TT for full time living or negatives of trailer brands

[nwoodco1]

Hello all! This is my first post, so I appreciate all of the help and input. I am getting married soon and my fiances education is going to require us to move around often, so we are looking at living in a trailer full time. What brands do you have experience with and what brands should be avoided? (personal experiences preferable). Any tips or input appreciated, thank you.
Edit:
Hello everyone, sorry for being absent. I actually got engaged so I was busy with all of that. First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds. We will either be in north texas or florida, so winter weather won't be harsh. I am not thinking I will save much money, but we will be moving around every 8 weeks for a while, so we need the flexibility.

[jaycocreek]

Hello all! This is my first post, so I appreciate all of the help and input. I am getting married soon and my fiances education is going to require us to move around often, so we are looking at living in a trailer full time. What brands do you have experience with and what brands should be avoided? (personal experiences preferable). Any tips or input appreciated, thank you.

I have full timed in Jayco and Springdale travel trailers..Both were excellent provided you can do the minor repairs a TT needs..Also in a Jayco fifth wheel and a 24ft Class C/Beaver.

I looked for mobile home spots to park my TT in as they are less expensive than RV parks..Ones here are about $225 vs $350+ for an RV park..

While there are some travel trailers I would not buy,Jayco's and Keystone trailers are abundant, so I would stick with what I have used..

They key to buying any RV is before you sign the papers,try everything out..Doors/drawers/AC/Refer on both LP and AC/flush the toilet/run the shower etc..Try "everything" before coughing up a dime..Then know one is to blame other than the buyer.

Most dealers will do this for you if you show you are very interested..

Good luck and enjoy!

[PAThwacker]

nwoodco1 wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
Are you buying this TT new or used?

You stated "First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds."

What vehicle has a tongue weight of 8000 lbs?

I fat fingered, 800.

. 800 pounds. That’d sounds like a suv p rated tires and debatable frame or unibody construction. Trailer jumps to 6500 pound max weight. That’s a small trailer dual axles max 23ft 25t. Typical 23 foot hybrid camper with would be your maximum trailer for sleeping or a couples small trailer.

[nwoodco1]

Grit dog wrote:
Contrary to all the nay sayers here, you have a pretty solid plan started IMO based on your situation, moving all the time.

Without knowing or caring about your financial situation, I can presume it's top of the list of concerns given your age educational and marital status.
I believe exactly the opposite that "this is not the time to live in a rv". It's actually the best time (until you retire like most of the members here). Young, flexible schedules, able to do more with less, already have a truck, it's fun, if that's your thing, etc.
Couple key points to figure out how viable this is, is cost to move short term apartments every couple months vs the travel trailer. Either way you're living out of a bag and whatever you can fit in your truck or maybe a cargo trailer.
Buy used and not too new. You can get a large TT in great shape for under $10k no problem. Don't figure much salvage value if you'll FT in it for a couple years. Maybe 50%.
Cost of RV sites and/or the ability to camp cheaply or for free in the areas you'll be living. That will be the most significant cost/savings IMO.
If you don't have alot of money, you need to be handy. Not end of the world stuff, but little repairs WILL be part of the game if you're RVing and it's always expensive to pay someone else to do stuff for you.
Don't get too bogged down in the neg comments and the folks that believe you have to calculate every capacity and weight and blah blah blah down to the pound. They have more time on their hands than active people. If your truck is rated to tow 8klbs, then it's a normal average equipped half ton and it will tow pretty much any sub 8klb trailer around the flat lands at sea level just fine.

I am honestly surprised how expensive long term camping is, I am seeing about $500 a month, which is more than I expected.

[nwoodco1]

2012Coleman wrote:
Are you buying this TT new or used?

You stated "First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds."

What vehicle has a tongue weight of 8000 lbs?

I fat fingered, 800.

[GrandpaKip]

I really don’t think that the ten minutes or so to do the basic math to get a ball park idea of the weight parameters will be too much for the active set.
For the OP, I say this just so you have an idea of the size of the trailer your truck can tow.
I would have loved to have this type of adventure with the person I have shared the last 30 years with. We just do it in relatively short bursts now, 6 weeks at most. But we spend several months out of the year traveling in various manners.
Enjoy.

[Grit_dog]

frankgibbons1947 wrote:
Congrats on your marriage! Now I will directly talk about the travel trailer brands you should choose and avoid.

First, avoid these TT brands, I found a very nice stat regarding what other RV'ers are avoiding.

1. Forest River travel trailer brand: 45%
2. Keystone travel trailer brand: 26%
3. Jayco travel trailer brand: 15%
4. Coachmen travel trailer brand: 5%
5. Winnebago travel trailer brand: 3%
6. Fleetwood travel trailer brand: 2%
7. Gulf Stream travel trailer brand: 1%

The survey detail is here along with lots of key reasons to avoid these brands.

Travel Trailer brands to avoid

Now, I'm giving my list of top travel trailer brands you should stick with.

1. Airstream Travel Trailer
2. Dutchmen Travel Trailer
3. Olivier Travel Trailer
4. Starcraft Travel Trailer
5. Lance Travel Trailer

Or if you're on a budget, you aint even looking at Airstreams and frankly if it rolls down the road fine, doesn't leak and all the appliances and lights work, that's 90% of the battle, IMO.
You'll have to maintain all of them and alot of the components are the same regardless of brand.
Just depends how much to mighty dollar is worth to you.
For example, one of my field engineers bought an older like 22' TT last year to live in because we had a job in the mountains. Gave $4k for it. Replaced a soft section of floor, some new flooring and some other minor stuff and new tires. He was into it for well under $5k. It worked for him 7 days a week for about 6 months. None the worse for the wear. Little small for 2 people IMO, but there's bigger ones out there. Heck, I've lived in the TC for a couple months at a time. Not an issue. Especially since you're down south, although N TX gets a little chilly sometimes.

I'd place a priority on having the most open living space you could to provide room for desks/tables for work space (for school). Otherwise you're engaged, I'd hop you enjoy each other's close company and presuming you're busy like most people, it's not like you're cooped up in it all day.

[Grit_dog]

Contrary to all the nay sayers here, you have a pretty solid plan started IMO based on your situation, moving all the time.

Without knowing or caring about your financial situation, I can presume it's top of the list of concerns given your age educational and marital status.
I believe exactly the opposite that "this is not the time to live in a rv". It's actually the best time (until you retire like most of the members here). Young, flexible schedules, able to do more with less, already have a truck, it's fun, if that's your thing, etc.
Couple key points to figure out how viable this is, is cost to move short term apartments every couple months vs the travel trailer. Either way you're living out of a bag and whatever you can fit in your truck or maybe a cargo trailer.
Buy used and not too new. You can get a large TT in great shape for under $10k no problem. Don't figure much salvage value if you'll FT in it for a couple years. Maybe 50%.
Cost of RV sites and/or the ability to camp cheaply or for free in the areas you'll be living. That will be the most significant cost/savings IMO.
If you don't have alot of money, you need to be handy. Not end of the world stuff, but little repairs WILL be part of the game if you're RVing and it's always expensive to pay someone else to do stuff for you.
Don't get too bogged down in the neg comments and the folks that believe you have to calculate every capacity and weight and blah blah blah down to the pound. They have more time on their hands than active people. If your truck is rated to tow 8klbs, then it's a normal average equipped half ton and it will tow pretty much any sub 8klb trailer around the flat lands at sea level just fine.

[GrandpaKip]

nwoodco1 wrote:
Hello everyone, sorry for being absent. I actually got engaged so I was busy with all of that. First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds. We will either be in north texas or florida, so winter weather won't be harsh. I am not thinking I will save much money, but we will be moving around every 8 weeks for a while, so we need the flexibility.

Congratulations.
If you post the tow vehicle’s brand, size and payload, everyone will be able to help you further. Tow rating really doesn’t mean much.
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to brand; they’re all pretty much the same basic quality for box style trailers.
If you are going to stay with your truck, you’ll have to match a trailer to it. That’s why I mentioned the payload (found on the driver’s door jamb). That’s where to start.
Good luck and have fun with the search.

[colliehauler]

frankgibbons1947 wrote:
Congrats on your marriage! Now I will directly talk about the travel trailer brands you should choose and avoid.

First, avoid these TT brands, I found a very nice stat regarding what other RV'ers are avoiding.

1. Forest River travel trailer brand: 45%
2. Keystone travel trailer brand: 26%
3. Jayco travel trailer brand: 15%
4. Coachmen travel trailer brand: 5%
5. Winnebago travel trailer brand: 3%
6. Fleetwood travel trailer brand: 2%
7. Gulf Stream travel trailer brand: 1%

The survey detail is here along with lots of key reasons to avoid these brands.

Travel Trailer brands to avoid

Now, I'm giving my list of top travel trailer brands you should stick with.

1. Airstream Travel Trailer
2. Dutchmen Travel Trailer
3. Olivier Travel Trailer
4. Starcraft Travel Trailer
5. Lance Travel Trailer

It's obvious you know nothing about RV'S since some of your brands you should stick with are built by the brands you should avoid.

[2012Coleman]

Are you buying this TT new or used?

You stated "First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds."

What vehicle has a tongue weight of 8000 lbs?

[WVcampground]

frankgibbons1947 wrote:
Congrats on your marriage! Now I will directly talk about the travel trailer brands you should choose and avoid.

First, avoid these TT brands, I found a very nice stat regarding what other RV'ers are avoiding.

1. Forest River travel trailer brand: 45%
2. Keystone travel trailer brand: 26%
3. Jayco travel trailer brand: 15%
4. Coachmen travel trailer brand: 5%
5. Winnebago travel trailer brand: 3%
6. Fleetwood travel trailer brand: 2%
7. Gulf Stream travel trailer brand: 1%

The survey detail is here along with lots of key reasons to avoid these brands.

Travel Trailer brands to avoid

Now, I'm giving my list of top travel trailer brands you should stick with.

1. Airstream Travel Trailer
2. Dutchmen Travel Trailer
3. Olivier Travel Trailer
4. Starcraft Travel Trailer
5. Lance Travel Trailer

It might be a very nice stat but also a bogus stat. The #2 brand to stick with also happens to be managed under the #2 brand to avoid.

The #4 brand to avoid is a sub brand of the #1 brand to avoid.

A Dutchmen product is not even close to being in the same league as an Airstream or Oliver, an Oliver has completely different construction than anything else listed, including Airstream.

Going by what to avoid, avoid about 90% of everything available. Which may be a good idea regardless :B

The author has vast experience. He must have taken the crash course lol. He spent significant time during the last 5 years conquering beautiful pristine lands LOL. WTH does that even mean? Furthermore he does not hit on the fact that most of the long time brands he mentions went belly up @ 08 and were snatched up by either Forest River or Thor Industries which between the two hold over 80% market share. He must have done his research looking at other bloggers. Of course you have more complaints towards the brands with the majority of market presence. All RVs will leak eventually if not maintained.

"Carlos Perry’s passion for outdoor activities can be traced back to 5 years ago when he spent a significant time to conquer beautiful pristine lands and experience different cultures with his best friends. Currently working as a blogger, he takes pride in providing comprehensive contents about camping knowledge, survival skills based on his own experience. A lot of his work was published on well-known travel magazines like"

[frankgibbons194]

Congrats on your marriage! Now I will directly talk about the travel trailer brands you should choose and avoid.

First, avoid these TT brands, I found a very nice stat regarding what other RV'ers are avoiding.

1. Forest River travel trailer brand: 45%
2. Keystone travel trailer brand: 26%
3. Jayco travel trailer brand: 15%
4. Coachmen travel trailer brand: 5%
5. Winnebago travel trailer brand: 3%
6. Fleetwood travel trailer brand: 2%
7. Gulf Stream travel trailer brand: 1%

The survey detail is here along with lots of key reasons to avoid these brands.

Travel Trailer brands to avoid

Now, I'm giving my list of top travel trailer brands you should stick with.

1. Airstream Travel Trailer
2. Dutchmen Travel Trailer
3. Olivier Travel Trailer
4. Starcraft Travel Trailer
5. Lance Travel Trailer

[colliehauler]

nwoodco1 wrote:
Hello everyone, sorry for being absent. I actually got engaged so I was busy with all of that. First I have a tow vehicle that can tow 8,000 pounds with a tongue weight of 8000 pounds. We will either be in north texas or florida, so winter weather won't be harsh. I am not thinking I will save much money, but we will be moving around every 8 weeks for a while, so we need the flexibility.

A lot of people move for work and live in trailers. When the refinery has a turnaround all the rv parks within 30 miles fill up. Some people don't understand this and why you do not want a house in one location. Since you will be in moderate weather I would say find a floor plan that will work for you within your budget that you can tow with your truck. The better constructed RV'S will be way beyond the capacity of your truck.

[goducks10]

nwoodco1 wrote:

trailer_newbe wrote:
I would not recommend getting a camper and living in it full time. Your situation is not ideal for this venture. You won’t save money like you may think for starters. You’ll also have to fix everything yourself on the camper, because taking to a dealer will throw a huge monkey wrench in your plans. Managing camp sites, water, sewer, propane, etc is going to be a headache if you are moving from site to site. Full timing sounds good on the surface, but it takes planning and money. Most folks sell their home, and bank the money, and retire when they full time.

I am still here, was just busy. I did post it multiple places as not everyone is a member of all forums and I would like as much input as possible 🙂

"Most folks sell their home, and bank the money, and retire when they full time."

Bingo.