Touring the USA

[Walt34]

Any ideas on how to approach the used market?

Educate yourself first, there are great deals to be found with research and most of all patience. A lot of people buy them, use them once or twice, it sits for a year or more (too long is very bad) and decide the RV/TT life is not for them.

There's a notice on the bulletin board of one for sale where I work - sign says "never been used".

Read RV.net - RV.Net RV and Camping Forum ? RV, Trailer, Camper, Motorhome, Camping and Campground Information. There's a lot of experience and knowledge there and they're happy to share it.

Unfortunately I have not yet been able to talk DW into buying one.

 

[HFWR]

So true. When I was researching buying a TT a few years ago I figured the max loaded gross weight I should have for my truck was 6,500 lbs (75% of rated capacity). A dealer tried to steer me to a much larger one saying "the empty weight is below your truck's capacity".

My response was "I'm not going to tow it empty. I'm going to tow it full". He was clearly not happy with that.

I'd just get back in my car and leave at that point. If they'll lie to you once...

 

[RetiringAt55]

The concern here is that I buy a TT and suddenly find out I need a new vehicle, and then a new house with a flat driveway!

That is the beauty of our TrailManor. It is as large as a 27' Trailer but it folds down to store in our garage. We can take it out any time we want. We tow it with our Dodge Durango so we didn't need to buy a truck. Also, we have a very sloped driveway and can back it right in assuming that we release the anti-sway bars on the hitch. You can get some good deals on used ones too.

 

[seraphim]

Class B camping vans are a nice option. Relatively small but can go anywhere. Good relative gas mileage. Can pull over anywhere. We recently changed to a truck camper because 3 or 4 weeks in a Class B was the most we could handle together. Lol. The truck camper has a slide and more room yet the truck can go anywhere. Like a small hotel room that can go places a larger unit or trailer cannot. Try going to RV. A great RV forum. Choose what's important for you to do and choose the appropriate style RV.

 

[seraphim]

Class B camping vans are a nice option. Relatively small but can go almost anywhere. Good relative gas mileage. Can pull over anywhere. We recently changed to a truck camper because 3 or 4 weeks in a Class B was the most we could handle together. Lol. The truck camper has a slide and more room yet the truck can go anywhere. Like a small hotel room that can go places a larger unit or trailer cannot. Try going to RV. A great RV forum. Choose what's important for you to do and choose the appropriate style RV.

 

[JoeWras]

Class B camping vans are a nice option. Relatively small but can go anywhere. Good relative gas mileage. Can pull over anywhere. We recently changed to a truck camper because 3 or 4 weeks in a Class B was the most we could handle together. Lol. The truck camper has a slide and more room yet the truck can go anywhere. Like a small hotel room that can go places a larger unit or trailer cannot. Try going to RV. A great RV forum. Choose what's important for you to do and choose the appropriate style RV.

With the truck slide in... Can you "deploy" it on site? In other words, if you get to base camp and want to stay a week, can you somehow get the camper off the truck and on some stands? Then you are free to drive around totally unimpeded.

I've seen these on the road, but never paid much attention at camp grounds. We're always stuck in the tent area anyway. So, I don't know how they work.

 

[meierlde]

I like hiking and I like bicycle touring. I've visited over 3 dozen national parks in the US, plus others in Canada. I've visited a few of them while on bike trips. Those include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, & Hawaii Volcanoes. Most national parks, however, I've visited in a rental car (since I live in the East and most national parks are in the West). I usually stay in motels during the car trips. The car trips were never more than 2 weeks long, so the rental car solution + flight worked for me. In fact, an ER friend & I will be leaving soon on one of those trips.

BTW, I haven't run into many restrictions on bikes in national parks other than the west side of Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier NP. Other parks, however, have some unpaved roads which wouldn't be practical on a touring bike, or for that matter, in a regular car. Canyonlands & Capitol Reef are two parks like that which come to mind.

Of course Canyonlands is also the capital of the mountain biking crowd. So at worst you could rent a mountain bike in moab and take it on the dirt roads Thats what the fat tires are for.

 

[padlin00]

I've seen a couple truck campers in campgrounds sans truck, but only a couple, though TC's are not common on the east coast. Unfortunately, the price for a truck and camper is about the same as for a B. RV'ing is not for the most part a poor mans hobby. Even my small 18' trailer (about the size of a B or a truck camper) has required me to buy a good size truck. I have heard that if you go used, do look for a top of the line unit. Chances are that if someone paid big money for it, they spent to keep it in top condition.

 

[REWahoo]

Unfortunately, the price for a truck and camper is about the same as for a B.

+1

All the truck campers I've seen are somewhat heavy and therefore require a big truck - in the F350 range - to carry them, adding to the cost factor.

 

[Rambler]

Also with a truck camper, remember that when you "gotta go" at night, you have to climb down from the cabover. I've got the F-350 now, and thinking about a TC for the shorter trips to campgrounds within a 4-5 hour radius and in state parks. The above noted issue has so far held me back from jumping in. I can only imagine how little sleep I would get if I have to get up thrice a night and have to do all that climbing up and down.

Seraphim, do you cope well with the ups and downs?

R

 

[padlin00]

It's not like you're climbing into a tree house, but it is one of the main reasons older folks get rid of them. Most of the nicer TC's require dual rear wheels on the 3/4 tons. You're talking 4000 lbs plus.