Travel Trailer vs Class A Advice??!!??

[abbdrey]

Hi Everyone! I am looking for some advice. We have always had Pop Up campers. We are thinking about finally upgrading to a travel trailer or Class A RV. My sister just bought a Kodiak travel trailer. She was sold on this one because it was an all fiberglass body. Does it really matter?? What do you consider the best travel trailer? Besides being able to drive the unit as opposed to hauling it, are there any other advantages to having a Class A? The Class A unit is definitely more pricey than the travel trailers. I am just wondering if they are worth the price difference. We usually just camp out at Fort Wilderness and have not done any real road trips. Thanks for your help!!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Thats a BIG question.
A lot depends on how you will use it.
Insurance is an issue since a class A will be a whole other vehicle vs the cost of insuring a trailer.
You will need a big enough vehicle to pull a decent size TT, if you are in the range of room typical of a class A, you are talking about a pretty big trailer. I use my daily driver truck to pull our trailer but it is a LOT more truck than I would have if we didnt have the trailer.
You can essentially equip a travel trailer with all the amenities of a class A, the biggest difference is how you get it down the road.
The way my setup works I end up with a daily driver truck, just as much room as most smaller class A units for much less than you can get a gas engine class A.

Thats a start, theres most likely a lot more debate coming on this.

Scott

 

[abbdrey]

Thats a BIG question.
A lot depends on how you will use it.
Insurance is an issue since a class A will be a whole other vehicle vs the cost of insuring a trailer.
You will need a big enough vehicle to pull a decent size TT, if you are in the range of room typical of a class A, you are talking about a pretty big trailer. I use my daily driver truck to pull our trailer but it is a LOT more truck than I would have if we didnt have the trailer.
You can essentially equip a travel trailer with all the amenities of a class A, the biggest difference is how you get it down the road.
The way my setup works I end up with a daily driver truck, just as much room as most smaller class A units for much less than you can get a gas engine class A.

Thats a start, theres most likely a lot more debate coming on this.

Thanks for the advice. I am looking for alot more room than we have in the Pop Up. It would be nice to have a bathroom as well. I am not too familiar with the process of cleaning out the black and gray lines, but for the convenience of a bathroom - maybe it will not be too bad. I thought I read somewhere that you can buy something that will automatically clean the lines for you.

We have a full size Toyota Tundra, so we could probably pull a decent size travel trailer. We would really have to practice backing it into a site. I have seen so many people do it and make it look easy, but I have tried backing up the pop up. It is not as easy as it looks and you do not have a ton of room to play with.

Have any of you been to the RV shows? We have one coming in November and we thought we may attend. Are the prices any better? The best prices I have seen on all these RV's are in Michigan. That is really far for us to go to get an RV.

 

[nascar-j]

I'm on my 3rd trailer. 2 TT's and now a 5er. We strongly considered getting a MH before this latest trailer. For us it came down to $$. If you have a vehicle that can tow a TT or 5er, that makes it considerably cheaper than a MH. We had a 3/4 ton diesel truck that we considered selling to get a smaller car and then a MH... Financially, it just made sense to keep the truck and get the trailer. New truck and new trailer= about $85,000... New Class A- about $100,000 plus a car.

If you only camp infrequently and only at FtW, have you considered just renting a MH when you need it? We have friends that camp with us once a year or so, They just rent a Class A... It's a once a year $1500 expense vs a monthly payment. They figured they could rent the MH 4 times a year and still be ahead. Plus they always have a new RV.

j

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

On the issue of fiberglass vs aluminum, we had an aluminum trailer before our current fiberglass unit. The alum is much harder to keep clean since the surface has so many different panels. The current one can be washed and squeege'd in half the time of the old one. Our old one was wood frame, the new one is alum frame. Lots to look at as far as construction. I would suggest hitting some of the shows this spring and comparing units. I have had minor problems with both of our trailers, the majority of which I fix myself.
Also make sure you figure a good weight distributing hitch and sway control into your estimates for the cost. A lot of times dealers will want to add these into the price, make sure you get them priced seperately so you can see if they are competetive. Ask around about reputable dealers in your area, the dealers are NOT ALL THE SAME. avoid anyone wearing Polyester

Scott

 

[nascar-j]

Thats a BIG question.
We have a full size Toyota Tundra, so we could probably pull a decent size travel trailer. We would really have to practice backing it into a site.

The Tundra should pull a nice size TT and you can get a TT with 2 bathrooms if you want. Have a great time looking at the RV show. A bit of advice, try to keep your towed weight to about 80% of what the Tundra can manage. It makes for a much nicer towing experience... Speaking from experience here.

You'll find that the more expensive trailers have fiberglass or gel coat walls. The entry level are typically aluminum. I've had both and prefer fiberglass. It's much easier to clean and looks better longer. Fiberglass also handles hail storms a lot better. Again, personal experience.

BTW, backing a TT is MUCH easier than backing a popup. The longer wheel base makes the trailer react much more predictably. If you can back in a popup, you can probably back almost anything.

j

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

If you can get a trailer priced right, here in MI, there are people who will tow it home for you. It may be worth the drive to come pick it up also.

 

[abbdrey]

Thank you both for your advice. It sounds like you have alot of experience in this area. We try and go out to Fort Wilderness about once a month or once every other month. We were just there yesterday visiting my sister. I would really like to have our own unit, but I have to consider storage space etc. The Pop Up's take up alot less space.

We will plan on going to the RV shows and see what is out there. I will definitely keep away from the salemen wearing polyester!! That is great advice. I am hoping in November that the pricing will be good as it is close to the end of the year and they will be looking to get rid of their 2008 units.

Is there one particular travel trailer that is more popular or considered better than others? Is there a brand to definitely stay away from??

Thanks!!

 

[2goofycampers]

Class A's are more comfy on the long trips and set up easier. The cons are the insurance, the price, one extra engine to upkeep. Fiberglass is lighter than metal siding, easier to wash, does not ding as easily, the cons are if you damage metal siding it is easier to replace a section than fiberglass. With a tt you can use the tow vehicle for everyday use also. We have had 3 Jayco brand tt's and would not buy anything else. When you shop becareful of the " sure your truck will pull this". We have found that even tho a truck is rated to pull 8,000 lbs, does not mean it will do it well, so this time we bought a Dodge diesel. It will pull anything anywhere we want to go.

 

[disney4dan]

The full size Tundra (by that I assume you mean one with a 5.7 liter engine), should pull a nice variety of trailers. The Class A will allow you to have more comfort while driving, but that would only be an issue if you plan a lot of road trips.

If you only go out once or twice per year, rental sounds like the best option. However, because you already have a great tow vehicle, getting the trailer will not be that much more. Depending on whether you want a new one or used one, you can find some great deals out there. We were lucky enough to find a decent 29 foot TT for less than many of the pop-ups we had looked at. This one had been maintained well, some used TTs were really beat.

We got our TT so that we can take numerous short trips and just leave when we feel like it, everything packed and ready to go. If you go to the RV show, be prepared to spend several hours. We went to one earlier this month and wish we could have spent the whole day. Lots to see and explore, many new options. Like the recent trend to have bathrooms with the built in "escape hatch" door . Could not figure out why the bathroom would have a door to the outside, but many families with kids say it helps to keep the trailer clean because the kids don't track dirt all the way through the trailer on the way to the bathroom. I figured it was in case of the tried and true camper favorite meal of beans or chili

 

[abbdrey]

Funny!! I have not seen any with escape hatches, but I will be on the look out when we go to the show. Depending on what we eat, we may need it!!

Based on what I am reading, it sounds like we are probably in the market for a travel trailer. I have heard that the Jayco's are really nice. I really need to do alot more research on the brands and which one fits our needs the best. I would really like one with a decent sized bathroom and full kitchen. The travel trailer my sister bought has the smallest bathroom. You can barely turn around. I do not need one the size of my master bath at home, but a little bigger than a linen closet would be nice.

I would love to purchase a Class A, but I think that it just may not make sense financially. We already have a good tow vehicle, so we may just want to stick with a travel trailer. If I can get as much room in a TT, as I can in a Class A - this would probably make sense for us. Again, we do not do rode trips at this point, so we are not driving it far (25 miles total to Fort Wilderness from our house).

Thanks again! If you have any more advice, please let me know. We have to go clean out our Pop Up from our last trip. It was raining when we got home, so we have not had a chance to clean it out. It would really be nice to have a TT to store all of our stuff year round instead of having to restock every time we camp.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

You may want to consider one of the hybrid's like Ftwildenressguy has, they have a lot of room and are within the reasonable limits of your truck. Lots of people use the 80% rule for weight of a trailer, take your trucks towing capacity and your real world max will be 80% of that. Also consider the overall weight of the truck, trailer, gear, water, food and passengers and make sure that is within the GCVWR (gross combined vehicle weight rating)

Try looking for the angle showers, we had a small tub in our other unit and went with the angle glass shower doors on the new one and found it to be roomier, I am a big guy and the other trailers bathroom was tight for me.

We went by Lazydays near Tampa when we were down in December, I was impressed at the number of units they have. I dont know how their sales staff is but you can shop online and get a good idea before you go look at it. I do know people that have had problems with their service dept. We bought our trailer from a local dealer (General trailer) I have used their service dept for our other trailer and their service people are first class all the way. For us it was a good mix of service AND price.

Enjoy the search, its fun.

Scott

 

[2goofycampers]

If you want a larger kitchen look for a front or rear kitchen model. when doing research look for these letters FK -front kitchen RK -rear kitchen. I would also recommend at least 1 slideout. If you check out the Jayco site, they will let you build and price each camper. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH JAYCO. just really like them and the dealer where we live.

 

[loveDmouse]

We just upgraded our Class C to a Class A. We love our new Class A and we did love our C too. We have never had a trailer so I really can't speak on that. Our friends did and then they upgraded to a fifth wheel. I personally like our motorhome much better.

Your best bet is to go to an RV show and get in all of them and see which you like best. There are so many different options.
When we first started looking for our Class C we looked at trailer too. In order to get the size we wanted I had to get a different vehicle to tow it with, my Seqouia couldn't safely do it and our truck we had at the time was older and we wouldn't want to be towing with it all the way to the Fort. (even though the dealer said it was no problem which you will learn most will tell you whatever they need to seal the deal) With the vehicle you already have you should be fine according to what size you want.

We really like the comfort of having a motorhome. If I need to go to the bathroom real quick I can. (I try not to get up often but it is nice if I really have to go not to have to find some place to stop) Also our dog has more room to stretch out then she would in a truck. We tow a trailer to take our golf cart with us.

Have fun at the RV shows. The best judge of what you should get is you. Good luck!

 

[seven dwarfs]

I really don't have much to add except we wanted to buy a class a several years ago and got talked into buying a TT instead. We really liked our TT a lot but ended up trading it in for a class A which we love love love! I just wish we have bought the class A to begin with since we lost a lot of the money we invested in the TT. I gues what I am trying to say is spend as much time as you can and look at everything and try to get what you want the first time! Good luck. We had fun shopping and going to rv shows!

 

[Brer Bear]

This is my third RV, I had a 29' Aluminum sided Jayco Quest TT, a 32' Fiberglass sided Fleetwood Prowler FW, and now the unit in sig which is aluminum sided. The Prowler was a piece of J-U-N-K! We had so many problems with leaks, etc and the kicker was one side of the FW started to delaminate when it was only 2 years old...just long enough to be OUT OF WARRANTY! I'll give Fleetwood credit, they did replace the entire side but I had to take it to Crawfordsville, IN and back on my on dime. I negotiated a trade for my new RV while it was being fixed and dropped it at the dealer on my way back from Indiana...it never came home! All of this was to tell you that I personally prefer Aluminum siding. It is harder to clean and requires periodic inspection and caulking to prevent leaks...but a lot cheaper and easier to replace if need be!

We looked at MH, but decided that it didn't make sense (to me) to have to pull a car along for transportation while the MH was on site. Also, the MH would sit idle during the winter and it would be another engine to maintain where I use my truck as a daily driver. Furthermore, I ride ATV's and love my truck to tow my utility trailer and ATV's on the weekends during the winter. It is really what suits you and yours the best. Traveling in a MH is NICE tho'!

 

[abbdrey]

Thank you for all your responses. You have given us alot to think about. I really appreciate all of your opinions. It helps to hear from people who already own both and have opinions on what they feel is best.

I am sure we will end up going to the RV show. Until then, we will keep using our pop up. After a couple days on that mattress, I am ready to get back home to my comfortable bed though.

The Fleetwood information was interesting to hear. The guy who sold us our most recent pop up camper thought the Fleetwoods were the best pop up. I am not really convinced either way. We have only owned Fleetwoods, so I have no other comparison. There are definitely things I would change about the Fleetwood, but so far, we have not had any major problems.

After we do more research and look around, I am sure I will be asking for all of your advice again on tips for maintaining the unit and the process of actually cleaning out the lines. That cannot be a pleasant thing to do.

Thanks again!

 

[bradisgoofy]

I'd like to put in my suggestion for a fifth wheel since you have a pickup. A little background, we have been "RVing" since the mid 70s and have owned about every type of camping vehicle. Tent ON a trailer, pop up, 16' travel trailer, 19' class C mh, a 36' fifth wheel and now our 38' mh. Although we now own the Coach pictured below I truly loved our 36' fifth wheel. It was so much easier to hook and unhook then an equalizer hitch and after we put on a MorRyde king pin, there was none of the jerking and pulling going down the road. I also found driving and backing to be easier. So take your time and look at EVERYTHING, don't limit yourself to just one type. It took us 9 months of RV shows and dealers to find our fifth wheel, but when we walk in the door we said "this is the one"! It was the same way with the motorhome, and it is a Fleetwood, which has give us no major problems.

 

[DisCamper]

We have both a MH and a TT. I love the TT but i miss parts of the MH. With the TT we have more room and a truck to go out in we are no stuck like we where in the MH,But in the MH Cheryl could uae the bathroom make lunch all on the road. So both has there pluses.

 

[tellnotails]

Hi Everyone! I am looking for some advice. We have always had Pop Up campers. We are thinking about finally upgrading to a travel trailer or Class A RV. My sister just bought a Kodiak travel trailer. She was sold on this one because it was an all fiberglass body. Does it really matter?? What do you consider the best travel trailer? Besides being able to drive the unit as opposed to hauling it, are there any other advantages to having a Class A? The Class A unit is definitely more pricey than the travel trailers. I am just wondering if they are worth the price difference. We usually just camp out at Fort Wilderness and have not done any real road trips. Thanks for your help!!

Kodiak (the fiberglass roof type) is a top notch cut above alot of 5ers.......you won't be disapointed in this choice.....

Class A are very complicated to keep maintained.......hydraulics system, batteries system, appliances, diesel engine, etc......very overwelming