Which RV?

[RUSSELL5000]

Endoscott, you said "AS frame construction is awesome." What is different about the frame construction? More capacity versus the load, higher quality steel, better coatings, better welds, ??

Gary, I am RUSSELL5000, just like on TDR - and, just Russell, for that matter. I have CRS disease (Can't Remember Squat), so I tend to minimize variety.

In terms of boondocking, I see the following and potential solutions:

Generator and fuel: will be in bed of truck. or perhaps I have not yet come across the solution on the Airstream forum
Solar: will have to fit
Batteries: will have to fit
Water: tanks - fresh as well as grey/black - much smaller. Need to read more on the Airstream forum - retrofit larger tanks?

These are the items which occur to me immediately.

Like the sizes.

 

[GCroyle]

Generator. Many have used onboard propane tanks. Not sure which is better. High altitude does seem to be a consideration if you're in the 2000W range.
Solar. One guy has 1000W on roof of 30' many many threads on solar. Only suggestion, make a professional plan not haphazard and changing the requirements mid project.

Batteries. Huge topic. I'm simple LA type, no advice.
Tanks. I don't think I've read of anyone increasing tank size. Fresh, yes some have used various supplemental tanks.

A very hot topic has been AS switching from absorption fridge to compressor fridge. absorption, small solar 12VDC and propane and you're good to go. New compressor type needs 12VDC but lot's more of it, no propane.

Yeah, spotted you joined about 2014.

UBW, NCC and GVWR are all model specific. Unit Base Wt, Net Cargo Capacity. These are not the toyhaulers of the RV world. But they did make a RARE Panamerican a 34' rear hatch wanna be toy hauler. Study and choose carefully. Airstream does publish a large collection of manuals, owners and parts on their corp website. Easy access.

This is maybe old or new news but I just found out about a battery monitor system. Mine is the BMV-712 shunt system. App on phone, nope only monitors no control function. Keeps track of state of charge and shows AH out vs AH in sorta stuff. Really shows you yup, turn gen off batts are full type stuff.

 

[Tuesdak]

This is maybe old or new news but I just found out about a battery monitor system. Mine is the BMV-712 shunt system. App on phone, nope only monitors no control function. Keeps track of state of charge and shows AH out vs AH in sorta stuff. Really shows you yup, turn gen off batts are full type stuff.

FWIW I covered the install of a battery monitor system here:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/rv-house-batteries-for-dry-camping.259757/

The LP propane level is new and interesting.

https://www.campingworld.com/mopeka-tankcheck-lpg-dual-sensor-with-monitor-kit-90403.html

 

[slowmover]

Aero design: Crosswind Handling is what matters. Square boxes get pushed (air gets trapped and forces increase down length of unit; highest at rear). Aero allows winds escape (wind “pulls” versus pushes. Less effect, and slower to stack).

Adverse winds the leading loss-of-control instigator. Why you don’t want a high COG, straight-axle tow vehicle. The game is TV rear axle tire adhesion.

I can (have) towed thru winds which put every fiver and semi off the road. Without fighting the wheel.

Aero also lowers HP Demand. When I got my Third Gen I made comps based on the Kenworth & Cummins criteria:

1) Truck spec
2). Climate
3). Topography
4) Operator Motivation

and I found myself on the mark. No flyers as to the dozen reports I settled on.

15-MPG Average with a 62’ combination vehicle scaling up to 18k.

Fuel Economy was a primary consideration. With 20% reserve, 29-gallons is hypothetically enough to cover 400-miles/day. (One fuel stop; the days trip plan much easier thereby).

Aero increases margins of safety & economy.

Aero decreases the drivers workload.

Aero “can” reduce component wear & tear, thereby.

Functionally, you’ll be able to read the road more easily, figure out what are NEW problems being felt.

This DOES depend on using The Three Pass Scale Method and, preferably, a 3P hitch. (Anti-lock disc brakes also best; see Croyles write-up on AIR; also, see all comments by “guskmg”).

These more-expensive-to-build coaches are lifetime acquisitions. 250k miles before rebuild versus 80K before disposal.

Wanna go off-road? Get something appropriate (it won’t be American highway compatible).

If you don’t go anywhere (a few hundred miles) what you buy won’t matter much. But if you want to travel a decade or more, ONE design type is superior.

The USA, Canada and Mexico were all covered by my grandparents and my parents as I grew up. As the Interstates were being built. Bias tires, hydraulic shocks, points ignition.

There are other ways to enjoy the back country. Park the trailer and use a tent. Use a service. Etc.

Aero makes the hours on the road E-Z. Less drama. More confidence.

Design & Construction means Year Seven or Year Seventeen since title issued not any concern.

The square boxes are not competition.

.

 

[NIsaacs]

Go big or stay home I had no clue RV's were this big at one time. I always thought 65' was the limit for non commercial combo's. This one is 57' without the truck

Forks RV by Continental Coach.

 

[RUSSELL5000]

I am continuing to learn about Airstream.

That 57' fifth wheel does seem a tiny bit long for forest service campgrounds and boondocking!!

 

[SSage]

I pulled a 44' toy hauler and a 40' regular 5th wheel don't want another one that big, it was fine for my work camping when I sat in one place for months. I squeezed into the old Port Orange CG a few times, they had three monthly sites in the back right corner I could just get into if it wasn't crowded. The problem was backing in when the tent campers were there, forget about pulling in or out during a NASCAR race or bike week.

I like my old 29' TH much better. I usually can get it in to State Parks even on short notice. I had trouble moving the 44' monster for short runs to the coast. Just wouldn't fit many times, really tall and the long rear overhang had a challenging swing radius to accommodate. I see these 45' toy haulers everywhere today, I'm surprised so many sell. I got tired of pulling mine, the 40' Cedar Creek was a bit easier, it didn't drag the rear. I finally get to explore more State Parks now with the smaller 5th wheel and I'm not stuck in the pull through sites without the shade trees. I like the increased variety of sites I can get into now. Same with boats, I like easier to handle stuff and I'm still in my 40's so I ain't that old...

 

[bcbender]

Yeah.. I have a 44' Sandpiper... pulls great, parks great, but watch out for the swing... took out a table at the Penzoil Auto Fair a few years ago, caught it with the bumper on the other side.. no damage, but skeared a few folks when I drug it off the site. I want about a 30' next so when I move back west I can pull a trailer with a SXS on it (aka doubles)
No way to do that with this... the darn trailer would be all over the place

 

[slowmover]

Thanks again for the comments. I have plenty to study on!

I am signed up on the Airstream forum and have been reading away.

Slowmover and GCroyle: I understand your point regarding shape; I recall a thread from a number of years ago where I learned that many fifth-wheel folks were obtaining better fuel economy than my box like travel trailer even though they were larger and heavier. On the other hand, beyond shape, what make the Airstream-style trailers better is not readily apparent t me. Can you give me a list of those factors in a nutshell so I can research further. Thanks!

While aero is the predominant reason, factors such as low center of gravity and fully independent suspension are as important once underway.

Laws of Physics haven’t been repealed.

— Square conventional trailer with slides-outs riding high on leaf springs is the worst possible design for a travel trailer.

— Straight axle 4WD pickup is the worst possible design for a tow vehicle.

The idea that the tow vehicle has to horse the trailer around is false. Properly-designed & installed hitch rigging is EQUAL in importance to tow vehicle or trailer design.

If in your research you should (miraculously) find discussions on trailer anti-lock disc brakes of the same number and length as other towing threads, you’ve found signs of intelligence.

As you won’t find that, you also won’t find tests of high-speed maneuvers to avoid wrecks or proper skill in stopping trailer sway with trailer brakes combined with acceleration distances needed, or grade-descent speed & distances. As all must be part of a plan

So if you want a travel trailer that will live in excess of sixty-years, is high-speed capable (55-mph), exerts FAR less strain on the driver and holds resale value like no other,

take your time with aerodynamic, all-aluminum travel trailers.

Buying and disposing of TTs every few years is the pattern. More expensive and less enjoyable where traveling the continent is plan.

.

 

[Dl5treez]

While aero is the predominant reason, factors such as low center of gravity and fully independent suspension are as important once underway.

Laws of Physics haven’t been repealed.

— Square conventional trailer with slides-outs riding high on leaf springs is the worst possible design for a travel trailer.

— Straight axle 4WD pickup is the worst possible design for a tow vehicle.

The idea that the tow vehicle has to horse the trailer around is false. Properly-designed & installed hitch rigging is EQUAL in importance to tow vehicle or trailer design.

If in your research you should (miraculously) find discussions on trailer anti-lock disc brakes of the same number and length as other towing threads, you’ve found signs of intelligence.

As you won’t find that, you also won’t find tests of high-speed maneuvers to avoid wrecks or proper skill in stopping trailer sway with trailer brakes combined with acceleration distances needed, or grade-descent speed & distances. As all must be part of a plan

So if you want a travel trailer that will live in excess of sixty-years, is high-speed capable (55-mph), exerts FAR less strain on the driver and holds resale value like no other,

take your time with aerodynamic, all-aluminum travel trailers.

Buying and disposing of TTs every few years is the pattern. More expensive and less enjoyable where traveling the continent is plan.

.

Can I haul my RZR to St Anthony’s with their toyhauler version?

 

[AH64ID]

Since when is 55 high speed?

 

[Tuesdak]

I ran across an ad for a Bigfoot travel trailer the other day and was surprised they do offer a factory generator. The short queen Bigfoot is stuck on stopped me from looking too deep into their offerings or I would have noted this before. (The owner also had converted the dinette to a couple recliners.) It's no lower than the axles, but, underneath the trailer. That would be an adventure to check the oil level every 8 hours of operation.

 

[SSage]

RV queen is very common, especially if the bed is in a slide. My 44' long triple axle toy hauler came with a RV sized queen mattress in a fairly deep slide with windows. I replaced it with a normal length queen select comfort air bed. It just barely squeezed in. When I pulled in the slide the mattress just squeezed up against the cabinets, but it wasn't enough to be an issue for me. I'm 6'-4" and 260 pounds, but I just kept the RV queen in my current 5th wheel, my feet don't hang off bad in this one. I guess the center-line bed layout has me using the whole mattress, I can put my head all the way to the front wall. The bigger trailer had a substantial headboard, or maybe I just shrunk some!

Generators built in are convenient. I think I have mine running good and then it starts acting up. Always had gasoline models though, no experience with propane models. I have a dry rotted rubber seal on the air box. Need to figure out how to change it, probably have to pull the carb. I think its causing an issue on hot days now. It runs fine for an hour or so and then starts backfiring.

The main thing is access, my side mounted genny is tough to work on. I prefer the ones mounted in the front compartment of a 5th wheel. Sometimes I just want it to run like my portable Honda though, no issues with my little EU3000i after years and years of occasional use. Just replaced the carb and fuel lines once so far. I just don't like weight and space it takes up though, so I just put up with the built in genny. It is so nice to just push a button on the built in, and the Air-con works in the Walmart parking lot, gotta get groceries. Its so nice to cool the trailer down about an hour before arriving too. I like having the built in, just wish it maintained itself.

 

[Tuesdak]

Fellow next door had a travel trailer and a Champion POS generator. Kept burning up A/C compressors and generators. The generator would start lugging out and would not recover. Just sat there at low RPM and low frequency till things burned up. Wouldn't trip any breakers either. Dealer would just exchange the generator and warranty the A/C unit as they sold him the package: didn't help on hot nights he needed the A/C to run on gen power. Edit: they finally put a hard start kit on the "new" A/C unit's compressor and that worked till he replaced the RV.

He got a motorhome with a built in Onan after being sideswiped by a semi totaled his TT and TV. His only complaint was the cost of the Onan option. He has had zero trouble with it.

The propane Onan 3600W 3600RPM screamer of mine only gave me trouble once when the main regulator off the propane bottles failed. Replaced it with a Rego and haven't had trouble with it in 5 years 300 hours. I did have to do an "oil carryover" fix as it was putting oil in the air cleaner via the breather. We will see if the mesh and new drain hole helps. 115+ temps and a 24 hour run didn't help with that oil problem. If it does give me trouble I have a 1800RPM 2 cylinder Onan sitting around to replace it... The "whine" noise from the cooling fan on the 3600 RPM set is my only dislike of it.