Traveling for a Year. Tips?

Plan to stay under 35ft length if you want to have the option to stay in national parks.

I would look at a 50" sxs in the bed plus a tag camper or 5er toyhauler.

Or you could go class B or C motorhome and tow a vehicle/sxs/jeep behind
 
So far our favorite design applicable is the keystone cougar 326srx. however i barely have enough truck for that. SO looking for a lighter version
 
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paradisePWoffrd said:
Plan to stay under 35ft length if you want to have the option to stay in national parks.

I would look at a 50" sxs in the bed plus a tag camper or 5er toyhauler.

Or you could go class B or C motorhome and tow a vehicle/sxs/jeep behind
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i really was attracted to the sxs in the bed with a bumper pull. very. but came to find out that the payload on the ram is only 1400. so with the 850lb sxs and an avg tongue weight of 900Lbs on the trailers we were looking at, we would be over that. Legal questions aside, I dont know how to make that safer (still under max tow rating) without switching to leafs on the truck (not an option)
 
The trick seems to be searching toy haulers that also have a "loft", and this yields better architecture designs

Considering selling the Jeep.... :eek:
 
ckruzer said:
necessarily jump on full air bags.
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I saw a brand fucking new "3/4 ton" diesel Denali sitting at Home Depot on Saturday with an empty Kaufman bumper pull deck over doing the Carolina Squat.

We rented a Ford that was the same way.

I'm pretty sure you have to put air bags on anything new in order to be able to tow with it.
 
We went with a Class A, towing a JKU. After years of camping out of an F250, first a reg. cab longbed, then a shortbed crew, we found some places it was just hard to go to in a full-size truck when we went exploring. Fine going from point A to B on the highway, but getting into small places, backroads, etc, it is not the best. I do a fair bit of photography, and it's so much easier to get off on the shoulder in the Rubicon, vs. the full-size truck. Not to mention campgrounds that are tight to get into with a trailer, especially if you are a late arrival after dark. It's so easy to drop the Jeep out front, then just drive the camper to the site and back right in.

Theres my vote....Class A (but not too big, ours is 29') and a JKU.
 
Don't be a pussy. Go all out
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Would air bags help make it safer to go over payload by a couple hundred pounds?

Doing it this way I wouldnt be able to install the aux gas tank I wanted, but it would avail a more luxurious/spacious rv option over a "toy hauler".

Issue is. My payload is 1400 lbs. The rzr is 1000 Lbs wet. So if I anally stick to a 400 Lb tongue weight, thats a 4000 Lb trailer (loaded). If I can go over payload by 500 to 600 lbs, I think it will be doable to find a suitable rv that is in the 800 lb hitch weight range.

But with a toy hauler, the rzr weight in the back would help offset some tongue weight?, and certainly free up the payload room so I can tow with more total trailer weight. Im rated for 9900 max tow (not worried about GC, wont be even close), but Im shooting for the 7k to 8k range.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

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I have a 2012 qclb ram 2500 with airbags, we hauled a 26' enclosed trailer across the country east-west and north-south with a rzr 800 in the bed and two in the trailer, it had the rear of the truck on the bumpstops before adding air. I bought a much larger trailer so I'd not have to do that again.
I get that you're not driving a bunch but it sucks. I also don't think that 400lb of tongue weight is sufficient and you'll have a trailer wagging the truck around.

Either way, have you considered putting two tw200's or something similar on the back of a regular camper trailer?

:edit: or even better, the new honda monkey.
 
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Didn’t realize you have a short bed. In this case be aware that if you get a 5er you will have to get a sliding 5th wheel to make anything resembling a turn more than a lane merge. Ask me how I know lol. Also with the tailgate down you won’t be hooking a BP to it and making any short turns either.
 
ckruzer said:
Issue is. My payload is 1400 lbs. The rzr is 1000 Lbs wet. So if I anally stick to a 400 Lb tongue weight, thats a 4000 Lb trailer (loaded). If I can go over payload by 500 to 600 lbs, I think it will be doable to find a suitable rv that is in the 800 lb hitch weight range.
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Payload is supposed to include all passengers and gear also, so unless you and your wife are superlight, you probably have 100lb max tongue weight by that metric. Airbags will remedy all of that, but I still think you should consider getting a 3/4-1 ton truck. It's not that your truck can't do it, but you are asking it to do more than it is designed to do and you will really put a lot of wear and tear on all the bushings, suspension, and driveline. If it was just the RZR or just the trailer, you'd probably be ok, but the combo is quite a lot. Once or twice a year would be ok, but not on a daily/weekly basis.
 
3/4 ton long bed is your best option if you are set on the Rzr and travel trailer.

We have a Open Range Light 279 RLS 32’ camper with a very nice floor plan for 2 people and we are happy with it. This is our 4th camper so I feel we know a little about them and what to look for. Any camper under about 30’ and without slide outs get cramped very quick. Look for comfortable seating and bedroom along with a usable bathroom. Ours has a large couch along with double recliners with a large tv and fireplace. Nice kitchen with a little nicer than normal appliance package. Be aware that the majority of A/C units are now made in Mexico and are considered shit IMHO. We are on our 5th A/C unit in a little over 2 years since new but have been all covered under manufacturers warranty.
 
3/4 Ton or 1ton Longbed with Airbags. 26'+ Camper depending on slideouts and other amenities you may deem a necessity.

With all the moto stuff, we have some friends with campers and its been awesome to learn on their dime since the camper setup is in our longterm plans. We love my 5.3 1500 truck for what we do now with a 6x12 enclosed, but have friends who have the same truck and a 22'ish dual axle travel trailer (Murphy bed, 2 bunks next to the full bath style floorplan, no slide outs). Once its loaded down with all their stuff and a dirtbike in the bed its at best 10mpg's. Truck doesnt mind it, it just sucks the fuel. No way I would want to do that for a year. We had some other friends with V6 F150 22'ish camper as well and he was all about that truck til he got a good deal on a 6.2 Alumiduty truck and saw the light the first time he pulled out of the driveway.

If I was going about the SXS route with a non toy hauler bumper pull:
DRW truck with a flatbed with some storage boxes under the sides, Put the SXS on the flatbed and have storage underneath for fluids, spares, straps blah blah blah that will take up space in the truck, a normal bed or add weight to the camper. It also allows you to access all that stuff without climbing in on or around the SXS while its loaded.
 
Are you going to travel to off road destinations only. Heck of a lot of country to see with no orv stuff involved.

Personally I'd ditch the Side by side and invest that in my camper. Big places for orv have folks that rent what you can play with for awhile.

However if your gonna hunker down for weeks at a time and really explore a area by all means.

Absolutely ditch the bumper extension toy hauling idea.....absolutely none of them are balanced and built for that mess. I got a rear rack and a gracious amount of cast iron cook ware and out door goodies drastically changes the temperance of my 37 foot long bumper pull.

Toy haulers haul toys. Otherwise cargo the truck and run real air bags.

Keep in mind maintenance on everything your roaming around with as well. You will need some tools or shell out when something does break. Something will break.
 
shawn said:
No it won't. He's got little bitty 1/2 ton wheel bearings, axle shafts, brakes, and coils and trailing arms. The tire capacity probably isn't much more than the factory GAWR.
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Yeah, and you can't change tires :rolleyes:. I agree about the other stuff, but, in my worthless opinion, 1/2 ton trucks these days are better suited for towing than 3/4-1 ton trucks of the 80s and 90s. And we're talking about a 4000-8000lb camper.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Yeah, and you can't change tires :rolleyes:. I agree about the other stuff, but, in my worthless opinion, 1/2 ton trucks these days are better suited for towing than 3/4-1 ton trucks of the 80s and 90s. And we're talking about a 4000-8000lb camper.
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Much more comfortable than older ton trucks but still suck ass for towing above 5500lbs. Brakes are better, HP/tq is better but mileage still blows and they still have to rev to the moon to get the job done. Computers and torque management makes them accelerate like shit and they shift all funny.

This coming from the current half ton owner who likes his truck but knows its limits. I sure as shit wouldn't want to pull a travel trailer for a year with it.
 
I get the half ton quips. However, they do very successfully pull 5k to 8k trailers. I am also not planning on traveling every weekend. Ive mentioned before, the plan is to hop around the country *monthly*, while working full work weeks. Real world hopping would be in the neighborhood of 3 to 9 hours of interstate driving, and maybe rarely two days in a row to get to a further distance.

I do appreciate all this input though. Helps me learn capabilities. Shane, that was a great link. Thank you. It sure does look goofy but what a brilliant idea. It is something to consider.

@jeepinmatt i hear ya on that. I have already upgraded to oversized discs, and put ceramic pads on all four corners. I will be installing the full air bags after having looked into it. Im also looking into all the other things that can be done piror to, to increase favorable conditions.

Guys. If I could I would go get a 1 ton tomorrow. The 1500 is what I am stuck with right now, and therefore it is what is being planned around. Im not trying to tow unrealistic weights. Trying to be smart about it. Another truck is not an option right now, so just looking to make the best choices.
 
Space wise for the trailer I've always liked a hybrid. It is part pop up part hard side. Some have slides with them too. Think about how much real estate a bed takes up. That is the beauty of a hybrid the beds fold out like a pop up and floor space is much better. As for the sxs I know it doesn't help because it isn't a toy hauler.

Check out the 21ss floor plan.

Rockwood Roo 21SS Travel Trailers by Forest River RV


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Hell no on the hybrid. You’ll freeze your ass in the winter.


Ditch the side by side. Most rv parks won’t let you drive them around like a golf cart. And most places you go won’t have a place for you to use it. Go to the places where you could and you can rent one. In the end it would be a hell of a lot cheaper to rent one every time you wanted to use one.


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I’ve seen multiple tow dollies in use over the past couple years and talked to a couple of the people towing with them. One was hauling a Rzr and the others were hauling golf carts because they didn’t want a toy hauler. Everyone I talked to about their dollies were very happy with them and there road manners.
 
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