What is a must have in your camper?

[mamaloya]

Actually the wts are not that complicated once you understand the abbreviations. UVW is the UNloaded vehicle wt. That is what the unit weighs w/o ANYTHING like water, clothes, food, extra options, etc. The GVWR is the gross vehicle weight rating. Basically it is the max it will weigh. If you take the UVW and add in clothes, gear, food, etc, you should never load it beyond the GVWR or it can not only be a hazard on the road, but damage your axel or frame.

Salesmen try to sell you on the UVW. IGNORE them!!! Look at the GVWR. You want to get a GVWR that is about 10-15% BELOW your tow capacity. Some say even lower. Our van has a tow capacity of 6600lbs. Our camper has a GVWR of 6000lb. It has a UVW of around 4800lb (can't remember off hand). I COULD put 1200 lbs of stuff in it. But I won't. I am very aware that the 6000 is pushing my limit and I pack VERY lightly. Do not let a salesman push you on the UVW. Insist on the GVWR or look it up. The sticker in the camper should list both. Ignore the UVW and watch the GVWR.

Also, you need to load evenly. You don't want to put all of your wt in the front or back of your camper. I try to keep most around the axle. There is a formula on how to load, but that is where I get confused. I just make sure that the hitch is not sagging.

You will also need a wt distributing hitch to balance the wt between the camper and vehicle. And a sway control to keep the wind and bigger vehicles from pushing you all over the roads. After driving from NC to LA w/o sway control, it is being added right now at the dealer.

You can check out www.irv2.com and they will have lots of advice for you on how to figure out wt and loading.

Happy Camping!

 

[disney6family]

We have had a 29' Mallard we pull with our k1500 Suburban for 7 years and we do great, even totally loaded down with two weeks worth of stuff (read stuff as beer & water). It has a queen at one end for us and 4 bunks at the other for the kids. They love the bunks. We have an oven - never used! We don't have a slide out and the only time this is a problem is when SOME people (kids) sit on the couch while OTHERS (me) are trying to get themselves together in the morning. They now know to not rest their feet on the dining seat while sitting on the couch when mom is trying to walk through.
We have lots of room to move around and while I admit a slide out would make even more room, we couldn't justify the weight and expense already have the four kids and all of that expense. Good Luck and happy hunting.

 

[PenskeSth1]

I guess A must have for us in our 5er is a washer and dryer. I couldn't live without them. It is just to nice to be able to throw a load in when you step in for a moment.

We had a two bedroom 40' 5er at one time and thought I could never live without the two bedrooms. Now we have the 36' with just one bedroom and 3 slides, we still feel we have plenty of room. Our kids are 18 and 9, so they don't mind an air mattress on the floor.As long as there is plenty of cubbard space and I have my w/d I'm happy!