Well, I done did it - bought a travel trailer

[Walt34]

My motto is: "Yeah, it gets lousy mileage for a car, but it gets great mileage for a house."

Thanks, I'll be sure to tell her that, and myself to do the math on the mileage numbers. It'll probably not look so bad if I see the numbers.

 

[Bram]

"Yeah, it gets lousy mileage for a car, but it gets great mileage for a house."

I love that! We'll have to chant that as we head east in a couple of months.

 

[dex]

We will be towing it with our Honda Odyssey. The dry weight is about 2500#, vs. the tow rating on the van of 3500#. The trailer itself was a shade over 13k. Dealer fees and hitch, etc. add to that figure.

The 2008 that weare buying has a 25 gallon fresh water tank (32 gal grey water and 25 gal black water). The 2007 and earlier have much smaller tanks, which is why we ended up buying new rather than finding a used one. Fun finder actually makes the 139, which is smaller than the 160 and would be ideal as a small trailer for two people.

We thought about a motorhome, but the purchase price, higher maintenance and insurance costs, and crappier gas mileage were big deterrents. If I had known I could find something that would suit us this inexpensively, I would have done it a while ago.

you should check to see if you need a weight distribution hitch and an anti-sway bar. The transmission cooler and other items recommended about are a good idea also.

 

[Midpack]

That's great for you, congratulations. We hope you enjoy it immensely...

 

[brewer12345]

you should check to see if you need a weight distribution hitch and an anti-sway bar. The transmission cooler and other items recommended about are a good idea also.

Yup, will have aweight distributing hitch, anti-sway bar, brake controller and all the rest.

Incidentally, Yahoo Groups has a fun finder owners group which has been very helpful.

 

[dex]

Please let us know how the towing goes with your set up.
If I were to get something bigger; I would get your trailer.
You really don't need something bigger unless you are going full time with two or more people.
The only thing I miss with my Casita is a chair that you can recline a bit in when reading. The seats are all straight backs.
I can't wait to hit the road.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Congrats Brewer--I walked through a very similar camper at a trailer show last year and really liked that layout and recommended it to my sis who has 3 kids--yours will have a blast playing in there! I think these are a much better choice than popups, which are a huge amount of work to set up and take down.

And I recommend that you outfit it with all of the linens, cooking utensils, gear and what-have-you as soon as is reasonable, and keep it packed all the time. That way you can go somewhere on the spur of the moment and your DW will not feel the weight of all that packing to get y'all out the door!

I keep our motorhome all packed all the time--including clean sheets, towels, and dishes. Everything but the ice and beer! This way, when we get home from a trip, I can take my time with washing and repacking stuff and it is all done when we want to go somewhere.
Have a great time camping with the family!

 

[thefed]

brewer: glad you did your research! ive seen too many people doing too many unsafe things.

do me a favor and let me know how the van does. i really would entertain the idea if my wife would approve... and im pretty sure the nissan specs are similar

if you ever pass a weigh station or scrap/junkyard, stop by for a weigh. either or should do it for free...just for s+G

 

[Dawg52]

Brewer Brewer Brewer. You could have invested this money in NM and doubled your money. This thing is gonna depreciate. Oh well, you do what you have to do.

 

[igsoy]

Boy, this thread brings back memories of traveling in our VW camper (hippy bus) when I was a kid. One big fold out bed for the adults, one narrow canvas sling bed in the pop top, one bigger canvas sling bed over the front seats, and a tiny little kid bed. Had a pull out table and a pump-action sink, but no other amenities. I guess you don't worry about showers too much when you are on the road in the hippy bus.

I remember it stalling all the time at stoplights and us kids would have to jump out to push it for a jump-start.

Camping trips were the only time we were allowed to have sugar cereal for breakfast eating out of those little boxes. Good times

 

[HFWR]

Second the tranny cooler; trannies hate being to hot...

We had a Starcraft pop-up for a family of six. Plenty of room...

Lots of family trips to state parks and such as a kid... Many good memories!

 

[REWahoo]

Brewer, I almost feel bad about posting this. Don't be too hard on yourself for buying your Fun Finder rather than holding out for this classic. Note the wings:

1972 shasta with wings 35 years young

 

[HFWR]

Brewer, I almost feel bad about posting this. Don't be too hard on yourself for buying your Fun Finder rather than holding out for this classic. Note the wings:

1972 shasta with wings 35 years young

Kewl...

I had a 1969 Apache pop-up for fishing trips and the annual Crown swilling at the drag races. Oldie but a moldy! The problem was Apache was no longer in bidness, and you couldn't get many parts. Donated it to Salvation Army to get it out of my garage...

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Second the tranny cooler; trannies hate being to hot...

We had a Starcraft pop-up for a family of six. Plenty of room...

Lots of family trips to state parks and such as a kid... Many good memories!

Took a minute for that to register. Lol tranny cooler..ah its early and my brain is already in the gutter.