School me on travel trailer living

[Lumpy]

I may suddenly find myself in a situation where I will be able to live full time in a travel trailer. I have long dreamed of simply being able to hitch up my home and drag it wherever I want to be next. ETA: I'm thinking that a smaller trailer, less than thirty feet, maybe even less than twenty five feet, would be fine for me and allow me to go more places I am interested in, save a little fuel over a bigger trailer, and be easily maneuverable with an F150 sized pickup.

Pretend I know nothing about rv's, towing, life on the road, etc. I have no wife, kids, permanent job, or home and property holding me down, I do well being alone for much of the time and any contact I might have is with people I don't know, and I will be debt free and able to pay cash for anything. I have knowledge and experience with small solar and generator power and maintaining this equipment, and have family and good friends scattered all over North America to visit with and steal power and water from occasionally.

What could go wrong except for EVERYTHING?

[retired jerry]

The wife and I have had RVs for 12 years, trailers we hauled behind F-150 for 12 years before that.

F-150 will tow a medium small trailer like your talking about. Look at the gross carrying capacity label when you open your door. Weigh your vehicle at any state weigh station - you just get both wheels on the pad and there's a display that shows the weight. Wave at them - it's okay to do this but I feel a bit weird with all the huge trucks. Subtract to determine how much trailer you can haul. Subtract 10% for margin - if you go at the maximum then it's a bit unstable.

Trailers all have stickers with how much they weigh. They include weight with and without fluids.

Trailers aren't normally designed to be lived in full time. It'll wear out. Faucets are cheap crap for example.

You'll have to have some stuff done to your truck, like adding brake control for the trailer. Camping World is pretty good, although they'll rip you off a bit if they have the chance. A lot of places will rip you off a lot. As I remember, there's a device with a little pendulum inside, such that when you start braking the truck, the pendulum will rotate and activate a siwtch to start breaking the trailer. There's a wire that goes back to the trailer. There are some knobs to make it more or less sensitive.

Camping World has some publications. They'de probably recommend a good book for newbie.

I'de go on, but I'm leaving for a few days. I'de be happy to answer any other questions.

Trailer owners are in general, old retired people, that are more than happy to offer people advice

You typically "camp" a trailer where you can hook up to power and water and there's a drain for waste water. Most trailers have a battery you can use when not plugged in but it won't last long. Also a water tank for clean water, one for gray water, and one for black water. Probably you can do a day or two...

[kelkev]

My wife and I have a 22' travel trailer that we pull with a GMC Sierra 1500 (half ton) truck, and we love it. We generally camp in USFS campgrounds in the summer, and it serves as a great base camp for our day hiking adventures. A hot shower, refrigerator, stove/oven and comfortable beds have spoiled us. We don't frequent RV parks, or state parks much either - - too crowded and too noisy. I've found that most RV campers are fairly quiet and considerate; we've had just as many noisy tent campers for neighbors as we have RV camping neighbors. We don't really spend much time inside the trailer, usually just for sleeping and wet weather.

Jerry is right on with his comments. Yes, there is maintenance, storage, and many other things to consider, but all in all, it's been a great investment for us. I certainly wouldn't want to live in one "full time", but I suppose a larger trailer may work for some.

Kevin

[tednottodd]

We haul a little pop up around and I second many of the things RJerry has said. Trailers are not meant for living, so I would upgrade where you can. Do some research on the different makes and models, everyone has an opinion, but the most important thing is that you have your truck and trailer matched for weight as Jerry pointed out. I would also recommend that you look at transmission cooler for your truck. Most of the towing packages for vehicles include this. It's important when climbing that your transmission not get too hot. Make sure not to skimp on the wiring and the trailer brakes. There are plenty of places that do the work, smaller shops that install towing also generally do wiring. I would shop around.

Otherwise, just be mindful that you are now two when hauling. It will take longer to get from place to place, you will need to think ahead when pulling into out of the way places, make sure you always have a place to back up etc. You can't just pop into any store etc. Make a check list of things to do to before you leave a location so you don't forget to hook something up or stow some gear. It may sound like overkill, but I have overlooked obvious things and paid the price.

Have fun.

[Lumpy]

There has been some great advice and things to think about so far, thank you everyone!

I drove tractor trailers and dump trucks for a while part time a few years ago. I guess I didn't expect to need the advice about trip planning, maneuvering, hook up or drop checklist, etc, but it is still good to be reminded.

I have all winter to figure this out. There will have to be a lot of research to find out what will be the right thing for me to consider buying. Luckily I can buy a good pick up with brake controller and hitch already installed with warranty of I go with a new rig.

Keep the ideas coming!

[Limey]

We've also done a lot of rv camping. We did switch from a regular trailer to a fifth wheel and wished we had done it sooner. A fifth wheel pulls better and is much more maneuverable especially in those dispersed camping areas. We finally switched to a pickup camper which suits our needs now. With a camper you have the issue of having to load everything back up if you want to go a few miles to a trailhead or something. We only camp locally now so we take an extra rig for running around. If I were you I would really do some research about trailer versus fifth wheel.

[Aardvark]

If you plan on towing it much - buy a 3/4 ton truck if your planning on anything over about a 20 footer.

[cfm]

You could get one of these:

[kepPNW]

Trailers leak. Get one with the fewest seams possible. I'd definitely be looking at the smooth-sided ones if/when buying another.

People in RV parks are about as friendly as you'll ever run into. Sometimes, far too friendly!

Life with a trailer means never being in a hurry. Ever. Forget about it.

[Waffle Stomper]

Have you considered a fifth-wheel?