Experienced campers input

[ppine]

Buy tv first. Buy a used one.
Buy TT second, buy a more used one.
Pay cash.

[Reverse_snowbird]

You need both money and time to travel. A travel trailer is not going to save you money by the time you add up the cost of financing a tow vehicle, financing a travel trailer, gas, storage for the rig, and equipment to camp.

Try finding a campground that offers screened or enclosed cabins or yurts. Or a motel near a state park. The cost of a motel room seems high, but it's cheap compared to your monthly car/trailer payments. Plus you can travel further by car because you don't have to hitch up and set up at a campsite.

We used to buy food for breakfast, lunch and usually buy fast food for dinner. Of course, we tent camped because that's all we could afford. Today with air beds you can inflate with your car power port, pop up tents, and 7 day coolers, things are a bit easier. We've seen people tent camping with televisions and portable air conditioners.

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

You need both money and time to travel. A travel trailer is not going to save you money by the time you add up the cost of financing a tow vehicle, financing a travel trailer, gas, storage for the rig, and equipment to camp.

Try finding a campground that offers screened or enclosed cabins or yurts. Or a motel near a state park. The cost of a motel room seems high, but it's cheap compared to your monthly car/trailer payments. Plus you can travel further by car because you don't have to hitch up and set up at a campsite.

We used to buy food for breakfast, lunch and usually buy fast food for dinner. Of course, we tent camped because that's all we could afford. Today with air beds you can inflate with your car power port, pop up tents, and 7 day coolers, things are a bit easier. We've seen people tent camping with televisions and portable air conditioners.

That's what we did getting back into camping right before we got the RV. Already had all the camping gear, bought some nice deluxe cots. The little cabins in our state parks even have wood stoves or gas heat for winter camping. 40 bucks per night. Oh, bought a portable toilet too. That made wife cool with it. She was done with no toilet camping. Can't say I blame her.

[Bob B Campin]

Originally Posted by NevadaMiniLite

A few years ago I purchased a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. It did everything I needed it to do. Drive comfortably across country, to the store, or to the occasional to Home Depot to haul something for the garden or whatever small job I might have around the house. Then my wife and I decided we would like to get back into camping, so I had to tailor a small travel trailer to the tow vehicle. That lasted about a year, when we started talking about more than just local camping. At which point we realized that the TT we had purchased (Lance 1575) was too small and that the Honda would never do what we needed out of a tow vehicle. So sold the Lance for a Rockwood Mini Lite 2109, and traded in the Honda for a full size truck (GMC Sierra Elevation with the 3.0 liter diesel.) So Grand Canyon is next month, lots of local camping this summer, and Glacier NP in August/September. Moral of the story is don't put the horse in front of the cart. Get yourself a good reliable tow vehicle and tailor the TT to it, rather than the other way around. It might just save you time, energy, and money in the long run.

We kind of went the other way. After owning a small motor home, and staying mostly in crowded RV parks, we’d had enough. Decided to go small and lite for boon docking and desert hoping. After Ordering a 22 Lance 1575, we ordered a 22 Honda Ridgeline. The Lance never happened because Lance Is currently having many problems, but the Honda finally arrived. So after a long wait for the Lance, we decided to jump ship, and found the Geo Pro FD19. It’s a bit heavier than the Lance would have been, but the Ridgeline tows it just fine. We’ve tried to keep it light with lithium batteries, towing with empty tanks, and keeping our load to a minimum. So far, so good. I was pleasantly surprised by how few problems we’ve had with the 19FD when compared to our first year of motor home ownership. Small and lite is ok for a couple on shorter local trips which is what we are using it for. BTW, pairs well with Andersen WD hitch.
Safe travels, Bob

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by Bob B Campin

We kind of went the other way. After owning a small motor home, and staying mostly in crowded RV parks, we’d had enough. Decided to go small and lite for boon docking and desert hoping. After Ordering a 22 Lance 1575, we ordered a 22 Honda Ridgeline. The Lance never happened because Lance Is currently having many problems, but the Honda finally arrived. So after a long wait for the Lance, we decided to jump ship, and found the Geo Pro FD19. It’s a bit heavier than the Lance would have been, but the Ridgeline tows it just fine. We’ve tried to keep it light with lithium batteries, towing with empty tanks, and keeping our load to a minimum. So far, so good. I was pleasantly surprised by how few problems we’ve had with the 19FD when compared to our first year of motor home ownership. Small and lite is ok for a couple on shorter local trips which is what we are using it for. BTW, pairs well with Andersen WD hitch.
Safe travels, Bob

Yup, to me the smaller/simpler the better. No slides, not a whole lot to break. K.I.S.S!!! I look at these big fancy RVs and all I can think is, "that's a whole lot of stuff just itching to break and tick me off!"

[Bob B Campin]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Yup, to me the smaller/simpler the better. No slides, not a whole lot to break. K.I.S.S!!! I look at these big fancy RVs and all I can think is, "that's a whole lot of stuff just itching to break and tick me off!"

Hi there NJKris, agree, sometimes lees is more. Our FD-19 was available with a slide that would add a whole 12 inches to the kitchen area. The trade off wasn’t enough, so I took a pass. RVrs have different missions with different needs, so having choices is awesome. We’re in the simple is better mode, boon docking in Nevada and Arizona and on our trips between the two.
BTW, thanks for your help with my new owner issues .

Bob B.

[jatroberg]

I agree that the tow vehicle should come first. I also recommend trying a tent trailer ("pop up") instead as they are lighter, and towable with a smaller vehicle, so maybe you can use whatever vehicle you have now without buying a truck. They are also surprisingly roomy inside once the top is up and the ends are out. WE camped in one for years with two boys.

[mnoland30]

I still prefer tent camping over trailering. There is a lot of work getting the trailer ready to go in the sping. My wife loves the trailer for the convenience of cooking, and the storage. Most tents are junk, and aren't suitable for a really hard rain, or hail, or snow, and are terrible in the wind. The top of my son-in -laws new tent blew away, leaving just the floor staked to the ground.

If you decide to nix the trailer idea, buy yourself a quality canvas tent like a Spingbar or Kodiak. They are a breeze to set up. Once the stakes are in, it sets up in about two minutes. Larger tents give you enough space to cook inside when the weather is bad but isn't recommended in bear country (ask me how I know). I have a Mr. Heater catylitic heater and it will keep the inside warm even in really cold weather. In warmer weather a lantern and stove will keep you warm.

I suspect that there will be a lot of used trailers on the market in the next few years. Many people bought them during covid, and will find they don't enjoy them now that things are almost back to normal. Vehicle prices are high right now, and I don't expect them to go down, but people who haven't been able to buy new cars because of supply problems will put used vehicles on the market as soon as the supply chain clears up.

[Tacky]

Well, Flowerpower, it is not an easy decision. I agree, I hate tents but I like camping. I was in favor of a pop-up but the wife wanted a small travel trailer. She was right, the pop-up is a lot more work to move, with a travel trailer you can semi put stuff away, then deal with it when you get home. You need to size your tow vehicle to what you have, or maybe bigger, if you want a larger trailer. This might be a bigger, thirstier vehicle than you would own otherwise. If you are ready and financially prepared to accept the downsides, I guarantee you will enjoy your camping many times more than you did in that soggy tent!

[Kathyquilts]

Yes, we also went with a trailer with NO slides for offroading. Our 19FD has the off road package (larger beefier tires, 2" lift) and we ONLY boondock. There are so many places to camp for free. Our large trailer has 3 slides, and we have had to do repairs on hydraulics before, and for our 'fun' trailer, we didn't want to have to worry about the slide issue. We wanted to be able to use it as is, whether we are in the Walmart parking lot or out in the desert or mountains. It's light, easy to pull, easy to just plop down the bed and hit the sack. We put the Wheel Masters 6700 Level Master on ALL our trailers so that you can see it from the back window of the truck or jeep so you can park level right off, then you use the stabilizers to level front to back. We love that level, even on our 5th Wheel. It's so big and easy to see the ball hit the level spot. It makes it so slick to park quickly. We wanted a table up all the time to get a quick meal, and we wanted solar panels so we can use our microwave if we want. We've never used the AC because we've never been hooked to power. This little trailer is light and so easy for us to boondock for weeks. We have loved having a little trailer.


Kathy

[C36hull268]

Originally Posted by FlowerPower

Hello, looking for advice from those who have traveled the path before me. I have found a 2016 Forest River R Pod 178 at what I believe a decent price. $14,500. I have half the money down and would take a loan out on the rest. I’m a single mother with two small children. And have dreamt for years of traveling in a trailer. We love camping but hate tents. I don’t have a tow vehicle yet so that would be another purchase eventually. I want to start off with a camper that is beginner friendly. I’m wondering if this is a good time to make a purchase like this considering the gas prices? Any insight into this situation would be great! Thank you I’m advance.

I've been doing this for over 50 years in number of different ways starting with backpack in 1970's, car and a tent from '80's, camper van in '90s, sailboat in 00s and camper again from 2016. One thing you should clearly realize - you should be able to resolve all possible problems on your own. Starting with weather related issues and everything else including technical knowledge and ability to diagnose and fix technical problems with your camper and tow vehicle. The big problem is that nowadays those campers' built quality is extremely low and materials used is dirt cheap. So as a result problems are inevitable. If you're counting on paid help it won't take you very far at all, that's for sure. Even if you have quite enough to spend on this.

[Jenga Jack]

Some more thoughts: we have a 2014 R-Pod 178, bought used in 2015, approx. 3,000lb dry wt. We tow it with a 6cyl Toyota 4Runner w/ 5000lb towing capacity and have no problems, but never drive over 60mph. Been up/down Oregon coast, all over the Cascades, and over the Rockies to Black Hills and back. No issues.
As stated by others, there’s many “hidden” costs with a trailer. Lots of pros, a few cons. Be sure you go in with eyes wide open. Best to talk with experienced, honest person who can give you inside scoop. This forum is awesome to get advice & opinions. Best of luck!

[Thatdarncat]

Originally Posted by FlowerPower

Hello, looking for advice from those who have traveled the path before me. I have found a 2016 Forest River R Pod 178 at what I believe a decent price. $14,500. I have half the money down and would take a loan out on the rest. I’m a single mother with two small children. And have dreamt for years of traveling in a trailer. We love camping but hate tents. I don’t have a tow vehicle yet so that would be another purchase eventually. I want to start off with a camper that is beginner friendly. I’m wondering if this is a good time to make a purchase like this considering the gas prices? Any insight into this situation would be great! Thank you I’m advance.

We had a R-Pod 176-T once for about a year, brand new from the factory it was complete junk. We towed it with a standard but older model f-150 with the 5.4 Triton engine, it did fine towing it, breaks would want to get hot on long descents in the mountains.
Three people in a rpod would be a squeeze but doable, I know its more money and just about as much squeeze for 3 but look at a castia, quaility is 10 times better than a rpod and their resale value is much better.
The Rpod towed ok but Im thinking by the tow vehicles I have seen pulling Casita, that A Casita tows far better than a rpod...from what I remember of it a rpod did have a lot of wind resistance.
Likewise, neither is very "roomy" and its a "wet bath" toilet setup and neither has large tanks

[B.Boudens]

Originally Posted by FlowerPower

Hello, looking for advice from those who have traveled the path before me. I have found a 2016 Forest River R Pod 178 at what I believe a decent price. $14,500. I have half the money down and would take a loan out on the rest. I’m a single mother with two small children. And have dreamt for years of traveling in a trailer. We love camping but hate tents. I don’t have a tow vehicle yet so that would be another purchase eventually. I want to start off with a camper that is beginner friendly. I’m wondering if this is a good time to make a purchase like this considering the gas prices? Any insight into this situation would be great! Thank you I’m advance.

Hello & G’day from Canada. Saw your post about camping with kiddos in a 2016 R-pod 178. My wife and I purchased the same trailer when she was pregnant with our first child. I was also my first experience with travel trailers. It’s a fantastic little unit for camping trips. We had absolutely no issues with it during the time we owned it. Torsion suspension axels, a narrow body and a full fiberglass roof are all positive points for newbies to the travel trailer lifestyle. It also has excellent outdoor storage spaces for its size.

One not of caution about the 178 model is that the fresh water holding tank sits BEHIND the axel and depending on what tow vehicle you decide to pull it with I’d be very cautious about how much fresh water I would travel with. I towed ours with a full-size half ton with out any weight distribution or sway control and the only time I ever felt any kind of tug or sway from that trailer is when I put more than ¾ of a fresh tank of water in it. Most of the time I travel with about a quarter tank for emergency pit stops.

As per the tow vehicle, at minimum, a properly set up mid-size SUV with a 5,000 lbs. tow rating and a weight distribution would be a fine base line to start with. I towed that 178 a few times with my brother in-laws V6 factory tow package Durango (6,000 lbs. towing) and it did quite well in the Rocky Mountains where I live. Your decision to buy the trailer before the tow vehicle dose allow you to find one to fit your needs.

The main factors to consider when searching for a tow vehicle are the vehicles payload capacity, the GVWR and the GCVWR (gross combined vehicle weight rating). If a dealer only speaks in regard to tow rating (e.g., 5,000 lbs. of towing) minus off the vehicle’s payload capacity (e.g. 5,000-1,300 = 3,700) to fine out if that vehicle can still tow your travel trailer with you, your kids, the trailers tongue weight and all the stuff with the trailer at max weight in this case 3,500 lbs.

Hope this helps you out. Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions regarding the trailer. Best of luck!

[Jenga Jack]

You must have got a lemon. Was it “new” recently, when Covid and trailering boomed? Lots & lots of dissatisfied customers in the past few years across all makes & models, mostly due to inexperienced labor, lack of labor, and factories cranking out inferior products to cash in on hot market.
We have had NO issues at all with our 2014 R-Pod; better workmanship back then, living right, or just lucky?

[NoviBill]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Just my opinion, but I'm against taking on debt for any luxury item. This is an expensive past time, even if you go small like I did, and you plan to.



Example:



I paid 17.6k for my camper. Tax, title, reg, insurance, closer to 20k
30k for a 3 year old truck to tow with, 40k miles
Another 6k for all the 'stuff' you tend to buy when you have a camper you never would have thought of buying before.


And I paid cash for all of it. If I took loans, you have to figure in interest that you will pay over life of loans.

I don't often agree with NJKris, but he is 100% spot on here.

buy small, but older, buy something you can tow with your current vehicle, use that to figure out what you want for the next go around.

[James07]

Against all advice, I purchased travel trailer before the tow vehicle. But I had a financial plan and it was just finding what I liked in the price range. Wound up with 2015 R- Pod 178 and 2019 Ford Ranger. The R-Pod is light weight, so almost any mid size pickup or SUV will do a good job.

Still there are added costs you need to be prepared for: brake controller, weight distribution hitch, new tires if they are older than 5 years, various maintenance and check up items.

[Trainaddict]

Ma’am,
I too am fairly new, a few years. We too were looking at campers before we had the tow vehicle, fortunately we looked for four-five years before buying the trailer with the floor plan we wanted. Within that time frame we did buy a truck. After a year or two we bought a diesel truck with gave us a lot more pulling power. We have a 35 ft travel trailer. Now as far as the trailer you are looking at, it looks pretty nice, but make sure it will fit your needs. As far as the No tow vehicle goes you have two options. 1) Find a friend that can bring it home for you. 2) See if where you buy it from will deliver. This will serve an advantage, when you get the trailer home, you can camp at home to get use to the trailer and all the options it has. Also if it unfortunately develops a problem, you are at home to fix it. I once read when a trailer is new to you, you only want to go to a campground around a hour away to get use to it. That way you are not far from home, in case something does go array. At least you will be home. Then while doing home camping you can look for that vehicle! Good luck Rick

[NavyLCDR]

First, my vote for FlowerPower is to get the TV first and wait on the trailer. To me it would just be unpleasant to be looking at the trailer in the driveway knowing I couldn't take it anywhere, unless you really enjoy driveway camping. And do not base the TV decision on published numbers only. I did that with my first trailer/vehicle combination and ended up 400 lbs overweight.

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

You need both money and time to travel. A travel trailer is not going to save you money by the time you add up the cost of financing a tow vehicle, financing a travel trailer, gas, storage for the rig, and equipment to camp.

I would have to disagree with part of that statement. A travel trailer is not going to save you money - and just stop right there. I don't think you have to add everything on the list that follows!

Unless we are within about 50 miles of home, and taking advantage of my $8 state park reservations (disabled vet in Oregon), it's nearly almost always cheaper for us to travel the "conventional" way - by car, staying in less expensive motel or cabin.

We pay extra for the travel trailer experience simply because the enjoyment we get from the travel trailer experience.

[jtsriding]

Originally Posted by FlowerPower

Hello, looking for advice from those who have traveled the path before me. I have found a 2016 Forest River R Pod 178 at what I believe a decent price. $14,500. I have half the money down and would take a loan out on the rest. I’m a single mother with two small children. And have dreamt for years of traveling in a trailer. We love camping but hate tents. I don’t have a tow vehicle yet so that would be another purchase eventually. I want to start off with a camper that is beginner friendly. I’m wondering if this is a good time to make a purchase like this considering the gas prices? Any insight into this situation would be great! Thank you I’m advance.

If you like the trailer and have looked it over buy it. If you save up for a truck and then pay that off you will not get the trailer. If you're okay with having the trailer sit for awhile buy it. Unlike some on here who can afford 350 deisel pickups you likely can't. Make yourself happy and buy it and camp in the yard...maybe a friend will have a truck you can borrow to go to a campground nearby.