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I am 4 trips into owning a small travel trailer for me, my wife and our two boys. This is stuff I have noticed. We were backpackers for a long time, so for us the transition has been pretty easy. We did buy a lot of stuff anyway as ultralight backpacking gear is not always good for trailering. I had to buy a brake controller and install it. The proportional ones are way way better than the time delay I had initially. That thing was endlessly locking my wheels at slow speeds no matter how I set it. I am debating airbags or a weight distributing hitch as well as my Tacoma has a bit of sag when hooked up, even though the tongue weight is well below limits. What is your tow vehicle? Be ready for a moderate to massive hit to your mileage. Keep in mind dry weight and actual weight are no where near each other. When you add yourself, partner and two kids, thats over 300 lbs, then the tongue weight, and some gear and before you know it you are maxed out. Unless you have a big F250 or something. Plan to cruise no more than about 65, and to lose all your speed climbing hills. Try to keep the tongue weight around 10-15% of trailer weight, and you def don't want it light unless you want to fishtail. Before your first trips, go to an empty parking lot and learn to back in. It is not an intuitive skill, and even though I have towed boats to and from the ramp many times, the travel trailer is a bit different. When towing, think ahead on your route, especially in parking lots and gas stations. I learned the hard way how much it sucks to back a short trailer down a dirt road. We bought some small storage bins for clothing and cookware. They secure easy and pack fast. This way we can decide to go and be out the door in an hour. We had to buy some plastic pads for the stabilizers, and wheel chocks as well. You probably also want a lock for the hitch so you can leave the trailer with a bit more peace of mind. We have some little solar lanterns, they charge in a few hours, last all night on low setting, and use way less energy than the house battery. We try to save the battery for our fridge. Try different ways to secure everything inside when you travel. I am still trying stuff that does not result in gear moving around. I added a solar panel and a Lifepo4 battery. Still new, but the ability to get drat near 100 ah out of a 100ah battery vs 1/2 that for a AGM is pretty awesome, even better as it weighs a lot less. I have a small generator, but I am glad I did not bring it.
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Sep 22, 2020 19:39
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Golden info. Thank you. I am on the big end of RVs and tow vehicles. I have a new gen expedition with the heavy tow package so not only do I have a upgraded shocks, coolers, etc, I have the trailer backup assist. I still plan on taking your advice and running it up to a closed mall to learn how to back in with it. RV is heavy but I picked it because its a full 2k pounds less than the capabilities of the truck to account for people and stuff. Im concerned about fuel mileage but I guess thats just the name of the game.
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Sep 22, 2020 20:50
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Travel trailers are awesome, we had one when I was a kid and a small popup for years as well. But I’m absolutely loving my rooftop tent and all the places you can go with it! The big downside is once you’re parked you’re parked but it’s pretty quick to tear down. Also the lack of electricity and running water and all the other modern conveniences of a trailer. But it sure beats sleeping in a ground tent.  
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Sep 22, 2020 22:54
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Syano posted:Hey RV friends. I am picking up my very first travel trailer this week and would love some advice if someone wants to take the time to get it. I have already scheduled 3 trips, a 1 night and 2x 2nights. Can some of you veterans drop some knowledge on an RV newbie. What do I need to know? What should I bring? What should I NOT bring? What are the things you wish you knew before you got started? Thanks team! Your not on the big end with an expedition. Its a half ton SUV. Your camper is probably well under its towing capacity but well over its payload via tounge weight. Just make sure your good setting up the weight distribution hitch. If your making a right hand turn, start wide, pull as far out into the intersection as you can and then try to make a 90 degree turn and follow the yellow line until your campers tires are clear of the curb. For that matter, know the total length of your vehicle and plan fuel stops accordingly. Don’t try to get gas at any old station, tight ins and outs don’t work. Flying J usually has some nice RV lanes. Make sure your tires are good on the camper. Know, and don’t exceed the speed rating. Inflate them to the max. The stabilizer jacks aren’t leveling jacks. Level it with boards or yellow blocks under the wheels and the front jack before you put the stabilizers down. Don’t leave the black tank open if you have hookups. Let that thing fill up before you dump it and use plenty of water when you flush. I usually let the water run down the black tank flush port for 30 minutes before I call it good enough. Make sure the black tank valve is open before you connect the flush hose. Make sure you have hoses, extensions and power adapters for the camper. Other than that, its not bad.
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Sep 22, 2020 23:31
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Some knowledge dropped right there dude. I got to learn about my extended Expedition with the towing package and brake controlled installed and tongue weight the hard way. It seems like it's easy to miss and I was surprised how easily it was to hit that number. And gently caress towing an airstream it still felt like I was a giant kite at 50mph drained my 30 gallon tank quickly. I think I was at 5-7 mpg?
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Sep 23, 2020 01:51
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Im not well over the tongue capacity. I understand the capabilities of my vehicle and bought what I could tow. I appreciate the concern though!
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Sep 23, 2020 01:59
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Syano posted:Thanks team!  is this a psyop
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Sep 23, 2020 13:50
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Or just the overriding inner need to feel part of something that drove me to spend multiples of thousands of dollars on a poorly built home on wheels when I have a perfectly good home already
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Sep 23, 2020 15:11
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I've a question r.e. drinking water. I have a 70l tank in my van and ideally I'd like to use it for everything including drinking. It looks like my options are either to give up and buy bottled water, or to get a General Ecology or similar sub 0.5 micron filter which costs hundreds. Is there a cheaper way of guaranteeing safe drinking water from the tank or is this as good as it gets? Also any tips on cleaning a water system where your tank doesn't have a proper drain cock? I can always rejig some stuff so the tank is really easy to remove for cleaning but if there's a good in situ solution I'm all ears.
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Sep 23, 2020 19:28
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What was in the tank before?
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Sep 24, 2020 14:46
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Nothing, as yet, but it's a purpose built water tank
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Sep 24, 2020 15:52
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Blacknose posted:Nothing, as yet, but it's a purpose built water tank It doesn’t have a low point drain? I would look in to adding that. As far as cleaning an RV fresh water tank, a little bit of bleach (a couple tablespoons), some water, long drive, flush and it should be ok. If your missing the flush, add it. Its vital for freeze protection. (Unless you never ever expose it to freezing weather)
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Sep 24, 2020 16:53
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It won't be exposed to freezing weather while containing any significant amount of water so not too worried about that. The outlet for the water pump is right at the bottom of the tank but leaves maybe 3mm clearance, so draining the very last bit of water if the van won't be used for a while isn't super easy.
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Sep 24, 2020 17:05
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Thats on par with most holding tanks, they'll get almost all of it but generally they'll be a little left. When you go to refill your tank leave the drain on to flush out the old, also sanitize it at the same time like rdb is saying. You can do a UV water filtration system and add the .5 micron filters if you really care.
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Sep 24, 2020 18:41
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Yeah I think I'll research treatments and get whatever the cheapest 0.5 micron filter I can find is. I guess if the van will be parked for a while removing the water tank for a clean isn't a huge hassle, I only need to move the pump and accumulator.
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Sep 24, 2020 21:58
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Doing a tank flush between seasons is something we all get to deal with. It's not a huge ordeal. The mini RO systems like what I'm using wastes a lot of water which cuts into the duration of boondocking.
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Sep 25, 2020 03:47
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I think an RO system would be overkill for mine, I'm likely to only be filling with chlorinated potable mains water. Kind of wish I'd never bothered with my hugely overengineered water system and just gone with jugs and a pump under the sink, but it's done now so 
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Sep 25, 2020 09:18
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Yeah so long as you're reasonibly diligent, any modernish potable tank will be fine with a flush with a cleaner. Just one of those yearly maintenance items.
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Sep 26, 2020 08:06
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 Thought I would throw a couple pictures of mine up. I made a semi permanent site for it, not thrilled with the plumbing job but it works. 50amp electric, sewer, water. I found a pile of gravel in the field and made some paths for it with my tractor. Once I get a dump truck or trailer I will put gravel underneath and make a path to the road for it, so its on a big U shaped loop. I have some old chunks of sidewalk that I want to put under the tires and jacks as well. Overall I am happy with it a month in. We replaced the lovely lippert mattress with one from costco, although it was a little bit bigger than the “rv king” that came out. 
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Sep 29, 2020 01:13
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Wife and I avoided camping all summer because of covid, we knew the campgrounds in Alberta would be fuckin packed this year while the kids were out of school, so we waited until September. Plus because fall camping, best camping, am I right? First trip was to a little county run campground north of us. Nice lake, lots of beavers, no fish though. Too shallow I guess?  New awning worked great, didn't stink of mildew and disappointment, 7/10 would recommend.  We had a nice spot, right on the lake, backing into the hill that surrounds the lake. It's a nice campground, but I wouldn't want to be here in the summer, it'd be hot.  Had to buy an el-cheapo grill because the firepits were just truck rims. We like to cook on the fire as much as possible.  Had a couple owls hooting up the place at night, that was neat. We canoed around the whole lake, took us about an hour.  Second trip was Beauvais lake provincial park, kinda near Waterton national park. Did some nice day hikes up the hill there, unfortunately the smoke coming in from Washington/BC obscured the view a little bit. Still was nice. Caught my first ever brown trout on this trip, tasted awesome.  I decided to make something to block the sun coming in through the roof vent above our bed, sometimes we like to sleep in and the darkness helps.   A layer of canvas that I had, and some blackout curtain material my wife had leftover from a previous project years ago. I also bought a dollar store brass ring to give it some rigidity and sewed that in there too. Used 3m painting hanger things to secure it, seems better than velcro for the job. Hand sewing this was a bit of a challenge, but it turned out ok. Angle's kinda funny here, it's hard to get a good picture of something designed to block light.  Third trip was to Sandy McNabb provincial park. We were lucky to be there during a chinook, I got some decent pictures of the arch. Trees were turning yellow before our eyes all weekend.   One of my favourite places to round out the season. 
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Sep 30, 2020 17:52
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We are new to travel trailers and are going on a 2 week trip at end of October from StL to Grand Canyon then Denver and back. I drove 18 wheelers for Air Force, so I am pretty comfy behind wheel of rig. We are rehabbing a 90’s Jayco we found for a steal. My wife runs an instagram account about it. Not sure on rules for linking that.
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Oct 1, 2020 00:49
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djfooboo posted:We are new to travel trailers and are going on a 2 week trip at end of October from StL to Grand Canyon then Denver and back. I drove 18 wheelers for Air Force, so I am pretty comfy behind wheel of rig. 
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Oct 1, 2020 15:12
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Heading out on our first shake down trip in a couple hours. Already teaching myself things. For instance, today I learned you have to turn your propane on if you want anything to run on propane.
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Oct 2, 2020 15:05
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djfooboo posted:We are new to travel trailers and are going on a 2 week trip at end of October from StL to Grand Canyon then Denver and back. I drove 18 wheelers for Air Force, so I am pretty comfy behind wheel of rig. So long as you (and your wife) are cool with releasing something like that into the wilds of the forum, go ham.
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Oct 3, 2020 01:27
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Elmnt80 posted:So long as you (and your wife) are cool with releasing something like that into the wilds of the forum, go ham. Yup, it's a public account. Friend us if you have the 'gram. https://www.instagram.com/ourtinyfamcamper/
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Oct 3, 2020 02:44
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Spent the holiday weekend going from this: Found 20 Years of gross   Building up a frame.  Finished out daybed! 
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Oct 13, 2020 00:09
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That turned out great, nice work!
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Oct 13, 2020 04:47
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Headed out for trip 2 this weekend. First trip went good. Only hiccup was having to move the trailer after setting up so the fresh water hose would reach. Solved that by buying 50 foot of hose. The sewer hose that came with the camper sucks and I know I'm going to need to upgrade/replace soon but I'm going to wait until its about ready to bite it before I do. I've found so many other things I'd like to upgrade first. The expedition with the husky center line pulled the trailer like a champ. Super happy we went ahead and pulled the trigger
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Oct 14, 2020 03:02
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My mom just bought a trailer for trips (not to live in!). What are some good gifts for a new trailer owner? I bought a small handheld vacuum and a bluetooth speaker. She's close to 70 and not a hiker or anything like that.
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Oct 15, 2020 07:43
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Carabiners, everywhere carabiners.
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Oct 15, 2020 12:46
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VelociBacon posted:My mom just bought a trailer for trips (not to live in!). What are some good gifts for a new trailer owner? I bought a small handheld vacuum and a bluetooth speaker. She's close to 70 and not a hiker or anything like that. Folding chairs Totes to store stuff BBQ tools Cookware for campfire Canopy for the picnic table Lantern/flashlights
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Oct 15, 2020 16:25
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Thanks for the suggestions guys.
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Oct 15, 2020 16:41
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Tablecloth and clamps for the picnic table Seating pads for the picnic table
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Oct 15, 2020 16:54
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Get her a lightweight aluminium folding table for chairside stuff around the campfire. They're around 20-30 bucks and easily one of my most useful camp items. Hatchet for firewood A pack of wand lighters for the stove/fire/bbq lighting Hot dog roasting sticks A 10 pound propane tank (holds lots, not too heavy to lug around for the stove/whatever) A small water tank for the picnic table and a tube of handsoap
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Oct 15, 2020 21:47
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Hello, I realized I can do my job from anywhere so I leveled up to ultra homeless. I'm hoping this cheap awning from amazon holds up for the 3-4 weeks I'll realistically last trying to live out of my truck before giving up. Also i just realized theres a great visual metaphor for this idea in the foreground. This is whats on the back of it 
ddiddles fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Oct 22, 2020 |
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Oct 22, 2020 01:33
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I for some reason never realized this thread was a thing. Oops. I've owned this Truck Camper & Truck for 2.5 years. Love it. We've been to about 40 of the lower 48 states, and should have the last 8 done in December. I've learned a metric poo poo ton since I bought it, and I continue to put more and more mods and things into it.  (I can't figure out how to make this image linked as thumbnails. Sorry.) TangoFox fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Oct 25, 2020 |
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Oct 25, 2020 04:48
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TangoFox posted:I for some reason never realized this thread was a thing. Oops. That looks bad rear end!
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Oct 25, 2020 14:22
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Thanks. It is fun! We can go basically anywhere we can get our truck (the beach, forest roads, some offroad trails). We don't go nuts and don't take it down jeep trails, but we can do pretty good otherwise. My wife loves it because she can have a comfortable bed at night, and heat/AC when we need it. One of the things I've learned over the past 3 years. There are fleet programs for diesel trucks (including pickups and RVs). You should never pay the posted/listed diesel price at a Truck Stop. I use TSD Logistics and I save about 50 cents a gallon. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with any for Gas RVs/Vehicles. TangoFox fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Oct 26, 2020 |
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Oct 26, 2020 01:27
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TangoFox posted:I for some reason never realized this thread was a thing. Oops. Nice setup! What did you do to get 19.5s onboard? What did you do for mods?
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Oct 26, 2020 01:29
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So I bought the 2008 3500HD in 2014. It was used, but had only about 60k miles on it, and I was able to get it (a $100k truck) for about 30k. To answer your questions about making the 19.5's fit, all I did was the Norcal fender mod (took about 2 hours?) and front leveling kit. After buying the truck, then the mods began. Since then, DPF Delete (this was the first year of EPA stuff on diesel so all it had was a DPF, no DEF). Custom EFI Live Tune. +150 HP/250 or so? Torque Added a 65 Gallon Titan Tank and replaced the OEM Tank. I had previously bought and installed an in-bed 45 gallon aux tank, but I didn't like the CG change it had to the bed, so I removed it. Added an AirDog 165 Fuel / Water Separator and Fuel Filter replacement setup. New Air Intake & K&N Filter. New Leaf Spring & changed the Gross vehicle weight rating (legally). New Firestone RideRite Airbags Front and Rear Rancho Adjustable Shocks Replaced the front lower and upper control arms with aftermarket. DMAX Front End Stage 2 with new Pitman and Idler arm. Idler Support Arm kit. New steering stabilizer (OE was JUNK). Alcoa 19.5 rims, 6x Toyo M608Z Offroad Tires. I'm using Arrowcraft 8x10 adapters. [That made for a fun story when one was installed improperly] Full size 19.5 steel spare with M608Z Tire (custom made a plate from ebay so that I can use the stock under bed location). Did the Front & Rear pads at the same time I installed these. Added Centramatic Balancers Leveling Kit (The Chevy normally squats kinda funny, so I just lifted the front with torsion keys). I did the Norcal Fender mod. Battery Tender (stays on the truck since I don't drive it all the time). Added Viair Onboard Air so I can actually inflate my tires and with an onboard air controller so I can control the airbags directly. AC/Heater Filter System (stock does not have one and the AC condenser gets disgusting.) Tireminder TPMS for all 6 (and soon to be additional 4 more tires, for a Jeep) Dual Bed Truck Bed Liner (rubber/plastic). Ranch Hand Bumper Front Hitch Receiver Replaced Rear Receiver with Superhitch (and subsequently added a Super Truss 48") CB Radio with FireStik 4x Rigid POD Lights, 2 spot, 2 beam. I think that's all? I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. Truck currently has 165k miles on it, and about 90k of the total mileage has been with the Truck Camper on the back. It rides like a dream. The 19.5's are STIFF, and it feels that way when you drive it around without the truck camper on the back. The open block Toyos have a really weird floating feeling, and they don't track the best, but they are, overall, very good tires. I have about 30k or 40k miles on them and there's still no wear on them. I did all the mods myself except the DPF Delete, Tune and Fuel tank Install. The Lance 1172 was also used, we've done a ton of mods to it too... TangoFox fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Oct 26, 2020 |
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Oct 26, 2020 02:13
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