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Still A old trailer and a 87-96 Ford F250 or the later votec powered Chevy Silverado 2500 K Series PU truck with that is mechanically sounds to haul the trailer and even if a half ton can tow it having the extra beefed up frame and Running Gear heck my 91 F250 is built to go through all the conditions I could come across in the PNW and I tow and go camping and Fishing in it.
I have a decent camperette that is made for colder climates and it is not bad since I go and use it every season and the PNW is pretty rugged so a maybe a 24 foot trailer a 36 foot trailer would be useless but it could be a great place to use as a backup to the hunters cabin and my truck and HD off-road 3-season Camper combo.
I was thinking ahead 11 years when my son leaves for college and I plan on hitting the road for a year. I like the Airstream vs RV.
Travel trailers and popups etc are RVs despite what some may claim. They are "Recreational Vehicles" unlike mobile homes meant to stay in one place for long periods of time.
anyone here own a teardrop trailer? Those things are nifty.
They're really too small to live in. I see them occasionally in the campgrounds. Those small A-frames are also too small to live in and neither of these has a toilet. Neither has space for a port-a-potty.
Over the years I've owned and camped in every kind of a camping vehicle or device available, from various tents to three different fifth wheel trailers. There is no perfect camping vehicle, there is a draw back to everything. If you tow a camp trailer you can't take your boat with you also. If you use a pickup camper, you can take your boat, but the camper is usually always left on the pickup, so if you go someplace you may lose your camp spot. If you use a fifth wheel trailer you have no room in the back of your pickup for your 4 wheeler ATV. A tent works well, but is not so comfortable, if you use a cargo trailer it is better than a tent when it rains. A tent trailer works fairly well, but are not warm when it's cold outside, even when they have a furnace, and setting them up gets to be a pain. Nothing is perfect, however the newer fifth wheel 'toy haulers' comes close, but it is good to have a diesel pickup to tow it. Currently I pull a 22 foot fifth wheel trailer. The size is big enough to be comfortable, but not so big you can't get into just about any camp ground with narrow roads and limited space. The draw back to these trailers is the cost, they are more expensive than an older two wheel pull trailer, but much better to tow. Motor homes are the very most expensive camping vehicle, expensive to insure, expensive to license, expensive to repair, and not something that is fun to drive, but you can tow your boat.
A small old cheap Trailer two can live in, fits anywhere.
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Originally Posted by totsuka
I was thinking ahead 11 years when my son leaves for college and I plan on hitting the road for a year. I like the Airstream vs RV.
- What to look for in buying a used Air Steam? Its there a common "problem" with them?
- Is it a pain to move around/find a place to park them? I want to hit a lot of states, not dirt roads, but some out of the way places.
- I was going to start my search for a good used one about 3 years before I need it. Too far out?
Tks
Five years ago I got the same bug, wanting to buy an "Airstream". I traveled all over Oregon looking for a good used one. I found they were expensive for just being a camping vehicle/trailer. I ended up buying an Argosy, which is almost the same as an Airstream, except with a painted exterior. I paid $1800 for a 22 foot trailer that needed some work on the inside. The bathroom was in the rear and next to the bathroom was the 'walk thru' bedroom, which was a single bunk on each side with an isle between them. Next was the kitchen and the living room in the front. The draw backs aren't as many as you might think. I didn't like the two single bunk beds, and the trailer was heavy for only being 22 feet in length. I suspect there are different floor plans available, but another thing I noticed was storage space was limited. The design of an Airstream is supposed to make it easy to pull, the roof is rounded off, and that limits storage space in the top of the cupboards. The cost is the main drawback of a used Airstream.
Still A old trailer and a 87-96 Ford F250 or the later votec powered Chevy Silverado 2500 K Series PU truck with that is mechanically sounds to haul the trailer and even if a half ton can tow it having the extra beefed up frame and Running Gear heck my 91 F250 is built to go through all the conditions I could come across in the PNW and I tow and go camping and Fishing in it.
I have a decent camperette that is made for colder climates and it is not bad since I go and use it every season and the PNW is pretty rugged so a maybe a 24 foot trailer a 36 foot trailer would be useless but it could be a great place to use as a backup to the hunters cabin and my truck and HD off-road 3-season Camper combo.
I know a guy who lived for a couple years in a pop-up camper. He rented space for it next to someone's pole barn where it was sheltered from winds and had a tarp over and around it for an air buffer but I think his rent covered use of a back bathroom/shower in their mobile home. This was in far north Michigan.
It actually looked cozy enough, he had plenty of blankets and sleeping bags, a television and coffee maker inside it and mostly he just needed a place to sleep while he saved up money -- he then bought a pretty nice house.
Over the years I've owned and camped in every kind of a camping vehicle or device available, from various tents to three different fifth wheel trailers. There is no perfect camping vehicle, there is a draw back to everything. If you tow a camp trailer you can't take your boat with you also.
Assuming the RV owner is into boats. Boat owners are better served by a Class-B, C or A. That is unless they have a toad they're already pulling behind them. The Class-B would better serve then.
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If you use a pickup camper, you can take your boat, but the camper is usually always left on the pickup, so if you go someplace you may lose your camp spot.
We see PU campers left at campsites all the time while the people have gone off with the PU truck. You don't lose a paid for site. If you're boondocking it doesn't matter.
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If you use a fifth wheel trailer you have no room in the back of your pickup for your 4 wheeler ATV.
This is true if you're a ATV junkie. Most campers are not into ATVs... perhaps more exist out in the west.
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A tent works well, but is not so comfortable, if you use a cargo trailer it is better than a tent when it rains. A tent trailer works fairly well, but are not warm when it's cold outside, even when they have a furnace, and setting them up gets to be a pain. Nothing is perfect, however the newer fifth wheel 'toy haulers' comes close, but it is good to have a diesel pickup to tow it.
They're also pretty expensive and used ones can be hard to find. Tent-trailers? You mean pop-up campers I assume. They're hard to both heat and cool. A step above a tent.
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Currently I pull a 22 foot fifth wheel trailer. The size is big enough to be comfortable, but not so big you can't get into just about any camp ground with narrow roads and limited space. The draw back to these trailers is the cost, they are more expensive than an older two wheel pull trailer, but much better to tow.
You can find really good deals on 5th wheels over a few years old. Let the original owner take the depreciation hit. They not much more than used TTs. Craigslist is an excellent place to look. Secondly are the RV dealers. You do get the most bang for your buck with 5th wheels. We didn't get one because we want to tow with a large van. You can't tow a 5th wheel with a van.
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Motor homes are the very most expensive camping vehicle, expensive to insure, expensive to license, expensive to repair, and not something that is fun to drive, but you can tow your boat.
That would mainly apply to the newer Class-As. Not so much to slightly "used" Class-Cs.
Well if you wanted the coolest badass Bug out Conversion van then look no further since it is all old easy to work on Full size 3/4 ton van that uses the same parts as the full-size trucks for the drive train and well painted up all black and built to be intimidating and get you out of heavily populated areas in case of a emergency then this is one way to go and building it you would learn about the vehicle and well it would be on rugged camper van that you could use to take fishing camping or off-roading.
Plus the van is able to push or pull out other cars and help people out or move dead cars out of the way in a emergency say like a flood and a person in a compact cars hydrolock their engine and abandons it water is rising and you need to move it.
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A small old cheap Trailer two can live in, fits anywhere.
Most campers are not into ATVs... perhaps more exist out in the west.
