Two foot-citis

[SRLETX]

Quick question - for those who enjoy the boating world, you will most likely be familiar with 2 foot-citis (aka - always wishing your vessel was just a few feet longer, no matter how many times you moved up in size over the years).

Does the same hold for RVs? I find myself appreciating the smaller floor plan Super C’s. Access to more parks, can pull longer trailers and stay within length restrictions, better power to weight ratio, etc.

Is this just a naive newbie view or have y’all picked your floor plan that best suits your needs irrespective of length?

It’s the bride and myself - kids are grown up, deep into their college studies so will rarely travel with us.

TIA.

[SusieR]

We have an I-5 30FW 4x4 and while we absolutely love the short 32ft length, I've found it a little short on storage space since we spend several months at a time traveling in it. And I miss the convenience of a washer and dryer for long travels. It all depends on how much stuff you cart with you on journeys. [emoji16]

[milkman55]

Give some thought to how much time you will spend in the RV. We started with a 24 ft Isata 3 and kept it for three years.

We wanted to take longer trips spending more time in the RV and decided to move up to the Isata 5 with the recliners in addition to the dinette. The Isata 5 also has more carry capacity than any of the Sprinter based RV’s.

If you are thinking of living full time, you might want to go one step further and get one of the Freightliner based models.

Again, it’s a balance of how much time you will spend in the RV and your need to haul cargo.

[flyflotrtim]

It does not necessarily hold for Rvs. We got progressively larger over the years to a 40Ft class A and after a few years decided we liked the convenience of a smaller TT and ability to boondock more places over the luxury of a larger RV. If we were living in the RV for extended months at a time our thinking might be different. - camper shell >cabover camper>small TT> bigger TT >Class C > Class A > long TT> back to our smaller TT. We are very comfortable now, easier to maintain and lots of boondocking opportunities.

[NavyLCDR]

Not for me. I started with a Geo Pro 17RK (17' space, 20' bumper to coupler). That was a little too small for my wife and I. We moved up to a Venture RV Sonic 231VRL (23' space, 26' bumper to coupler). We find that it is just right for us and even mother-in-law when she goes with us. Now the tow vehicle is a different story. I'm currently about 200 lbs overweight with my Dodge Durango with the 4.7L flex fuel engine so next year going to be looking for a Durango with the true 5.7L Hemi V8.

[Nick Danger]

Originally Posted by NavyLCDR

Not for me. I started with a Geo Pro 17RK (17' space, 20' bumper to coupler). That was a little too small for my wife and I. We moved up to a Venture RV Sonic 231VRL (23' space, 26' bumper to coupler). We find that it is just right for us and even mother-in-law when she goes with us. Now the tow vehicle is a different story. I'm currently about 200 lbs overweight with my Dodge Durango with the 4.7L flex fuel engine so next year going to be looking for a Durango with the true 5.7L Hemi V8.

What effect did the extra 6 ft have on driving and maneuverability? Was it easier, harder or no difference?

[FOURWHL]

For us I'll take the 4-8 extra feet of living space over a little extra hassle getting parked any day. We showhorn this thing into many places we probably shouldn't. There's not a magic number that all of a sudden opens another world of camp spots, just different options.

[SRLETX]

Thanks y’all. As always - great advice from those that know and live the world. I think the deciding factor will be which floor plan the better half likes most assuming it’s the right color of green. Time will tell.

[huskerhiker]

I think length usually comes down to these issues:

1) Storage constraints. Length of your drive way or what you rent or how much you want to pay for storage.

2) Where do you want to camp? The longer you go with vehicle the less options you have. Even if it just means fewer sites in a particular campground that would be an option. This is becoming more of an issue as campground reservations have become highly competitive with the boom in rv sales and people camping. While this may "normalize" a bit post covid, places like Yosemite have very few sites that support vehicles over 35. You may be able to squeeze into sites with a 40 fter that has a limit at 35, but in other cases you can't. Regardless, your options are fewer. When we moved from a 20 ft trailer to our 31 5th wheel, it shut us out of a few places we used to go to where it was already tight for the 20fter. Where you like to camp should play a huge factor in the tradeoff between length and amenities/storage/space.

3) Capacities. Even on the Isata 5's when you go longer you start to push payload constraints. Not an issue on the freightliner chasis generally, but then power/weight issues could come in to play.

4) Mobility/drivability - Probably the least of an issue of these 4, but with bigger vehicles on the margin you are more likely to run into some type of challenge where you would have wished you had a smaller vehicle. It requires you to plan/think ahead more, and the ramifications for a bad decision can be worse (usually in the sense of damage to your vehicle). I ended up pulling into a campground (just to use the bathroom) on a trip last summer and it was not designed for a combo as large as mine and that wasn't apparent until it was too late and I was so far into the campground that backing out was going to be a horrible option and the turnabout i was forced to use ended up putting us against trees, wheels on rocks etc. Just some scratches but a shorter combo of truck and trailer by a couple of feet would have been nice right then.

Going down the road I don't think the extra ft matters much. Parking lots/gas stations etc, you have to be more aware of space.

[NJKris]

I have 5-foot-itis. My trailer is only 20' (box is about 17.5). I want to join the golf cart craze, so I need a 25 foot trailer I can carry a golf cart in. Which probably involves upgrading truck to an F250. I think I'll have to be content with pedaling a bike instead of a golf cart for some years to come.

[GalsofEscape]

it not so much 2foot-itis, it was life changing our needs. we went from tenting, to a high wall popup to a hybrid: each change was due to not being able to put up with (fill in the blank) of each stage anymore.

[Thor 37gt]

I would stay in the 30-37ft. range unless you are full time.

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by Nick Danger

What effect did the extra 6 ft have on driving and maneuverability? Was it easier, harder or no difference?

That's not fair for me to say because I changed everything. Old rig was 20' single axle trailer pulled by 6 cylinder FWD Dodge Grand Caravan. New rig is 26' double axle trailer pulled by 8 cylinder AWD Dodge Durango. After I got over the initial feeling of what looked like to me to be a massive trailer in my mirrors, everything else balanced out to being about the same towing experience for me.

And really interesting, we camped half way home the first night we picked up the trailer from the dealer so my first time backing into a camping site was in the dark at night. It was an easy spot, so I had no problems.

Then I got last minute reservations for a tent site in a state park for the next weekend. So my second time backing in the new rig was into a nearly impossible site to get into. The end of the driveway to the site was at the crest of a hill, so I was backing uphill from the access path, around the corner into the site, with the driveway then going downhill. The driveway was 90 degrees from the access path, not slanted at all. The access path was just that, a narrow two track gravel path about 7' wide. At the entrance to the driveway to the site was the site # marker pole on one side and a huge tree on the other side. So it was definitely trial by fire with my new rig! I really wish I had a drone that could have hovered overhead and recorded getting into that spot!