC FX4 Diesel and the Thor 20TB hybrid toy hauler with a ATV and 1 dirtbike, extra fuels, full tools shop and a full 75 gallon water tank plus as much as it will carry. They are no repair shops or parts stores within 65 miles and no cellular service except from on top of the peaks, the town has no water and currently a population of 3 people and several the animals. No utility will service the area, although the road is country they don't have the resources to worry about a few, road repairs, propane, fuel, water, septic, electricity has to be done ourselves. Recently the Death Valley floods washed away the entire road. My F250 has been updated, extra large radiator and coolers on transmissions 4 wheels parts, cooler on oil, brakes [trip down with full payload and towing is not only hard on the truck brakes and transmission but the trailers brakes were beefed up and customized, I am hitting the trailers brakes first and harder to control the whole rig from sliding. So with that in my head my buddy beats into me that when possible only carry enough water and food little as possible wait til your are near destination to stock up. Balance the loads in trailer and in the truck, the trail and truck need to be level before you start every trip, tire pressure checked when tire are cold [not hot] all tires should be on a monitor system, the trailer braking should be set every morning and during long trips. Improper tire pressure and unbalanced loads and the two being level is the cause of most towing accidents. Maintain a lower speed, don't use speed control, practice grapping the trailers brake control and slam it just the trailer starts to swing, you must slow the trailer not the truck you have only 3 swings before it flips. Keep the trailer braking system clear of everything and be trained to hit that first not the trucks brakes. It not enough to match the two vehicles but make should they are able to handle the conditions and environment where you are going. I am doing final mods to truck trailer and my toys, I plan to be up the mountain before the snow season start in Oct. As far as have extra space, outside kitchen and entertainment area, the loading ramp can be made into an enclosed patio area and I have added a 270 Bat wings on both my truck and on the trailer opposite side of the awning this shades the pop out tent bed, the back stays living and garage. With the options we can enclose the ramp surface, the Thor's awning 16 feet wide and both the batwings. If you are looking for area living area this is the best way I've seen, my late project is to setup the back part of the roof for my new auto tracking telescope on mount, nice chair and cooler maybe small BBQ for ISS/Star watching and mounting an extendable tower for a ham radio antenna. The roof surface will be max out. The new Couchman Freedom Express or can't remember the other toy hauler with outside kitchen and live room inside. both under 30 feet and 6000 pounds.
