Travel Trailer Recommendations

[BillyBronco]

I am in the market for a Travel Trailer to live in for 3-5 months as my house gets finished. I am looking for a used one in the 5-15K range, but I would like to keep it under 10K. I am looking for a 26+ foot bumper pull. What brands are better than others and why? What things should I look out for when looking at them? I don't know much about travel trailers. Yes, I searched for an hour, but couldn't come up with much. Now turning it over to the travel trailer gurus. EDIT: Other than local papers and Ebay are there any good sites to find used ones for sale?
-Billy

[KS Toy]

PM SolidAxleDurango. He bought one a little while back and did a bunch of home work. Also, asking if he wants to go camping:D

[hy_desert_4wheeler]

I am doint the same thing you are.. I asked a couple of the guys I work with what to look for and the main things they said was get the fiberglass skin and stay away from Fleetwoods.. I am looking fro something in the 26 to 32 foot range and either bumper or 5th wheel with at least one slide in the living area..

[roundhouse]

Look at the local auctions,
http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/VehicleList.aspx?source=auctionsites&vehicletype=2,4,5,6,7,8&vehicletypelist=specialty&poolid=&ploc=

you can get them cheap if they are dinged up a little in an accident, if you plan on keeping it, get one that does NOT have wood studs in the walls,

As you can see the wood ones are crap
http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/Details.aspx?recid=394321

find one with all metal.
http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/Details.aspx?recid=369200575

http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/Details.aspx?recid=16992805

Hail damage would be perfect
http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/Details.aspx?recid=67194000

If your goonna park it and live in it, you want even need a title or tag.

[CJHeap]

Get a used airstream. Even a 20 year old one. They pull great and are built like a tank. I pulled one for 2 years all over the country (110,000 miles) then sold it for what I gave for it.

[BillyBronco]

I have thought about an Airstream, but I am really looking for something newer. What is wrong with Fleetwoods? Anyone know anything else about problems with certain brands? Would there be a problem with a huge 38 foot bumper pull as far as the frame is concerned? I would not be towing it around so I am not too worried about that. Thanks guys and keep it coming.
-Billy

[BillyBronco]

Anyone else?
-Billy

[SolidAxleDurango]

Ok, I'm typing this on a blackberry, so ill try and be informative, but brief - thumb typing sux

Btw, I'm living in my 32' travel trailer since Nov as my custom home is being built. Other house sold in 3 weeks and we really didn't expect that.

Intangibles?

Floorplan? Pick something you can live with. Anything you find even remotely annoying won't be a big deal on a camping or wheeling trip... But give it 2 weeks, 2 months, or 6 months and it fucking make you nuts.

I'm doing "ok" in mine... But am kinda lucky because of its size and the fact that it has a slideout. Bedroom is on one end and living on the other. Kitchen in the middle.

Bathroom. Stand in the shower before you buy. Can you do it without stooping over? This was requirement for me. And I bought my TT for weekend camping. We just happened to have it when we did the house deal.

Tangibles?

On a well built unit, there is no difference between aluminum sided vs fiberglass - I've owned both.

what you primarily need to look for once you find a floorplan you like, and you verify all the appliances work as they're supposed to... Water damage. Its the very worst enemy of any RV.

Get on the roof and examine all the caulking. Should be maintenanced at least once a year. Caulking is a special kind for EPDM rubber roofs (dicor brand) than cannot be bought at lowes. Std caulk contains distillates that will "eat" the rubber.

Walk on the floor. Soft spots are the tell-tell signs of hidden leaks.

Open every single cabinet and even look behind removable panels. Water comes in near doorways, windowd, appliance access panels, roof vents, marker lights, etc. Look for stains, soft spots, etc

One thing to note... All rvs are bult like shit. I don't care how much you spend on your $250,000 diesel class a, $100,000 5er, or your $300 used popup... They will have the same shoddy workmanship. Search the rv boards and you'll see. What you're doing is trying to buy the one with the least amount of fuckups.

No brand is really better or worse as far as quality control. Spend more on a holiday rambler or airstream and you'll get more features but you'll still find bs workmanship you end up going behind them and fixing yourself. OR you might by a trail light or jayco and have zero problems. Point I'm trying to make is its all a crap shoot.

Good luck!

Btw, mines a trail cruiser and my problems have been limited to a screw that was missing some butyl tape and cause a leak in the front corner. Caulking fixed it. Ask my friends and they'll tell you I've used the crap out of this thing in 5 different states. And now been full timing in it for 6 months. Other people on the internet report my brand is junk. Go figure.

[roundhouse]

You dont mention how many people will be livingin the camper, I assume just you?

One person can live in a 8x8 space, but for 2 people you suddenly need 4x the space, specially if the other person is a woman.

I've lived in campers several times, I've stayed in several that were special built for long term living, like for construction workers,
one was a 30 ft, that had had a residential shower stall and toilet in the center and a regular fridge and stove. and a decent sized bedroom on each end, with its own door.

Another time was a 18 foot with bunk beds in the back, so it would sleep 4 without folding down the table.

When my wife and I moved back to Atlanta, neither of us had a job, nor any money, couldnt afford to rent a house or apt, couldnt even afford a campground, so we stayed for 8 weeks in a 16 ft airstream that was parked in the backyard of a friends house.

My biggest concern would be size and price, but if its just one person size is really not a problem, a 16 or 20 footer will be fine.

But then again, as a trucker I was used to living in the sleeper of a Freightliner, so a 16 foot camper was like the Taj Majahal.

You can stand up and walk to the bath room, you HAVE a bathroom! .... no more peeing in Gatorate bottles and dumping it out the window.

then we moved to a 800 sf house, wow, a mansion!
now we are in 1800 sf and its not large enough.
its just whatever you get used to.

Airstreams dont have as much room as a square trailer, and cost more, personally I think the fiberglass sided trailers look better than the aluminum sided ones.

Biggest advice is go to an auction, they sell for almost nothing,

You could get this one for super cheap, have a tow truck haul it to your campground.
http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/Details.aspx?recid=369200575

this one would be nice, plenty of space
http://www.verastar.com/WebSite/Details.aspx?recid=395285


Many years ago , my brother and I were gonna buy a trailer and live in a RV park near Atlanta, but we decided that for about the same money we could buy a big houseboat with a bad diesel engine , and that the slip rent on lake Lanier was about the same as lot rent in the RV park, and that chicks would be much more impressed by us living on a houseboat than in a RV/trailer park.

Is there a CHina-Mart umm I mean Wal mart nearby that lets old people live in the parking lot in RVs? many do, and that would be very cheap, as in free.

I dont know if walmart could enforce any age limits on who could stay or not.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Wal-Mart-Camping-And-Other-Free-Places&id=50586

[LilWes278]

I've got an '89 Terry 26 foot bumper pull that I bought a couple months ago. I've been really impressed with the fit and finish of the trailer. I'd hesitate to say all Fleetwoods are junk, as I've camped in several of them over the years. None of them were new, but they all were pretty nice. Only thing I am regretting about the one I have now is that it's a little too big. I originally was looking for a 20-22 footer, but came across this one at a good price. I've only taken it up to the mountains for 2 seperate weekends, but already thinking about selling and going back to something smaller as I tend to camp way off the paved road. If you weren't so far away, I'd invite you to come take a look at this one since it seems to be pretty close to what you are looking for (and towards the lower end of your price range). Good luck with your search!

[BillyBronco]

Thanks for all of the responses guys, especially Mr. Durango and his sore thumbs. :D I will be living by myself so I can easily find something to suite me. Does anybody know of any RV auctions in Texas? I may drive out if I find a steal of a deal with in 1000 miles, but I would at least like to see what I am about to buy. Also I can't register to bid on those links due to lack of automobile dealers license.
-Billy